RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
slide on the left explains some of the
duties and expectations of an RTF, and
the second slide explains the connection
of those duties/skills to my career
(Muckell, 2018).
Another unique assignment of the class
was an opportunity we had to interview
an experienced mentor in our field. I was
paired up with an 7th grade English
teacher, and her interview shed some
light on some of the mysteries of
teaching and specific questions I had.
She'll continue to be a resource for the
years to come.
In a very appropriate culminating
experience, we students were
encouraged to share our finished
ePortfolios with other students and
faculty at the College. By focusing on a
few aspects to highlight at the showcase,
I was able to practise presenting myself
and selecting strong material that would
best represent me in a positive way. In
fact, the skills used for this showcase
proved very similar to the interview
process, and I continue to present myself
professionally today. My ePortfolio is now
prominent on my LinkedIn page, meant
to present viewers with a cohesive
picture of my goals, passions, interests,
and experience.
Of the many advantages to this
ePortfolio, here are the most important,
from my perspective:
• An additional resource for employers
to see on LinkedIn
• An opportunity for purposeful and
directed reflection
• A new perspective on my entire
college experience (and immense
gratitude!)
• Practice identifying and discussing my
beliefs, strengths, areas for
improvement, leadership skills,
pedagogy—just like in an interview
• A living example of my work ethic and
determination, filled with writing
samples, self-reflection,
extracurriculars, and more
• My attention directed to the future,
thus preparing for life after college
To think a little more specifically about
other aspects of this class, it was set up
in a way that made creating a strong
ePortfolio very possible. Each week we
had a section of a working portfolio to
focus on, be it to think about the liberal
arts, our professional skills, our goals for
the future, etc. As such, each and every
assignment was relevant to my life and
future career, because the class allowed
each student to have an experience that
was conducive to his/her needs. We had
peer partners in the class; my partner
would comment on my work and give me
suggestions, and I would do the same.
Professor Hannum spent a lot of
individualized time writing comments on
each section of our portfolios. After
revisions, we carefully selected areas of
our working portfolios to include in our
Professional ePortfolios, which would be
open to the public. All of this, together,
culminated in the showcase, which gave
us students an immediate pay-off: we
were able to show our work to others,
and, even more importantly, have a
finished product that could be used
outside of Manhattanville. Indeed, I have
come to see my completed professional
ePortfolio as one of my most noteworthy
achievements in college, as is shown in
Figure 2.”
75