My Glow: Laura Kerr
Laura Kerr tells us how she used the Katie Morag stories as a theme to explore the use of Glow with younger pupils.
I teach the P1 class at Lairdsland Primary in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. It’s a town centre school with more than 300 children. Our local authority was an early adopter of Glow.
Glow - the story so far
My first steps as a Glow Mentor were to set up the school site. I felt it was important that the basic structure was there for staff to explore. That way they could see how Glow would look and work in practice. I then delivered in-service training to staff to get the ball rolling.
The Glow pilot project in East Dunbartonshire involved the upper stage pupils, who have individual log-ons. Since I teach P1, I was interested in discovering how Glow could be used for younger pupils. I decided to select one topic and use it as trial for Glow.
I chose the series of stories following the adventures of Katie Morag, a young girl growing up on a small Scottish island. The topic felt quite dated and I wanted to help my pupils relate to the stories. With that in mind, I contacted Shetland Islands Council in the hope of linking up with another school in a small island community like Katie’s. Madge Peters responded and we set up a collaborative project through Glow.
Madge and I started off by exchanging PowerPoints introducing our schools and the surrounding area. One of the most rewarding aspects of the project was Glow Meet, which enabled my pupils to discover more about life in Shetland, and Madge’s pupils to hear about our experiences in Kirkintilloch. Since our communities are so different, the pupils found their ‘meeting’ very exciting. My class asked what life is like on a small island and spoke about their own community. However, by the end of the meeting they were so excited they were asking about anything and everything – including where they buy their toys! The pupils discussed what Shetland looks like and then used the outline tool on the shared whiteboard to draw a map, and put a dot where they live.
This approach really brought Katie Morag to life. The children have a better understanding of the geography of a small place and they’re so engaged and eager to get involved.
The next plan for Katie Morag is for Madge’s pupils in Shetland, who are older than mine, to write their own version of Katie Morag and read it to us over Glow Meet.
What's next?
In addition to the Katie Morag topic, I have been involved in setting up an active learning Glow Group with Yvonne Gibb. The group allows staff to share resources and we have already had a couple of schools upload material and many more contact us to express an interest.
I have already set up Glow links for myself so I’d now like to turn my attention to helping some of my colleagues do the same. I’m keen to really get that collaboration going.
Lighting up learning
I think that the secret to really engaging with Glow is to take the time to sit down and get to grips with everything it can do. Teachers are so busy it can seem like another thing to do, but once you start using it you see the full potential.
One of the biggest benefits is that pupils can teach and challenge each other – they can use the freedom Glow affords to extend their own learning. The pupils just love it. They’re constantly asking me when they’ll get to talk to their Shetland friends again! The parents are also very enthusiastic and supportive – their children have been talking about it so much that they’re keen to find out more.
I absolutely love Glow. It has the potential to bring things to life in the classroom and take learning that step further. I look forward to continuing to work with Glow, forging more links and rolling it out across the school.