Number Agents

Greetings from Head Agent

I know that there are many agencies launching for real this term.  I thought I would put together some tips from my Term 1 experience. 1) Take it slow, spend time building up belief in agency. 2)When first starting in agency proper, make planning simple, aim to follow the sequence, but don't overplan.  Put more emphasis on the drama of agency.  Take time for children to learn their agent numbers and to develop their 'character.'  Make a big deal of the fact that they are held in such high regard by Head Agent and have been selected because they are experts in their field.  This elevation to expert will be a real change in mindset for some and is one of the most empowering things of a Mantle of the Expert approach. 3)Take time to set up the narrative and ritual of moving into agency, this will be the same each day and helps children to move into agency.  For example in our class we will say "and so Room One stood up, and checked into agency"  They...

The agents love it when the professor or the other characters appear over the screen.  I am by no means an expert video maker....so please as this as just an example of what I do.  Not great sound quality unfortunately. The Professor's role in agency is to lead professional development.  This professional development can be knowledge based...like this one, or it can focus on strategies for solving problems.   His job is varied according to what we need at that time.  

Developing number sense is the first step for children to feeling comfortable with math and everyday calculation, and also the path to developing a fondness for numbers and a flexibility when working with them.   When children learn the names of numbers, what composes them, what they mean, how to use them, and how to apply them to real-world referents, it makes the children feel comfortable and confident and both eager and able to engage with math. Having number sense allows children to have flexibility with numbers.  It allows them a confidence when working with numbers and a capability to make well judged estimates. I have based the Number Agents approach on this awareness and understanding.  I believe it is crucial that the 'professional development' presented to the agents takes the form of activities that allow children to do this.  I have developed some key elements within my programme that have a visual component, these work exceptionally well fo...

I can't wait to get back into agency.  So far the children have met the Knight Adder, Subtraction Shark and the Wacky Witch of Change Unknown.  Still to come are the Doubling Dinosaur, Captain Fraction and Sum Snake. I get so much of a thrill when we introduce a new villain.  Then once they have all been introduced we can really watch children's awareness of what is happening to the client correlate to what villain it might be.  It is fantastic watching their maths talk grow along with their number sense.   I love teaching this way.  Children love it and their maths ability has never been better.  It is relaxed and maths anxiety is non-existent.  Combine this with our lovely sessions of self-directed play we have a superbly relaxed room where behaviour problems are a very rarely ever an issue. The problem solving part of agency is often the part that takes the longest to embed into agency. It can be easy to get demoralised...but please ...

When did childhood become standardised and why have we blindly followed? I am as guilty as any of teaching in the way that I thought children learned best.  I have always considered myself to be a good teacher…but my definition of a good teacher is changing, and thankfully so am I.  I don’t in fact believe we ever stop changing, but I have certainly changed direction and thankfully the destination is a hell of a lot more appealing to me. So often I hear arguments against play…how will they learn? how will we fit everything in? Oh but children love routine and play is unknown.  How will we know what they are learning, how will we assess it?  Oh but we have too much else to do. We also have a system that has set parents up to believe that academic achievement and extension is of paramount importance…these parents don’t want to see their children just playing.  Play is frivolous isn't it?  Come on, they don’t go to school to play, do your jo...

Why? Number agents came about following my discovery of Mantle of the Expert.  Through Mantle of the Expert I found a whole new way of engaging and motivating children and particularly those children that were not engaged through traditional ways of teaching inquiry. My maths teaching had become stagnant.  I felt like I was just going through the motions.  I planned well, used group specific teaching, tried to incorporate maths games and materials where possible...but felt bored.  I felt like the 'children' were missing from my teaching.  Maths teaching was something I was doing 'to' them.  I also noticed that children's oral language was really lacking.  They struggled to share understandings and lacked the words for what they wanted to say. The potential for Mantle to transform my maths teaching was not lost on me...I also saw the way children responded to programmes like Number Jacks, Dora the Explorer and Little Einsteins.  My lightbulb ...