Glow Scotland

Bob Hill’s Glow project is all about collaboration in Glow.  It is a great project because Bob aims to involve teachers from all over Scotland in a practical project about our favourite subject, the weather.

Bob works out of  Dundee and is in ICT Support for DCC Educational Services. He is promoting the use of Google maps to share information about the weather in Scotland. By asking teachers and pupils to capture local information about the weather and put it in a shared google map which can be found in a National Glow group Weather with Google Maps Glow group.

If you are a teacher Primary or Secondary and not least ateacher of Geography you should get involved.  If  I was teaching about the Weather, Enquiry Skills (eg S1) or Google maps after the summer holidays, I would seriously consider getting my class to contribute to Bob’s glow group and share my local information with schools across the country. It would be great to view more local weather in Bob’s Google map. full instructions on how to do this are in the Glow group.You can ask him about his Glow group in the Discussions page of Weather and Google Maps or @robthill in Twitter.

You can find Bob’s Glow group in the National Site in the Collaborative Projects National Glow group.

Bob, good luck with a great Glow idea.

At this time of year, many P7 pupils are getting a taster of a day or two at secondary school to prepare them for S1. P7 pupils at Craigiebarns PS in Dundee are ahead of the game through Glow! Two P7 classes and their teachers were able to take part in a series of lessons about Burning and the Gases of the Air through Glow Meet video-conferences with Kath Squire, PT Biology at the associated secondary school, Craigie HS. Some S2 volunteers helped Kath to show live, various aspects of burning. She had also prepared presentations to deliver though Glow Meet’s whiteboard space. The two classes were able to annotate on the whiteboard in different colours, reponding to Kath’s questions and interacting in the lesson. This Glow tool is a powerful way to support transition and help enhance topics which are difficult to deliver safely in the primary classroom.

This week’s Glowing Thursday Glow Meet session will enable Glow users to meet Kath, and also, Avril Martin, DHT at Craigiebarns PS. Avril set up the project Glow Group and arranged for the two P7 classes to participate. If you have a Glow login, navigate to the Glowing Thursday page and read more about the project and then join the Meet around 4pm Thursday 11th June.

Our first online debate takes place this Thursday, the 11th of June. The Debate will come live over Glow Meet from the National Debating Group. Join the Glow Meet at 4PM to watch Bearsden Academy and Aberdeen Grammar debate the motion ‘This House Believes Now More Than Ever We Need A United Kingdom’ - this should be very interesting, and there will be a chance for virtual spectators to ask questions after the speeches.

Click Here to request access to the group and PLEASE check that you can access Glow Meet from your location before the event to avoid disappointment!

Log in to the first ever national virtual conference for languages teachers in Scotland!
Scottish CILT would like to invite you to take part in the first ever national VIRTUAL event for languages teachers: Languages and Interdisciplinary Approaches, on Monday 15th June at 4pm.

Two practitioners, one primary and one secondary will share theirs and their learners’ experiences. Corinne Anderson, from Balfron High School will talk about the Europe week experience she devised for S2, and Wilma Gordon, from Mid Calder Primary School will explain how a link to a French school provided the vehicle for an ambitious collaboration resulting in bilingual novels and films in her P7 class.

All you need to take part is your Glow log in and a computer – try it from home if you can! However, you must be a member of the Scottish CILT group to take part in the conference. If you are not already a member follow this link to the national Modern Languages Glow group then click on the link for Scottish CILT. (Please note that membership will be given within 24 hours but notification of this is not always possible so please check back after this time)>

Please join our group and email asap to let us know that you would like to take part in the event.
Looking forward to seeing you on Monday 15th on Glow!
Catriona

catriona.oates@strath.ac.uk

mandy.reemanclark@strath.ac.uk

Mission Impossible Science Challenges

Find out about how schools from across Scotland are talking part in science challenges and collaborating using Glow Meet. From 9am until 3pm today, June 1st, three schools from across Scotland are taking part in the Foam Fire Extinguisher challenge by Kitchen Chemistry. Pupils from Perth High School, Marr College and Calderglen High School will be exploring a range of chemical reactions with the aim to produce foam. The design process will then begin as pupils from S2 – S3 strive to create a fire extinguisher which can put out a fire in the shortest time. One of the challenges they will face is to find a way to keep the chemicals apart to ensure the fire extinguisher doesn’t go off until they need to put out a fire!

These schools are exploring the possibilities of creating their own fire extinguishers through hands on experiments and sharing their findings in Glow Meet. Pete Johnson from Kitchen Chemistry who is also a teacher at Stewart’s Melville College will be working with all four schools to guide them through their scientific discoveries using the audio, video and white board in Glow Meet. Pupils will be collaborating and updating discussion boards in a Science Challenges Glow Group throughout the day to update everyone with their findings, sharing top tips and eventually their finished products.

The fire service will be joining S2 at Perth High School to give a presentation on fire safety to all the schools involved and then judging the competition to find the most successful fire extinguisher.

You can join this Glow Meet now, Monday 1st June to watch their progress. Join the Science Challenges Glow group by clicking on the link below and then clicking on Send request.
https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Science/Science%20Challenges/default.aspx

A pilot Glow Group has been set up at national level to enhance the experience of a visit from Generation Science’s outreach show - Body Builders. Schools that have access to Glow and have booked a Body Builders Show from Generation Science in the next few weeks are able to use the Glow Group to extend the value of the visit.

The show scenario has four characters visiting the doctor:
Timmy Hawkes, a skater with bone trouble
Kevin Shearer, an out of breath football hero
Rome Zeglobe, an itchy explorer
Don Pupi Panti, a chef extraordinaire with flatulence

Through the very humorous interviews, the pupil audience gains a good understanding of body systems, general health, anatomy, and how to act in a responsible way regarding personal health. The Glow Group enables schools involved to follow up the visit by pupils’ responding to the patients requests for advice, by staff uploading pictures from the visits or posting further work related to the health topics.
It is hoped that teachers will give feedback on whether they feel the Glow Group gave extra value to the visit. This will help the Glow Team and Generation Science plan for next year’s shows.
Generation Science brings shows and workshops into schools to make the learning of science simple and fun. The website has details of all the shows, a downloadable programme and teachers’ notes. These back up the science covered in the shows with the Curriculum for Excellence links for teachers and with follow on experiments for pupils. The shows run from January to June each year. In 2008, 66000 children got to see a show!
If you have had Generation Science visits this year, please leave some feedback about it here and what you would want from Glow in supporting future visits.

P4-7 pupils from Arisaig Primary school joined S1/2 pupils in Mallaig High School today to become the first pupils in Highland to log on to Glow.

Accompanied by Arisaig Headteacher Chai Jones and Mallaig DHT John Fisher, the pupils learned many things, including how to take part in discussions, add news items and upload images to a picture library. They completed a glow survey at the end of the day to feedback on their initial experiences of using Glow. When asked in the survey what they had most enjoyed doing in Glow, one Arisaig pupil said, “I liked everything it is very hard to pick a favourite thing I loved it all so much.” 

The staff were delighted with the enthusiasm of the pupils and plan to tap into this when providing support for staff use of Glow.