Google sites is free for NYC public school educators and students! Just simply log into your Google school account and type in www.sites.google.com. Google sites can be published for others to see your work. If you are an aspiring educator, you can make a personal Google account and use the Google sites for free.
How do I use Google sites as an educator?
Well, I actually first used Google sites as my teaching portfolio to transfer schools. The main reason why I got an interview with the school I was hoping to transfer to was because the administrators liked my Google sites! I remembered they told me during my interview that my Google sites made me stood out as a special educator and my transfer immediately was signed after the interview ended. If you are a student teacher looking for a full-time teaching job or a teacher hoping to transfer schools, definitely use Google sites to make a huge impression on the admin!
What to include in a teachers portfolio on Google sites:
- Student artifacts in reading, writing, and math: You can use reading responses, pages from reading notebooks, published writing, on demand writings, and math projects. Make sure to cover your student’s name on all artifacts to maintain privacy.
- Licenses and certificates: List all teaching licenses and important certificates that you have at the moments. You can include certificates of trainings and professional development workshops.
- Lesson plans and/or curriculum maps that you’ve created/co-created. Make sure to include lesson plans/curriculum maps in all subjects if you are an elementary school teacher like me. For example, word study/phonics, reading, writing, math, science, social studies, arts, socio-emotional learning, and routines and behaviors.
- Charts: This includes student behavior charts, outstanding anchor charts, parent communication chart, etc.
- Letters of recommendations/references: Including this piece can make a huge difference, especially if the interviewer happens to know one of your references.
- Special projects: I know I personally love to do donorschoose projects to get things funded in my classroom. If you do any special projects outside of the school hours (running an afterschool club, doing relay for life, hosting multicultural events, etc.), make sure they are all included to make you stand out as a candidate.
- Teaching philosophy: Write a brief teaching philosophy statement so interviewers will know what you are passionate about as an educator. For all you know, the mission statement of the school you are applying for might actually aligns with your statement.
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