Category Archives: Languages

Early Years, Literacy and English, National Qualifications, Responsibility of All

Wise Up Wednesday – Literacy in Action

February 29, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

On Saturday the early years team at Education Scotland hosted a conference at Stirling Management Centre –

Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Support Early Years Practice.

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children andYoung People launched our new resource for parents every day’s a learning day. This resource highlights the learning opportunities present in every day situations from sorting the washing to preparing meals. Watch this space for more information!

The conference was very successful with delegates sharing their enthusiasm about the workshops and the speakers which included:

Jean Carwood-Edwards, Programme Director, Education Scotland

Scotland’s Literacy Action Plan – everyone’s responsibility

Alan Bissett, Author

Literacy in Action – promoting a reading culture in Scotland

National Updates

Education Scotland – Inspection Framework

Louise Gaddi, Qualifications Manager Care Scotland, SQA

Catherine Agnew, Inspector Manager – Registration,Care Inspector

Nina Roberts, Education and Workforce Development Adviser, SSSC

World Cafe Workshops

Development Officers provided an overview of how their own area of work supports the Literacy Action Plan and lead discussions on how the resources available could be used with students of early education and childcare.

Irene Russell, Development Officer, Parental Involvement

Susan Doherty, Development Officer, Work with Young People

Hilary Bombart, Team Leader (Acting), Literacy and English

Anna Cartlidge, Development Officer, Early Years/Responsibility of All

Visit Scotland’s Colleges Blog to see a video of the key messages from the day.

Modern Languages

The German Teacher Awards

February 20, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Do you know an outstanding Teacher of German who you feel should be recognised at a national level?

The winners will receive a personal prize of £750 and a certificate. The prizes will be presented at a special ceremony at the “Sommerfest der Deutschen Sprache” on 28th of June 2012 in the German Ambassador’s Residence in London.

For further information please click here to visit the website.

Modern Languages

Herriot Watt University – The Multi- Lingual Debate 2012 – 22nd of March

February 20, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

This year’s multi- lingual debate will take place on Thursday 22nd of March 2012. If you would like to attend, or would like to register your class to participate online, then please visit Herriot Watt’s website where you will be given details of how to register.

It’s a really fantastic opportunity for langauge learners to get an insight into the skills and techniques used by translators, while taking part in a really interesting and topical debate. This is the first time that the event will be streamed live so that schools can fully participate no matter where they are located.

To register your class, click here to access the Herriot Watt website

Gaelic Learners, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All

Health and wellbeing Glow Meet Wednesday 22 February 1615-1700

February 17, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

This Glow meet will provide CPD support to deliver the aspects of HWB that are the Responsibility of All.

You will have the opportunity to hear about the building blocks of HWB to develop a whole school approach and a shared understanding of Responsibility of all. This shared understanding can help teachers and partners to consider assessment in HWB, in particular on those aspects that are the Responsibility of all.

There will be the opportunity to post questions throughout the meet.

To join your colleagues, please click here. (Glow log in required).

Literacy, Literacy and English

The Daily What Newsround

February 14, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

24/02/12 – 11am

The first of a whole series of ‘Daily What Newsrounds’ which we are all very excited about…

Every two weeks, on a Friday morning, Louise and Melisaa from our schools’ news service (The Daily What News- http://www.dailywhat.org.uk/) will introduce a fun-filled twenty minutes of news-related features.

This is the launch show, which will give Glow users a chance to meet Melissa and Louise and hear details of an amazing new competition they are launching. They will also give a tour of the site and discuss some of the most interesting stories from the past few weeks.

The show will continue on a fortnightly basis after that, with quiz features, special guests and lots of truly great learning opportunities. Teachers will be pleased to be reminded that every news story has a related blog post of teaching and earning suggestions, so there’s lots of ideas to take forward with classes.

You will grow to really like Louise and Melissa and what a great chance for Glow users to find out more about the news in general and certain stories in particular.

Click here to sign up to The Daily What Newsround. (Glow log in required)

CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Technologies

Falkirk – global citizenship showcase and school open day

February 9, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Falkirk Council global citizenship showcase and school open day

Venue: Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk

9:30am – 3.00pm

This event will now take place on Thursday 17th May 2012

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders an exciting opportunity to visit Bo’ness Academy and attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase Event.

Bo’ness Academy is an inspiring example of a school that has used international education as a vehicle to engage the whole school in global citizenship activities. Through the Comenius Programme and other well established links the school has developed a rich international programme connecting it to countries across the world including: The Gambia, The Netherlands, China, France, Germany and The Czech Republic.

A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school move forward on its journey including:

Making global citizenship a key priority in the school and a focus for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
Using international links to explore important issues in a global context and to create engaging, meaningful and challenging learning experiences
Developing strong international partnerships which can be sustained and which have made an impact on every learner.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Head Teacher, International Coordinator, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms and school. Time will also be set aside for participants to reflect and share their own experiences.

Following the open day event, participants will also have the opportunity to attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase event which will also be taking place in Bo’ness Academy from 4pm – 6pm. This will feature exhibitions and displays from leading organisations such as Eco-Schools and British Council and will showcase innovative global citizenship practice from many Falkirk schools.

How to book

To book, please contact Megan Farr, Policy Officer, Falkirk Council. Email: megan.farr@falkirk.gov.uk or Tel. 01324 506671.

Places for the open day section of the event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Download programme for Bo’ness Academy Open Day >>

Modern Languages

Two awards now open for entries from language learning projects

February 1, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Are you doing something innovative in your school that promotes language learning?

SCILT, the Scottish Centre for Language Learning is highlighting two awards for language learning and encouraging Scottish educational establishments to apply.

The European Language Label is a prestigious award that has been running for many years and is recognised across Europe. Applications are welcome from all stages of language learning and teaching, from early years to HE and adult education.

The British Academy Language Awards are a new set of awards open to secondary schools (11-16 yrs) and offer a substantial cash prize.

