Glow Scotland

11th March, 1.45pm – 2.45pm

Join author Annemarie Allan in Glow Meet to find out more about Breaker, an undersea adventure.

‘Tom and Beth are not happy when they move to North Berwick and find themselves facing a rainy, windswept beach, a house that’s falling apart and a school full or strangers. When they meet Professor Macblain, with his weird and wonderful inventions, little do they know that he has a secret: not only is he a thief, but he has stolen the one thing that can save the Firth of Forth from environmental catastrophe.’

Find out what inspires Annemarie to write, delve in to the wonderful world of sealife in North Berwick and ask her questions. Explore a range of themes such as family, making friends and moving to a new place. Find out more about living by the sea, green energy, science and the environment.

Law Primary will be joining Annemarie at the Scottish Seabird Centre to get some insight into being an author, writing skills and the wonderful book Breaker which is set in North Berwick where they go to school.

This Glow Meet is aimed at pupils from P4 – P7 and is being run in partnership with the Scottish Seabird Centre and Floris Books.

Find out more
To sign up for this Glow Meet click here to visit the Glow group.

On 18th February David Terron from Elgin Academy delivered a masterclass session to teachers across the country that was packed full of ideas for allowing a class to ‘publish’ their work.

During his session David showcased the range of work that he and his classes are doing with WIKIs and blogs, from simple ideas like homework reminders, through model essays and intense drama analysis to a poetry WIKI which has been so successful it now gets requests from other schools for poems they would like to see included!

David then went on to link this work to Curriculum for Excellence, assessment and Skills4Life before explaining how WIKIs can also be used for planning all kinds of activities -in his case TeachMeet Highlands. The session was so packed with great ideas that one of the participants posted “That was fantastic but I need time to take it all in!”

To read David’s own account of delivering the session click HERE to access his blog.

All of the resources discussed in this masterclass can now be accessed through the English Teachers National Glow group and a recording of the session will also be available soon.

Every month a masterclass like this one is delivered FREE through the English Teachers’ National Glow group. The sessions cover a variety of areas but all have an English/Literacy focus. Click HERE to request membership.

Another fantastic masterclass will be available to join in March. Keep checking Glowscotland for further details.

Metaphrog are comics creators Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, best known for making the Louis series of comics.

For the first time, they are bringing their popular comics workshop to Glow!

Any classes from P5 – S4 are invited to join Metaphrog over Glow Meet at 1pm on Wednesday the 3rd of March. You’ll learn lots about creating characters and comics, and have the chance to create your own characters. They will also set you a comic-creating challenge, and you can come back for the follow-up Glow Meet later in the year and show us how you got on.

To join the Glow Meet, you’ll need a room with a computer with internet access, a projector and screen or interactive whiteboard, and speakers. Pupils will also need access to paper and drawing materials.

The Glow Meet and the sign-up sheet can be found in the Graphic Novels National Glow Group.

David Terron is an English Teacher at Elgin Academy Moray. As a former Army IT expert, David has been using wikis, blogs, ePortfolios and websites in teaching throughout his career. Rather than a theoretical session David’s masterclass will highlight the many ways WIKIs are being used on a daily basis in Elgin Academy, including the work he has been doing with his own English classes.
The session will show the clear links between WIKIs and assessment, Curriculum for Excellence and Skills for Life. David will showcase the work he has been doing on Bold Girls , Intermediate 1 poetry, S1 reading records and will also explain the usefulness of WIKIs as a way of keeping Eportfolios.

This session will run on THURSDAY 18 FEBRUARY at 4pm and is free to all members of the English Teachers’ national Glow group. You do not have to be an English teacher but you do have to be a member to join in! To request membership click on this LINK or alternatively go to National Site – National Groups – Staffroom – English Teachers and request membership from there.

Please note: If you would like confirmation of membership please remember to include a valid e-mail address with your application. All applications will be approved within 12 hours.

The Positive about Science campaign is Scottish Government led and aims to increase interest in studying science, showing children that you can do interesting and exciting things with science e.g. diverse careers/fun activities. The campaign aims to take science ‘out of the classroom’ and show children how science is all around them. The website has a range of great resources for exploring careers in science.

