Reggio-Inspired Mathematics

BCRIM Year-End Sharing and Exhibition

On May 15, we hosted an in-person sharing and exhibition of some of our projects from this year. We gathered in The Studio at Grauer Elementary in the Richmond School District as I am retiring this year and this would be the last "event" held in The Studio. 

We had educators come in from Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, West Vancouver, and around Richmond.There's just something special about being in room together with educators wanting to share and discuss their practice and learn together in community.

• 
• 

Connecting to some of our learning from this year's study group in Reggio Emilia, guests were invited to created compositions with materials in The Studio and then we shared what math emerged in both the process of creating the compositions and what math we could find in the creation.

• 
• 
• 
• 

It was a lovely last event of the school year and I am filled with gratitude for this amazing group of educators. 

Have a wonderful summer!

~Janice

 

Encounters with Mathematics in Reggio Emilia

On April 9 we hosted an evening Zoom session to share ideas and encounters with mathematics from the study group in Reggio Emilia in March with the Vancouver Reggio Association. Educators who have been part of our network that attended this year's study group shared connections between their experiences in Reggio Emilia and their practices here in BC. Thank you to Sarah, Annie, Colleen and Amanda for sharing!

The preschool and primary school (3-11 year olds) at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre recently published a book called Mathematics and Geometries, documenting several projects in their schools. We were all excited to see and purchase this new resource as there is very little published specifically on mathematics through Reggio Children. I shared some of the key ideas from the book:

We had educators join us from across BC, Canada, USA, Scotland and the Philippines!

~Janice

BCRIM Book Club: Cultivating Mathematical Hearts (parts two and three)

This year teachers across our province have been reading, discussing, and enacting ideas from the book Cultivating Mathematical Hearts: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Elementary Classrooms by Dr, Maria del Rosario Zavala and Dr. Julia Maria Aguirre. 

For our second cross-district meeting on Zoom on January 16, we were honoured to have both authors join us to discuss the book and ask us for connections to our context here in BC and Canada. It was a compelling dialogue with discussions about equity, culture, language, and community. 

Our final cross-district session was held on May 8 where teachers shared how they used ideas from the book in their classrooms. Teachers commented that we are fortunate in BC that this pedagogy is very much aligned with our BC curriculum, and specifically curricular competencies in mathematics that support connecting mathematics to culture, community, place, and story.

District and school teams have met throughout the year to extend the learning in their own contexts. 

Teachers from across our network have posted ideas and reflections on our padlet HERE.

Thanks to all the teachers who participated in and contributed to our book club this year!

~Janice