Communicating and Collaborating with Padlet

Padlet, an online bulletin board, is a great tool that teachers can use with students for communicating and collaborating. It is easy to use and students can sign in with their Google account, so no email is needed. 

Each post is limited 150 characters, so keep this in mind when choosing this tool. If you have never used Padlet, here is a quick tutorial that will get you started. 

When using Padlet with others, I like to keep the board as free-form while people are posting and then switching it to grid for people to read and to lead into the discussion.

While I feel integration ideas are endless, here are few suggestions to get your brain thinking:

• Brainstorming Ideas - students can brainstorm writing topics, 
• KWL chart - students can make their post title either Know, Want to Know, Learned and then give the information that pertains to each of the post titles.
• Eportfolio - students can use this to add attachments showcasing their learning
• Exit Tickets - students can post what they learned in class that day. 
• Number of the Day - teacher can create the board to represent a number and the students can include all the ways you can make that number
• Story Analysis - students can analyze the various parts of a story/book
• Essential Questions - teachers can pose an essential question and students can give their thoughts. 
• Observations - teachers can embed an image and students can state what they see and what they wonder about the image.
• Art Critique - teacher can post an image of a piece of artwork and students can give their critique
• Review - students can post the information they feel was the most important on a particular topic. This can help get a discussion going on relevant/irrelevant information. 
• Anchor Activities - resources students can use to increase their understanding of a given concept. 
• Problem Solving - have students take a picture of their work and upload onto a board. Students can talk about the various methods you can use for problem solving. 

Here are some of my boards:

• English Language Arts - resources I have gathered for the language arts classroom. 
• Math - resources I have gathered for the math classroom
• Science - resources I have gathered for the science classroom
• Social Studies - resources I have gathered for the social studies classroom
• Mash-ups - combining two or more tools to create a unique learning experience

Have a great time with Padlet. I am sure you will find so many uses for this easy to use tool.