What is my why?
Firstly, what is my why, I think you really need to think about this before embarking on any new approach or change to how you are teaching. What is your why? Why are you changing, what is your desired outcome? Are you doing it because others are, or is this something you really want to do?
My why is pretty simple, I want children to love learning. Particularly in terms of Number Agents, I want children to love maths, to have deep number sense, to learn through a playful mode and to believe in their abilities to develop new strategies. Ultimately my major why, and this is much broader, I would like to play my part, in not only eliminating math anxiety for my children, but for all children. I want to give all children the absolute gift of seeing maths as a connected, beautiful area of learning that can be found all around them!
When breaking down my why each term, I like to look at it in terms of number sense...what is it that my agents need to know in order to develop confidence and have success? I also know that in order to do this, I need to develop my understandings about maths, I am constantly learning.
This is my what my thinking looks like:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NhO-z9F433Wl7rGDnpcWw0oXShGCFjyl/view?usp=sharing
Number Agents is like a storybook, I like to think of it like a story, each session of agents is a new chapter, we of course are the heroes and the villains are obvious. It is playful and I play an integral role in this, I have to be part of the play. Just like any good story, we add tension and crazy storylines that add excitement, the agents play a huge role in constructing these storylines. No two sessions are the same and they are always memorable. Intrigue plays a key role, and if you have read my blog post on intrigue, you will know why that is so important in the learning process. Here it is if you have not seen it.
Brain Gain and Adding Tension
One thing that keeps this approach fresh is the teachers ability to add details to the storyline that perhaps the agents didn't see coming...just like a good movie, there is always a good twist in the tail...or many twists. Agency is based on Mantle of the Expert and a key part of this dramatic approach is tension.
Head Villain is the way we generally add tension. Currently we have two storylines going...the first is the suggestion that the villains may be hatching a plan to kidnap agent 81...that has been bubbling away in the background of agency, suggested at by Head Agent and recently by Head Villain himself. The suggestion of this plot running in the background keeps the agents on high alert and encourages them to add to the storyline. Yes I will be kidnapped soon...but don't worry, like every good superhero story, the agents will save me and we will again foil Head Villain.
We laid down another tension today...the concept of brain gain was something last years agents were hot on...they had a little pot that they came up with that contained the brain gain. This years agents have not hinted at it, but today I decided to drop the idea. One because it allows me to link it to the work we do on growth mindset and talk clearly about how by working together we are contributing to our brain gain (which this year is stored in an invisible container stored in the portal) ssshhh don't tell the villains, they are looking for it. We increase brain gain by working together and solving problems, we need brain gain to defeat the villains.
Two, because this concept allows me to lay down another tension. Today we found out that an agency in Rotorua had their brain gain siphoned overnight...the villains are always on the lookout for brain gain because they use it to make themselves smarter. Caught on their surveillance cameras was an image of Head Villain.
Three because it allowed me to bring in a 'real' context for exploring the concept of fractions, the agency had three quarters of their brain gain siphoned and only have one quarter left.
We must now stay alert...the last thing we want is a villain 'stealing' our brain gain. Who would help our clients then?
Brain Gain Buddies
I had a huge aha moment today. Like any new entrant room we are a real mixture...we have children that have been at school for a year and others that have been at school for six weeks. This does get difficult at times (I won't lie) and sometimes the concepts professor delivers are a bit puzzling for our new agents.
After our playful discussion about brain gain I suddenly had the idea of brain gain buddies. This is simply giving an experienced agent a less experienced buddy ...but by applying brain gain to the idea of having a buddy, the agents lapped it up...happy to work together in the venture of growing their brains they worked away beautifully. This also meant that when it came to solving the problem, three pairs would combine into a group and I knew at least 2 of the agents were more experienced and able to share their understandings with their less experienced colleagues.
Brain gain buddies exploring tally marks.
Less Is More
I know I have said this before, but within this world less is more. The drama within the world is so important and it is vital that time is spent talking about tensions and building characters. Without this, it is just a normal math session. I always aim to follow this flow once checked into agency:
1- Song
2 - Game or professor knowledge session or dot talk or visual image
3 - Problem
4 - Talk moves
5 - another song if time, usually by popular request
Sometimes we can fit in a dot talk and a game, but I aim for short segments. Quality over quantity is vital and it is really important concepts are revisited over and over again.
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I have been so happy to read about all of the success Number Agents is having around the country....it is still so new, but I thank all of you brave souls for making the leap, and for recommending it to others.
This is not my job, it is my hobby. I am a teaching principal, but will always find time for those who have read my book about this approach and want to have a go. If I can help, I certainly will!
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