The aim of the staff book club is to allow members of staff to get together and discuss texts that interest us all. It will also be a platform to develop critical thinking skills as well as to open up discussion about literacy across the curriculum. Reading for enjoyment is an effective way to relax and can have a positive impact on health and wellbeing of those who wish to take part.
Author: Alice Walker Published: 1982
Brooke Gordon – English Teacher and Literacy Development Officer
2.1 Learners’ Experiences
5.1 The Curriculum, 5.3 Meeting Learning Needs and 5.9 Improvements Through Self-Evaluation
I’ve recently taken on the post of Literacy Development Officer. As part of my post I decided to focus on improving and supporting the learning and teaching of vocabulary across the curriculum. My aim is to encourage different approaches to the teaching of, and rich learning of, new vocabulary (see my Prezzi which can be accessed by clicking the above picture). With support from Laura Compton, I have created a learning group on GLOW which acts as a discussion board for myself and some colleagues to share and try new ideas, as well as reflect upon the effectiveness of different strategies.
Using this platform has been a huge learning curve for all of us, but I feel it is an effective way to support one another as we move through our own enhanced pedagogy. We are able to share resources as well as ask questions and advice as we devise and develop our ideas throughout the year.
The research I carried out regarding the learning of vocabulary was very interesting and and I have found that working with colleagues from Murrayfield Language Centre has also helped me to channel my ideas. I then linked these ideas to the Literacy Framework and Pathways and presented this project to a handful of colleagues from across the authority. Moving forward, we hope to continue supporting one another and offering advice as the year progresses.
Siobhan McKenna – Maths Teacher
I am currently studying for a Masters of Education in Professional Practice with PGDE at University of Glasgow. This is an online course lasting a year and a half with only a few tutorial days in the year at the university. The course is mainly conducted online and tutorials can either be carried out on Skype, by telephone, or face-to-face; this facilitates full-time work as well as independent study.
I completed the first module of the course, Decision Making and Enquiry Skills, during my probation year and am now in the midst of writing my dissertation. My proposal for my dissertation during the first module of the course involved competitiveness within the classroom. However, upon beginning my dissertation in October, I realised that this was no longer relevant to my practice and I am now focussing on Numeracy Across the Curriculum. Having now read a lot of literature on Maths and Numeracy, it turns out that our curriculum is very similar, with regard to numeracy, to that of Australia. I have also been in touch with university lecturers in Australia to find out more about their curriculum and how they support staff who are non-Maths specialists. Continue reading Masters of Education in Professional Practice
Mr Varty – Biology/Science Teacher
Recently I was having a look through the Professional Development Edmodo Community and I stumbled across “Smartphones in Education”, a free emagazine. This provide a detailed look at why and how smartphones and other technologies should be integrated in education.
The resource contains loads of lesson ideas and strategies that I know will help me make better use of our Anytime Anywhere Learning network that we are lucky to have available to us.
Diane Plenderleith, Art and Design
Following on from the success of last year’s HWB INSET, staff requested if I would provide a similar CPD opportunity this session. I gladly agreed, eager to share in the same experience as last year. Staff were provided with a canvas, of various sizes, water-colours and acrylic paints then left to their own devises, to freely paint whatever was in their mind, heart, imagination or from a source as the case may be. Continue reading HWB INSET 6th May, 2014
Ingham McGhie, PE Department, St Margaret’s Academy.
I, alongside other members of the St Margaret’s Academy PE department, attended the PE network meeting on Friday 10th January at Broxburn Academy. Each secondary school in West Lothian was well represented giving a rich and meaningful meeting. The focus of the meeting was to give a set of pupils a practical grade for National 5 (badminton) as a type of moderation process. Continue reading PE Network – National 5 performance grading
Philip Harrison – English
Independent writing skills are useful in any subject, but especially in English. To develop these skills in S1 I decided to use group work strategies to encourage learners to construct their own understanding of a novel. I hoped this would enable them to work with greater independence when it came to writing an essay. They would own their work and rely much less on writing frames and teacher support.
I was confident to encourage their independent writing because I was had read some of their work from P7. These essays demonstrated that they were already capable of extended writing with support. So I devised a series of lessons which would replace teacher support with peer support. They planned their own essays and searched for quotations to support their ideas. Then they wrote up their essays individually with minimal teacher support. The results were good and this will be good preparation for critical writing throughout the junior phase.
John Slavin – PTC Mathematics
Catherine Kerr PTC Science gave a presentation on the new Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool on the 6th December in St. Margaret’s Academy. The new SPBT will be used in place of the STACs which recorded the SQA results.
There are several major differences in the two systems. The new SPBT will have 7 categories, four national and three local ones.
The overall presentation is much more visual than STACs. The home page shows the dashboard which has the four national measures, based on the national priorities. It is called a dashboard to emphasise the interconnectedness of the measures.
Continue reading Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool (SPBT) Workshop
Keith Varty – Biology/Science Teacher
During the recent staff meeting I organised a short CPD workshop to support Learning and Teaching of the Senior Phase. This workshop focussed on Developing Independent Learning Skills and aimed to share strategies that help the young people of St. Margaret’s Academy become independent learners. Although I knew that I foster these skills in the young people in my classes, I did not feel like an expert. As a result, I decided that during this workshop staff would have the opportunity to work independently through this PowerPoint presentation before having the opportunity to discuss any questions that arose.
I then provided a demonstration of how I make use of the virtual learning platform that is Edmodo, to give pupils more responsibility for their learning. This involvedshowing staff how I:
At a recent SSERC course I was able to take part in a range of innovative practical activities that I hope to be able to integrate into our science and chemistry courses at St Margaret’s.
Practical activities included:
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