Blog Post #15 - Using Live Binders for Teaching and Learning

                Social Bookmarking is an interesting trend being utilized in some classrooms.  There are several sites that offer this tool for engaging students in the classroom with social media, but the one that stands out is Live Binders.  One of the most challenging phenomenons for students is organization.  Staying organized saves time, reduces stress, and allows for a sense of preparedness for assignments.  “Social bookmarking simplifies the distribution of reference lists, bibliographies, papers, and other resources among students,” states Mike Forder in the article, “5 Ways to Use Social Bookmarking in the Classroom.”  The importance of teachers and students having what is most valuable to them in one place is essential to learning.   The majority of teachers feel that the process is too time consuming to set up and they are scared off by the word “social,” but some educators who utilize the tagging system in Live Binders find it very user friendly.

                I sat down with our tech teacher, Mrs. Valerio, and asked her viewpoint on Live Binders.  She has her masters in technology and she had never heard of it.  She is very familiar with Delicious though and uses it in her lessons for the junior class.  She does a project in her classroom where the students must develop a digital notebook filled with the elements involved in starting a small business.  The students are given all semester to devise, develop, analyze, and forecast the startup of their own business.  There are pages with tabs, subtabs, line items, data graphs, and research items for their business.  They may work with a partner or alone.  Some of the students truly soar when it comes to being entrepreneurs, while others think it is too hard.  Mrs. Valerio has done it for the past several years and one of her previous students actually used the format and plans learned in her class to open up a coffee shop in Dallas, Texas. 

                Being a third grade teacher for 15 years and having Show and Tell in my classroom every Friday brought up the idea of using Live Binders for Habitat projects in science.  The students do research on their own and in the computer lab at school.  Part of the research involves finding websites and links to pertinent information before the student writes their research paper and presents orally; therefore, being able to share links with other classmates would be beneficial.  The students could share links in Live Binders so that all of the students could review the facts for the entire year.  Instead of forgetting about the information in the presentation, they could have it at their fingertips to recall and remember for a later time. 

                Our college prep teacher could utilize Live Binders in his classroom as well.  Being able to grab data and information on a certain topic concerning college and transfer it to a digital binder would be helpful.  Becoming paperless and not having to look for that notebook would be time saving and beneficial in the college readiness process.   Mr. Snyder could give the students a topic and allow them twenty minutes to find as much as they could on a particular university, a procedure, an application process, or financial aid.  When they find information they could tag it with their last name attached and share it with the entire class.  This would be an excellent way to engage the students in the process of collaboration. 

                In closing, any new strategy or procedure is going to require effort on the role of the teacher and student.  Delving in and being willing to implement 21^st century ideas in the classroom will be challenging, but the end result may be very worthwhile for all parties represented in the process.

This is my project for LiveBinder.  It is a reference notebook for teachers to integrate essential skills within the classroom.  My intent is for all teachers to recognize the importance of manners and life skills modeled for a student's success in the classroom and beyond.