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📒 eBinders 📒

👀 The idea behind any binder is organization, primarily collection of work, a place to reflect on their learning process, and finally recollect of what they learned for purposes of sharing or studying. This organizational structure is "Collection, Reflection and Recollection".

👍 The central theme of any binder is the incorporation of storytelling. As with any story there is a beginning, middle and an end. As with a story the learning process can be easily told through the eyes of one who has learned along this journey of discovery. Collecting information in written word during class is important, but so is collecting multimedia components such as pictures, videos, and vocal components to tie into your reflection later. It just so happens the only place all of these artifacts can coexist is a digital binder.

😉 When created with care, and executed with purpose, an eBinder can change the way students implement “Collection, Reflection and Recollection” of their daily work.

AVID 4 A's Framework

AVID eBinders Home Page

Student Example #1

Student Example #2

eBinder Step by Step Guides

Students should have a place to document their learning and arrange all the work they have completed in an organized fasion. Take a look at this overview of what a Google Site eBinder is and how you can successfully use one in your class.

The Template gallery New Sites feature we have all been waiting for is... not yet here, but follow these instructions to create a workaround to allow your site to create its own New Google Sites Template Folder.

Part 3 of our eBinder series talks about the different template types you can use for your class or for your whole school. Also tips on how to get your whole department and school in on student eBinders with Google Sites.

See how to hand out your completed Google Site Templates in Google Classroom with the "assignment" option. Also see eBinder naming tips and make sure the student shares editing rights with you the teacher.

Truth be told, you cannot change your students ebinders after they have already made a copy of your template. See our Hack with Google slides to allow you to make adjustments to your students ebinder without physically making changes.

The eBinder needs to be an immersive experience for our students. Discover the joys of student created learning artifacts and how the SlideSnap template can super-charge their creation!

Example eBinder Templates

Click HERE to access the Template Gallery

. Please read the instructions below on how to make a copy of the eBinders attached above

1) Open the eBinder Template folder attached in the link above.

2) Once in the template, create a copy by:

✔️Right-clicking on the eBinder template.

✔️Selecting "Make a Copy" from the options.

✔️CLOSING the template folder.

3) In Google Drive, find, open, and rename your site <<Last Name>> eBinder.

✔️Update the name in the header for your site AND in the file name at the top of the page.

The TASK Page

This notebook was purposely separated by units, which all have their own overarching theme. Each unit is then separated by a task (which is a lab or activity) which has a three-tiered cadence:

Essential Question/Guiding Question
1. What do I already know about this topic?
2. What do I hope to learn?
Learning Artifacts
1. Handouts completed.
2. Pictures taken during activity.
3. Google Slides/Powerpoints used/created/annotated on for the activity.
4. A short description and explanation of each artifact for learning.
Learning Blog
1. What was your aha moment?
2. What do you know now that you did not before?
3. What was the most challenging part of the task?
4. What guidance would you give to another student just starting this task?
5. What questions do you still have about the task?
6. Video entry (can be a Flipgrid or WebVideo).

Learning Artifacts

A learning artifact (or educational artifact) is an object created by students during the course of instruction. To be considered as an artifact, an object needs to be lasting, durable, public, and materially present. The concept of making knowledge visible is a central component. The creation and display of these artifacts allow students opportunities for engagement, revision and feedback, all hallmarks of quality learning design.

While the ebinders may differ based on teacher preference or activity, the task section should always remain the same. Teachers may use digital guides through Google Slides (Slide Guides) or PowerPoint as a map to task completion. These guides may include digital breadcrumbs for understanding such as hyperlinks to activities, embedded videos, and Slide Snapshots of Learning or SlideSnaps (example HERE). These guides may also include some of the questions above to ensure students are thinking about the questions prior to finalizing them on the ebinder entry.

SlideSnaps (AVID) Learning Artifact

Example Completed Learning Artifact SlideSnap

Copy of SlideSnap Template for Students (Individual)

Awesome Screenshot

Copy of SlideSnap Template for Students (Whole Class)

Screencastify

Jamboard Sketch and Tell Template

eBinder Teacher Check ins

Use the New Flipgrid ScreenRecording Option!

There are many ways to do an eBinder check, but my favorite is using the new Flipgrid Screen Recording option. This allows students to do a quick run through of their Task Page and also provide a link to the actual page on the section. Take a look at the example to your left and the how to guide below! Watch the whole video on how to set up or jump to the 6:00 mark to see the eBinder focus.

Google Classroom Feedback with Header Hyperlinks

One great way to do quick binder checks is to do a weekly (Monday or Friday) ebinder spot check. In Google Classroom create a Question or assignment with the request to see a specific section of their ebinder. Every ebinder page has a specific URL and every section header also has a specific URL. This means if you wan to see the Reading Blog of a specific task page you can ask for the link directly to this section. If you want the students to explain what they did use the classroom question option. If all you care about is the link then use the classroom assignment option. Either way you can leave private feedback on both.

Google Sheets Running feedback

Another way teachers have checked ebinders is by using a Google Sheet ebinder check in document. As above in the Google Classroom option we will have the student place the URL of the requested binder check section. But instead of creating a new Google Classroom question each time, you will be using the same spreadsheet jointly with the individual students. Students will place the URL of the section in this sheet for you to click on and view. You can then leave comment and changes right on the running document. This is also a great option when you want student to do binder checks with each other. I recommend these "Binder Buddy" checks each week where I only suggest the teacher doing checks every two weeks in a spot check fashion.

Teacher Student Google Sheet Check in Template

Student-Student Binder Buddy Google Sheet Check in Template

Updating a Students eBinder

Once a student has made a copy of your ebinder template there is no way for you to go in and make any physical changes to their eBinder. A good work hack is to place an "Update" section somewhere in your eBinder and then placing a "view only" Google Doc or Google Slide in this section, I recommend doing this under your "Unit" sections. This hack now allows you to edit your "Unit Update" Doc or Slide which will then automatically appear on your students ebinder.

Google Sites Font Hack

Google Site Fonts