The application form and process for each award is very similar so SCILT suggests that schools who meet the criteria should consider applying for both.

The European Language Label is an award for innovative language-learning projects. It rewards creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching, motivate learners and make the best of available resources. To be successful, projects must demonstrate creative thinking and lead to improved teaching provision and learner achievement. They must be innovative, effective and replicable by others in the UK and other countries. If this describes your project, why not apply for an award?

Last year’s winners of this UK-wide award included two Scottish schools, St Roch’s Secondary School “skills for life and work” project won in the secondary catagory and Elgin Academy’s ‘Languages, local businesses and the community’ project, in which the school worked with local businesses in the north of Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, was Highly Commended by the judges.

Winning projects may use European Language Label on stationery and websites. In addition, all winners receive prizes of books, vouchers or teaching materials from the sponsors. The awards will be presented at a prize-giving ceremony on European Day of Languages on 26 September. To access more information including an application form, please visit the SCILT website by clicking here.

The British Academy in collaboration with CfBT Education Trust has launched a new awards scheme to promote language learning and teaching in secondary schools in the UK. The British Academy Schools Language Awards is aimed at secondary schools in the UK and promotes language learning and teaching.

Two awards of £4,000 will be given to projects in seven UK regions, including Scotland – one for languages taught in mainstream secondary schools and one for complementary/supplementary schools. A National Award of an additional £4,000 will be given to the best overall project. Awards will be given to projects that promote language learning by finding creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching and motivating students.

Application for the Awards is now open and The British Academy will announce the winners in the autumn and present the prizes at a ceremony in London.

The deadline for applications is 2 March 2012. More information, including the application form and application criteria, is on on the British Academy website.

To access more information and download an application form please click here.

Good luck everyone!!!

CfE, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, Supporting Learners

Scottish Education Awards

January 31, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The Scottish Education Awards celebrate the hard work and success which takes place in Scottish education. They recognise the achievements of people who dedicate their lives to children and young people and showcase the valuable work and innovation in Scottish classrooms. Nominations close on Friday 2 March 2012. Visit the Scottish Education Awards website for more information.

Modern Languages

MLPS resources and ideas

January 31, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

I met yesterday with our colleagues at SCILT as a member of their MLPS short working group. Laura Stewart,who chairs the group, has posted some really excellent resources and ideas that will help those of you who teach a modern language in primary schools. To access the correct page please click here. Have a look at the posts on the notice board but also click on the Glow groups and documents tabs to find loads more interesting examples and materials.

Modern Languages

Free ebook from Radio Lingua – Focus on French

January 31, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The kind and talented people at Radio Lingua launched the first in a series of ebooks aimed specifically at secondary-aged learners. It’s called Focus on French and is available in the iBookstore, so any student with an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad can download the content. It features a young native speaker who introduces each chapter with a video and there are audio clips for all words and phrases contained in the book. Best of all, Focus on French Conversation is entirely free and can be downloaded from the iTunes Store. Search for “Focus on French” and learners can download the book straight to their devices. Focus on French Conversation is the first in the series and they are currently in production for two further titles in the series focusing on S3-4 vocabulary – “Focus on French Vocabulary – Sport and Leisure” and “Focus on French Vocabulary – Education and Work”. There’s more information at Radio Lingua’s website. To visit it please click here or contact Mark Pendleton directly at

mark@radiolingua.com

Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy and English, Young people, children & families

A Right Wee Blether

January 31, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

A RIGHT wee blether, a creative conversation led by Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People ran from 12th September – 31st October 2011.

The Commissioner, Tam Baillie, has a responsibility to promote and safeguard the rights of children and young people in Scotland. A RIGHT wee blether encouraged children to creatively express how they feel by answering five key questions:

How are you feeling today?
What makes you smile?
Who is special to you?
You are given a special star, where will you put it?
What would you like to change?

The views and experiences of children have been captured and summarised. These responses, in addition to the consultation with school age children a RIGHT blether, will inform the Commissioner’s work over the next four years.

To find out more about the work of Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People and a RIGHT wee blether please visit http://www.sccyp.org.uk/.
You can also see an example of how this was put into practice by visiting St Joseph’s Nursery website.

CfE, Expressive Arts, Modern Languages

新年快乐 – More Chinese New Year Celebrations

January 27, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Glow TV is delighted to announce that two further Chinese New Year events have been added to the schedule. On Monday 30th January at 1.20pm we will be coming live from the Confucius Hub at St Ninian’s High School in East Dunbartonshire with a Chinese New Year Show. Throughout the hour long show you will be entertained by Dragon Dancing, Chinese singing and dancing, Chinese drama and a live singing competition between 6 S1 classes!! Plus much much more. To finish the show the young people will be singing Auld Lang Syne in Mandarin and English. We hope that you can join us – sign up in Glow TV!

Then on Thursday 2nd February we will be continuing the celebrations with a recorded performance from a group from Shanghai who visited Scotland this week. As part of their brief visit to Scotland for the Chinese New Year a delegation from Shanghai performed in certain Confucius Hubs and also paid a visit to Education Scotland where we were lucky enough to have the event recorded.

The performance is beautiful and colourful and includes singing and dancing as well as Chinese drama. We invite you to join us for a Glow Meet with Fan Lin, LTS Confucius Institute Manager where you can watch the recording of the performance and then ask Fan questions about it and all other things that interest you about Chinese New Year!! Sign up in Glow TV for – Shanghai Delegation Perform Confucius Institute Spring Festival Performance 2012

And don’t forget our King of Masks event on the 6th February from 10.15am and later that day the 龙年大吉 Good luck with the year of dragon – Close of Celebrations events at 2pm!!

Literacy, Literacy and English, Sciences, Technologies

Hand of the Future

January 27, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Last night I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Tells They Tell presentation at the 26 Treasures Exhibition at the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.

