Catalyst

Professional E-portfolio for Language Educators

Levels: Elementary school, middle school, high school, university
Languages: Any
Cost: Free of charge

E-portfolios aren’t just for students, and they’re not the only ones who benefit from reflective practice. We as educators can benefit, too. Research shows that reflective practice facilitates a growth mindset. Those who believe they can develop their intelligence outperform those who believe intelligence is fixed.

We’ve been providing e-portfolios for students since 2008. In partnership with Professionals in Education Advancing Research and Language Learning (PEARLL), we’re now developing a professional e-portfolio called Catalyst for world language educators.

Catalyst allows world language educators to:

Set professional goals
Identify their strengths
Upload work samples and reflections to document ongoing growth
Compare their current practices to the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) framework, a research-based set of characteristics and behaviors that model world language teachers exhibit
Connect to professional learning resources, including small group peer-to-peer mentoring
Create and participate in professional groups

With Catalyst, educators of all levels can connect with others to engage in meaningful collaboration and receive feedback on teaching practices. Workshop facilitators, department heads, and other professional mentors can encourage and support professional growth toward shared goals. Synchronous mentoring allows for real-time feedback.