Title: 30 creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students
Authors: Lucie Renard
Location: https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/08/30-creative-ways-to-use-padlet-for-teachers-and-students
This article, like the title says, really does give many creative ideas in how to use Padlet. For my own math classrooms, the idea of using this site for Exit Tickets appeals to me. I have used paper Exit Tickets in the past, which do of course have their place in a math class if students are solving problems. Using Padlet for a creative twist on the idea of getting students to reflect on their learning would be beneficial. This article suggests that Padlet can be used to prompt students with the following potential questions: “Write down three things you learned today.”; “If you had to explain today’s lesson to a friend, what would you tell him/her?”; “What question do you have about what we learned today?”; “What part of the lesson did you find most difficult?”; “What would you like me to go over again next lesson?”; “Write down two questions you would put in a quiz about today’s lesson.”; “What were the main points we covered today?”; and “Read this problem … What would be your first step in solving it?”
Reading and analyzing students’ answers to these questions can inform my teaching practice not only the next day but beyond. Getting that immediate feedback from students allows me to adjust the lessons to better serve them. It also allows me to have one more source of information that I can use to identify students who struggle and need more support, or to identify students who may need more enrichment in their learning.
Reference:
Renard, L. (2017, August 9). 30 creative ways to use Padlet for teachers and students. BookWidgets Blog. https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/08/30-creative-ways-to-use-padlet-for-teachers-and-students
Hi Timothy,
I haven’t used Padlet much in my classroom, but it does seem like a cool way to assign exit tickets. I especially like the questions “If you had to explain today’s lesson to a friend, what would you tell him/her?” and “What question do you have about what we learned today?” These are great ways to get an idea of what needs to be revisited and clarified the next day as well as what students saw as the major takeaways from the question.
A huge benefit of Padlet is the ability to immediately see what students understand/don’t understand. If they are able to submit their answers anonymously, which I believe they can, then they are most likely more willing to be honest in the feedback that they give you. This is a much better way of finding out what topics to reteach then just asking students to put their thumbs up or down in class because many students will say that everything is fine when in reality it isn’t.
A disadvantage of using Padlet would be the fact that it does cost money to use all of its features, so if you are just using the free version, you won’t be able to access everything. Another disadvantage is that there isn’t really a way to regulate all student activity, so students could get silly knowing that they are able to post anonymously. I think that if your classroom management is in place, this shouldn’t be too big of an issue.