Learning basic math facts using playful memorization When the Ontario government rolled out its new math curriculum in 2020, it was touted as a “back-to-basics” approach. “We’re focusing on fundamental math concepts and skills like learning and recalling math facts including multiplication,” the province’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce said i. It seemed
When schooling quickly transitioned to online platforms last year, The Robertson Program was forced to reconceptualize how we would continue to engage educators and children in math and science education. Historically, we conduct our work in person because an essential part of teaching and learning is developing meaningful relationships. Could this be accomplished online? And could we have a direct impact
While working with educators to develop new ways to teach spatial reasoning to early years’ students, The Robertson Program met Jane Tom, an educator at Pegamigaabo School in Big Grassy First Nation. Jane was eager to try new ways of engaging her students in math. She quickly took to the lessons
Robertson Program hosts first webinar of its Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Math and Science series In our first-ever webinar, Educator Bryan Bellefeuille shared how he brings Traditional Indigenous Mathematics in to his Ontario Classroom. With more than 450 educators watching live on YouTube, Bryan told viewers about the journey that
Former Robertson Program Director Bev Caswell describes how an inclusive Professional Development model leads to the formation of relationships and makes math more accessible When the Robertson Program conducted professional development (PD) around spatial reasoning, I had the pleasure of working with educators from across Ontario. We focused on developing
In a past blog, we discussed the power of games to promote and reinforce mathematical thinking. As we head into this unusual holiday season a year later, it seems a good time to revisit some of these ideas, focusing on the myriad possibilities of a deck of cards. The first playing
Problems that arise in the real-world allow for meaningful classroom discussions about social issues. Currently in Nova Scotia, there is an ongoing debate between Mi’kmaw and non-Indigenous fishers about the rules around when lobsters can be harvested. A lot of the confusion stems from the 1999 Marshall Decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada which maintained a treaty right
