* Organize your work in sections. Tab and label each section.

* Review each section. Find one or two pieces of work that you want to emphasize. Tab and label them separately.

* Write a paragraph about each section. (Details below.) Once you write these paragraphs, your self-eval will be relatively easy.

Make a table of contents and a cover page summarizing what's included, and why.
Include two copies of your self-evaluation.
Include the evals you wrote for your teammates and the evals they wrote for you (if possible).

* Write a paragraph for each section of your portfolio. It should be the first thing your reader sees when they turn to that section.  Discuss:

* What is included? What does it demonstrate about your learning, specifically? Discuss the one or two pieces you tabbed and show how they give evidence of the claims you make about your learning.

* Then combine the paragraphs and you have a first draft of your self-evaluation.

Please spell-check and proofread carefully! You want your self-eval to represent you fairly and well. Have your class teammates and APEL proofread your self-eval, then edit it again. Sleep on it before you polish it with one more edit. 

Put two copies of your self-eval in your portfolio, right in front. These need not be on the official form! One is for you to keep, and the other the prof will keep. After your eval conference (where your prof might suggest changes), put your final eval on the official form (available in the computer centers) and give a copy to the program secretary for inclusion in your official record.

You should be able to refer to your portfolio years from now and get a clear recollection of the most important aspects of your learning this quarter. A stranger (for example, a grad school admissions officer or a potential employer) should be able to browse your portfolio and, from your presentation of your 
material, get a clear picture of the most important aspects of your learning. You can show it to friends trying to figure out how to do their portfolios next year, or 
show it to your kids when they're in college. Look at peers' portfolios for ideas about your own, and have your triad partners review yours. It should be CLEAR and MEANINGFUL.
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Two common approaches are developmental and representational portfolios. In a representational portfolio, you might emphasize select pieces of work that fairly represent the overall quality of your work this quarter. These pieces would be independently tabbed, and would be explicitly referenced in your cover paragraph for the appropriate section. Their significance in the context of that section and of the overall program would be made clear to the reader.

In a developmental portfolio, you might contrast weaker earlier work with stronger later work to show how your understanding has grown. For example, you could rewrite a weak paper and then write a brief discussion of how you improved your initial work. Concreteness strengthens your portfolio and helps your reader focus. If you say you have an especially good understanding of the role of complementarity in human efforts to make meaning, for example, illustrate your conceptual understanding with a concrete case from your own experience, and explain it in your own words.