Teacher stranded abroad? – No problem, use Glow!

Overview

Many schools have been hit with staff absence due to the flight suspensions caused by the Volcanic ash situation. Teachers – and pupils – have been stranded abroad at the start of the new school term. One teacher found that she could still provide learning activities for her class though, despite being stuck in Portugal.

Context

Bernadette Cassidy teaches Primary 5 at St Mary’s Primary school in Bannockburn, Stirling.
When she discovered she would not be able to return in time for the start of term, she realised that she could still provide support for her class and let them know which activities they should be doing, by using the class’s Glow Group.

From Portugal, Bernadette logged on to Glow and used the ‘News’ web part to let the pupils know that she would not be able to return for a few days.

She then added a new page to the Primary 5 Glow Group. The page is called ‘Classwork week 19th April’. 

Bernadette added some text editor web parts with information about the tasks the pupils should work on

Relevance: Literacy
Bernadette has embraced the flight situation to provide meaningful literacy activities for the pupils.

As a Talking and Listening exercise, the pupils have been asked, through instructions in the text editor web part to:

“Imagine you are on your way home after your holidays but when you get to the airport you find out your flight is cancelled.
Now you have very little money left in your wallet and nowhere to stay. Discuss with your partner what you would do in this situation. Write a helpful list of advice.”

Following on from this, the pupils have been given a writing activity, where they are required to write a letter of complaint to the airline:

“Once you have arrived home after a 2 day delay from your cancelled flight, you decide to write a letter of complaint to the airline.
You need to introduce yourself in your letter, explain why your flight was cancelled, what you had to do to get accommodation and food for two days and how you feel about the situation.
Remember, this should be a formal letter so you need to include the correct layout and format as well as the correct formal language in your letter.”

These activities really embrace the Curriculum for Excellence principle of Relevance. They also enable Bernadette’s pupils to engage with the following Literacy and English Experiences and Outcomes:

LIT 2-02a When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking.
LIT 2-09a When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:
• share information, experiences and opinions
• explain processes and ideas
• identify issues raised and summarise main points or findings
• clarify points by asking questions or by asking others to say more.
LIT 2-22a In both short and extended texts, I can use appropriate punctuation, vary my sentence structures and divide my work into paragraphs in a way that makes sense to my reader.
LIT 2-23a Throughout the writing process, I can check that my writing makes sense and meets its purpose.
LIT 2-26a By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.
LIT 2-28a I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways.
LIT 2-29a I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.
ENG 2-30a As I write for different purposes and readers, I can describe and share my experiences, expressing what they made me think about and how they made me feel.

Relevance: Social Studies
 Bernadette has of course also taken the opportunity to explore some Social Subjects issues connected with the Volcanic eruption.

In a second text editor web part, she has tasked pupils with some Geography and Media Studies research.

Pupils have been asked to use their map skills to explore the places in Europe that travellers who are stranded may have to go to in order to be able to return to the UK. The maps skills task says:

a)Primary 5, as you know I am stuck in Portugal. As there are no planes travelling between alot of European countries at the moment I need to travel by land and sea back to Scotland. I buses and trains by land and I will need to get a ferry from France to England. Using an atlas, find out how many countries I will need to cross before I get back to Scotland.
b) My friend, Clare, is also travelling back to Scotland but she was on holidays in Estonia. She will be meeting me at the ferry in France, a place called Calais outside Paris. Using your atlas again, find out how many countries Clare has to cross before she gets back to Scotland.

Again, this provides a completely relevant context for learning for the pupils, and gives them a real purpose for developing their map reading skills.

The pupils  have been asked to work in pairs, developing their communication and collaboration skills, to find out more about volcanoes. The results of their research should be made into a short report or presentation, again supporting literacy skills. Pupils are asked to upload their completed work to Glow, so enabling them to see one another’s research and develop their knowledge further:

“In partners, find out as much as you can about Volcanoes and write a short report in a Word Document or using PowerPoint which includes information about:
What is a volcano?
What happens when they erupt?
Why do they erupt?
What damage can they cause to the land, air and sea?
When was the last volcano eruption?
Other information you are interested in.
Remember to include some pictures and design your report well.
Upload your report to Glow.”

The final social studies task involves researching the media coverage of the travellers stranded abroad:

“There are lots of people all across Europe in the same situation as me. Can you find a newspaper article on the internet or in your newspaper at home about the problems that have been caused. Write a short paragraph telling me why you have chosen that article and what you think you would do in this situation.”

These activities all contribute to the pupils’ exposure to the 2nd level Social Studies experiences and outcomes as well as further literacy outcomes:

SOC 2-07b I can describe the physical processes of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape.
SOC 2-09a Having explored the ways journeys can be made, I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of transport, discussing their impact on the environment.
SOC 2-14a To extend my mental map and sense of place, I can interpret information from different types of maps and am beginning to locate key features within Scotland, UK, Europe or the wider world.

LIT 2-15a I can make notes, organise them under suitable headings and use them to understand information, develop my thinking, explore problems and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.
LIT 2-16a To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text and use supporting detail.
LIT 2-25a I can use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, make decisions, generate and develop ideas or create new text.
I recognise the need to acknowledge my sources and can do this appropriately.

There is, of course, ample opportunity for purposeful use of ICT through the research activities and use of Glow itself. This helps pupils engage with the following Technologies experiences and outcomes:

TCH 2-03b Throughout all my learning, I can use search facilities of electronic sources to access and retrieve information, recognising the importance this has in my place of learning, at home and in the workplace.
TCH 3-04a I enhance my learning by applying my ICT skills in different learning contexts across the curriculum.
All of the activities are providing a rich, relevant and stimulating learning experiences for the pupils.

Ingredients

What did Bernadette need to do to add the learning activities to the Glow Group for the P5 pupils to access?
• Add a new page
• Add in the text editor web part and use it to type in the instructions

In the following videos we will look at what the Primary 5 Glow Group, then find out how to replicate some of the elements within it.

What does Primary 5 Glow Group look like? (3:20)

How to add and rename pages (3:08)

How to use the text editor to add information and instructions (3:59)

Impact

The use of Glow has enabled continuity of learning for the P5 pupils in St Mary’s, despite the absence of their class teacher.

Bernadette has been able to keep in touch with her class, even from such a remote location, and has been able to direct the learning activities in line with the planning she had already made – albeit for a different context than she might have had planned!

This has eased the burden on the school who are trying to put in place contingency plans for staff absence.

 Headteacher of St Mary’s, Theresa O’Hanlon, says of Bernadette’s endeavours:

“I think that what Bernadette has done is fantastic.  The activities that she posted on Glow for her children are actually covering Experiences and Outcomes which she has planned to cover this session.  This has helped to ensure continuity and progression for the children in the absence of their class teacher.”

Whilst enjoying this fantastic way of learning, the pupils will no doubt still be hoping for a safe and speedy return for Miss Cassidy!

Teacher stranded abroad? – No problem, use Glow!4.8511