Peer Teaching – click here to enlarge

St Brigid’s Primary School in Newmains in North Lanarkshire have come to the end of their second year of using Glow. Marjory Murphy is the Glow Mentor in the school and is responsible for ICT across the school. Marjory has been able to introduce Glow gradually to every pupil, class and teacher in the school. In this position she has been able to ensure that Glow is used across the school in a relevant and meaningful way at all stages. Across a series of 6 Cookbooks we will look at different examples of the school’s innovative use of Glow for learning and teaching. In the next two Cookbooks we will focus on the P3 Active Maths Glow Group.

In this cookbook, we will find out:
• What the P3 Active Maths Glow Group looks like
• How some of the items on the page were put together including the videos

In the next cookbook, we will find out:
• How to put the remainder of the page together including the scrolling text for the Maths Challenge Question

Context

The early years classes in St Brigid’s have a joint Glow Group spanning P1 – P3 with activities and materials available for them. For example they run a Star Writers activity where the best work is chosen from P1, P2 and P3 and scanned in to be displayed in Glow. The pupils then, with the help of their teachers, leave 2 stars and a wish style comments for pupils across the 3 classes. P3, however, have a completely separate Glow Group for Active Maths. At the moment the group is focussing on the Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes of MNU 1-02a and MNU 1-03a. These 2 Cookbooks will look at the different activities Marjory has designed in Glow to support the pupils in their learning.

The school already use peer teaching frequently to reinforce concepts. They wanted to be able to use Glow to give them another angle for this. Not only do the pupils go through the experience of the peer teaching in the classroom but once the video is uploaded onto Glow it is available time and again. Teachers can use the videos to reinforce the concepts both in this year and with the next class the following year.

In the Recipe section you will find a video and a link to information that John Johnson (North Lanarkshire ICT Development Officer) has put together for Glow. John feels that the videos are quicker to load on the page using his method. I have also included links to the original Podcast session on North Lanarkshire’s site and a document with instructions. Marjory went along to a training session for this and used this method to embed the videos into her Glow Group. You will find a how-to video showing an alternative method of doing this using text editor web parts.

Click here to enlarge

Ingredients

The P3 Active Maths Glow Group has been customised and reduced so that it is a one page Glow Group only displaying a Noticeboard page. The page is organised with 7 main web parts. These are:

Text Editor for scrolling Maths puzzle

Marjory has used a text editor web part with scrolling text to set a small mathematical challenge for the pupils at the top of the page. More information will be available on this in the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group.

Page Viewer web part for BBC Video

Marjory has placed a Page Viewer web part giving the pupils access to a BBC hundreds, tens and units song video on the page.

Text Editor web part for “What we have been learning”

This web part lists what the pupils are learning in simple age appropriate language. Every time something new was being learned another learning intention would be added to the list in here. We are seeing the group after everything has been worked through. More information will be available on this in the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group.

Text Editor web part for Curriculum for Excellence Links

This web part gives pupils access to the actual Outcomes from Curriculum for Excellence related to their activities. The web part also contains links to the outcomes on the Curriculum for Excellence website. More information will be available on this in the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group.

Web links

The web links web part allows pupils to access fun games related to tens, hundreds and units in Maths.

Two xml web parts displaying videos of the pupils peer teaching

Marjory has used John Johnston’s (ICT Development Officer from North Lanarkshire) method of embedding 2 Quicktime movies onto the page. The teachers, pupils and parents can all view the videos of Jacob and Jordan teaching the class.

What did Marjory need to do to get the P3 Active Maths Group ready for the pupils

• Create a sub Glow Group for P3 Active Maths from within their Early Years Glow Group
• Set all pupils and teachers in the school with Reader membership
• Add several text editor web parts to the page
• Create a scrolling text Maths Challenge Question
• Upload videos of pupils teaching concepts
• Paste Learning Intentions into a text editor web part
• Paste links to Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes into a text editor web part
• Place several links to Maths and Numeracy Games into a web links web part

Recipe

The first video below acts as a virtual tour by Marjory of the P3 Active Maths Glow Group. The videos that then follow show how some of the elements within the page can be recreated. Videos for other elements within the page are available on the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group. You can find “Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths” by clicking here.

Details are:

Glow Group Tour (2:36)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

Removing unwanted pages and web parts (2:14)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

Adding a Page Viewer web part and displaying a web page (3:09)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

John Johnston’s video for Embedding Quicktime (5:46)
(Please note that the sound on this video is slightly distorted)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

The link to John’s original podcast – http://pod.nleducation.org.uk/groups/podcasts/weblog/11bbb/Embedding_QuickTime_in_Glow.html

Click here for John’s Helpsheet - Embedding_Quicktime_in_Glow

John’s link for embedding the Code

An alternative method of displaying video in text editor (6:00)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

Impact

Jacob and Jordan – click here to enlarge

Pupils are proud of their work and the fact that all classes can access it on Glow. Marjory was also able to show it to the parents who were amazed that their child’s work was being showcased on Glow. A simple one-page Glow Group has made a big impact with Primary 3.

