Every teacher, from the newly licensed to those with years of experience, should have a teaching portfolio. It summarizes your career and achievements in ways that go far beyond a resume. But this valuable tool isn’t just for those who are actively job-searching. Here’s why and how to create and maintain your own teaching portfolio, plus lots of helpful real-life examples for inspiration.

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What is a teaching portfolio?

A teaching portfolio is a tool that highlights your strengths as an educational professional. It can be a binder of paper-based materials, neatly organized and presented. Or, as is increasingly more popular these days, it can be digital, including videos and other multimedia elements. Most teachers use portfolios when they’re interviewing for a new position as a way to demonstrate their abilities and achievements.

As with any tool, teaching portfolios work best when you use them properly. When you bring a portfolio to an interview, be prepared to use it to help answer questions by providing examples of your experience and teaching philosophy. Your interviewer probably won’t go through the whole portfolio page by page, but it makes an excellent visual aid to support your candidacy.

Why should you create a teaching portfolio?

If you’re actively searching for a new job, you probably already have a portfolio on hand. You can take it with you to interviews to show real examples of yourself in action—lesson plans, pictures and video, notes from kids and parents, and more. These can all help potential employers get a more thorough picture of you as a candidate.

But even teachers who aren’t currently job-searching should keep their teaching portfolio up-to-date. By documenting your professional development, you can show you’ve met the criteria for a promotion or other opportunity for advancement. Plus, it pays to be prepared. Creating and updating a teaching portfolio takes time, and it’s much easier to add to yours a little bit at a time than to build a brand-new one from scratch if you’re suddenly facing the job market again.

More than that, though, updating a portfolio gives you a chance to reflect on your achievements and identify opportunities for improvement. You get a chance to look over your entire journey as an educational professional and celebrate your successes. This can be a real benefit during those times when being an educator is a little more challenging than you bargained for.

What should a strong teaching portfolio include?

Every teaching portfolio is different. The goal is to show your experience from many angles and highlight your achievements. Try to include quality real-life examples to prove the points you want to make about yourself as an educator. Here are some common elements to consider:

Philosophy of Education

Each teacher should give some thought to the question “What is your teaching philosophy?” Include it at the beginning of your portfolio, and ensure the examples you provide throughout support that philosophy. See 40 Philosophy of Education examples here to get you started.

Career Summary

This is similar to a resume but can provide much more detail. This is the place to show the subjects, grades, and ages you’ve taught, with lists of topics and material you covered. Be sure to highlight any courses you built from scratch, plus any significant professional development you’ve completed.

Teaching Samples and Documentation

This is really the bulk of your teaching portfolio, where you provide the evidence that supports your knowledge and experience. Here’s the place to include a few particularly strong lesson plan examples and samples of materials like worksheets you personally created. For digital portfolios, include a few well-chosen videos of you in action in the classroom too.

You may also want to include your behavior management plan, as well as information about how you support diversity, equity, and inclusion in your classroom. Add pictures of your previous classroom setups, showing how students interact with one another and with you. All of this paints a clearer picture of what principals or colleagues can expect from you as a teacher.

Student Work

While you don’t want to stuff your portfolio full of endless student projects and materials, you should choose some representative samples that you’re particularly proud of. Include some work that shows how you provide feedback to help students improve, such as proposed edits on essay drafts or notes on incorrect answers.

Assessments and Communications

Provide examples of your favorite types of assessment; include any rubrics you’ve personally created or unique methods you use to assess student progress. Interviewers will also want to know how you approach communication with parents and families, so add samples of classroom newsletters, memos, or other methods you’ve used in the past.

Testimonials and Recommendations

This section is the place for positive communications like thank-you notes from parents and students, as well as statements from colleagues or supervisors about your achievements. Include student evaluations, as well as any documentation you have showing student progress under your instruction.

Professional Achievements

Have you published articles in a journal or written a textbook? Do you have a thriving Teachers Pay Teachers store or a blog with thousands of followers? Show off your influence in this section of your portfolio. Plus, list any awards, honors, speaking engagements, committees, and other ways you’ve been recognized for excellence.

Digital vs. Print Teaching Portfolios

In the past, teachers generally kept their portfolios in neatly organized binders. Today, more and more teachers are opting for digital teaching portfolios instead. Both formats are in common use, so the choice is up to you. To decide which is right for you, consider the types of materials you want to include in your portfolio, how you’ll use it, and how frequently you plan to update it. Here’s a comparison of the two.

Print Portfolio

What it is: A binder with printed copies of each section, including photos and samples of student work. You can assemble the binder yourself or work with a print shop to ensure a professional appearance.

Best for: In-person interviews where you can use your portfolio to provide examples as you answer common interview questions.

Advantages:

• Tangible and easy for interviewers to flip through during an interview
• No need to rely on internet access or devices for access any time
• No special tech skills needed to create
• Older principals and other interviewers may expect and/or prefer a print version of your portfolio

Disadvantages:

• Can be time-consuming and costly to assemble and organize
• Harder to update, since you’ll need to print new pages each time
• Limited to text and images as opposed to videos or interactive elements
• Not easily sharable for virtual interviews or hiring teams who want to review materials in advance

Digital Portfolio

What it is: A website, blog, slide deck, or PDF that is easy to share via a link. Has the same sections and information as a print portfolio but can also include multimedia materials like videos. Can be hosted on sites like Google Sites, Wix, or WordPress.

