Number Agents

"If you are wondering where agency came from...it came from my imagination and a wonderful childhood memory.  As a much younger sibling with older brothers I spent a lot of time playing on my own.  I invented worlds where I was the hero, defeating villains.  This world has stayed with me for all these years, I wanted to give that wonderful gift to the children in my class and so far it has been nothing but positive." Well we have just concluded another year in agency, another year in this magnificent world of our imaginations, that just happens to be mathematical.  Agency has morphed and changed a little this year, as it does every year, it changes according to the needs of our children, and where their minds take it.  They fill in the gaps, like a pick a path book, we never quite know our destination, but there is real joy in the journey.  Every year I get more confident, I try new things, some work, some don't but I always learn something. I have ...

This is our fourth year growing into play.  This is the richest journey I have ever been on in my professional career.  This journey has unfolded naturally without the need to be forced, time has allowed me the opportunity to reflect, respond and change as needed.  My one concern at the moment is that with the growing popularity of play, teachers will jump on board, without a why, thinking they need to put everything in place at once, rushing in without taking the time to let the process guide them, and in turn finding the journey is not as successful as they believe it should be, in turn they will blame play and return to the old way of doing things. I know and trust that my journey still has a lot to teach me, but wanted to share some of the things I have learned so far. 1) You have to have a why, a reason to start this whole journey, and it can't be because others are doing it and it seems like a good idea.  Our initial why was the limited oral language c...