For this exhibition, the museum selected 26 objects from their Scotland galleries, which together trace Scotland’s history from its ancient geological roots to its technological future. Some are iconic, others less well-known, but all have a story to tell. The 26 writers from poets and novelists to screenwriters, journalists and academics. The writers were paired up with objects at random, and set the intriguing challenge of responding to their object in exactly 62 words.

Object number 26 was a Bionic Hand which relates to our up and coming STEM Context of Bioengineering. (Watch this space for more information on this context being released).

To read the poem Hand of the Future click here.

Remember to visit STEM Central in Motion to find out how practitioners are using STEM in the classroom.

CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Global citizenship online community – now LIVE

January 27, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Do you have an interest in, or remit for, global citizenship? Need some advice or want to share ideas with like-minded practitioners?

If so, then you’ll probably want to have a peek at the shiny new online community for global citizenship on CPD Central. Join now so you can brag to colleagues about how you were one of the pioneering members .

Why have we set it up? Well, there’s always a buzz of ideas and sharing at our face-to-face CPD events and we thought it’d be amazing if we could find a way of bringing people together again and again to keep the discussion and buzz going. Well we’ve found a way! Here’s your bit:

Step 1 – Visit http://bit.ly/DGConline and add your picture (Glow log in required)

Step 2 – Share an idea or ask the audience

Welcome gift! If you join before Friday 17^th February 2012 we’ll be happy to offer you a special gift to welcome you to the community – one of our highly-prized global citizenship wall calendars (these have been flying off our shelves!).

CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Whitelees Primary School – Open Day

January 27, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

School open day

Whitelees Primary School, North Lanarkshire Council

9:30am – 3.00pm, Monday 20^th February 2012

Theme: Sustainable Development Education

This event was originally due to take place on 8^th December 2011 but had to be cancelled due to the severe storms. It has now been rescheduled for Monday 20^th February 2012.

Whitelees Primary School hit the headlines in 2011 when it became the first primary school to be awarded five ‘excellent’ grades by the school inspectors. This isn’t the first time their achievements have made news. The school’s accolades and awards include:

Finalist, Scottish Education Awards – Sustainable School category (2011)
Best Green School Award (2009)
Winner, Scottish Education Awards – Best Enterprise category (2008)
Four Green Flags, Eco-Schools Scotland.

A key factor in the school’s success has been the way it has placed global citizenship and sustainable development education at the heart of the curriculum to provide exciting, relevant and engaging contexts for learning. This has helped to create, ‘Highly motivated, confident and ambitious children who are keen to learn and to make a difference in school and the wider community.’

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders from across Scotland the chance to visit Whitelees Primary School to meet with the Head Teacher, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms, buildings and grounds. A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school develop a successful whole school approach to sustainability and global citizenship including:

A sustained commitment to pupil voice with learners being given real opportunities to shape the curriculum and school decision making
Effective use of the school grounds, nature and vegetable gardens to support outdoor learning and deliver the curriculum
The inspiring pupil rock band which has achieved notable success through their songs about fair trade and climate change.

Those participating in the open day will also have time to reflect and share their own experiences.

Click here to download programme for open day

How to book

To book, please email: globalcitizens@educationscotland.gov.uk or Tel. 0141 282 5172.

Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Assessment, Moderation, Modern Languages, NAR, National Qualifications, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

CfE & Glow News e-update – January

January 25, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The CfE and Glow News e-update provides you with updates on Curriculum for Excellence and support for practitioners, along with all the latest developments within Glow.

Click here to view the newsletter or click on the links below.

Read the January issue to find out about the following:

Literacy, Literacy and English, Technologies

Digitalising Burns Poetry

January 24, 2012 User deactivated 10 Comments

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Wellwood Primary School in Fife. The pupils were looking at Burns’ Poetry in a range of ways to develop their ICT skills. First of all the pupils researched Burns’ poetry and selected a poem they wanted to read. They read their poems to a talk partner, ensuring they followed the Success Criteria that they had set them themselves. Pupils used the software Audacity to record their poem and then used their creative skills to create an avatar using Voki. The Voki was then added to their individual blogs.

To find out about other Burns activities visit our resource calendar.

Click here to find out about Burns Day on Glow on 25/01/11 at 9:45 am.

Modern Languages, Sciences

Comenius project with an Italian School

January 23, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

The Liceo Scientifico is a secondary school situated 60kms from Turin. The school is renowned for teaching different facets of bio-technology and is equipped with state-of-the-art physics and chemistry laboratories. However, it also offers a course of study with an emphasis on languages, in which students can specialize in French and English. The school is looking for a Scottish school that teaches Italian to take part in a Comenius project in partnership with other schools from Ireland, Germany and France. English will be the lingua franca for the project, but there will be opportunitites to use Italian too. This two-year project will involve high achievers in fifith and sixth year and will mainly concentrate on a comparative study of biodiversity in each of the schools’ local areas.

In particular, the Scottish school could help the Italian science teachers build a scientific vocabulary in English to be used when working on the project.

If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Manuela Maletto at the following email address.

malettomanuela@aliceposta.it

For more information about the school please click here to access its website.

Modern Languages

新年快乐 – Celebrate Chinese New Year with Glow

January 19, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Glow celebrates the Chinese New Year of the dragon with a series of events highlighting what is going on in schools across Scotland to mark these exciting celebrations. Beginning on Monday the 23rd January and lasting for 15 days
Glow will be presenting a programme of different Glow Meets looking at Chinese culture and celebration.

On the 23rd we will be joined by several of the Confucius Classroom Hubs who will be sharing what they have/are intending to do to welcome this new year and we hope that you can join us too and let us know what you are doing in your classrooms across Scotland to mark this event. Even if you do not have anything to share why not join us anyway and find out more about the Year of the Dragon? Sign up and join us on the 23rd January.

