Glow Scotland

The Scottish Book Trust Online Teacher in Residence is an online teaching and CPD resource community and programme of events aimed at teachers in Scotland interested in creative learning approaches to literature and literacy within Curriculum for Excellence.

Working with two practising teachers, Scottish Book Trust will develop a diverse range of online teaching and CPD resources, and an online community where teachers can benefit from:
• regular CPD resources and events
• best practice examples
• shared teaching resources
• interaction with like-minded colleagues

Teachers will be able to connect with Online Teacher in Residence through a dedicated web space or our national Glow Group.

Eric Booth will be hosting the online launch via a Glow Meet at 4pm on Thursday 25th February. In order to attend this event, teachers will need to sign up via the Online Teacher in Residence Glow Group before 24th February 2010.

Please sign up by clicking here.

The Online Teacher in Residence web space can be found by clicking here.

Further information can be found on the Scottish Book trust website by clicking here.

If your or colleagues have any additional questions, please email otir@scottishbooktrust.com

Building the Curriculum 5 – A Framework for Assessment is the next step in providing support for staff as they implement Curriculum for Excellence. It provides an outline of the approaches to assessment to support the purposes of learning 3 to 18.

Published in 2010 by the Scottish Government, it sets out key messages about principles of assessment, standards and expectations, ensuring consistency, CPD and support, reporting to parents, informing self-evaluation for improvement and monitoring standards over time.

We have created an area in Glow to provide you with the opportunity to discuss, share, post questions and collaborate around Building the Curriculum 5.

Visit the Glow Group today and find out more.

The Next Generation Learning National School Quiz is happening on Friday 12th March!

Pupils will get the chance to represent their school, and participate with other children up and down the country, as part of the BIGGEST EVER online schools quiz!

Aimed at 8-9 year old primary school children, the quiz will cover curriculum areas from history, science, citizenship, numeracy and literacy. Pupils will love this fun and interactive way of learning.

From dinosaurs to a race through space… we’re taking pupils on a journey they won’t forget.

To get involved, visit the Fun area of Glow’s National Site for more information.

Our next Glowing Thursday is a Glow Meet with Catherine Henderson, Development Officer with charity The Place2Be on Thursday 11th February between 4 and 5pm.

The Place2Be is a charity working inside schools to improve the emotional wellbeing of children, their families and the whole school community.
Working in 155 schools across the UK in 17 regional hubs, the PlacetoBe and services are available to over 50,000 children. By 2011 they plan to be working in 2 more Scottish Local Authority areas, extending their reach to over 5000 more Scottish children and their families.

Over the years, the Place2Be developed dedicated support services for parents, teachers and other school staff members. As a result they’ve seen individuals, families and entire school communities flourish. Their counselling services reach children in some of the toughest neighbourhoods; places where poverty and deprivation challenge expectations from the very start. The Place2Be’s one to one and group counselling services help children to make sense of their experiences, to cope and make better informed decisions about their lives. This means they are able to learn more effectively and to move through school with growing prospects – rather than problems.

Click on this Glowing Thursday’s link to find out more.

The Early Years Team and the Glow Team at Learning and Teaching Scotland are delighted to host a specific early years Glow Meet as part of the “Glowing Thursdays” programme.

We are delighted to have:

* Paul Bradshaw, Project Manager from the Growing Up in Scotland Study (GUS)
* Jacqué Fee, Assistant Director for Children and Families Research and Development Centre, University of Strathclyde
* Jean Carwood-Edwards, Early Years Team Leader, Learning and Teaching Scotland.

They will discuss how practitioners can use the latest Scottish research findings to inform and enhance their practice for the benefit of all children and families. Paul will discuss the latest research findings from the Growing Up in Scotland Study and how practitioners can use this information within their current practice. Jacqué Fee and Jean Carwood-Edwards will discuss the recent research commissioned by Learning and Teaching, ‘CPD and Working with Children Under Three’ and how Glow was able to facilitate the dissemination of the research during recent partnership activities with North Lanarkshire Council.

The event takes place in Glowing Thurdays from 4- 5pm. We hope you can join us.

