I’ve come across a really useful IT application - Padlet, that I would highly recommend. It’s an easy way to share thoughts on a topic and it could be useful in schools for teachers to share ideas with each other or for classroom activities.
I used it with a group of Primary PGCE trainees recently – we had a ‘specialism’ day to give the students an opportunity to focus on English, maths, science or MfL to get a deeper knowledge and enthusiasm for their chosen subject.
The day for maths specialists was in three parts: making a maths kit which they then used to develop their interactive teaching skills for mental/oral starters, a spirals investigation to explore the mathematical processes that children need to experience and finally a review of maths sites on the internet.
We used Padlet as a ‘sharing wall’ for ideas. Students wrote their ideas on how they might use the digit cards, number fans, flip-flops and counting strips in their maths kits on a Padlet wall. All the ideas are now there for the students to use in their forthcoming school placement.
You can do the same with your class – have a ‘sharing wall’ of activities based around a maths topic. Set up a wall that the children share – for example, it could be titled ‘How can I make 10?’. Each child then writes different calculations on the all: 3+7, 6+4, 2 x 5, 18-8, 90÷9…..
Padlet includes an example for teachers. It’s not a maths wall but shows how it can be used, this is the link.