TechBoston Academy- 2008/09 Senior Portfolio Requirements
In order to graduate from TechBoston Academy, the school requires that you create & present a complete portfolio in the form of a web site. The purpose of this portfolio web site is to showcase your greatest academic & technological achievements at TBA, summarize your plans as you leave high school, display your preparation to meet the demands of those plans; and to asses your ability to reflect upon both the successes and the challenges of your time at TechBoston Academy.
Portfolio Stage 1: The Site Content
As well as acting as an exhibition of your graphic and web design skills, your portfolio also acts as a showcase of your academic and social growth during your time at TechBoston.
To do this successfully, your portfolio must RECORD EVIDENCE OF COMPLETION of the following graduation requirements:
- Select a song to deconstruct, and relate the songs meaning to the legacy you leave for the freshmen. Include artist name, song, lyrics, album release date, album art, and MP3
- 3 paragraph writing assignment on selected song. 3 paragraph writing assignment on selected song.
- Introduce the overall meaning or message of your selected song and describe the message’s importance to you personally.
- Look at song in-depth. Must include at least two quotes from song lyrics (for instrumentals, must refer to specific times in composition, and describe content). Using quotes is like having evidence for your argument. With this said, select your quotes wisely in order to reveal the songs meaning and how it relates to the legacy you want to leave. Also, students should include what the artist might have intended to convey with the song.
3. Connect to TechBoston Academy. Clarify why the meaning or message of the song relates to TechBoston Academy, and why this is important to address to first year students.
- 100 hours of community service learning
- A professional, up-to–date, & correctly formatted resume that contains your work experience, academic background and achievements, and both academic and personal references.
- 1 completed project for each subject (you must answer the following questions on each piece)
What exactly were you asked to do for this assignment? Describe the assignment, and explain which grade level you completed it in.
Why do you think this is your best work in this subject?
In which of your subjects did you improve the most? Explain why you think that was the case!
- An example of your best interdisciplinary project
Explain & discuss the meaning and importance of the theme of the project. Describe what specifically you had to do for each class, and in what ways it related to the overarching theme.
- A 2-page written personal reflection looking back over your 4 years at TBA, and discussing the transformations you have undergone since you arrived here (academic, physical, emotional, intellectual, social…)
In addition to the written reflection, you should further express this personal growth through any medium that you choose (animation, drawing, song, speech, video, imagery, poetry, etc.)
- A 1-page outlook outlining what your immediate future holds for you (the next 2-3 years)
What are your plans after high school? What are your goals for the future? How has TechBoston Academy helped prepare you to face that future?
Looking back at the technology skills you have learned at TBA over the years, write no less than one page, in which you fully address and answer the following questions: (you may choose more than 1 skill for each question):
1. I think I am strongest at __________________________ because
___________________. (Explain)
2. I think I will use _______________________ after high school because
__________________________. (Explain)
3. I think being able to ___________________________ on a computer is
important because _________________________________. (Explain)
4. I am now certified in __________________ and __________________.
List of possible technology skills to choose from:
- Creating a web site
- Creating an original image
- Animating an idea
- Recording and editing sound
- Using a digital camera
- Using a video camera
- Creating a movie: (storyboarding, filming, directing, acting, and/or editing)
- Designing a presentation
- Writing and editing an essay
- Creating a publication
- Organizing, analyzing, and manipulating data
- Creating and outlining a graphic organizer
- Searching and citing sources online
- Organizing files and folders on the desktop
- Practicing online safety and netiquette
Portfolio Stage 2: The Website
Your website will act as a permanent record of the time that you spent at TBA, and will form a large part of what you leave behind when you move on to the next phase of your lives.
Your website must be of the highest quality, and must include:
- A HOME PAGE that introduces yourself and explains the purpose of the site
- 1 web page for EACH content requirement (7 pages minimum)
- The web site must contain at least one original element created in each of the major graphics applications that you have learned at TBA (Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator) and must be assembled in Dreamweaver.
- At least 1 image of yourself
All media must be original (NO images straight off the web, except for album art- deconstruct a song)
Your fully functional portfolio must reside on your laptop for the presentation (not the network!) and you must also burn, label and submit a copy on DVD to the academic panel prior to your presentation.
Portfolio Stage 3: The Presentation
***All students MUST present and defend their final portfolios to an academic panel made up of TBA faculty & staff in order to be considered eligible to graduate***
Senior Portfolio Presentations will take place on Wednesday, May 27th
All students will both dress and conduct themselves in a respectable and professional way.
Students will present for between 10 and 15 minutes
Students will be prepared to answer questions from the panel that may include:
Using your portfolio, show evidence of your academic growth as a student of the TechBoston Academy community from 9th through 12th grade.
1. Show your interdisciplinary project
2. Show ONE of your subject projects
How have you contributed to the betterment of the TBA community?
1. Use your resume and community service examples
Which technology skill(s) are you strongest at
and how do you think you will use technology in the immediate future?
1. Show an example from two different software applications
Why do you think you deserve to graduate from TechBoston Academy?
1. Briefly summarize and discuss your personal growth at TBA
2. Show your expression through your chosen medium
What are your immediate plans after high school?
1. Summarize your 1 page reflection
What challenges do you feel you will face as you leave TBA and begin the next phase of your live?
1. In what ways do you feel that TBA has prepared you to meet those challenges? (Be specific please)
