Welcome to Mathology Practice Workbook Grades 3-8

Ann Pigeon has been an educator for 30 years. She has had the privilege to work in a variety of roles including: Learning Coordinator for Mathematics, which gave her the opportunity to be in countles mathematics classrooms, working with dedicated teachers through collaborative inquiry; Student Achievement Officer with the Ontario Ministry of Education, facilitating math professional learning at the provincial, regional, and school level; and classroom teacher, where she shares her love of teaching mathematics
with students and colleagues.

Ann was honoured to receive the Ontario Mathematics Coordinators Association (OMCA) Award for Excellence and Innovation in Mathematics Education. She completed her Master of Education at the University of Western Ontario, where she became interested in part-whole relationships and the development of students’ understanding of the operations. She has recently been involved with researching the teaching and learning of fractions through fair sharing. Ann is a proud mother of two amazing sons.

Brenda Sherry is currently an Educational Consultant with Taking IT Global and Advanced Learning Partnerships, working with transformative technologies that empower learners in programs such as Connected North, Code To Learn, Girls Who Game and Soar with Mentor. She has 32+ years of experience in Ontario public education in a variety of roles; classroom teacher, instructional coach, vice-principal, and as an Education Officer with the Ontario Ministry of Education in the 21st Century Learning Unit. She holds a Master of Education in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education with an emphasis on educational technology, and loves to support educators and school leaders to explore the empowering potential of project-based learning as well as the ways that the arts and technology can transform learning. Brenda was honoured for her impact in leading teacher professional learning locally and internationally as a recipient of ISTE’s Making IT Happen Award in 2013 and Guelph’s YMCA/YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 2014.  

Chad Williams is an elementary school teacher from Saskatoon and lecturer with the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan in the area of Elementary Mathematics. He is the past president and current director of the Saskatchewan Mathematics Teachers' Society. Chad enjoys facilitating professional development across Canada, hosting math nights in school communities, and curating resources for teachers on his website. Chad continues to show his parents, teachers, and students the joy, love, and beauty of mathematics.  

Erik Teather has had the opportunity to work in Ontario elementary mathematics education for more than 20 years. His various roles have included classroom teacher, mathematics coach and consultant. Erik has thoroughly enjoyed designing and teaching additional qualification courses with Brock University. He also served as president of the Ontario Mathematics Coordinators Association (OMCA). Erik continues to be excited about working with students and educators as they look for the mathematics in their world in ways that help them reason and make sense of the mathematics they are learning.  

Jennifer Carter is the District Numeracy Coordinator for Vernon School District in British Columbia. She has teaching experience across the elementary grades, including 15 years in Grades 1 to 3. Jennifer is an executive member of the British Columbia Association of Math Teachers (BCAMT), a member of British Columbia’s Provincial Numeracy Network, chairperson for the Interior Numeracy Network, and an Adjunct Professor for the University of British Columbia (UBCO). 

Jonathan So is a proud teacher for the Peel District School Board in Ontario. He has taught grades 2–5, and is currently a Math Instructional Coach. Jonathan always looks to promote creativity and exploration in his family, students, and colleagues. He completed a Master’s degree in Education, focusing on how his questions impacted students’ learning of part-whole relationships in fractions. Jonathan’s interests lie in math, assessment, and technology, and he is passionate about inquiry and the endless possibilities it has for students. Jonathan is a TEDx speaker who has presented at various workshops across Canada. He is a proud parent of 3 wonderful young children, an avid runner, and a lover of bow ties.

Kate Cooper is a member of Dr. Alex Lawson’s team of math educators and researchers. Throughout her career, Kate has taught in elementary classrooms in Ontario and she has also taught math curriculum courses at Lakehead University's Orillia campus. She has been involved in the development and delivery of online Primary/Junior Math Additional Qualification courses. Kate has worked closely with Dr. Lawson on a number of projects, from conducting research in primary mathematics classrooms to delivering professional learning sessions for educators across Ontario. Kate was also involved in the writing of Dr. Alex Lawson's most recent book What to Look For: Facilitator's Guide.  

Keely Martin has worked for the District School Board of Niagara for 12 years as an elementary teacher, instructional coach, learning resources teacher and most recently as the Student Achievement Leader for Curriculum K-8. She is passionate about her role as an instructional leader, supporting teachers with the development of engaging lessons that utilize research-based instruction and meet the needs of diverse learners. As a creative and caring educator, she enjoys learning alongside her colleagues and students, using their unique abilities as mathematicians to further understand how math relates to the world around us.  

Marcia Bumbury has taught Kindergarten with the TDSB for the past 9 years and is currently on Secondment to the Eric Jackman Institute of Child Studies. She has a passion for developing tools for educators that inspire them to lead with an inquiry stance in their practice. With 22 years of experience, she is constantly adapting her practice to the needs of her students. She has presented at a variety of different conferences including STAO, ETFO Kindergarten Conference, OAME and TDSB New Horizons Early Years Equity Conference.

