digital three ring binder {instant organization!}

In today's kindergarten {the modern first grade} we are reaching to keep things real, hands-on and kinesthetic as possible. As teachers we know this is what we NEED to do. Yet, often the more we try to create or use manipulative based materials, the more we realize they don't often meet the requirements we have to adhere to for documentation purposes.

Well no longer do I think this will be an issue! As I was scoping out some new tools I found threering.com and I am super excited that this tool will allow me to document all of the wonderful things my kinders do without needing to run to a copy machine, or to capture the things that can't be shown on paper! I'm not being compensated for sharing - I just found it and love it's possibilities!

 

Its an app I plan on using in my classroom. Here's how I forsee using it the most:

Students work hard.
Students choose their name and activity/tag and take a picture.

{computer screen shot}

Student work is uploaded into their own individual binder section by clicking on their name and the activity. (I call them activities because that's how we roll, even though Three Ring calls them "classes" which would be more for the traditional class or upper grades.)

I can search by student name, tags, or titles. Which means I can pull up exactly what I'm looking for in no time. Do I think a kinder could use it completely by them self? I think many kinders could learn to use it if I kept the number of places they can upload it to at a minimum (the number of activities/classes). I can use a computer or my phone to access the content anytime. This could really be beneficial when it comes to testing time and report cards!

   

{phone screen shots}

Currently I plan on using it for our recording and practice zone in math as well as literacy centers. And because I know that I want to document a red note before it goes home in the backpack (to sometimes be lost forever), I'll be sure to snap a photo before it gets sent home. Classroom management documentation goes digital. I never was a portfolio kind of teacher, but I think now I can be since it'll all be organized when it's uploaded! I use Evernote for keeping digital copies of everything I do for blogging and business, so I can see this being like Evernote for the classroom! I love that I can select multiple students and even upload audio recordings, videos or files. Can you see yourself using something like this? Its free! I'd love to hear how you could use it!

Update: Although I like this concept, I have chosen not to use it. I found it was still too early in the creation phrase to work as quickly and efficiently as I needed it to.

This review was my own opinion and was just because I found this new tool and thought it might be helpful.
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- Leslie

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