I'm ashamed to say that today was the first time I looked at any of the portfolios from last year's class. There were some that I loved and some that clearly seemed thrown together at the last minute. Overall the ones that I liked the best were the ones that told a story. Below I've listed a set of guidelines that I think applies to what I viewed as the best portfolios.
1. Take tons of pictures. Even though MTC is full of gifted writers, a lot of people went overboard with the amount of copy on their page. Eventually I got sick of reading so I began scanning through pages simply looking at pictures and bold words. The portfolios that were able to get the point across with these key elements were the ones I enjoyed the most. Having said all that, I was disappointed in some of the photo essays. Many of them lacked a central theme, captions, or any explanation at all. Maybe it's the journalism major in me, but if the reader has to work to figure out the purpose of a photo, then you've failed!
2. Tell your story. I understand that the whole focus of Teacher Corps is on the students and I love that, but too many pictures of kids we don't know can get old. I enjoyed seeing MTCers with their students more than seeing tons of pictures of students in their natural environment. There's nothing special about a student sitting at a desk. Of course there is a place for some photos like that. But I want to see your story, not theirs. Some people chose to go as far back as their lives in high school. I'm not sure that I feel the need to go that far back. A general sense of life before MTC seemed to work well, but the bulk of the content needs to be about the two years in MTC.
3. Have a theme? Maybe. I know that establishing a theme is part of the requirement and that it's apparently what made the winning portfolio so great, but I think it's important not to let it get too cliche. Personally I would rather see a clean, well-put-together, and creative page than one that was forced to stick to some theme. In trying to think about what theme I would choose, I find myself becoming concerned that staying within a theme may keep me from doing some of the things I want to do.
Overall, my favorites were the ones that were modern, clean, and full of photos. Those were easy to follow and thus fun to view.
1. Take tons of pictures. Even though MTC is full of gifted writers, a lot of people went overboard with the amount of copy on their page. Eventually I got sick of reading so I began scanning through pages simply looking at pictures and bold words. The portfolios that were able to get the point across with these key elements were the ones I enjoyed the most. Having said all that, I was disappointed in some of the photo essays. Many of them lacked a central theme, captions, or any explanation at all. Maybe it's the journalism major in me, but if the reader has to work to figure out the purpose of a photo, then you've failed!
2. Tell your story. I understand that the whole focus of Teacher Corps is on the students and I love that, but too many pictures of kids we don't know can get old. I enjoyed seeing MTCers with their students more than seeing tons of pictures of students in their natural environment. There's nothing special about a student sitting at a desk. Of course there is a place for some photos like that. But I want to see your story, not theirs. Some people chose to go as far back as their lives in high school. I'm not sure that I feel the need to go that far back. A general sense of life before MTC seemed to work well, but the bulk of the content needs to be about the two years in MTC.
3. Have a theme? Maybe. I know that establishing a theme is part of the requirement and that it's apparently what made the winning portfolio so great, but I think it's important not to let it get too cliche. Personally I would rather see a clean, well-put-together, and creative page than one that was forced to stick to some theme. In trying to think about what theme I would choose, I find myself becoming concerned that staying within a theme may keep me from doing some of the things I want to do.
Overall, my favorites were the ones that were modern, clean, and full of photos. Those were easy to follow and thus fun to view.
