Glow Scotland

18th March, 1.30pm – 2.15pm

How is your memory? Could it be improved?

Join Drew McAdam, Scotland’s foremost mindreader to find out how to improve your memory and learning techniques.

Join this Glow Meet in collaboration with the BBC and find out how to use systems to make the most of your memory. You can put these to good use for revision or in fact anything else!

Drew will be working with an S4 class at Kirkintilloch High School and allowing everyone else to join using Glow Meet. These techniques can be applied across the curriculum and used by pupils at a range of stages.

Ever wished you could get your brain to work better? Brainsmart can help you discover how to:

* maximise your memory
* get motivated
* achieve your goals

Find out more about the BBC Brainsmart website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/brainsmart/

Sign up and take part in the Brainsmart Glow group:

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/MINDPLAY%20with%20Drew%20McAdam/default.aspx

“I am inspired”.

‘great fun … and very impressive’.

“It was great. I am from a primary background and could easily adapt this. Thanks so much”.

“A great success. My first Glow Meet and I’ve left with lots of good ideas”.

On 29th October teachers from as far afield as Stirling and Thurso logged into Glow to listen to David Miller from St Ninian’s High School East Dunbartonshire deliver a fantastic masterclass session entitled ‘Literacy in Action’.

During the session David explained how an S1 poetry unit he was working on led to a cross-curricular project with the Art Department and resulted in the pupils making a short animation film. As well as sharing his own teaching approaches and the Curriculum for Excellence outcomes the project covered, David showed examples of the work produced by the pupils and gave the participants of the session practical advice on how the project was organised. Some of those taking part in the Glow Meet also offered their own hints about the best software they had found for animation projects. All those who took part agreed that the masterclass was, ‘inspiring’.

Every month the national English teachers’ Glow group runs a session just like this one on a variety of Literacy/English topics. If you have a Glow log-in, an internet connection and speakers attached to your PC then you can take part. These sessions are free and are always timed for after school so no cover is needed – you can even join in from the comfort of your own living room!

You do not have to be an English teacher to participate but you must be a member of the national English teachers’ Glow group. Click HERE to request membership. Detailed instructions on how to join a Glow Meet masterclass are posted in the group.

Another masterclass session will be running in November – details coming soon!

After a long summer break I am pleased to announce that the English teacher masterclass sessions have once again resumed. These one hour sessions offer teachers all over the country the opportunity -through Glow Meet- to increase their knowledge through participation in on-line CPD sessions run by ‘experts’ in a variety of fields.

Returning in the first of our autumn sessions is 2008 UK Teacher of the year David Miller who delivered a fantastic masterclass on Robert Frost Poetry way back in March.
His latest session – entitled ‘Literacy in Action’ will focus on an Interdisciplinary Learning project between English and Art & Design called Poetry in Motion. As well as exemplifying the Outcomes and Experiences in English, Literacy and Expressive Arts at Level 3, the session will also illustrate examples of Literacy in Action across a range of other subjects.

The session will take place on Thursday 29th October at 4.30 and is open to all teachers with a Glow log-in. You do not have to be an English teacher but you must be a member of the national English Teachers glow group to participate. Click on this LINK to go to the group and request membership.
The masterclasses will cover a wide variety of subjects and will run once a month as before – watch this space for more exciting events coming soon!

As the school term neared a close across Scotland, Glowing Thursday held a very special event to entertain and involve schools from across the country.

Scotland’s Got Talent saw an inspiring afternoon of children from primaries and secondaries dancing, singing, doing comedy acts, playing musical instruments and even doing the Highland Fling!! Fourteen acts including schools in the Western Isles, East Lothian and North Lanarkshire all took part via Glow Meet to entertain more than 28 other classes throughout Scotland.

For some schools this was the first time that they had ever taken part in a Glow Meet and it was well receved by all. One teacher said “I thought the talent showcase was a great success” and another thought ‘It was good to see different schools’ settings for their acts and to see what works and what didn’t.’

All participants will receive a certificate and a small thank you gift for all their hard work and for keeping Scotland entertained at the end of a very long term!

A new schedule for next session’s Glowing Thursdays will be available at the beginning of August and will include ‘Scotland’s Christmas Talent’, so if you missed out this time make sure you join in with the next one. Find out more at http://www.glowhelp.me/thursdays

Did you know that within the Sharing Practice page of the GlowScotland website, schools from across Scotland share their experiences of using Glow?

Log on and find out how pupils  from across Scotland watched leading scientists perform a bird autopsy beamed live into their classrooms from the Scottish Seabird Centre; or how Burravoe Primary School in Shetland used Glow to keep in touch with pupils when bad weather closed the school.

