Loving LiveBinders

While I like One Tab for collecting various websites that I open up, it is not something that I can transfer from computer to computer. I was tired of finding a great website at home and having to email the link to myself so I could access it at school. Now I don't have to thanks to LiveBinders. What a wonderful tool for someone with hundreds of bookmarks like me!

The beauty of LiveBinders is that you can visit a website that you like and instead of bookmarking it, you can "LiveBinder It" and into an online briefcase it goes. Then when you are ready to access it again, simply go to your LiveBinder and click the link. It opens the website in the folder so that you can navigate without having to open any new windows. 

At first I was using it to bookmark websites for my students to use for research, such as this one for our Truman Trial or this one for our Cold War March Madness. Now I am even using it as a resource for unit planning with the US History Team at my school. I feel so much more organized and know I can easily find resources instead of wondering where I bookmarked them or what the website was called.

March Madness Cold War Style

I recently attended a seminar by Dave Burgess on how to Teach Like a Pirate. One of the ideas that was mentioned in this seminar was how to take sporting events and current issues and bring them into your classroom. The idea was presented about repurposing March Madness and that is exactly what I have done! My students are going to compete in regions to determine the most influential event of the the Cold War.

I started with 64 Cold War events and programs, grouped them into categories and created the tournament brackets. Students were then divided into four regions and are responsible for researching the 16 events in their region. Each student has two events to research in most classes due to my class sizes. They are working collaboratively using Google Docs to create summaries to share with the whole class and are also completing a paper with "talking points" that they can use while discussing/debating in each round.

To make their research easier, I have used a great program called Livebinders to store websites on all 64 events. If you haven't yet checked out Livebinders, visit my Cold War Binder to see how it can be used.

After their research is complete, regions will work together to choose which events make it to the Sweet 16 and then it will become a whole class discussion. Each round adds new tasks and regions will be making presentations, posters and promoting their events. I also plan on inviting in guests to question students in the Final Four and Championship rounds.

Here is the link to my Weebly site with the instructions and documents. After the activity is complete I will be sure to update!

Teach Like a PIRATE

Do you have a lesson that you could sell tickets to? If students did not have to come to your class, would you be teaching to an empty classroom? These two questions were presented to me at a recent seminar by US History teacher and author Dave Burgess. Dave's book, Teach Like a Pirate, has become a highly recommended book in the educational world and there is even a Monday night chat on Twitter called #tlap. The focus of Teach Like a Pirate is student engagement. Pirate is an acronym that stands for Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask & Analyze, Transformation and Enthusiasm.

The strategies and ideas presented in Teach Like a Pirate help teachers of all subjects and grade levels become more creative and find new ways to engage their students in content. Since joining the Twitter Monday night chats and attending two of Dave's seminars, I have been working to add more creativity into my lessons. Thanks to inspiration of Teach Like a Pirate, I have turned my classroom into a 1920s Speakeasy, created a Cold War March Madness tournament and am planning a couple of Decade Days. My students are responding with increased enthusiasm as they are tired of the same old lectures, worksheets, document analysis of their educational careers. Students are not only engaged, but are thinking critically and are more likely to remember the content years from now.