I recently ran a CPD session for our maths department and was short of ideas; however I knew I wanted to avoid simply going through times table or division drill apps. A quick text chat with fellow ADE and good friend, Marc Faulder, pointed me in the right direction and I decided to demonstrate how you can use Padlet, and a variety of free maths apps to challenge thinking and use technology to provide stimulating, engaging and fun learning opportunities!

Set up your Padlet and pose a question 

Pose your question at the top of your padlet and then invite children to join the padlet on their iPads via the self-generated QR code. They can scan straight from the IAW/screen or from a pre-printed copy or even via a link shared on your school learning network.

Think 3D

The question posed on the Padlet read:

“Using the Think 3D App OR Unifix Blocks, create your own cuboid with a volume of 18 cubes. Take photos or screen shots then open the Skitch App and draw the dimensions. How many different objects can we make with a volume of 18? Which is the longest/tallest/widest/highest?”

Students can answer the question by either using unifix cubes or the Think 3D App and then annotate over the image using Skitch:

Maths Learning Centre Apps.

The FREE apps from the maths learning centre are a revelation! There are eight available; Number Line, Number Pieces Basic, Geoboard, Number Frames, Pattern Shapes, Number Pieces, Math Vocab and Number Rack. They really are fantastic tools for the classroom and incredibly user friendly.

The example below uses the Geoboard App and the question posed on the Padlet was:

“How many different rectangles can you make with an area of 12cm²?”

Adding Work To Padlet

Once the students have drawn their rectangles, they can save to camera roll by taking a screen shot and the upload to Padlet using the upload button:

Another setting worth noting on Padlet is the ability to change the layout into a grid. This means that when students contribute their work, it automatically goes into a clear and easy to follow grid formation:

Once the work is on the board, students can be invited to present their work and question their peers understanding. Students work can be enlarger, simply by clicking on it.

Padlet really is a great classroom tool and its use should not be limited to maths. It can be used across the curriculum in a variety of different ways and I encourage you to give it a go!