On the 6th February we will be continuing the programme with a special event live from the Glasgow Film Festival entitled King of Masks. Through Glow Meet you can watch the live introduction to the film and take part in a workshop with Chinese opera singer and Ricefield workshop leader Fong Liu from St. Ninian’s High School who will be dressed in full Chinese costume. You can also obtain your own free DVD of the film to watch in school that day as well. Find out more about this event and how to get your free DVD in Glow TV.

Finally on the afternoon of the 6th February join us for 龙年大吉 Good luck with the year of dragon – Close of Celebrations. This Glow Meet will be bringing to a close the Chinese New Year celebrations in Glow with a look at the Lantern Festival, a traditional Chinese festival since Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago. We will have images from the event that took place on 20th January in Fife and also find out more about this from the Confucius Hubs. We also hope to hear from you too and what you have done to celebrate Chinese New Year in your school. Sign up and join us for this event.

You can also find related resources for 2012 – The Chinese Year of the Dragon on the Education Scotland website.

Literacy, Literacy and English

New Literacy across learning materials

January 19, 2012 User deactivated 2 Comments

New reading support materials for first and second levels and new Literacy across learning materials to support the third and fourth levels are now available on Glow.

First and second level materials

‘Reading to Learn; Learning to Read’ are new reading support materials to support first and second levels. They are now available in Glow: (Glow log-in required).

These materials include practical ideas to develop and support reading at first and second level, active learning strategies for teaching reading and a wide variety of approaches to support reading.

Specific areas covered include:

reciprocal reading.
hot-seating.
before, during and after reading activities.
the Thinking Reader.

Third and fourth level materials

New Literacy across learning materials to support the third and fourth levels are now available in Glow. (Glow log-in required).

These materials include information on:

practical strategies and ideas to develop literacy across learning
listening and talking strategies
writing across the curriculum
recording literacy across the curriculum
analysing moving image texts
reciprocal reading strategies
information literacy
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
links to additional resources.

Modern Languages, Social studies

The Multilingual Debate 2012

January 18, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Heriot-Watt University’s Multilingual Debate is an annual event that showcases the interpreting skills of undergraduate students on their Languages (Interpreting and Translating) degree programme, as well as the developing professional skills of postgraduate students on their MSc Translating and Conference Interpeting programmes. The event takes the form of a formal debate with two multilingual teams arguing for and against a motion of topical interest in a range of languages. The teams deliver their views in their various native languages (French, German, Spanish, English, Chinese, British Sign Language (BSL)).

The Multilingual Debate stimulates an interest among young people in the international politics and social issues of the modern world whilst also setting language acquisition in a realistic context.

The audience is mainly made up of pupils coming from Scottish and English secondary schools, but also university undergraduate students considering entering the interpreting profession, as well as government and local authority representatives. The audiences participated in the debate by listening to the arguments, putting questions to the speakers in the languages represented and voting on the motion. Electronic voting is used and the audience are able to see clear changes in their opinions before the debate compared to after the debate.

This year, debate topics are:

‘This house believes that the spread of Globish* will enhance inter-cultural understanding’
‘This house believes that if the Euro fails, Europe will turn into a global backwater’

*see references online such as: http://www.oed.com/public/globish/the-rise-of-global-english.

In past years, the debate has been so popular that we are looking to provide access and participation online to allow as many people as possible to join in.

If you would like your learners to take part in this “true celebration of linguistic diversity”, then please click here to visit Herriot Watt’s website.

Early Years, Gaelic Learners, Responsibility of All

Wise Up Wednesday!

January 18, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Robert Burns – Lets Celebrate

Happy New Year from the Early Years Team at Education Scotland!

Its time to celebrate the life of Robert Burns on Burns’ Day 25th January.

To give you some ideas on where to get started we have provided you with some links to good practice and some interesting resources which will enable you to explore Burns’ birthday as well as Scotland itself including the languages of Gaelic and Scots particularly within the early years.

Why not explore the stories of Katie Morag by Mairi Hedderwick? Katie lives on a Scottish Island.

What is it like to live on an island?

What Islands are around Scotland?

Sing and speak the Scots language by tuning into our Glow meet on ‘watch again’.

Matthew Fitt, author of many stories in Scots for young children including “Katie’s Coo” and “A Wee Book O’ Fairytales in Scots” sings, tells stories and will have you ‘burlin roon’ before you know it!

Have a wee sing song

Visit the Education Scotland Knowledge of Language site and listen to auld favourites such as ‘Coulter’s Candy’ and ‘Ye Cannie Shuv Yer Grannie’. Also visit ‘Scotland’s Songs’ and see songs for the early years and songs in Gaelic too!

Celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday in a nursery setting

You could make a book all about things relating to Scotland. This would also encourage reflection and recall. You could add various pictures of Scottish food, tartan, animals, landmarks, places etc. The children may also want to add the Scots word that they like to use in conversation!

The Early Years team at Education Scotland hope you have a fabulous time during you Burns’ celebrations.

Additional Support for Learning, CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, MCMC/16+LC, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Supporting Learners, Technologies, Universal Support

Global Citizenship – JOIN our Glow drop in session

January 18, 2012 User deactivated Leave a comment

Developing Global Citizens through sustainable development education

Time: 3.45pm – 4.45pm, Thursday 26^th January

Where: The shiny new Glow community for global citizenship

2012 is a big year for Sustainable Development Education (SDE):

World leaders will gather in Rio to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and decide on further action
2012 is the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
We only have three years until the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Education and there is a buzz of activity happening in schools and local authorities across Scotland.

If you’d like to tune into all that’s happening and are looking for inspiration and ideas to kick start 2012 then this is the Glow meet for you. The Developing Global Citizenship Team will be hosting this informal session open to any practitioner or school leader – just drop into the Glow meet to pick our brains, find out what’s coming up or tell us what you’re up to. If you missed the previous sessions then click here to see how they work.

