S.M.A.R.T.

Goal Portfolio Project (85 points)

The purpose of the S.M.A.R.T. goal portfolio project is to support your growth as a learner and
reflective teacher. Our goal as educators is for students to become their own teachers. This assignment
is one opportunity to meet this goal. In any course, there are many new things to learn. By setting your
own goals and maintaining a portfolio to document your progress toward these goals, you will be able
to differentiate this course to meet your personal needs and interests.
This assignment will also prepare you to meet a new teacher job requirement: to set a
S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measureable, appropriate, realistic, time-limited) goal that will positively affect
student learning, to collect evidence of your work toward this goal, and to reflect on and evaluate your
progress.

1. Goal Plan (15 points possible): At the beginning of the course, you will create a plan in
which you state a personal goal using the course learning objectives as well as your self-
reflection from the STEBI (Science Teacher Efficacy Belief Instrument) and TPE (Think –
Puzzle – Explore) Activity. Keep in mind, this goal may evolve as the course progresses and
you become increasingly aware of your own opportunities as a professional devoted to
improving science instruction. Your goal plan will address four steps: select, reflect, affect,
and project. Please use the below chart to frame your goal plan. (Due September 14th, by
5:00pm)

Affect: How might Project: Steps that

Select: Where am I Reflect: Where I
this affect me as a will help me close the
now? want to be?
science teacher? gap.

Steps to Setting a Goal for Yourself as a Science Teacher

Overall, we are trying to answer these two questions:
Who am I? Who do I want to become?

1. Select:
• Make a list of what you can do well as a teacher of science. What do I do well?
• Star the thing you most recently learned to do. What is the most recent thing I've
learned to do?
 2. Reflect:
• Make a list of possible things you’d like to learn next as a teacher of science in
order to grow. What do I want to learn next in order to grow? What do I want to
learn next to prepare for student teaching and job interviews?
• Choose one goal that you would like to work toward this semester. Your goal
should be specific, measureable, appropriate, realistic, and time-limited
(S.M.A.R.T.).

4. Project:
• Make a plan for how you will meet your goal. What will I do to accomplish this?
Ø What will you do in and out of class to meet your goal?
Ø How will you use choices within class assignments to help you reach your
goal? Look over the syllabus for ELED 432 and course assignment
descriptions to see which ones could support your work toward your
goal.
• Make a plan for how you will document your process. What might I use for
documentation?
Ø What documents could you have to include in your portfolio and for your
goal updates? Consider, photos, your notes, assignments, documents you
create, etc.
Ø Consider how this assignment could be integrated with your other
courses. What assignments in your other courses could help you reach
your goal? Have you already created a professional website or e-
portfolio that you could combine with this assignment?

5. Affect: How might this affect me as a science teacher?

2. Goal Update #1, due November 2nd, by 5:00pm – Document & Reflection (10 points
possible)
a. Your update will include a document to show your progress toward your goal.
This could be a prep note, a part of a website you've created or read, part of your
lesson plan, notes from in class, an app and its review you've written, the start of a
unit plan, an outline of your final product, or anything else. The document should
show that you've been dedicating time each week toward your project. You should
have four weeks of work to reflect on by the time you complete your Goal Update
#1.
b. Along with your document, you should also write a brief reflection explaining how
this document demonstrates your progress toward meeting your goal and what you
have learned so far about your goal overall. You might also address any changes in
your SMART goal, your portfolio, or your plan that you have made along the way.
You might also include questions, obstacles, or needs that you would like me to help
with.

3. Goal Update #2, Due November 14th, by 5:00pm – Rubric & Explanation (15 points
possible)
a. The first part is creating your evaluation tool (a rubric) for your final portfolio.
i. Your final portfolio will be evaluated based on three components (1) the final
portfolio, (2) your reflection about this portfolio and your process of creating
 it, and (3) your evaluation tool (a rubric) for your final portfolio and your
self-evaluation of your product. On Canvas, you will find the rubric I will use
to evaluate your final portfolio; there is one row for each of these
components.
ii. Within this document, there is also a blank rubric for you to create for your
individualized project. Look back at your Goal Plan and your Goal Update #1
for what you have learned. Also consider what we have learned in class about
effective science instruction. Use this to create your rubric. There are sample
rubrics from other portfolios uploaded to Canvas as well. As you create your
rubric, consider the qualities of the ideal portfolio related to your goal.
iii. When you evaluate yourself on your rubric, you will not lose points if you do
not achieve the highest level for each quality. Your grade for your evaluation
tool is based on your creation of the evaluation tool itself and the
thoughtfulness and justification of your self-evaluation using that tool. You
may notice in the sample rubrics that some students did not give themselves
all 4s; however, on the rubric I used, they each earned full credit for creating
their individualized rubric and evaluating their own work.
b. The second part is a reflection. Address these questions in your reflection:
i. How did you choose what qualities to include in your rubric?
ii. Why are these qualities important based on what we have studied together
about effective science instruction?
iii. Why are these qualities important based on what you have learned
throughout the semester about your goal topic?
iv. Where do you think your portfolio is now based on your rubric? Why?
v. What next steps will you take to move your portfolio to a higher level of
quality before the end of the semester?
c. You should upload/submit both your rubric and your reflection as your Goal Update
#2. I will give you feedback on your rubric to make sure you are headed in the right
direction before you use it for your final portfolio. Creating a rubric to evaluate your
own work is often a challenging task. Please email or set up an appointment with any
questions!

4. Portfolio, Reflection, & Self-evaluation (Due December 12th, during the exam period;
50 points possible)
a. Throughout the course, you will maintain a portfolio with proof of your process as
you work toward meeting your goal. This portfolio should be created and organized
to reflect your goal. The format can be paper or digital.
b. Use your revised evaluation tool (rubric) from Goal Update #2 to re-evaluate your
final portfolio. Your portfolio should have improved since Goal Update #2. Also,
you will explain briefly your self-evaluation of your portfolio.
c. In your reflection, you will review your portfolio and write a reflection explaining its
contents, how they demonstrate your efforts to meet your goal, and what you have
learned overall about your goal.