The Naughty Numbers

One of my favorite things about teaching is the people with whom I teach. I love my team.  I really, really do.  I love that we all have our own little set of experiences and talents we bring to the team.  I love that we all love to share.  And I love that we're all brunette ;)  Ha!  Okay, so that last one was a bit of a stretch, but I'm pretty sure brunettes have more fun :) 

All that to be said, one of the best things about having an amazing team is the collaboration that goes on behind the scenes.  It never seems to come from our regularly scheduled planning periods, rather those off the cuff recess conversations...brainstorming during our quick 20 minute lunch break...or a spur-of-the-moment "a-ha" times during our conference hour.  LOVE that.

Last year my teammate and I were talking about how to help our kids with number reversals and she told me about the "naughty numbers" {5 & 6} and how they're naughty because they face the wrong way.  How did I now know about this??!  How have I never seen this genius before?!  It's been staring me right in the face!  So I took that idea and ran with it and made up a little story...and silly little visuals...to help the kids remember the "naughty number" rule.  I know it sounds crazy, but it works EVERY time!  

Zero...the point of origin...is the teacher {where it all starts}.  He is really serious about sequencing his kids when they walk down the hall and his only rule is that they line up in order facing forward.  1, 2, 3, & 4 do just as they're told.  They always follow directions.  But 5 & 6?!?!  Well they're just up to no good and they're always turning around to sneak away from the rest of their class. 1, 2, 3, & 4 have NO idea what's going on behind them because they're always facing the right way.  But 7, 8, & 9 are appalled!!!  They try to tell 5 & 6 to turn around, but they NEVER do!!  They're just so darn naughty!!!  

Somehow this tiny little tale of the naughty numbers seems to resonate with those little friends who have a hard time remembering that a 3 doesn't look like an uppercase capital E, or that a 6 doesn't look like a 2, or that a 9 doesn't look like a P.  When I'm checking their independent work and I see that my friends have number reversals, all I have to say is, "Remember the naughty numbers?!  Go back and look at your work again to make sure those are the only numbers being naughty!!"  I don't immediately tell them what to change at this point in the year because I want them to self monitor their work and get in the habit of double checking for errors.  That little reminder always seems to help!

Praise God for smart teammates and collaboration.  I sure do love feeling smarter than I really am!!!  HA!