A Feature for a Teacher

We have a teacher who is using LiveBinders in her class with her lesson plans and websites projected up on the screen. She asked that we create a way to show a binder without all the information around the binder that might distract her 5th grade students. So we added a ‘full screen’ mode to LiveBinders. From the shelf, click on Options > Show Full Screen and the binder will open up without toolbars or binder information.

This feature is also useful for PR people using LiveBinders who want to present the media coverage to clients.

Go here to try it out.

Comments Added to LiveBinders

We have now added a comments feature to LiveBinders so that you can comment on binders in the same way that you would comment on a blog. You just press the comment button at the bottom of the binder. You must be logged in to leave comments.

LiveBinders Saves Time in the School Computer Lab

Ms. Kellogg also had another a great suggestion for using LiveBinders in the computer lab.

Step 1. Create a LiveBinder with the pre-approved sites for the school, something like this one:

Websites for Kids

Step 2. Drag this binder to the desktop of every computer in the computer lab.

The students then click on the binder to get to the websites. Anytime you add to or change the binder, the changes are automatically on everyone’s desktop!

You could even make separate binders for upper grades and lower grades if desired.

Thank you Ms. Kellogg for sharing your insights with us.

A Teacher’s Use of Binders

Ms. Kellogg has created a binder full of interesting sites for her 2nd grade students to explore over the summer. She put the binder up on her wonderful website. (When you look at her website, be sure to check out the great “how to” videos that her students created at the bottom of her site.)

Here is her binder:

Websites to Try this Summer

Easier Sharing and Twitter Added

We just added two easy ways to share a binder.  You can now email a binder to some one else while you are viewing that binder.  You can also easy tweet a binder from within the binder.

To see how this works, click on a binder to open it.  Then click on one of the share icons in the lower right – either email or twitter – and send it off.  You can try it out with this binder that Madelein created, a great collection of Power Point tutorials:

Powerpoint Tutorials

Sharing Private Binders

We just added a new way to easily share private binders.  If you want to keep your binder private, but still share it with several people, you can.  You just enter a pass key in the binder properties.  Then when you email the url to someone let them know the pass key.  They will be prompted for the pass key when they click on the url.  Once they type in the pass key, they will be able to view your binder.  They do not have to be a LiveBinders member to view your binder.  Please see our FAQ for more information on how to share private binders.

Thank you for all your input and please let us know what else we can do to make it easier for you to use and share binders.

Color in the Garden

I had a grand plan for a bright, white spring in my garden.  I envisioned the existing white tulips, snow drops,  and daffodils interspersed with fragrant white freesias – all peaking their heads over a blanket of white Santa Barbara daisies.

I thought all of this would tie in beautifully with the pale pick roses, clematis, fuchsia,  and penstemon that would start blooming a little later.

But my garden loves surprises. – the first of which was that I  had forgotten that many of the daffodils that I planted two years ago were marked incorrectly and were yellow instead of white.

But the biggest surprise was that about half of the hundred white freesia that I planted were not white at all.  They were a bright red with a yellow throat. My small garden was filled with passionate red and yellow color – that I just love!

I expect the red and yellow will have disappeared by the time that all the pale pinks start their blooms, so I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.

Red Freesia

If you need help figuring out how to bring color into your garden, I have found some fabulous sites.  Click on the binder below to see my collection of sites that help you select color for your garden:

Color in the Garden

Better Spelling Tips

Sometimes it just takes a little guidance to help a poor speller become a great speller.  In this livebinder are a few really good websites that break down spelling tips in a way that can help a young child develop good spelling habits.  This is not only useful for your 2nd grader, but your 5th grader, as well.  There is even an online free interactive game that your kids can play that will help them practice random spelling.  The game is located in the last tab of the binder below.

Click on this link to open the binder.

Become a Better Speller

6th grade algebra and other middle school math problems

We continue to get interest in our math binders – must be that time of year.  For those middle schoolers who are tackling algebra – here is a great collection of websites with algebra and other middle school math worksheets to print out and practice at home.

Just click on the binder link below and then click on the tabs in the binder to view the different websites.

6th grade algebra

4th,5th and 6th grade Math Word Problems

It’s parent/teacher conference time and if you are like many parents, you are probably working on certain math skills with your kids. We had a very good response to our 3rd grade math word problems binder and have a few more math word worksheet binders for the 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

Inside each binder is a little summary about the skills the kids should be developing at that grade level. To view the different worksheets, just click at the top of the binder to see the corresponding tabs. Click on the tabs to view the websites with the printable worksheets. Some of the tabs even contain websites that let kids answer questions directly online.

To open a binder just click on the link or image below – Enjoy!

4th Grade Math Word Problems

5th grade math word problems

6th grade Math Word Problems