In the videos below, Marjory speaks about the Glow Group. This is followed by an interview with the stars of the peer teaching project, Jacob and Jordan and a short comment from Karen Sommerville, Head Teacher at St Brigid’s.

Marjory Murphy speaks about the P3 Active Maths Glow Group (1:40)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

Jacob and Jordan speak about the P3 Active Maths Glow Group (1:24)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

Karen Sommerville, Headteacher speaks about Glow at St Brigid’s Primary School. (0:39)
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

There are 6 other Cookbooks on the fantastic ways St Brigid’s are making use of Glow. The link to the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group is here.

Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

As the other Cookbooks are completed you will find links to them here:

Our Targets for Literacy at St Brigid’s P6

scrolling challenge – click to enlarge

St Brigid’s Primary School in Newmains in North Lanarkshire have come to the end of their second year of using Glow. Marjory Murphy is the Glow Mentor in the school and is responsible for ICT across the school. Marjory has been able to introduce Glow gradually to every pupil, class and teacher in the school. In this position she has been able to ensure that Glow is used across the school in a relevant and meaningful way at all stages. Across a series of 6 Cookbooks we will look at different examples of the school’s innovative use of Glow for learning and teaching. In the next two Cookbooks we will focus on the P3 Active Maths Glow Group.

In this cookbook, we will find out:

• What the P3 Active Maths Glow Group looks like
• How to put some of the page together including the scrolling text for the Maths Challenge Question

In the next cookbook, we will find out:

• How the remainder of the items on the page were put together including the videos

Context

P3 Active Maths Glow Group – click to enlarge

The early years classes in St Brigid’s have a joint Glow Group spanning P1 – P3 with activities and materials available for them. For example they run a Star Writers activity where the best work is chosen from P1, P2 and P3 and scanned in to be displayed in Glow. The pupils then, with the help of their teachers, leave 2 stars and a wish style comments for pupils across the 3 classes. P3, however, have a completely separate Glow Group for Active Maths. At the moment the group is focussing on the Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes of MNU 1-02a and MNU 1-03a. These 2 Cookbooks will look at the different activities Marjory has designed in Glow to support the pupils in their learning.

The Glow Group was put together to allow pupils to undertake a variety of activities to enable them to achieve the above learning outcomes from A Curriculum for Excellence. Often teachers have used scrolling text within Glow to make a title for a page or to welcome pupils to the page. Marjory has made an innovative use of scrolling text with a mathematical challenge for the pupils which can be regularly changed. It’s a great introduction to a very Active Maths page.

Ingredients

The P3 Active Maths Glow Group has been customised and reduced so that it is a one page Glow Group only displaying a Noticeboard page. The page is organised with 7 main web parts. These are:

Text Editor for scrolling Maths puzzle

Marjory has used a text editor web part with scrolling text to set a small challenge for the pupils at the top of the page.

Page Viewer web part for BBC Video

Marjory has placed a Page Viewer web part giving the pupils access to a BBC hundreds, tens and units song video on the page. More information will be available on this in the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group.

Click to enlarge

Text Editor web part for “What we have been learning”

This web part lists what the pupils are learning in simple age appropriate language. Every time something new was being learned another learning intention would be added to the list in here. We are seeing the group after everything has been worked through.

Text Editor web part for Curriculum for Excellence Links

This web part gives pupils access to the actual Outcomes from Curriculum for Excellence related to their activities. The web part also contains links to the outcomes on the Curriculum for Excellence website.

Web links

The web links web part allows pupils to access fun games related to tens, hundreds and units in Maths.

Two xml web parts displaying videos of the pupils peer teaching

Marjory has used John Johnston’s (ICT Development Officer from North Lanarkshire) method of embedding 2 Quicktime movies onto the page. The teachers, pupils and parents can all view the videos of Jacob and Jordan teaching the class. More information will be available on this in the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group.

What did Marjory need to do to get the P3 Active Maths Group ready for the pupils

• Create a sub Glow Group for P3 Active Maths built under their Early Years Glow Group
• Set all pupils and teachers in the school with Reader membership
• Add several text editor web parts to the page
• Create a scrolling text Maths Challenge Question
• Upload videos of pupils teaching
• Paste Learning Intentions into a text editor web part
• Paste links to Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes into a text editor web part
• Place several links to Maths and Numeracy Games into a web links web part

Recipe

The first video below acts as a virtual tour by Marjory of the P3 Active Maths Glow Group. The videos that then follow show how some of the elements within the page can be recreated. Videos for other elements within the page are available on the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group. You can find “Peer Teaching with Videos on P3 Active Maths” by clicking here.

