Number Agents

  I am currently in the process of reformatting the scope and sequence. This task has been more time-consuming than anticipated as I continue to incorporate all the wonderful additions that emerged quite spontaneously during sessions this year (I guess you could say I have been in my own Goldilocks zone, something I want for all teachers.) It is incredibly heartwarming to witness an idea that began as a mere germ of an idea in 2020 flourish and strengthen over time.   What was that idea? To create a scope and sequence, structured in such a way that met the needs of my learners with dyscalculia, in turn meeting the needs of all.  I had seen the success of Structured Literacy and was driven to create that for maths, at the time, it was something I could not see being created well.  I wanted to make something even the most reluctant math teacher could pick up and grow from.   This year has been particularly successful, primarily due to my growing underst...

Bringing Balance Back to Education I am currently working on rewriting my scope and sequence, striving to make it even more user-friendly. I know, I know, I can hear everyone saying, "Leslee, stop, take a break, give yourself some time!" I hear you all, and please understand, the chance to refine my scope and sequence so others can have a better experience using it, alongside the opportunity to write, is my idea of a break. In fact, it's a chance to finally release the thoughts and ideas that have been occupying my mind all year. The Importance of Balance Now, let's dive into the main topic of this post: balance. Balance is essential, right? We are constantly reminded to achieve a work-life balance, to eat a balanced diet, and to balance rest with exercise. Yet, when it comes to teaching and learning, the word "balance" has somehow become controversial, a dirty word. When we started advocating for structured literacy, the word "balance" became clos...

This blog has become a place to share my thoughts—thoughts that others may or may not read, thoughts others may or may not care about, but thoughts that very much reflect my journey. I started this blog after my discovery of 'play' and my original Number Agent approach back in 2016. Saying it like that, that I discovered play, makes it sound like something new. Of course, others, far more expert than I, had unearthed the importance of play long before I stumbled upon its magic. However, that is how professional journeys work; we come to things in our own space and time. Before I started my posts, I considered myself structured. Our school was structured. Academic achievement was really important to me, and it drove what I did in my new entrant class. I very much believed children needed to be ready for school, and I was often loudly wondering what on earth my ECE colleagues were doing. Children in my new entrant class were whisked quickly into formal learning, assessed for thei...

The prevailing rhetoric of the current government suggests a return to the basics, with a keen focus on academic outcomes as the sole priority. Recently, a Minister even asserted that it is impossible to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. It is deeply regrettable that those making these decisions often lack classroom experience and do not seek the perspectives of those who do. If they did, they would understand that it is indeed possible—and essential—to focus on multiple aspects simultaneously to achieve the academic outcomes they desire. I have yet to meet a teacher who does not strive for the best for the children in their care. Indeed, no teacher wishes for their children to fail. Ironically, our current government is right now providing the very conditions within schools that mean many children and teachers are actually failing. If this government truly aims for academic excellence for all, they must recognise that our focus cannot be singular but rather multifaceted...

  Right now, I am angry. Many of you will know that this week I shared an open letter on my public Number Agents Facebook page. This letter is emotional, and I make no apologies for that. In fact, it had been drafted to just send to our local Ministry of Education (MOE) office, but after I was told that one of our lovely children with ASD will have any behaviour funding (as little as it currently is anyway) concluded because he has had five terms' worth, well, let's say it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I have shared the letter at the end of this blog post for anyone who has not seen it. Feel free to go to my Facebook page and share it if it resonates with what you are experiencing. I don’t presume to speak for you, but I know right now, this is the experience of many. Right now, we have a system intent on putting the cart before the horse. While the current government has accelerated and compounded this issue, they didn't start this pattern; in fact, for as lon...

Right now, being an educator in Aotearoa feels like balancing on a tightrope, juggling plates, attempting to ride a unicycle—all while smiling through it and fearing that everything might come crashing down at any moment. Instead of offering a helping hand, those standing nearby just keep throwing more plates at you, raising the height of the tightrope, and increasing the distance you have to cycle. Concerns with the Focus on Decoding Amidst everything, there is one thing that has been worrying me most lately: our ardent focus on decoding over everything else. There is a celebration of the supposed positive data from the phonics check (a pattern not observed at our place) and a curriculum that expects a child at the end of their first year at school to be reading at stage 7.1 towards the end of the decodable stages. I read comment after comment on teachers' Facebook pages, asking questions about the expectation, with ongoing affirmation from those in the know, that āe, our youngest...

Firstly, let's just put it out there: childhood is not a race. It is something to be cherished, not accelerated. However, right now, it feels like we are almost being forced to run a race, a race we didn't even enter, with results of this invented race being proudly announced, even if the participants themselves have a completely different perspective. Don't get me wrong, anyone who reads this page knows I advocate for effective teaching practices, but they also know I advocate for childhood and the right of children to play and develop in their own space and time. I have been fortunate enough to spend the last ten years doing this work, having stumbled upon 'structured literacy' and guided myself through it, without the pressure of time and the 'urgency' that seems to have been created. I am also lucky enough to have learned a lot about children and the role of play, and to have been able to balance these seemingly opposite pieces of understanding into the ...

The Crisis in Our Classrooms Across our country, we face a real crisis. Teachers are overstretched and burnt out, trying to meet the needs of every child in their classroom while facing immense pressure to make changes to their own practice without the time to properly do so. Increasing Needs  Our classrooms are not what they were even ten years ago. Children entering our schools often have much higher needs than we have ever seen before. While I could list a range of reasons behind this upsurge in needs, that is not the point of this post. Rather, the point is to make it clear that classrooms, with just one teacher and 20-30 children, are quickly becoming untenable. What we would have looked at as 'average' for a new entrant now stands out. Those that are independent, able to focus for a short period of time, and able to be in a classroom and feel a sense of safety are now in the minority. I feel lucky (though it is hard work, not luck really) to be 'ready' for these c...

In the midst of discussions surrounding our 'refreshed' curriculum and concerns about losing the diverse and open curriculum we once cherished, I believe it's important to approach new knowledge with an open and questioning mind. Embracing insights from global educational research does not necessitate abandoning the effective practices already in place within our schools. Instead, we can integrate new understandings to benefit our students' learning experiences, staying true to our local context while remaining open to the evolution of our practice. Reflecting on my teaching journey, I've realised that a static pedagogical approach is counterproductive and static is certainly something I have not been over the last 27 years of teaching!  Education is not about swinging aimlessly on a pendulum but about continuously striving to improve as a practitioner. Clinging stubbornly to outdated methodologies, despite overwhelming evidence of better alternatives, is a disservi...

  This post is possibly going to come across as a little blunt, for that, I offer no apology.  By now, we should know better and we should be doing better! Like many of you, I rejoiced when we got rid of national standards, but every day it becomes more obvious that this government is leading us back there, this time under the guise of science. Don't get me wrong, if you are a follower of my blog, you will know that I support an explicit and systematic approach to the teaching of literacy and numeracy. However, my support comes with a warning label. This warning label clearly states that we should not blindly follow one way of working or one 'science' while ignoring what we know (or should know by now) about children. So what is it our children need most? What our children need most right now is safety. In fact, I would go out on a limb here and say that without safety, anything else you do is a waste of time. If we want learning to be an outcome of what we are doing, we ne...