You can now see what other Glow users are doing with Glow by browsing through the 100+ responses we’ve received to the Sharing Glow Experiences questionnaire. This can be accessed at http://bit.ly/d1MkGa. (You will need your Glow login details).

This basic viewer allows you to browse sequentially through the responses or look at the summary information. We are hoping to provide a better version later in the spring which will retain response formatting and allow selection by authority and stage.

If you haven’t told us about your experiences yet, please consider doing so now. If you respond by the end of February, you have the chance to win an Ipod. You can see more details here http://bit.ly/dkTMyu.

The National Parent Forum continued its meetings in Glasgow on Burns’ Night, in Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Optima offices.
The meeting and previous forums have been facilitated through the use of Glow to allow discussions, views and comments to be shared before, during and after the meetings. Another first for the national Parent Forum was the use of Glow Meet to allow a member of the forum to participate from home in North Tolsta in the Outer Hebrides.
Fiona Black was able to take part in the 2 hour meeting and contribute to discussions.
Fiona Black said of the meeting, “I was able to take part in the planning meeting on 25th January due to Glow Meet, I could have been in the room. In fact I was in the Outer Hebrides! I would urge all members to explore this medium for future meetings that they cannot attend, for whatever reason, be it distance or other.”
It is hoped that all members of the forum will be able to contribute to future meetings, face to face or virtually.
This group could lead the way in cutting down its carbon footprint while maintaining regular meetings and debates.
Reid Hutchison, National Parent Forum, said ” it was very encouraging to see 12 reps (including 1 virtually) from across Scotland working together as a Planning group to advance items in preparation for the next National Parent Forum in March”

Lorraine Sanda, Parental Involvement Officer, said: “The Forum is still in its infancy but there is a real willingness on the part of the members of the National Forum to make it work for parents from all parts of Scotland. Having Fiona on Glow Meet with the Forum tonight demonstrated one way how that can be done.”

The National Glow team is gathering information to show the impact of using Glow and ways in which it can be improved.

We have created a simple online survey that will take only a few minutes of your time.
All participants will be entered into a draw at the end of January to win a new netbook.
We are keen to hear about your experiences of using Glow – have your say by completing the survey.

Your responses are valued and much appreciated.

Details now confirmed – Sign up now!

This year’s Scottish Book Trust Writer in Residence is the award-winning teen fiction writer Catherine Forde.

Catherine will be available to answer all your questions about creative writing on Glow on February 3rd over 2 sessions to allow as many people as possible to take part. The first session is 12:00 – 12:45 and the second is from 13:15 – 14:00.

Click here to sign up to take part!

If you have already signed up, please revisit the group to choose which session you’d like to drop in on. There will be the opportunity to test your access to the Glow Meet before the event – go to the group for details.

The event is suitable for secondary school pupils

Catherine Forde has been writing novels with teenagers as the central characters for over a decade. Most of her novels are contemporary and Glaswegian. In a previous life she taught English in secondary schools and colleges and edited dictionaries. Catherine likes to explore the relationship between teenagers and the adults in their lives, and her writing is colloquial and dialogue-driven. Recurring themes in her novels are the influence and impact of music on the individual, fitting in and fractured relationships.

Between now and March Catherine Forde will have a new writing task for learners on the first Monday of every month, and teacher’s notes on the task are also available. Watch Cathy’s brilliant video podcasts where she explains each task, and use the accompanying written notes. There are already 3 tasks online – check them out at the Scottish Book Trust’s site:

Click for pupils’ pages

Click for teachers’ pages

The new Monthly Maths Puzzle Group is open for business.

Each month a set of fiendish puzzles will appear that will test the skills of pupils, teachers and parents alike! There will also be themed puzzles for special dates in the year.

Upload your pupils’ solutions onto the group and we’ll then publish the most innovative methods.

It’s then our intention to have the pupils’ that have thought up the most creative solutions to use Glow Meet to tell everyone else how it’s done.

You can link to the group here: Monthly Maths Puzzle Group

There isn’t much of January left so best get your thinking caps on.

Good luck!