When it comes to organization, people have different ideas about the right way to do it.  There is no one right way to organize the materials in your portfolio, but you should attempt to group similar items together so that they are easy to find. Reviewers should be able to flip through the portfolio and notice a flow to the order of the materials.

Consider a few of the following suggestions:

• Decide whether you want to create a physical portfolio or a digital portfolio using an online portfolio builder, Prezi, or even PowerPoint
• Gather the professional documentation, such as your resume and transcripts in one section
• Group training certificates together and put them in chronological order
• Place letters of reference, past performance evaluations, and parent survey materials together
• Organize the evidence of your work in the classroom in a different section of the portfolio
• Place evidence of leadership in a separate section
• Group any writing samples on one place so you can find them easily
• Include a reflection statement in each section that focuses on the contents of that section
• Protect contents with sheet protectors to maintain a professional image
• Use temporary labels to identify sections and criteria identifiers – this will help you customize your portfolio for multiple audiences
• Ask a colleague to review your portfolio and provide feedback on the contents and organization, including typos!
• Continue to add new evidence to your portfolio to ensure it remains up-to-date
• Every now and then, review your portfolio and determine if any pieces of evidence can be removed, perhaps because you have been able to collect a better example

Remember, a portfolio is more than a scrapbook of photos.  Each piece you include needs to be purposeful and tell a story about your experience. You don’t need to go overboard with decorations and embellishments.  Let your work speak for itself. 

For the main article Creating a Professional Portfolio, CLICK HERE

For the article Benefits of Developing a Professional Portfolio, CLICK HERE

For the article What Goes into a Professional Portfolio, CLICK HERE

For the article Director’s Corner: Supporting Employees as they Create Professional Portfolios, CLICK HERE