Read about how schools in East Dunbartonshire are using Glow in a project to ease the transition to secondary school, and how James Young school took a phased approach to the roll out of Glow to benefit learning and teaching.

In addition, practitioners from across Scotland, working with children at different ages and stages, share their experiences of using Glow.

Why not log on and see if you can benefit from any of these ideas and stories ?

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!

Laura Kerr from the East Dunbartonshire Glow team sent me this wonderful piece of news about how Glow was used to help run a fantastic authority-wide Easter event.

“On the run up to Easter, pupils in East Dunbartonshire were given the opportunity to participate in an Easter Egg-stravaganza challenge. Pupils were set the challenge through Glow to design an Easter product, design packaging and create branding for the product. With over 160 entries from 11 different schools, the standard was exceptional. Entries were uploaded to the glow group by each participating school and our Chocolatier judge had the difficult task of picking the winners.

7 lucky winners from 4 schools were announced via Glow Meet and they had the opportunity to visit a real chocolate factory! The children came together for the morning and talked about their entries with others while making friends from schools across the authority. They had a tour of the factory, watched the experts at work and even had the chance to make their own chocolates to take home.

Craigdhu Primary, the overall winners of the competition,
received a donation from the chocolate factory of a 40KG Egg! They are currently in the process of raffling tickets to win the egg and raise money for another Interactive Whiteboard.

What an experience the pupils and teachers had although, there wasn’t an Oompa Loompa in sight!”

David Baker from the East Dunbartonshire Glow Team contacted me today to let me know about a fantastic use of Glow that has been happening in his authority.

“Pupils in several East Dunbartonshire schools recently had the privilege of interviewing Molly Brown, one of the most famous survivors of the sinking of the Titanic.

Thanks to the wonders of Glow Meet, the pupils were able to ask Molly Brown (aka Susan Morrison, a teacher at Gartconner Primary School, Kirkintilloch) about her time on the Titanic and how she coped with the tragic events.

The idea was originally put forward by Susan as a way of enhancing the Joining the Learning topic her class were studying. Feedback from all those who took part has been very positive and is a “Glowing” endorsement of using ICT in this way.

We look forward to using Glow in further, new and innovative ways in the months to come.”

So Glow can even help you see dead people…kind of

April 29th saw the first national Glow Meet for chemistry classes. It was hosted in Aberdeen Grammar School thanks to P.T. Chemistry, Susan Davis, and Aberdeen City’s Principal Officer (Education ICT), Richard Elliott, but classes from around Scotland benefitted: St John’s HS, Dundee; Stirling HS; Marr College, South Ayrshire; Lenzie Academy, East Dunbartonshire; and several from Aberdeenshire – Fraserburgh Academy, Aboyne Academy and the Gordon Schools.

Craig Burnett, a recent entrant to the profession, described his path from Banchory Academy to his current postion with Talisman Energy, and also took the audience through the Higher Chemistry content statements about the Chemical Industry.
Gavin Smith shared his vast experience in various areas of the chemical industry with the pupils, and showed the huge responsibility that can weigh on engineers’ shoulders in terms of making sure that plants (including oil rigs) are safe – from design through to everyday procedures.
Some of the teachers who accessed the Glow Meet with their classes have left feedback in the National Sciences Glow Group:

“I used Glow Meet for the first time this morning and I really enjoyed it! I thought the presentation worked very well and I thought Gavin and Craig were very interesting and covered the topic well. I found Glow Meet very easy to use and I was happy to find that you could still join in the discussion just by typing. Thanks for giving me opportunity to join in this morning. I will be keeping an look-out for more Glow Meet events.”

“First experience of Glow Meet a very positive one. Gavin and Craig excellent at giving the pupils a wider perspective on the applications of Chemistry after school/university.
We found Glow Meet easy to use, no problems with set-up.
We didn’t have a microphone and so had to type all questions in – found this a bit restrictive and slowed things down a bit, making the Glow meet not quite as interactive as we had anticipated.
Would definitely participate again.”

“I am trying to push the use of Glow in SHS and it is events like this that are going to make it happen. The feedback from both Chemistry staff and pupils has been great. Thanks to Gavin and Craig and more please!”

If you have ideas for future Glow Meets for chemistry or any of the other sciences, leave a note in the National Sciences Glow Group, or by leaving a comment on this blog.

The David Miller Glow Meet masterclass on the Robert Frost poem, ‘Out, Out’ , and all accompanying resources are now available to view inside the English Teachers’ National Glow group. To access these fantastic resources click HERE.

The next Glow Meet masterclass will run at the end of April and will feature Neil Winton PT English at Perth Academy talking about some of the inspiring work he is doing using WIKIs in the English classroom. More details to follow.

If you are not already a member of the group click HERE to request access.