Natalie McDoom-Slack has been a teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board for over twenty years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education from OISE. Over the course of her career, Natalie has taught in the primary, junior, and intermediate divisions. In her role as educator, she has always been an advocate for equity and inclusive education. Natalie believes that equity frameworks can be used in mathematics to foster student success. She is the proud mother of two incredible children.

Peter Skillen, M.Ed., is Curriculum & Project Leader for CodeToLearn.ca—a federally funded Taking IT Global project that introduces computational thinking and coding to educators and students Canada-wide. Peter ‘draws’ students into ‘being mathematicians’ through the use of turtle graphics—an artistic aspect of the coding platform he has helped develop (LYNXcoding.club). He supports a Lakehead University project focusing on Indigenous ways of knowing mathematics through loom beading and finger weaving. Students code their creations in LYNX (currently available in four Indigenous languages). 

Peter has been involved in technology-supported learning since the 1970s and has developed learning opportunities for both TeachOntario and the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. He was Global Ambassador for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and received two ISTE awards—including the Making IT Happen award that honours educators who demonstrate extraordinary commitment in improving digital learning opportunities for students.

Peter recently co-authored the YourVoiceIsPower.ca (YVIP) curriculum. Students learn about Indigenous issues in Canada. They use computational thinking, math, and music skills to express their message by coding a remix of Canadian Indigenous musicians’ sound clips in EarSketch. YVIP is a collaboration of Amazon Future Engineer, TakingITGlobal.org, CodeToLearn.ca, and ConnectedNorth.org.

Rachel McPherson has served in education in the Durham District School Board for over 15 years as a classroom teacher, a Literacy and Numeracy Coach and as a Curriculum Facilitator focused on equitable and inclusive education in K-8 learning spaces. In her role, Rachel is part of a team that offers opportunities for educators to engage in professional learning to enhance their numeracy and literacy programming, while examining their ideologies, values, attitudes and beliefs about education. She loves to visit educators and learners in their spaces – both online and in-person – to see what knowledge, skills, intellect and fun can be constructed together. Rachel is interested in the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, particularly the methods of data collection that are favoured in education. She believes that all learners are inspired by their own mastery experiences and is driven to provide as many mastery experiences as possible for the learners with whom she works.

Shelley Yearly

After 8 years as a Provincial Lead of Mathematics on assignment with the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE), Shelley has returned to the classroom teaching mathematics in Trillium Lakelands DSB. While on assignment, the key project within her portfolio was the action research led by Dr. Cathy Bruce of Trent University that focused on the teaching and learning of fractions. This work, a partnership between CODE, Trent University, and the Ontario Ministry of Education, involved students and educators from K–12 classrooms in several Ontario district school boards. Shelley also played a role in the development of numerous resources and professional learning supports for K–12 educators, including the Paying Attention to… series and the provincial GAINS Math CAMPPPs. Shelley has served on a number of committees, including NCTM’s Educational Materials Committee (2014–2017), Action Research Network of the Americas Executive Committee (2009–2014), Ontario Ministry of Education Connecting Practice and Research — Mathematics Advisory Panel (2007–2010), and as an executive member of the Ontario Mathematics Coordinators Association (2002–2006). Educators’ passion for learning and desire for quality research-based educational tasks inspires Shelley to continue to support an increased alignment between research and classroom practice.

Tara Flynn is an educator, researcher, author, and editor. As Research Director of Dr. Cathy Bruce’s research program (Trent Math Education Research Collective), Tara has been honoured to work with hundreds of dedicated and innovative educators investigating the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly in the areas of spatial reasoning and fractions. This collaborative approach to research has led to contributions such as the Ontario Ministry of Education document Paying Attention to Spatial Reasoning (co-author), the Pearson resource Taking Shape: Activities to Develop Geometric and Spatial Thinking, Grades K–2 (co-author and editorial project manager), and the ETFO resource Learning Through Teacher Research: A Guidebook for your Action Research Journey (principal author). A 3rd generation educator, Tara strongly believes in public education and in the meaningful involvement of educators in research, so that outcomes of that work both reflect and support the infinitely complex world of the classroom.

Wendy Weight has worked in education in Manitoba for over 40 years as a classroom teacher, support services teacher, and as an Early Years divisional consultant focused on improving literacy and numeracy achievement in Grades K–4. She has facilitated a wide variety of Early Years numeracy workshops including First Steps in Math Professional Development. Wendy has a strong belief that when teachers understand the conceptual ideas behind the mathematics, can observe and probe for what students know, and have a repertoire of robust learning activities, student learning in mathematics will strengthen dramatically.