How to use Padlet~ Online Sticky Notes~ In Classroom Discussion

Hey there!!

I've been wanting to blog about this for a WHILE and I found an extra few minutes (WHOA!  What's that??  I know!!  I should have been grading papers or scoring writing buuuuuuut.....you know...)

I learned about Padlet at an online training I went to and I really loved it!  I mean, I love regular sticky notes, so of course I'm going to love virtual ones!!

The short of it is that this is a website where you can create a wall.  You can pose any question and have students go there and write their responses!!

So, I'm going to show you how easy it is!!

Here is what you will see when you go to Padlet.

You can sign up for an account here. Once logged in, you can start a new wall.

Here are some walls that I have made.

I made this one for when we were studying explorers.

And that's it!!  It's a lot of screenshots but it's super fast and easy to set up!  Then you can send the link to students.  OR you can embed it in your website or class blog!!  Like this:

Created with Padlet

To embed it, I just clicked on the rectangle with the arrow on the right side and got the HTML code and pasted it in here!  Cool, right?  That way, if you already have a website or blog for your class, you don't have to send a link out.  It's right there!

Double click on the wall above and leave a note!!  Try it!!  You know you want to! Pleeeeease?!?

If you leave a note, only you (the person who wrote the note) or I (the person who made the wall) can delete it.  So,  your students can't go in and delete someone else's note.

***Updated- Yay!!  You are leaving notes!!!  In response to those you will either have to have it up in your classroom for students to post on, send them a link, or embed it on your website.  You can choose to be notified of posts as one of the settings (click on the wheel on the right hand side once you make the wall and you can choose to be notified!)  Thanks for leaving me notes!  This is so fun!!***

We used this in a meeting for adults not long ago.  It was how our presenter gathered information on what we already knew about his topic.  We all logged in on our phones, tablets, or laptops and all responded at the same time.  Then, he was able to do a quick scan.  We didn't HAVE to put our names, but we could.

That's a way you can use it in your room.  Pose a question and if your students have access to computer or tablets, they can go right in and respond.  But, we aren't a 1:1 classroom, so my students would have to take turns, or they could do it from home, if they have access to a computer.

I think it's a great way to do a ticket out the door or a check-in that's different from your average slip of paper!!

(I will say that you'll have to have some rules since kids can just copy one another...once the note is there, anyone can see it...that's one of the positives to having them do it all at once, but that's not a reality for most of us.  So, you'd have to set some ground rules...)

So, what are you waiting for?  Go check it out (if you haven't already!)!  And come back and share all the ideas you think of to use this!!  And, if you already knew about this, how do YOU use it??
:O)  Amanda

Oh, and I am linking this up to our sweet friend Holly for Tried it Tuesday!  Be sure to go check out the other Tried Its for this week!!