Number Talks
A Poem Inspired by Learning Together
We tell a story about a mother who is seventy-four
and a daughter who is forty-nine,
adding up time and
difference
along the line between them.
We share an open array of numbers,
imagining parts and wholes,
our strategies exposed by quantities
of numbers decomposing and
composing
constant relationships in our minds
–before even holding a pencil.
Hand over heart we tap
until we see a place
in a string of familiar anchors
and friendly landmarks.
We can count back to see the value, partial
products of flexibility now.
Voices of facts and concepts
and ways to solve
burst with numerate enthusiasm
and joy, seeing how the teacher
draws our thoughts
together on a whiteboard.
We gasp at its simple magnitude.© Jessica Outram
Georgian Bay Rocks Gallery
Most pictures were taken on the south shore, Britt/Byng Inlet.
July 2018 July 2018 July 2018 July 2018 July 2018 July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 South Shore, July 2018 August 2016 August 2016. McNab Rocks, Britt. August 2016. McNab Rocks, Britt South Shore, August 2015. South Shore, August, 2016. August 2015 Thanksgiving Tradition: Hike in the Bush on Georgian Bay
Some people might call it the woods, but our family has always called it the bush. Rolling granite, moss, and long grasses topped with juniper bushes, birches, maples, and pines extend for many kilometres from my parents’ place across Crown land.
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The Good News
This summer I spent a lot of time with my cousin who wrote a six-part blog series about collective impact that I followed in August. It got me thinking about how this type of intentional work within schools and within our broader school communities could better support students.