Number Agents

The Quiet Art of Teacher Sense The best school improvement rarely makes headlines. It happens quietly, one thoughtful decision at a time. An article about a school choosing to remove devices from its junior classrooms sparked a huge amount of interest recently. As I read through the responses, it got me thinking about the importance of what I call teacher sense —that ability to draw on our deep understanding of children, learning, and our craft to make decisions that not only feel right, but are right. It also got me thinking that, much like common sense, teacher sense is becoming something of a dying art. So much of what is happening in education right now is being done in the name of "research". Changes are being rolled out at pace, often to us rather than with us. Despite the fact that many educators are deeply sceptical of some of these sweeping reforms, there seems to be very little pushback. Where are the stories about the schools that never jumped on the bandwagon in t...

The Present We Didn't Ask For Non-contact time allows my mind to wander—to seek new understandings, refine current ones, and, most importantly, reflect. Lately, my mind keeps circling back to one thing: the state of our education system here in Aotearoa. Have you ever had a birthday or Christmas where you receive a pile of presents, but not one resembles what you actually asked for? Of course, you're grateful. The people giving the gifts have clearly put thought into them. But you're still left wondering whether they actually know you—whether they understand what you need or whether maybe, they were actually buying something they themselves wanted.  Or perhaps it's that present, you didn't know you needed, but others obviously wanted to give you a great big hint, like that cake of fancy soup, or that gym membership. That's what education feels like right now: the present we didn't ask for. And I use the word present deliberately. It refers both to the endle...

The Importance of Teacher Understanding Over the past few years, I have continued to advocate for the importance of teacher understanding. In my view, it is the single most significant factor affecting the achievement of our learners. Unfortunately, in the current pressure cooker of curriculum development, building genuine teacher understanding—which takes time—has too often been replaced by reliance on scripted programmes. Scripted programmes are not inherently negative. In fact, they can serve as training wheels, providing structure and support until teachers gain confidence. The real risk, however, is that those training wheels never come off. In a climate where teachers are overwhelmed by constant change, there is a danger that these programmes become the only way we teach, rather than a temporary scaffold. Teacher Understanding: More Than Just Academics Teacher understanding should not be limited to academic content. Don’t get me wrong—I absolutely believe teachers must understand...

If you follow my blog or Facebook page, you will know that in 2023 I moved away from grouping my children for reading and started using whole class texts. The Rationale Behind Whole Class Texts These whole class texts were born out of my learning around the role of repeated reading, the importance of fluency, and sentence-level comprehension. Our Reading Routine Over the last three years, these texts—while they have changed in content—have followed a set routine. Each day, we read, a new part is added, while the part we have already read is retained. Once there are three parts to the text, a new one is begun, keeping the last part read and making it the beginning. I have written before about our reading routine with these texts, so I won't go into this again in great detail, only to say we use echo reading, choral reading, fill-the-gap reading, partner reading, and independent reading. We explore unknown vocabulary and decode new words together before reading. The Characters and Se...

The Power of Simple Organisers: Building Independence in Young Writers, Intentionally linking Reading and Writing Why a Basic Organiser Struck a Chord Recently, I shared a very basic organiser for reading comprehension on my Facebook page—something I have used frequently in my classroom. I was genuinely surprised by how popular the post became. It’s clear there’s a real hunger among teachers for practical ways to foster writing independence in young learners. With that in mind, I wanted to share the reasoning behind this organiser and how it fits into the wider journey of developing independent writers. Laying the Foundations: Sentence-Level Understanding My class of six- and seven-year-olds are building solid foundations as writers. We’ve invested a lot of time working at the sentence level, using Colourful Semantics to help children understand how sentences are constructed. From there, we began to add greater detail using planners inspired by Colourful Semantics, linking this with th...

The Weight and Urgency of Educational Change Yesterday, I blogged about the sweeping changes currently overtaking education—changes implemented rapidly, often without genuine consultation with those of us on the ground, and with an overt agenda. The weight of these changes is palpable. In fact, I found myself spending this Sunday reminding myself of all the reasons I love being a teaching principal, trying to restore the spark before stepping back into the classroom tomorrow. There is no denying that change is essential. We must improve outcomes for our learners in literacy, mathematics and wellbeing. The need is real and urgent. However, it is equally important that the process of change prioritises teacher understanding and involvement. Only then can educators become the greatest advocates for real, lasting transformation. The Importance of a Thoughtful, Staged Approach Starting Small: The First Year Change should begin with small, intentional steps. Those leading change usually know...