Blog post 15: Using LiveBinders for teaching and learning

I teach 5th and 6th grade Science at Culberson-County Allamoore ISD, this is my first year as a Science teacher and I taught 5th and 6th grade Math last year.  Binders is one of the things that I have my students use every year, and keeping them organized is a huge battle with my students.  I sometimes have them use tabs, but its' always confusing to them on what and in which order the tabs should go, plus they get very frustrated having to keep their papers in order and from falling out of their binder.  This is my first time using LiveBinders and I find it very interesting and useful, I still have a lot to learn about it, but from what I've seen and worked with so far it's very helpful and appears to be easy to use.  The three ideas I have to using LiveBinder in my classroom are as follows:

Idea One:

LiveBinders is a free link that my students and I can use, plus we can all work together and share information on lessons.  Using this link in class will help the students keep all their information in one place, save the students money and save me space in my classroom.  I will be able to provide students with homework and they can turn it in on LiveBinder.  

Idea Two:  

Students will be given group assignments in which they are going to be required to submit information in writing as well as include pictures and videos to assist them in the appearance and providing different type of technology.  Students are able to open their LiveBinder from the comfort of their home, which will them to work and even communicate with each other on their assignments.  I can have my students add pictures of themselves, things they like and places they would like to visit in their binder.  I would also like to see what interests them about Science, so I can have them include information on what they like about Science through pictures or videos.  

Third Idea:

Another idea I have is for students to have more than one binder, they can make a new binder for each TEKS unit that we cover every six weeks.  This will allow them to be able to go back to their specific binder to study for a semester or final test, easier access and they can share what they learned and help each other understand the information that was not quite familiar to them.  Science requires that we do labs, which I can have my students research labs that interest them and submit the in their LiveBinder to share with me and the class.  The best part about this is that they can include a video to model what they are trying to tell us with the lab, or they can even include pictures to demonstrate.