Note: if you join us with a headset or webcam then it means we can have a good blether. However, if you prefer to type fast with wonky spellng then that’s good too!

One click (then another small one) to take part >> http://bit.ly/DGCdropin3

Expressive Arts, Literacy, Literacy and English

New Video Resources for Scottish Theatre

December 15, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Visit the national drama teachers glow group

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Staffroom/Drama%20Teachers/default.aspx

and you will notice new tabs at the top of the glow group entitled ‘Video resources’. Joe Gallacher from Replico Theatre has kindly offered to share these videos with practitioners who are interested in Scottish theatre. The documentaries feature a variety of Scottish plays first produced at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first and include interviews with some of Scotland’s leading playwrights, such as Nicola McCartney, Ann Marie Di Mambro, Sue Glover, Liz Lochhead, Stephen Greenhorn, David Harrower and David Greig.

Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, National Qualifications, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

SQA Curriculum Events: Access 1 and 2

December 13, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area eve nts to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The Access 1 and 2 day was on the 13th Decemeber. To view the Glow Meet recordings from the event click on the links below (you will need to glow log in to access the recordings):

Introduction and Question/Answers

Workshop documents

To find out about other Curriculum Area Events during December via Glow TV click here.

Literacy, Literacy and English, Technologies

Driving Learning with Mario Kart

December 9, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Cross post from Consolarium Blog.

Derek Robertson (Consolarium Team) was contacted by Wilma Leaburn, a QIO from Renfrewshire and invited to a Mario Kart CPD evening at a school in Paisley. A number of teachers had taken this practice forward and a CPD session to share their experiences had been organised. The evening itself was a fantastic example of how creative teachers can be and how, when give the chance, their own idiosyncrasies can lead to wonderful learning experiences that meet the needs of their learners. At this event he met a teacher called Julie Paterson who invited me to Mario Kart open afternoon for parents and carers at her school, Bargarran PS in Erskine.

This series of posts will feature Derek’s observations at this event:

1/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: What’s in the box?

2/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: The buzz of learning

3/4 Driving learning with Mario Kart: The parents’ perspective

4/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: Healthy Eating and Grannie changes her mind

Mario Kart Leaderboards

Literacy and English, National Qualifications

SQA Curriculum Event: English/Literacy

December 8, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

The English/Literacy day was on the 8th Decemeber. To view the Glow Meet recordings from the event click on the links below (you will need to glow log in to access the recordings):

Introduction and Workshop

Presentations and workshop activities

To find out about other Curriculum Area Events during December via Glow TV click here.

Literacy, Literacy and English, Social studies, Technologies

Using Technologies for Learning

December 8, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today I had the opportunity to visit Bridgend Primary School in West Lothian to find out how they had used Technologies for Learning during their Interdisciplinary Topic of Orkney.

To find out how the teacher used Technologies for Learning during their topic click here.

To listen to how the class used a blog to communicate with a school in Orkney click here.

Karlie and her pupils presented on this project at the Scottish Learning Festival 2011, to find out more click here.

Literacy, Modern Languages

Storying Telling in French in Kilmodan Primary School

December 7, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

I was lucky enough to visit teacher Gwen McCrossan in Kilmodan Primary school, Argyll and Bute so I could see how she uses story telling to teach French to learners in her P2-4 and her P5-7 classes. Gwen made fantastic use of the target language and even learners as young as P2 use and understand classroom instructions in French. She was using “La Surprise de Handa” and “Homme de Couleur” with the younger class and the film” Kirikou et la Sorcière” with the older learners. Her pupils seemed to love learning a foreign language and enjoyed singing, dancing and acting out the stories. One girl in P5 told me she loved learning French because “it’s just like playing, but you’re learning too!” She went on to explain that they didn’t just do French at “Frenchtime”, they regularly used French in their numeracy lessons and in literacy too. ” We watched video clips of French fables that were in French”, she explained, ” and then we wrote our own ones in English”.

If you would like to hear Gwen talking about her approaches to teaching French then please visit my post on the Chalkface Blog by clicking here

If you would like find out more about Gwen’s lessons then click here to see her reading La Surprise de Handa”

If you would like to see her S2-4 pupils acting out the story then click here

Gwen has also very kindly shared her materials for the animated children’s film Kirikou et la Sorcière. They are posted in the Modern Languages National Glow group in the resources for sharing section. To find Kirikou please click here. (You will need your Glow password)

Languages, Literacy and Gàidhlig, Modern Languages, National Qualifications

SQA Curriculum Event: Languages

December 7, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

S QA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area eve nts to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The Languages day was on the 5th Decemeber. To view the Glow Meet recordings from the event click on the links below (you will need to glow log in to access the recordings):

Languages – Introduction and Question/Answers/Workshops

Gàidhlig Workshops

To find out about other Curriculum Area Events during December via Glow TV click here.

Literacy and English, Modern Languages, Sciences, Social studies

Panda-monium as Sweetie and Sunshine land in Edinburgh

December 6, 2011 User deactivated 1 Comment

Our Glow TV team had an unusually early start to their Sunday as they braved the cold and snow and made their way to Edinburgh zoo for the arrival of two very special black and white guests. Known as Tian Tian and Yang Guang, or ‘Sweetie’ and ‘Sunshine’ the Pandas arrived just after lunchtime on Sunday 4th December to an excited throng of flag-waving well-wishers and a tartan-clad pipe band playing ‘Scotland the Brave’.

To find out more about the visit to the Zoo and about Glow activities your class can take part in click here.

Click here to visit the panda blog.

Modern Languages

Exemplification of the Inferential Question at Advanced Higher – Modern Languages

December 6, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Exemplification of the Advanced Higher inferential question is now available to download, via your SQA Co-ordinator, from subject specific pages on the secure website.