The Big Experiment

Part of the campaign is The Big Experiment which this year is Dr Bunhead’s Spoof Busters.  In a Glow Meet, Dr Bunhead will present and discuss the skills needed for evaluating ’science’ videos posted on the internet, and classes across Scotland will investigate one of these videos for themselves and decide if it is true, partly true or false.  This activity will suit a wide range of ages.

To find out more, go to the National Sciences Glow Group and check out the Glow Meets tab, or click here to go to the Dr Bunhead’s Spoof Busters Glow Group.  Have a look round the Glow Group and sign up for the Meet (1.30pm 16^th March).  You can download teacher notes with instructions, an equipment list and background information from the Glow Group, and there will be discussion opportunities to explore science myths.

Competition

There will be a competition in the Glow Group, where classes can post a link to a hoax science video and the most convincing one will win a great prize.

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

Elspeth Murray is our online poet for National Poetry Day 2009.

Elspeth is visiting an S2 English class in Calderside Academy, Blantyre on Wednesday 16th December to participate with pupils on this year’s theme of Heroes and Heroines. Elspeth will help pupils develop some heroic verse of their very own and you and your class can be there with Glow.

A Glow Meet with Elspeth will be held in the Literacy and English National Glow Group on Wednesday December 16th at 11 10 am. A follow-up Glow Meet where pupils will get the opportunity to present their own poems to Elspeth will take place in January 2010.

Elspeth invites S2 to join her to hear her poetry, work on the Heroes and Heroines theme and to ask her questions about her work and life as a poet.

You can register your interest and post questions for Elspeth to answer by emailing c.gillespie@LTScotland.org.uk

Please note you can also register your interest on the Heroes and Heroines Poetry Glow Page – follow the link from Literacy and English National Glow Group Noticeboard.

Members of the national English teachers’ Glow group have a free CPD session available to them every month – and as these are delivered digitally through Glow Meet they can be watched from the comfort of a classroom or even from a front room – no cover needed!
This month’s session will be delivered on Monday 30th November between 4 and 5pm. In it David Noble – an expert in the field of using audio tools for education – will be giving participants practical advice on how to:
> Set-up a computer to create digital audio recordings
> Record, edit, save, and even publish recordings
> Use existing digital audio resources on the web
> Use mobile devices to capture to capture, distribute, and use voice recordings.
David will also be discussing Project Ideas and connecting digital audio to the Literacy Experiences and Outcomes. A list of useful links and a ‘How to get started’ guide will also be made available.

You do not have to be an English teacher to join the English teachers’ glow group. To participate simply click HERE or go to the English Teacher’s glow group (National site – National groups -Staffroom -Staffroom groups – English Teachers group), and request membership.

Alan Bissett is returning to his and Adam Spark’s old school, Falkirk High, to speak to pupils about his books and you and your class can also be there with Glow.

A Glow Meet with Alan will be held in the Literacy and English National Glow Group on Thursday December 10th at 2pm.

Alan invites S4-S6 to join him to hear him read from his books and to ask him questions about his work.

It promises to be a great event both for pupils and staff as you get to watch, hear and question one of Scotland’s most versatile talents.

You can register your interest and post questions for Alan to answer by replying to the post Here on the Glow group.

Please note you can now register your interest on the Alan Bissett Glow Page.

The English teachers’ national Glow group presents another fantastic free masterclass. The November session will run on Monday, 30th November from 4-5pm and will focus on practical steps to help teachers become more confident in using audio devices and recordings in their classroom.
The masterclass will be delivered by David Noble, a Chartered Teacher at a residential school in Fife experienced in using ICT across the curriculum. David produces the fortnightly educational podcast, Booruch, and is a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh. He also co-produces the EDUtalk website, (http://edutalk.cc/) a space for teachers and students to use mobile technology to create and share educational audio.

During the session participants will learn how to:

Set-up a computer to create digital audio recordings

Record, edit, save, and even publish recordings

Use existing digital audio resources on the web

Use mobile devices to capture, distribute, and use voice recordings

Project ideas will also be discussed, connecting digital audio to the Literacy
Experiences and Outcomes. A list of useful links and a ‘How to get started’ guide will also be available.

All the English teacher group masterclasses have an English and/or Literacy focus but they are open to all and you do not need to be an English teacher to join the group and participate. Membership requests are welcomed from all stages and sectors of education. Click HERE to request membership. Full details of how to join a Glow Meet masterclass session are posted in the group.