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Captioning Assignment.
Criteria For An Effective Portfolio Caption.


What is a 
caption?
 A caption an explanation for a document or artifact of classroom practice that you've included in your portfolio.  It explains the document and establishes the meaning of the document to you, the collector.  It informs the reader what the document is, how it came to be, why it is included in the portfolio, and why it is important to you to include in the portfolio.
Comments
What does a caption
look like?
A caption can be typed on a sheet of paper that precedes an entry.
 
 

A caption can be attached to an entry.
 
 

A caption can be several statements that are layered (cut and pasted) on an entry that explain the entry in a variety of ways.

A caption doesn't have to be lengthy.  The essential point is that they proved a connection between the portfolio, the document, and your thinking.  A good caption means the reader won't have to decide why the artifact is in the portfolio.  A good caption explains how the artifact connects to the theme of the portfolio and to your thinking as the creator of the portfolio.



 

Essential Criteria 
for an effective portfolio caption.

 
Essential Criteria 
answer the question...
Example
Identification
What is the artifact ?
This is a picture of six active girls in a complex instruction learning activity making a chart on wind chill factors.
Origin
Where was it produced, how was it produced, 
by whom was it produced ?
They are working to calculate wind chill factors they learned about in Julie of the Wolves and our science class. We'd read this story during the theme unit on "Northern Regions."
Location
How does the artifact connect to, illustrate or illumintate 
the portfolio section in which it occurs ?
The picture shows terrific ownership and that's the subtheme of this portion of the portfolio.  They children had to work out the wind chill information from a resource card and the group goal gave them a huge sense of ownership in the task.
Meaning
Why is this artifact important to you?  What does it mean?
What does it show about the teaching and learning process ?
[This is where you show  your professional knowledge.]
The picture shows several important things to me.  First, the group goal meant that all had to collaborate. Second, it shows I was able to integrate science and literature with this assignment.  Third, it illustrates my delegation of authority as Cohen talks about in her work on Complex Instruction; and fourth, the photo makes it clear that girls can be important contributors to scientific work.