How many of you constantly come across new tech tools that you think are really cool, but soon forget about and do not use? There is SO much out there, and it can be extremely overwhelming. At the beginning of this school year, I was introduced to a website (now an app as well) called Padlet. At first I thought that Padlet was going to be one of those tools as I mentioned above. I soon learned that that wasn’t true! In today’s post, I am going to explain what Padlet is, share some of the ideas of what I have done with it, and even how to use it.
Padlet is actually very simple; it is a digital bulletin board for people to share ideas in an organized manner through text, pictures, links, and videos. That is it – Padlet is a BULLETIN BOARD!
Here are some of the ways I have come up with how to use it so far:
1. Social Icebreaker: This is the first Padlet I made. I titled it, “Welcome back! What were you up to over the summer?” I never got to fully do this with my colleagues, but I have plans to next year at our first back to school meeting. I also want to try it with my new class of students next year. Wouldn’t this be a fun way to get to know them?
2. Professional Development: The first time I fully implemented Padlet was for PD purposes. I am the Curriculum Coordinator of my school, and I was looking for an easy way to organize resources for my colleagues to create a curriculum map for our K-8 independent school. I presented needed material at our faculty meeting, and then showed them the Padlet of everything they would need to be successful in creating the map. If you visit my example on Vimeo, I talk through how I organized our “To Do List” with due dates, the documents we were working with (I linked the Googledocs right to the Padlet), and the resources they might need in order to be successful in doing the tasks I was asking them to do. They all LOVED how organized and easily accessible everything was!
3. Lesson Activity: Yes, I teach 2nd grade in addition to being the Curriculum Coordinator, which equals a crazy but fun life. =-) I do not know why it took me so long to implement this tool into my classroom with my students, but I can’t wait to continue to do so. I just recently used it to review solid shapes. I taught a lesson on the different shapes and their properties, and then sent them on a scavenger hunt with an iPad to find real life examples. When they came across these examples, they took a picture with the iPad. After each pair of students took 3-4 pictures, they came back into the class and I taught them how to add their pictures to the Padlet I had set up for them. This was THE BEST behavior and teamwork that I have ever seen from my students! Also, this was a great STEM lesson as my students became web page developers. Padlet makes it easy to share the link of the Padlet you have created, so it was shared with parents and other classes in order for them to see the different solid shapes in real life. I plan on finding a way to use it again soon. You can find this lesson here on my TpT page!
4. Organize Student Research: I have not done this yet, but this would be a great tool to provide students with links to great resources for a research project. Even better, Padlet could help older students organize their online sources and their facts they gather during the research process.
I promised you that I would teach you how to use Padlet. It is very easy once you play around with it. If you feel you need some more guidance, no worries! Visit my TpT store in order to get step-by-step guides on how to sign up for Padlet, start your first Padlet, and teach yourself, your colleagues, or your students how to use it! I have posted one of the guides below to get you started.
If you can think of another way to use Padlet for any subject or concept, please comment below! I really would like to work together with the edu world and come up with some great new ideas! Because….if you give a teacher an idea….the possibilities are endless!
Warmly,
Ashley Dearcop Shaw
If You Give A Teacher An Idea Author
If You Give a Teacher an Idea... 