Schools are full of paper. If you are a teacher, you are well aware of the amount of time that can be spent standing in front of the copy machine. It can seem endless. Between practice sheets and secondary resources, it is easy for student work to get lost in the hand-to-hand shuffle.

While programs like Biteslide might not turn your classroom into a “paper free zone”, they can offer exciting new opportunities for students to showcase portfolios and archive their work. The best news is that Biteslide can be used across many different classes and curriculum areas making it easy for students to share their work with other students, teachers, and their parents.

Basic Portfolio Example

The simplest way to create a portfolio using Biteslide is to scan and gather student’s work into useable “bites”. The students can then use their bites to create a slidebook portfolio.

Below is an example of an art portfolio that showcases a student’s different art projects as they learned about folk art.

Progress Portfolio Example

Don’t let the title fool you, this type of slidebook is just as easy to create as the basic portfolio. Biteslide can be used to mark a student’s progress on a specific project over time. The beauty of this method is that students can go back and explain their problem-solving process. They can document both their successes and their failures and explain to others how their arrived at their final product or conclusion.

Below is a portfolio example of a Biteslide presentation that documents a team of students as they work on an egg drop project for science class.

“My Favorites” Portfolio Example

Biteslide projects can be used for reflection. Much like the folders that students prepare for their parents during parent-teacher conferences, Biteslide can offer children a chance to look back on a unit or period of the school year and collage projects, interesting facts, and relevant material into a unique presentation portfolio.

It is easy for students to send the final project to their teacher which is, in turn, easy to store and share with parents and other interested parties.

The following is an example of an Ancient Egypt “favorites” portfolio.

Student-led Conference Portfolio Example

Parent-teacher conferences are time-consuming and stressful. If your school allows or requires children to be present, students can feel shy and put on the spot. Biteslide can really help students prepare for the upcoming conference.

Have your students answer questions such as:

• What have been my favorite units so far?
• What subject is easy for me?
• What subject is hard for me?
• What projects am I really proud of?
• If I could change one thing about the classroom, what it would be?
• If I could ask my parents/teacher one thing, what would it be?

When they have completed their answers, let them spend time putting together a portfolio slidebook and then have them present it at the conference. It will give them a way to interact and to be involved in the conversation. And the bonus – it’s all done online so there is no need to shuffle papers across the desk.

Biteslide offers teachers and students the unique opportunity to showcase student portfolios digitally. The program is easy to use and the projects are easy to share. With minimal (and fun!) work, students can create beautiful portfolios that are both informational and attractive.

I hope these student portfolio examples have inspired you. If so, register now so your students can create an amazing student portfolio of their own.

For many, math class brings back workbook memories of nights huddled around the kitchen table frantically checking the evened numbered answers with the back pages. It seems rather repetitive. A child must be taught a concept, shown how to do it, and then bludgeoned over the head with examples. How else will they learn?

To add insult to injury, there is the inevitable math class back row critic who raises his or her hand and slyly asks the question, “So when are we ever going to use this is real life?” Yes, mathematics can feel like it has barely graduated from the era of dusty chalkboards and one-room school houses.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

With some creative energy and a bit of classroom participation, Biteslide can transform an incredibly important life skill and class into projects that feel relevant and fun.

Here are three creative ways to start using Biteslide in conjunction with your Math curriculum.

Biteslide Helps Students Visualize And Create Word Problems

In terms of real life problem-solving, word problems are an excellent way to bring the importance of mathematics into every day situations. Often riddled with numerous operations and superfluous information, word problems offer children the chance to put their workbook skills to practice. However, for some students, internally visualizing word problems can be a problem all its own.

Biteslide can offer children an opportunity to watch or recreate word problems for easy solving. Below is a simple example of a word problem slide show.

For a child, breaking down word problems into bite-sized ideas helps them think in sequential steps. The best part about Biteslide is that it can be used to introduce a problem that will be covered or it can be used by the students to work through a problem that is already troubling them. The bites can be collected together by the teacher ready for the students to use. All the student has to do is drop the bites straight onto their slides.

Biteslide Can Help Students Learn About Daily Mathematics And Current Events

For the class skeptic, Biteslide can a fun and engaging way to apply the class math lessons to every day events. Learning about percentages? Have the students track the price increase of various products such as gas, food items, and school supplies using an interactive slide show presentation.

Use the YouTube tab in the slidebook to find videos about bridge construction and trigonometry. It can even be used to present the context in which certain mathematical principals were contrived.

Below is an example of a short slidebook presentation that uses a video bite to explain the Pythagorean theorem.

Biteslide Can Create Interactive Problem-Solving And Review

One of Biteslide’s best features is the ability to share presentations with other teachers and classmates. This opens up a world of opportunity concerning both review strategies and interactive problem-solving.

Consider, for a moment, a multi-stage math problem that can be solved by creating a slidebook presentation that gets passed around from student to student. The slidebook can then be presented to the class and, if there is a mistake, corrected on the spot.

The problems can be passed amidst one class of students or shared with other classes for both review and fun competition. Students can submit slides with questions and concerns, review problems, or images and clips that have helped them understand a particular concept.

It is a completely different way to review for a math test and it can center around very specific and problematic areas. The best part is that students can participate in building slides and sending ‘bites’ that help others learn. Who could argue with that?

Math doesn’t have to be a dusty subject – especially since it is so relevant to our daily lives. Interactive programs like Biteslide can entice students to take responsibility for their own learning process. With Biteslide the possibilities are endless and the effort will certainly be worth the result for you and your students.

If you don’t already have an account on Biteslide, what are you waiting for? Register for your free account here.