Events

“As teachers become more familiar with which ideas are more complex for students and why, they are better able to ensure that their instruction is at the appropriate developmental level for students, and that it challenges students’ mathematical conceptions in appropriate ways. This minimizes the likelihood of students developing mathematical misconceptions.”(Small,M. (2009). Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students, K–8. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education).

All educators – classroom teachers, early childhood educators, school principals and other instructional leaders in the education system – use a variety of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to engage all students in making connections between content and process as they work toward a thorough understanding of mathematics.

Focusing on mathematics involves…

• starting with the curriculum – for both content and instructional strategies• planning, sequencing and connecting mathematical key concepts across the grades
• helping students explore and make sense of patterns and relationships between and among the strands
• enabling students to apply their mathematical knowledge and extend their understanding
• enabling students to develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, skills and processes
• engaging students as co-learners in the development, refinement and expression of mathematics, including multiple representations of mathematical concepts
• undertaking complex mathematical tasks that are meaningful to students and engage them in learning relevant and rigorous mathematics
• using the range of higher-level thinking skills in mathematical processes:
• – problem solving, reasoning and proving, communicating, representing, connecting, reflecting, selecting tools and computational strategies
• encouraging multiple approaches for learning and actively doing mathematics
• planning learning tasks and opportunities through differentiated instruction
• fostering questioning – teacher to student, student to student, student to teacher – so that all can see the value in mathematics learning
• providing students with opportunities to consolidate their understanding of the mathematical processes and concepts
• developing learning goals and success criteria in response to student thinking and reasoning

(Paying Attention to Mathematics Education, The Mathematics Working Group, OME p.4)

This course will elaborate on many of the ideas listed in above in “Focus on Mathematics”. The list was created by “The Mathematics Working Group”. Its group task was to advise the Ministry on ways to bring about a positive change in the teaching and learning of mathematics and to ensure better results for all students.

• Organizer: Niagara University
• Cost: AQ Schedules C and D Courses: $710 ($640 for NU graduates). ABQ Schedule A Courses: $665 ($600 for NU Graduates)
• Location: Online
• Website: http://www.niagara.edu/aq
• Contact: Carmela Vitale
• Phone: 905.294.7260 ext. 1104