Christensen Chap 7

I never did a portfolio (other than an Art portfolio) in high school and it was very limited in college. It made sense to do one for art, so why not English. I really didnt' know much about writing portfolios, but Christensen shows how they are a great tool.
Christensen sees portfolios as a way to showcase the variety of genres they can write in. A portfolio also shows the changes the writer has gone through. But the most important aspect, according to Christensen is the reflection process. It really struck me when Christensen said student portfolios allow the teacher to reflect on the job they did. If students did not make desired changes, there must have been something the teacher did wrong.
As Students do their own reflection it accomplishes more than simply giving a grade for a pile of writing. i loved Christensen's suggestions for how students can format their reflections as an advice column or letter to future students. these assignments give the reflection a "real" application and are not as dull as a simple reflection essay. I can see how this would get students to think more indepth.
One thing Christensen did not add but I believe is that the reflections should be honest. This should be stressed to students, and they should not feel like they will get a good grade if they simply write what they think the teacher wants to hear. If they honestly don't think they learned everything, that is valuable information to both the student and teacher. Overall, this leads to the effectiveness of portfolios as valuable tools.