Language teachers of Advanced Higher candidates can ask their SQA co-ordinator to download the materials from the relevant pages of the secure site. I’m sure that you will find them very helpful. To go to the secure site click here. (You will need an SQA login)

Literacy, Literacy and English, Technologies

There is still time to enter the Glovember competition

December 6, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Now that our amazing Glovember Author Events have finished, Education Scotland is giving you two more weeks to enter your stories, poems and illustrations for the Glovember competition.

All you have to do is go to the Glovember Glow Group within Glow, click on the competition page tab and upload your story, poem or illustration. Be sure to do this before the closing date of Friday 16th December.

Winners will be announced in January, after some of our authors have helped us with the judging.

Winning entries will be published in our eBook and read by one of the Glovember Authors.

Modern Languages

Online Dictionary Resources

December 6, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Reference Grammars in French, German, Spanish and Italian are available on the Education Scotland website to help support primary teachers in their delivery of a modern language. They also might be useful for learners working at all stages and levels of the curriculum. They are very simple to use and I think they could be really useful to teachers and learners alike to access the materials go to the Education Scotlandwebsite and click on the Learning, Teaching and Assessment tab or click here to follow the link.

Literacy, Literacy and English, Modern Languages, Sciences, Social studies

Pandamonium!

December 5, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

I am delighted to hear that the pandas are arriving in Scotland on Sunday. This is a mark of the growing friendship between Scotland and China. The pandas offer another exciting opportunity for schools, teachers and pupils to engage with China, its language and culture. The arrival also offers opportunities to stimulate learning right across Curriculum for Excellence, e.g. environment and cultural heritage, science, literacy and creativity. The Panda Blog provides ideas related to these examples. We have already had schools indicating their interest in finding out more about the pandas and Glow offers an excellent way to share information, resources and ideas for practice. The Panda Blog is a starting point and will lead to the further development of resources. We are looking forward to working with colleagues in the zoo to provide news and updates about the pandas to local authorities and schools.

Professor Kay Livingston, Education Scotland.

To visit the Panda Blog click here.

Click below to sign up for the Glow TV Events (glow log in required):

06/12/2001 – 2:30pm: Pandaphernalia

07/12/2011 – 10am: Panda facts with DWN Eds and Competition details

08/12/2011 – 02:00 pm: Pandamentary

Click below to view The Daily What News articles:

Giant Pandas Come to Scotland

Panda – monium

Assessment, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, National Qualifications, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Supporting Learners, Technologies

Advice and guidance on new National Qualifications

December 1, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nationalqualifications/nqframework/newqualifications/index.asp?dm_i=LQE,MDNO,3GU5HR,1T9Y1,1

Education Scotland is developing advice and guidance for practitioners on the delivery of courses within the new National Qualifications (NQ) framework. A new advice and guidance area within the NQ Support webpages is available, giving further information and linking to a new advice and guidance factfile and an online survey (http://newsletters-ltscotland.org.uk/LQE-MDNO-3GU5HR-8LLGF-1/c.aspx). As part of the ongoing development work associated with new National Qualifications, Education Scotland consulted key partners to determine the type and nature of supplementary guidance which should be developed to support the new NQs. The webpages explain the support that is currently in development and the form that this will take. This advice and guidance will be published in the spring.

CfE, Early Years, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Young people, children & families

Creativity in the Classroom – a call out to share what works

November 30, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Consider yourself creative?

The Creativity Portal is looking for examples of simple, short creative exercises that teachers and youth workers like yourself have used in the classroom and youth group settings.

It could be:

A creative chemistry experiment
The school’s fastest paper aeroplane contest
The imaginative alphabet
A 30 second dramatic warm-up

We would love to hear what’s worked for you. Get a mention on the national Creativity Portal and an invitation to future creative CPD. A wee bit of text is all it takes.

Add to the Creativity Archive here within Glow.

Or email Stephen.bullock@educationscotland.gov.uk

Adult Learning, Assessment, CfE, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, National Qualifications, RME, Sciences, Senior Phase, Social studies, Supporting Learners, Technologies

New Qualifications – November Update

November 30, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47993.html

More detail about how each new National 5 Course will be assessed is now available. Draft Course Assessment Specifications for National 5 have been published on the SQA website and define the mandatory assessment requirements for Courses at National 5.

The purpose of the Course Assessment Specification is to ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year. It describes the structure of the Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

Find out more about the qualifications development stages.

Draft Unit Specifications have also been published for new Higher Courses.

Feedback on these documents can be given via Have Your Say until 31 January 2012. The final versions of all SQA draft documents will be published in April 2012.

Modern Languages

Active Learning in Modern Languages

November 29, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

I was delighted to be able to make a good practice visit to the Modern Langauges Department at St Ninian’s High School in Kirkintilloch. Diane Stokoe amd her team set up a carrousel of various activities that promoted active learning around the theme of ghosts.

Instead of going to their normal classes, S2 pupils, assisted by S6 helpers, spent the morning in the assembly hall doing vocabulary building games such as ” à la pêche” or “Le pas de grand-mère”, following French recipes for “gooo”, or finding their way round a” maison hantée”.

The learners really enjoyed this fun-filled, creative approach to learning a language.

To view one of the activities please click here

To see my post on the chalk face blog please clic k here

Literacy, Literacy and English

Daily What Headline Competition

November 29, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Your chance to win a Kindle and see your work published

All you have to do is to think up a catchy headline, with no more than eight words, to go with the featured story.

The winning entry will be picked by the editor-in-chief of the Herald & Times newspaper group, Jonathan Russell, from a shortlist chosen by the Daily What News team.

Our winner’s headline will be published with the story on the Daily What News website, and will appear in the Herald newspaper. The lucky writer will also get a Kindle e-reader, courtesy of the Herald & Times group.

Deadline for entries: midnight on Thursday 1 December 2011

The winner will be announced on Friday 9 December 2011.

To find out more about the competition click here.

