Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal December 2007 Volume 5(6)

Read (and blog) to succeed

Ross McGregor describes the new ‘Read To Succeed’ Blog at James Hamilton Academy, Kilmarnock, where he is Librarian.

‘Read to Succeed’ is James Hamilton Academy’s new reading scheme for S1 and S2 English. It is a structured scheme where pupils work through different levels of authors to complete stages in their reading.

The Read To Succeed blog is used as a space for pupils to submit reviews of their books, read other pupils’ reviews and enter discussions about what they have read. They need to complete a review in order to proceed to the next level.

I developed a general Library blog using Blogger after seeing some excellent examples from other schools Cumnock Academy in particular. Although this served as a useful notice board for the library, pupil contributions were minimal. I felt there was huge potential for this kind of website as a means of getting pupils to contribute, so I began to think of other uses.

In May 2007 I approached Paula Galbraith, PT English at the school, to ask if there were any activities that pupils in English could use Blogger with. She was already planning a new S1/S2 reading scheme, so it seemed natural to incorporate a new method for reviewing into this. I produced a rough version of how I thought it would look and work, then after some discussion we pressed ahead. We organised an in-service session for the English department during which I talked the teachers through the site. They were also able to flag up any practical or design issues before it went live with pupils. The response was extremely enthusiastic. Teachers were keen to try something new that would be appealing to pupils.

As a school librarian it is so important to get support from teaching departments when getting involved in new developments and putting forward ideas. I have been lucky enough to have an excellent relationship with Paula and her department, which has made this idea come to fruition.

How it works
The blog contains posting areas for each teacher in the department. Each teacher’s post contains basic instructions for the pupils and any other bits of information the teachers would like the pupils to see. I can also use the sidebars on the frontpage to add elements such as favourite authors, review of the month and so on.

Pupils read the teacher’s post then go into the comments section. They can enter their reviews, read other reviews and respond via the comment function. Reviews and comments then appear on the site with the pupil’s name so that teachers can keep track of who is saying what.

Moderation
It is essential that full moderation of all contributions is activated. This means all comments made on the blog are emailed to me before they appear on the site. This is very important to avoid abuse of the website by pupils or by non-pupils. It does mean that I have to keep a close eye on my inbox and sometimes receive about 30 emails in an hour. This can be time-consuming and pupils expect to see their reviews instantly!

Pupils have responded really well to the blog. They are keen to see their reviews on the site and for others to read them. Pupils are encouraged to access the blog during class but also independently, so reviews are not corrected by teachers. It is being seen as an informal way for the pupils to respond to books – there is no assessment or marking involved. Parents can also access the blog from home if they wish and indeed make a comment.

The future
The first year of using the blog has been really successful. There are many areas of potential development using this technology.

I would like to see more interaction among pupils on the site. Re-design might help with this, for example having a separate area for book chat and an area for reviews. Other possibilities are giving each class its own blog entirely with more teacher/class control over the content.

I am already involved in producing blogs for pupils in other subjects, as a means of promoting activities, trips and fundraising. I will also be looking at other software, for example, wikispaces or flickr for these purposes.

The possibilities are endless and the great thing is the software is free, flexible and easy to use. It is a great way for the school librarian to get involved in cross-curricular projects as well as English and reading-based activities. All it takes is a little time to play with the technology and some supportive staff to welcome your ideas.

Information Scotland Vol. 5(6) December 2007

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