In Conversation with… Simon Blower, Operations Director and Teacher at Pobble
This month we have been speaking to Simon from Pobble about their exciting writing platform that encourages students to take their writing to the next level. Find out what you can see at their stand at GESS Dubai 2018. Calling all schools to check their products out at the show...
Please tell us a little bit about Pobble and your projects in education?
We like to think that Pobble unleashes teaching superpowers. What if you could make writing ridiculously exciting for your pupils, and save time in the process? Teachers use the Pobble writing platform to plan their lessons, give pupils a genuine purpose to write, and moderate their work.
Today, over 100,000 pieces of writing have been published on Pobble by tens of thousands of teachers from all over the world. Besides that, many teachers also know us from events that we organise for the community: writing sessions at Premier League football stadiums or at the top of the Burj Khalifa for children, and small-scale, practical CPD sessions for teachers.
GESS is fast approaching! What products can visitors see at your stand this year? Who should visit your stand?
We’re really excited to come back to GESS this year! It’s such a great opportunity to meet teachers and SLT from schools across the region. I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with some of our existing users, and -hopefully- meeting many new ones.
On events like this we bring everything to show how Pobble might be used in practice. We can walk you through the platform, and show examples of how Pobble has been used towards schools’ strategic goals around literacy attainment.
What new products have you been working in 2017 and the start of this year? We are excited to know…
2017 was an amazing year for us. We’ve introduced our new lesson planning platform, with partners like Teachit, BBC and Oxford University Press. We now also have a new assessment and moderation tool that is proving incredibly valuable for teachers. And, as important, we have invested a lot in making Pobble even easier to use.
What advice would you like to share with teachers who might be a little nervous to use some of the latest tech in the classroom to aid learning?
It’s understandable that some people are getting a bit wary of another new tool being introduced into the classroom. Quite simply, too often new tools have not been that helpful at all: it didn’t save time, and it didn’t improve outcomes.
As former teachers, we are very focused on making sure that Pobble does exactly those two things. After all, haven’t we all, at some point, felt there weren’t enough hours in the day? Well, that might be where good technology can to help.
And if push comes to shove, we’ll lend you a hand. Tom and our Customer Happiness team are always at the ready.
Please tell us more about the student and pupil accounts that you offer? What are the benefits of using Pobble?
One of the unique elements of Pobble, is that we empower pupils to explore the platform on their own. It’s a safe environment for them to discover stories, to learn what occupies the minds of children all over the world. Over half the comments left on Pobble are from other pupils!
How did you begin your journey in education? We are intrigued to know how it all began…
After ten years teaching pupils across the whole Primary age, I moved to take up the role of Deputy Head at an outstanding Primary School in North Yorkshire, England. There I met Tom who was a member of our behaviour team who supported some of the reluctant writers in my class.
Tom and I were meeting in our spare hours to talk about this great idea we’d had: sharing pupils’ writing online. We involved Henry, a former colleague and literacy specialist and before long we had our website up and running.
Initially we thought of the website as a great resource for fellow teachers, but when the children found out their work was there for a global audience to read: what a response! Within months, about 10 schools around the region were using our platform to share ideas and collaborate. That’s when we started travelling around the UK.
It’s so exciting to think back at that time, and to realise that an idea from one classroom somewhere in England grew to be platform where thousands of pupils each week are turned into published authors!