Best for: Virtual interviews and online sharing and those who want to include multimedia videos or other teaching examples.

Advantages:

• Easy to update and reorganize as needed
• Simple to share with interviewers, principals, or families
• Allows you to include videos, photo slideshows, and links to other supporting materials
• Demonstrates comfort with technology and digital communication

Disadvantages:

• Requires some comfort with technology to build and maintain
• Only viewable with a device or internet access, which may not always be available
• If your portfolio is published publicly, you’ll need to adhere strictly to privacy laws
• Can feel less tangible and personal than a print portfolio

How To Choose Materials and Organize Your Teaching Portfolio

When you start putting together your teaching portfolio, keep in mind that the goal is to provide evidence of your teaching experience from a wide range of sources. As you gather and organize material for your portfolio, you’ll get a better sense of what you want to include. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Choosing Materials

• Be selective: Spend time thinking about what’s most important to you as a teacher, and look for examples that demonstrate those skills and values.
• Show variety: Include materials that show the many aspects of your teaching. Include a mix of lesson plans, assessments, student work, reflections, communications, and more.
• Demonstrate impact: The best portfolio materials show the impact you’ve had on student achievement, growth, or engagement.
• Be honest: Don’t exaggerate your experience or qualifications. You don’t need to look perfect! Your portfolio should be an accurate and fair representation of your teaching career. Tell the world all about your successes, but don’t omit the losses. Instead, focus on how you’ve learned from negative experiences.

Organizing Your Portfolio

Your teaching portfolio should have a clear structure that makes it easy for readers to find what they want to review. Use a table of contents page and colored tabs for a printed portfolio, presented in an attractive, professional binder.

Online, use menu options that are easy to navigate, with separate pages for the various sections of your portfolio. Ensure all digital links work properly and images load quickly. If your digital portfolio is a PDF of a printable document, use version numbers and dates in the file names so you always know you’re using the most up-to-date version.

Teaching Portfolio Privacy and Permissions

In the United States, student education records are protected by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Students and families have the right to keep students’ information, including test scores, grades, disciplinary records, and other identifying information, private.

That means that when you’re assembling your portfolio, you’ll need to be sure to anonymize any identifying info by blurring or blacking it out. If you’re including photos of students that clearly show their faces, ask for written permission from their parents or guardians. This is especially important if your portfolio is digital and available online to the public.

Teaching Portfolio Examples

Still not sure how to start, or looking for new ideas? Check out these top-notch teaching portfolio examples from real educators. Each has its own style and reflects the personality of its creator. You’re sure to find some inspiration!

Personal Website Portfolio

This digital portfolio has a clean presentation with simple navigation. The professional appearance really helps to sell this person as a potential hire. With strong examples, lesson plan samples, and videos, this teacher presents herself in the best possible light.

Learn more: Gretchen Seibel

Google Sites Portfolio

Digital portfolios should be well organized and make it easy for people to learn more about you. Share the link on your resume or cover letter, and bring a tablet or laptop with you to interviews so you can show it off there too. Primary Paradise has tons of great tips for creating a quality portfolio using Google Sites, a free and easy hosting option.

Learn more: Primary Paradise

Digital Professional Teaching Portfolio

This digital portfolio example includes an array of subjects, helping to show this teacher’s diverse experience. Lots of quality images help illustrate her achievements.

Learn more: Megan Carnaghi

Print Student-Teacher Portfolio

In this video, a teacher who was newly hired into her first role shows off the portfolio that landed her the job. If you’re just finishing up your student-teaching experience, this example is for you.

Learn more: Hello Middle School via YouTube

Digital Student-Teacher Portfolio

Check out this example of a digital portfolio for a student teacher looking for their first job. This example highlights a teaching philosophy, student work, classroom management, reference letters, and more.

Learn more: Cassandra Burke Teaching Portfolio

Substitute Teacher Portfolio

Not looking for a full-time position? Or are you looking to transition from part-time to something more permanent? This teaching portfolio created by Sarah Cheesman might be perfect for you! Not only does it cover substitute teaching work, it highlights other related professional experience as well.

Learn more: Sarah Cheesman

Hybrid Teaching Portfolio

This traditional-style portfolio has been digitized into a PDF, so it can be accessed from anywhere. It’s extremely comprehensive, with lots of valuable information for potential hiring schools to consider.

Learn more: Holly Factora’s Teaching Portfolio

World Language Teacher Portfolio

If you teach a world language or specialty class, this example may be more helpful to you. This Spanish teacher included comments from students and information on engaging class activities.

Learn more: Tyson Hazard, Spanish Instructor

Portfolio Update

In this YouTube video, a third-year teacher reviews what she included in her portfolio when she was searching for her first job. You get tips on revisiting and updating your teaching portfolio throughout the video.

Learn more: Mrs. Katie in Elementary via YouTube

Experienced Teacher Portfolio

In this video, a teacher with several years of experience shows off her detailed portfolio. An awesome feature in this portfolio is the use of a QR code to link to a digital website or portfolio!

Learn more: Busy With Mrs. Barron via YouTube

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Looking for more? Here’s How To Become a Teacher, From Choosing a College to Landing a Job.