Using Padlet for Staff Planning

I, like many others, have favoured using Padlets with my students as a visual representation of their learning. The ease of access and the fact that they can see their work displayed alongside that of their peers is a great motivator. In addition, I have used Padlets as a curating space for senior students as they prepare for exams.

It was only recently, however, that I decided to use Padlets with the staff in my department. We face a huge transition from one curriculum to another. The new curriculum has many strengths. We are moving away from assessment-driven learning. In the English learning area, students study, use, and enjoy language and literature, communicated orally, visually, and in writing, for a range of purposes and audiences, and in a variety of text forms. Learning about language and literature from Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world enables students to build literacy, walk in different worlds, access the thoughts and perspectives of others, and make linguistic and cultural connections. This is a shift away from the is-this-for-marks? mentality, to students developing their understanding of the big ideas in English through multiple, cumulative encounters with language and texts.

In order to plan for this new way of working, I provided a Padlet for staff, populating it with a few resources of my own. And then I watched it grow! The beauty of working this way is that staff also have a visual canvas with a collated bank of resources. It is transparent and easily accessed. Of course, we have shared drives. However, regardless of how neat they are kept, I always feel like I'm disappearing down a rabbit warren. And I invariably emerge slightly frustrated, not having found what I was looking for. An example of a staff Padlet can be found below. All I ask staff is that they make a copy before they adapt the resources for use in their classes.

We made the unanimous decision to have Padlets for all year levels, with resources under the simple headings of Term One through to Term Four. With an additional heading called Admin. Simple, streamlined and accessible.

https://padlet.com/l_rubens/2024-ncea-level-1-planning-padlet-1d4c43vjqov03njs