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Conference Review Two: Digital Portfolios
The "Reading and Writing in a Decade of Standards" conference on Digital Portfolios began with a presentation advocating for the use of portfolios in K-12 language arts classrooms. Afterword, there were three presentations that demonstrated examples of how digital portfolios are actually used in elementary and secondary classrooms. Erin Klein talked about ways she incorporated digital media into her English curriculum for her elementary students. She talked about how she had her students create Schoology profiles, and had them use Storybird to create stories with illustrations. Dawn Richberg talked about how Skyline High School in Ann Arbor uses Google Docs to see both students' revision history on a particular piece and their writing process throughout high school. The last presentation gave an example of how Wikis can be used as both a class and individual portfolio.

Overall, I thought that this conference was very informative and applicable. I believe that portfolios are an excellent way for both teacher and student to monitor student growth and foster a growth mindset. The digital resources that were demonstrated in the presentations can be used in a variety of classrooms, not just language arts. In an increasingly digital world, I believe that it is vitally important for educator to not only be aware of the plethora of resources available, but to know how to use them and implement them in their classrooms as well. I can definitely see myself using some of the resources that were demonstrated in my own classroom as well.