Early Years, Languages, Literacy, Literacy and English, Responsibility of All

Scots Language in the Early Years

November 29, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Do you know what ‘cow’, ‘dog’ or ‘vest’ is in Scots? If not tune in and watch again on Early Years Glow TV. We had a fantastic session with Matthew Fitt this morning, lots of establishments tuned in and took part by burlin’ roon and shoutin’ oot!

If you would like to know more visit the Glow TV ‘discussion’ section of our Early Years National Glow site and download the hints and tips on how to explore Scots more in your classroom/playroom.

Here are some useful links too:

Scotland’s Songs for Early Years

Scotland’s Stories

Itchycoo

Thank you for tuning in!

Assessment, Expressive Arts, Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Literacy, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Modern Languages, National Qualifications, Religious and Moral Education, RME, Sciences, Social studies, Technologies

Curriculum Area Events on Glow TV

November 29, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area events to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The events will take place on 29 November, and 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 December. Each event will be streamed live on Glow via the SQA Glow Group. Most events and workshops will be shown live and recorded for watching again later.

A number of resources will be available following each event, including opportunities to hear some of the discussions from the day.

Expressive Arts, Literacy and English, Mathematics, Responsibility of All, RME, Sciences, Technologies

Curriculum Update at Glow Key Contacts

November 28, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today I went along to the Glow Key Contacts Meeting to give an update about new resources from the Curriculm Team at Education Scotland.

You will find the presentation I used here. (Glow log in required)

The resources I highlighted included:

Education Scotland’s Learning Blog

Chalkface Blog

STEM Central

Marks on the Landscape

Early Years, Literacy, Literacy and English

Come and meet Debi Gliori!

November 28, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Debi Gliori lives in Scotland. Debi is well known for both her picture books and her novels for children and has been

shortlisted for all the major prizes, including the Kate Greenaway Award (twice) and the Scottish Arts Council Award. Debi was the Shetland Islands’ first Children’s Writer-in-Residence. She published her first book in 1990 and since then has published so many successful books that she has lost count. She has written and illustrated No Matter What, The Trouble With Dragons, Stormy Weather and, most recently, The Scariest Thing of All for Bloomsbury.

In this session she will work with pupils from Primary 2 at Haddington Infant School – why don’t you join her?

Yes I would love to join her! (29.11.11 @ 1.30pm)

Can’t join in at the time? Remember to watch again!

Modern Languages

Wonderful New French resources for MLPS

November 28, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Are you teaching French in Primary school? Do you want to make your lessons more interactive? Are you concerned about how to ensure your learners have good pronunciation and can develop their listening skills? Look no further!!!

Some very kind, not to mention talented, people at Dumfries and Galloway council have spend a huge amount of time creating Activeboard flipcharts for every topic covered by the materials in the in the resource packs originally developed by Glasgow City Council. All the activities have been recorded by native speakers and the sound files embedded in each flipchart so that perfect pronunciation is available at the click of a mouse button!

The files will only open if you save them first onto your PC , then open your Promethean software, click on file and then browse for the saved flipchart file.

The flipcharts can be used as templates, developed and changed in any way teachers see fit to meet the needs of their learners. They should be compatible with other interactive whiteboard software.

Many thanks to Janice Byers from Dumfires and Galloway Council for making these resources available to everyone and to Glasgow City Council for giving permission for the reproduction of their graphics.

To access the materials, please click here.

If you use the materials, please let me know how you get on by posting a comment below, or by sending me an email to fhiona.fisher@educationscotland.gov.uk

Early Years, Languages, Literacy, Literacy and English

The latest Early Years Glow meet

November 24, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Our Glow meet, “Towards the Vision: Developing Literacy in the Early Years” was a great success.

Join in the interesting discussions here.

Grant Gillies, Literacy Development Officer at Education Scotland spoke about Bloom’s Higher Order Thinking fans. Find out about the Kilmalcolm case study here:

http://caledonianblogs.net/nilfs/2010/02/25/questioning-kilmacolms-innovative-blooming-blooms-approach/

Find Bloom’s Higher Order Thinking fans here:

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Literacy%20and%20English/AAA%20Hidden%20Pages/CL%20-%20Resources.aspx

Literacy, Literacy and English, Technologies

Moving Image Education

November 24, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Moving Image Education (MIE) is fast becoming an integral part of 21^st century literacy and modern teaching practice. Using moving image texts as a source in addition to the written word has been proved to vastly increase wider literacy skills, confidence, engagement and fun in the classroom.

Education Scotland is working in partnership with Creative Scotland to make moving image education more accessible and active within Glow.

We now have a Moving Image Education National Glow Group which is steadily being populated with information, resources and CPD opportunities. Work is also underway to engage with Glow users across Scotland and encourage them to participate in interesting and relevant topics of discussion through the group’s Glow Forum. We look forward to seeing you on Glow.

Early Years, Health and wellbeing, Literacy and English

A RIGHT wee blether – What Did You Do?

November 23, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Have you and your class been taking part in a RIGHT Wee Blether? If so why not join our Glow Meet and share with us what you have been doing?

We all hope you have enjoyed blethering with your 2 to 5 year olds. In this Glow Meet you will see Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People in Broxburn Primary and Nursery talking to staff and children about how they took part, join us to show us your wee books about him and tell us your stories!!

We will also be looking at some of Our Wee Stories which have been returned to the office and if we’re lucky the blether bear will be there too!

So sign up and join us in Glow TV on Thursday 24th November from 11-12pm.

Modern Languages

Exciting CPD opportunity offered by the Council of Europe

November 22, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

MULTILINGUALISM AND SOCIAL COHESION

How language learning can prepare children for 21^st century citizenship

This is a five day workshop taking place in Greenwich from February 27th until the 2nd of March next year. Successful applicants will have the unique opportunity to meet,work and discuss with colleagues from all over Europe.

The general aim of the training activities of the Pestalozzi Programme is to train education professionals to become multipliers for Council of Europe standards and values in education.

