Grade 11 • Lesson 32 of 44
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Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 11 • Unit F: PBAT & Portfolio

What Is a PBAT? Understanding the Presentation Format

Today's focus: What Is a PBAT? Understanding the Presentation Format

⚠️ Heads-Up: What is a PBAT?

A Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT) is a formal presentation and portfolio defense given to a panel of teachers (and often an outside evaluator), used in place of or alongside a Regents exam at performance-based schools. Start building toward it now -- don't wait until the spring.

✅ Before Students Arrive

📓 Daily Notebook Routine (students already know this)

Keep this going every day, in your class notebook: date today's entry, jot your Do Now response, add any new vocabulary word(s) from today's Key Vocabulary section (word + a quick picture + a simple definition in your own words), and take 60 seconds to sketch something connected to today's topic. This notebook is yours to study from, reference on projects, and pull evidence from later for your portfolio.

📁 Portfolio Update Reminder

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), add your best finished or in-progress work to a running portfolio folder with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what skill or standard it shows. This becomes your formal Google Sites portfolio in Unit F -- keep it current all year so you're not scrambling right before your PBAT and portfolio review.

🗣️ Opening: Do Now

Write or project this, and have students start immediately:

“If you had 5 minutes to prove to a room of teachers that you improved as a designer this year, what real piece of work would you show first?”

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

  1. Step 1 — 15 min

    🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.

    📋 Mini-lesson: what a PBAT is, why it exists, and what a strong one looks like (specific evidence, not vague summaries) (15 min).

  2. Step 2 — 10 min

    🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.

    📋 Model: walk through a strong vs. weak sample claim ("I got better at design" vs. "my Logo Design critique feedback pushed me to simplify my icon, which taught me that legibility matters more than detail") (10 min).

  3. Step 3 — 15 min

    🗣️ Say: "Now it's your turn -- work on your own (or with your table) on the following."

    📋 Independent start: students begin a personal PBAT outline, listing 3-4 pieces of work from this year they might use as evidence (15 min).

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

PBAT
A Performance-Based Assessment Task -- a formal presentation and portfolio defense given to a panel, used at performance-based schools in place of (or alongside) some standardized exams.
Panel
The group of teachers/evaluators who watch a PBAT presentation and ask follow-up questions.
Evidence
Specific, real work samples used to support a claim about what you learned.

✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket

A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."

“Name one specific piece of work from this year you're confident you could defend in front of a panel, and why.”

Collect exit tickets (or have students leave them in the usual spot) for the regular teacher to review.

⏳ If You're Short on Time

Protect the Do Now and the Exit Ticket above all else -- those are how the regular teacher tracks daily progress. If a step above is optional/homework, or is a "share out"/discussion step, shorten or skip it first.

⏳ If Students Finish Early

Have them keep working in their notebook: add extra detail to today's vocabulary sketch, review previous vocabulary, or -- if this is a portfolio update week for this class -- work on their portfolio. Early finishers should never be idle or distracting to classmates still working.

📝 For the Regular Teacher (fill in ahead of time)