Details are:

Glow Group Tour (2:36)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

Using text editor web parts for learning intentions and Curriculum for Excellence Outcomes (5:22)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

How to create Maths Puzzles in scrolling text (4:31)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

Creating scrolling text using an external website (3:38)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

Impact

Jacob and Jordan – click to enlarge

Pupils are proud of their work and the fact that all classes can access it on Glow. Marjory was also able to show it to the parents who were amazed that their child’s work was being showcased on Glow. A simple one-page Glow Group has made a big impact with Primary 3.

In the videos below, Marjory speaks about the Glow Group. This is followed by an interview with the stars of the peer teaching project, Jacob and Jordan and a short comment from Karen Sommerville, Head Teacher at St Brigid’s.

Marjory Murphy speaks about the P3 Active Maths Glow Group (1:40)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

Jacob and Jordan speak about the P3 Active Maths Glow Group (1:24)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

Karen Sommerville, Headteacher speaks about Glow at St Brigid’s Primary School. (0:39)
Using Scrolling Text for Maths Puzzles in P3 Active Maths

There are 6 other Cookbooks on the fantastic ways St Brigid’s are making use of Glow. The link to the partner Cookbook on this Glow Group is here.
Peer Teaching with Videos in P3 Active Maths

As the other Cookbooks are completed you will find links to them here:

Our Targets for Literacy at St Brigid’s P6

In session 2009-2010 Marie-Louise worked with Vicky Mackenzie from Lairdsland PS to create a Glow Group where learners could publish their results as part of a league. This league was named ‘EDC Brain Trained Weans League’ and is part of a Glow Group named ‘EDC Brain Trained Learners’.

What the league looks like

In this cookbook we’ll look at how Marie-Louise and Vicky use a range of web parts within the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group to communicate with learners, enable learners to submit their score onto a league table and allow pupils to contact each other through the discussion forum and Glow Meet to share good practice and hints and tips with each other.

Context
Marie-Louise and Vicky were keen to provide a relevant and stimulating basis for covering the Curriculum for Excellence numeracy outcomes:
First Level
I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when solving problems, making best use of the mental strategies and written skills I have developed.
MNU 1-03a
I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day.
MNU 1-10a
I have begun to develop a sense of how long tasks take by measuring the time taken to complete a range of activities using a variety of timers.
MNU 1-10c
I can convey information, describe events or processes, share my opinions or persuade my reader in different ways.
LIT 1-28a / LIT 1-29a
Second Level
Having determined which calculations are needed, I can solve problems involving whole numbers using a range of methods, sharing my approaches and solutions with others.
MNU 2-03a
Having explored the need for rules for the order of operations in number calculations, I can apply them correctly when solving simple problems.
MTH 2-03c
I can carry out practical tasks and investigations involving timed events and can explain which unit of time would be most appropriate to use.
MNU 2-10b
I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence.
LIT 2-29a

Communicating with each other

In this cookbook, we will find out:
• What the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group looks like
• How a Custom List web part has been used to create an active league
• How to replicate the league table
• What the impact was

Ingredients

What did Holy Family PS and Lairdsland PS need to do to create the elements of the Glow Group and give pupils and staff access to it?

1. Nintendo DS Handsets
2. Nintendo Brain Train Software
3. A Glow Group
4. The Custom List in a data sheet view web part

It was also necessary to ensure pupils had Contributor rights within the Glow Group to enable them to take part in discussions, add their results and upload documents.

In the next section, we’ll take a look at the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group and learn how to recreate elements within it.

Recipe

The first video below shows the ‘EDC Brain Train Learners’ Glow Group and the uses made of a range of web parts. The videos that then follow show how the league web part can be recreated. Details are:

*What does the Brain Train Learners Glow Group Look Like?
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to create a new page within a Glow Group
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to create a league web part within a Glow group
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to add an item on to the league part
Brain Train League Cookbook

*How to use the Filter Tool Within the League
Brain Train League Cookbook

Teacher’s Video in Impact of Glow
Brain Train League Cookbook

Brain Train League Cookbook

Brain Train League Cookbook

 
Product
The impact of using Glow to deliver this learning activity has been considerable.
The use of Nintendo Brain Train has shown an increase in children’s speed and accuracy of calculation in addition and subtraction and multiplication/division tables.
Within the Glow group the learners talk freely of how they have ‘become faster and better’ at their sums and how this game has helped them. They share ideas with each other to increase speed and accuracy and lower brain age.
Although the learners continue to strive for self improvement the use of a joint Glow group has resulted in learners being keen to work with each other and compete to be a part of the league. The element of competition and being part of a wider community is clear from their communications and eagerness to be part of the Glow group.

The Glow group has now been opened up to members within the Local Authority, East Dunbartonshire, and secondary and primary schools have joined. This has increased the range within the group. The link to the group is now available on the Local Authority site.