The workshop will include plenary sessions from a policy maker and a researcher working in the field of multilingualism and intercultural understanding. The terms of reference will include not only “foreign” language teaching but also the teaching of English and community languages. This will provide a framework for discussion and debate.

You will also hear the perspectives of some key stakeholders – for example employers, civil society representatives. (Head) teachers and young people about the value (or otherwise) of languages.

Since the workshop is also intended to have practical outcomes there will be opportunities to visit London schools to observe examples of teaching, to discuss with other practitioners and provide evidence of what can be done.

Finally the participants themselves will be invited to present examples of work they have done – reports, activities, projects – in this field.

The Council of Europe will pay all travelling costs to the venue but not accomodation or subsistance.

If you are interested and would like further details please visit the Modern Languages National Glow group. I’ve posted information in the Resources for Sharing section in a folder marked CPD. Alternatively you can click here to follow the link. (You will need your Glow password)

Modern Languages

musik + X Touring Exhibition for Schools

November 21, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Our friends at the Goethe Institut have come up with yet another exciting innovation to help learners and teachers of German!

Following the success of the Musik + X exhibition part of the British Music Experience at The O2 in Greenwich, the Goethe-Institut is pleased to announce an opportunity for schools to experience the highlights of the exhibition delivered directly to their schools.

Musik + X Wanderausstellung aims to inspire students to consider learning German or enhance their current studies by combining the language with German modern music and youth culture. It gives pupils from UK schools an insight into the youth culture of their German counterparts and is a fantastic opportunity for teachers to develop cross curricular work between German and music.

Four music genres are featured in the posters and DVD; techno, pop, indie and hip hop all optimising the use of German language. Students will gain insight into live concerts, fan mail, photos, posters, instruments, stage costume and more.

Schools have the chance to borrow a series of 17 laminated A1 posters with an accompanying DVD to display in their school for a period of 3 weeks. German teachers can plan their lessons using the posters and teaching materials available from our website. The only cost for schools is the return postage of the package in its own courier case. This Wanderausstellung will be a great addition to your school’s environment.

If you are interested, you can get in touch with the insitut at the following address:

Goethe-Institut

3 park Circus

Glasgow G3 6AX

Tel: 0141 332 2555

Email language@glasgow.goethe.org

You can visit their website by clicking here

Modern Languages

Think German and Learn It!

November 21, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

I was really pleased to be invited to a meeting to discuss the benefits of learning German by none other that the Consul General Wolfgang Mössinger at the Scottish parliament last week. We talked about the “case” for German in terms of the educational, economic, cultural, political and academic benefits it brings. Representatives were there from partners in industry, higher and further education and from cultural organisations.

For practitioners interested in developing UK-German opportunitites for schools and youth groups, the UK-German Connection provides advice, grants for trips and projects, guidance on links and joint projects, a platform for celebrating and showcasing UK-German activity, networks for teachers and young people and the UK-German youth portal and voyage kids website: to access click here

If you have a project with which you think they might help then you can get in touch with them by telephoning their hotline 020 7824 1570 or send them an e-mail at

info@ukgermanconnection.org

Modern Languages, Technologies

Say Bonjour to Remote French Teaching

November 21, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

Cross post from the Glow Scotland Blog.

SAY BONJOUR TO REMOTE FRENCH TEACHING (TESS, 18 November 2011)

Intermediate 1 French at Tiree High is a lesson like no other. The S3 pupils’ teacher, Helene Bernard, teaches them from 140 miles away, in a classroom at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh.

When Tiree High was unable to fill the post for a French teacher last year, the school and its local authority had no choice but to use Glow Meet as a medium to connect its pupils with a French teacher elsewhere. A number of classes, including a P7/S1 and an Intermediate 2 class, are now regularly taught remotely.

“It has been very much a challenge for us. It has taken us probably about a year to get some basic technology issues sorted out,” said Maggie Irving, education support officer for ICT at Argyll and Bute Council.

There were problems with sound quality initially, and new laptops had to be bought to resolve these. Connecting a large number of laptops to the school’s wireless network also proved difficult, with the result that the computers are now hardwired through the network.

In addition, the new learning environment proved a challenge for younger children. “They have to sit down and listen very carefully and respond on a keyboard – not the best learning medium for those learners,” she explained.

Miss Bernard, a native French speaker, was one of two teachers last year to take on the challenge of teaching remotely.

Last week, she had the five girls in her Intermediate 2 class working on directions and maps, using Google Maps to work out and describe how they would get from one location in Lyon to another. They worked in teams to follow directions, and she marked the group’s homework, which they had uploaded onto the Glow Meet site.

“It was quite a learning curve, but we have been able to do so many things because of Glow,” she told TESS. “In a normal classroom, I can’t have all my children going on the internet and checking out real life in France, but I can do that online via Glow.”

In many ways, the teaching experience was not dissimilar to being there with the pupils, she said. “You have a whiteboard on the site, you have the children in front of you through the camera, and we have a jotter. Because it is a language, we have to speak a lot. The only thing that is different is that we have a chat box.”

Teaching via Glow could even be more efficient: “Each of the kids is in front of one computer, so they are very focused; it makes for a very effective class.”

Literacy, Literacy and English

Additional Glovember Author Dates

November 18, 2011 User deactivated Leave a comment

There is still time to sign up for the already very successful Glovember Glow TV author events.

Still to come:

Alette J. Willis	Monday 21st November @ 1.30pm
Julie Sandilands	Wednesday 23^rd November @ 1.30pm
V. Campbell	Thursday 24^th November @ 1.30pm
Caroline Clough	Friday 25^th November @ 11am
Debi Gliori	Tuesday 29^th November @ 1.30pm

(Click on the author name to sign up to the event, Glow log in required)

Remember pupils can take part in the writing and illustrator competition, click here to find out more information.

To find out more information about Glovember visit the Glow Group.

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A training blog for PLSuperheroes