What is Portrait of a Graduate?

Portrait of a Graduate (POG) acknowledges that in our rapidly changing world, education needs to evolve to fulfill our mission of supporting student success in school and in life. It is our commitment to ensuring that all students have the skills to be successful in all aspects of life today and in the future. FCPS's new strategic plan uses POG as a set of measures for our students to reach the goals of academic growth and excellence along with leading tomorrow’s innovation. POG prioritizes the development of skills that will empower students to be productive citizens of a global community and successful in the workforce of the future. POG is broken down into five attributes:

• Communicator
• Collaborator
• Ethical and Global Citizen
• Creative and Critical Thinker
• Goal-directed and Resilient Individual.

Students at Great Falls use these skills throughout the school day, at home, and in the community through sports, hobbies, and other interests. As adults, they'll use them in their careers and relationships. Our goal is for students to learn to recognize when they're using the skills associated with these attributes and be able to articulate the ways in which they've growtn.

What is a Presentation of Learning?

POG Presentations of Learning (POG-POL) give every learner multiple opportunities throughout their academic career at FCPS to demonstrate growth in POG attributes. In these presentations, students reflect on their growth over time and present a cumulative summary of learning through:

• student-led conferences
• formal presentations
• or exhibitions of learning

No matter the format, the goal is for students to look at a portfolio of collected evidence from the beginning of a school year to the end and be able to speak to the ways in which they've grown over the year. It's a celebration of learning and achievement!

POG-POL at Great Falls Elementary

This year, we have chosen to focus on the attribute of Communicator schoolwide. All students will practice naming the skills a good communicator needs, noticing those skills in themselves and others, and identifying ways they can continue to improve. Students in kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades will end the year with a presentation of learning where they will reflect on the ways they've grown over the year by looking at collected work samples. Whether through oral, visual, or written communication, we know how important it is for our students to express themselves effectively now and for the rest of their lives! 

How Can You Help?

Ask questions that will help your student reflect on what they did in school. Instead of asking questions like, "What did you do today?", try asking:

• What did you share?
• What did you get better at?
• What new ideas did you come up with?
• Who did you work with?

These will lead to deeper answers where they talk about the skills that they use to learn. These are the types of questions that they will hear all year long and the ones upon which they'll reflect for their Presentation of Learning later in the spring.