The following are a few ideas adapted from the SUNY Teaching and Learning center, that may help you prepare for the Spring semester, and/or update your teaching portfolio:
Keep a copy of your syllabus and each assignment you design
Your teaching portfolio may include a range of syllabi and assignments you’ve designed. Make sure you keep a copy of syllabi, assignments, and assessments so that you have as many options as possible to choose from for your teaching portfolio. As the semester ends, you might make small notes about the genesis of a certain syllabus theme or assessment. These brief notes may prove useful later when you are asked to talk about your approach to teaching or ways you have developed as an instructor.
Is there an article?
Think about the larger impact of practices from your courses this semester. Did you try something new: a new assignment? A new classroom design? Reflect on your pedagogical practices and what new learning experiences they opened up. Is there something you want to write about and share with other instructors?
There are several journals geared toward articles about pedagogical practices, including the International Journal of Designs for Learning https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/ijdl/index
Think about revision
It’s possible that you might teach this course again or a course in which you’ll use similar activities or assignments. Even if you don’t think you’ll teach this course in the next semester, take a few minutes to think about what you want to keep, what you want to revise and keep, and what you want to toss totally when you teach the course again.
If you annotated your syllabus throughout the semester, then read through those notes and make a ‘to do’ list or a quick summary of them so that, when you return to planning, you have some guidelines for how to jump back in.
If you didn’t annotate your syllabus, take a few minutes to jot down a few notes about what readings, assignments, and so forth that you absolutely want to keep, or what new ideas you have that you want to try next time. Think about the feedback you received from students through both formal and informal evaluations. How can you incorporate this feedback into your next class?
A small pocket of time at the end of the semester can help you get ahead for the next semester.
Record of grades & attendance
Students may come to you a semester, a year, or even a couple of years after you’ve had them in your class. You’ll likely have engaged with dozens or hundreds of students since then, and the records you keep will be helpful in refreshing your memory.
Consider keeping any of the following that are not stored in Canvas:
any unreturned papers (such as final exams, final papers, etc)
your attendance records
course syllabus, grading policy documents, and all rubrics and assignments
student emails (you don’t need to print them, but perhaps keep them in a mailbox folder)
Sample Papers and Standout Examples
You might want to keep a few papers on hand as examples to share with a class or models that you can work through, critique or peer review with future students. Make sure you get each student’s permission and preference for name/no name on the paper. You might consider sending out an announcement or including on your syllabus that all work that is submitted can be used anonymously for “future educational purposes,” and asking that students who wish to be excluded from this policy email you. Additionally, if there are standout examples you might want to keep them for your teaching portfolio.
As always, please let me know if I can support you in any of the efforts mentioned above.