CV?? Portfolio??

[michiruwater]

I will be student teaching next semester. I am an instrumental music education major.

I am meeting for an interview with my cooperating teacher tomorrow. Yesterday, he e-mailed me to let me know that he expected to see my Resume/Portfolio/CV.

My Band Methods teacher has not gotten around to covering those items yet, and was surprised that my cooperating teacher would want to see them. I have my resume done, so I am not worried about that. However, I have no clue what a music education student, with no real experience in the field aside from within college (section leader in University marching band, Uniforms Manager/Librarian for one year, things like that) would put on a CV.

Basically, what would a cooperating teacher expect to see on a CV from a college student?? I have NO IDEA what to do for the CV at all, and while my methods teacher gave me ideas for the portfolio she ignored everything about the vitae and has not answered my subsequent e-mail yet.

I have the basic materials for assembling my portfolio. I have very little money in my account, as I did not budget for this. I will have some tomorrow, but do not know if I will have time. I ran out and bought a very cheap, plastic, black portfolio to put it in - this one. I have no idea how to organize it. I wanted plastic sleeves but honestly don't have enough to buy them right now. Should I have a table of contents? Should my resume and vitae be in the portfolio??

Thanks for any help. I feel totally overwhelmed with this.

[PrincessLeppard]

I always figured a CV and resume were essentially interchangeable, and I have never been asked for a CV.

Also, no one has ever asked to see my portfolio, but I think it's organized something like this: teaching certificate, transcripts, letters of recommendation, evaluations, lesson plan samples, student work samples, and letters from students. I understand you won't have all those yet, but I would put in what I can.

[michiruwater]

I keep reading that CVs and resumes are interchangeable, which is why I'm confused. He did say, "bring your resume, and portfolio/vitae." If I don't bring the vitae, will that screw me?? The point of the interview is supposed to be to determine if the cooperating teacher and potential student teacher are compatible and will work well with each other.

These are what I have in my portfolio:

-Resume
-Philosophy of Music
-Two lesson plans, one on Beethoven and one I did for my Concepts in Sexuality Education class, which is not music-related but which I feel was well-done
-A project on selection high-quality music repertoire
-A paper written on how best to have a diverse and democratic classroom
-My senior clarinet recital program, as well as a separate program for a generic clarinet studio recital, and hopefully one for the Early Music Concert I am playing organ in on Friday if my studio professor can get it to me
-A thank-you card from my Associate Band Director at EMU, for all my hard work as Uniforms Manager, and my shingle from Mu Phi Epsilon, the Professional Music Society
-Two examples of posters I have designed for the EMU Wind Symphony Concerts, which my director recommended I put in there as examples of things I can do that will benefit a program but which aren't directly music-related

The only transcript I would be able to put in there would be an unofficial one printed from the web page, which includes lots of random, inconsequential stuff and will be about 12 pages long. Is that a good idea, or should I just skip it for now?

[PrincessLeppard]

I would skip the transcript until you have the official one. I think your portfolio sounds good--I think I also have my 30 page philosophy of education paper in there.

Maybe he thinks of the portfolio as your CV? I would just present what you have and if he asks about a CV, perhaps at that point ask what sort of information he's looking for that you haven't presented.

We were just assigned a cooperating teacher.

[numbers123]

These are definitions from the University of Missouri's graduate school page:

A bit about terms: A resume is a one to two page document that summarizes one's academic progress, work experience, skills and related achievements. Resumes are used by job seekers in business, industry, government, and the nonprofit sector.

For job seekers in education, particularly those in higher education, a curriculum vitae or CV is needed. A CV has a multiple pages that documents one's academic preparation, positions held, courses taught, publications, presentations, and service activities.

A portfolio (either hard copy or electronic) contains multiple documents and examples of one's work. Depending on the discipline, the contents of a portfolio will vary. An educator, for example, will include a resume, syllabi, learning materials, and a philosophy of teaching statement. An artist, photographer or poet will includes representative samples of work.

Hope this helps?

It varies based upon your discipline or profession. In healthcare, my resume would be what I would submit to an HR department when seeking a job. Usually consists of job experience and education. A CV would include any presentations and publications that I had done and would be used when submitting to professional organizations, guest speaker or presenter at conferences or articles for publication. A portfolio for me would include any work experiences, practice hours, educational activities (including continuing education).

[PrincessLeppard]

Who knew? My resume is a CV. Awesome.

[michiruwater]

At this point I don't have any syllabi, courses taught, educational positions held, publications, etc., for obvious reasons, so the CV seems really silly. I'll double check with my Methods Professor tomorrow, but as she didn't mention it, I assume she would agree.

Thank you for your help. One last question - should I have a table of contents in the portfolio?

[PrincessLeppard]

I do. But again, no one has ever looked at it, so I don't know how helpful it is.

[Aceon6]

For what it's worth, I don't think of someone as having material for a CV until they've been published and/or have held paid positions in academia.

[michiruwater]

My meeting with my cooperating teacher went very well Thanks everyone. I really appreciated the feedback.

[numbers123]