President's Message - August 2026

September 2026 Message

I’ve always been fascinated by fractals . In mathematics, we see these self-similar patterns everywhere, from the way a coastline jaggedly repeats itself as we zoom in or out, to the branching of a single fern, and even the OAME2009 logo, which contains a Sierpinski triangle . The beauty of a fractal is that the smallest parts mirror the larger whole .

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how our work in education actually behaves like a fractal . As a provincial subject association, how we organize ourselves at the provincial level should mirror how we support our chapters, which in turn should mirror the interactions we have with students in our classrooms . If we hope to support our students as they learn to think mathematically, then the practice of listening needs to be the pattern that repeats at every single level of our system .

The Power of Listening
When we look at the smallest scale of this fractal, we are looking at the interaction between a teacher and a student . Last year, I joined a classroom teacher as their students were being introduced to the magnitude of decimal numbers . This teacher recognized that for her students to learn a complicated concept deeply, she needed to offer them time to think, to discuss, to be heard, and to hear others . To do this, she had them place numbers on student-created number lines on the floor of her classroom . Students were challenged to find numbers between other numbers, and estimate the numbers other groups had placed on their lines . In this lesson, the teacher recognized that listening to her students was a powerful way to learn about their current thinking, and the best way to guide the next instructional decision . She used listening as a mini-diagnostic, focusing heavily on the mathematical strengths her students brought to the table at this early stage in their learning .

Over the past three years at our leadership conferences, we have heard from some amazing math leaders, including Dr . Rachel Lambert, Dr . Ilana Horn, and Dr . Elham Kazemi, on this informative and critical topic . Each, in their own way, pointed toward the idea that listening is a powerful and rigorous professional competency, rather than a soft skill .

Rachel Lambert reminded us that to hear the brilliance in our students, we have to provide tasks with multiple entry points . She challenged us to rethink how we view “disability” in mathematics, and showed us concrete ways to help our students succeed . However, this requires both tasks that allow students room to learn, and a teacher who is listening and learning from their students .

Ilana Horn suggested to us that educational leaders need to move away from telling teachers the “right” approach to teaching (moving away from certainty) and instead, engage in real dialogue, where teachers can learn from each other . This too is about listening . Teachers who feel valued are more likely to mirror this practice in their classroom . When we do this, we move beyond just checking for right answers . We start practising what Brent Davis calls hermeneutic listening, where we allow our students’ thinking to actively shape the direction of instruction .

This is where math becomes human . Elham Kazemi’s sharing at our most recent leadership conference gave us a glimpse into how to make this possible in our busy classrooms . Her work on intentional talk showed us that whether we are leading a professional development session for teachers or facilitating a lesson for children, our job is to listen for the links between ideas, and to use those ideas to shape the learning . When we model responsive listening at the leadership level, we set the stage for classrooms to mirror the same pattern, moving us from listening evaluatively, and into spaces where our students’ mathematical identities can flourish .

All of these examples from our previous leadership conferences emphasized one thing: we all benefit when we treat listening as an active process of learning, used to better know how to serve the students in front of us . We have been fortunate to have such thoughtful leaders help shape the teaching and learning of mathematics here in Ontario .

Listening as a Community

The three leaders mentioned all did something powerful . They genuinely demonstrated the power of listening, both with students and with adults . This pattern has to repeat within our 15 regional chapters . The strength of OAME/AOEM has always been its grassroots foundation . When I look at the work being done in chapters, such as the Rethinking Fractions journey taken by Golden Section Math Association (GSMA) or chapters leading book clubs, I see spaces where we stop being tellers of best practices and start listening to each other’s lived classroom realities .

These local gatherings are the mid-sized branches of our fractal . When our chapters listen to members, it creates a community of practice that is responsive and connected . When we gather together to read through a professional resource, we come together to develop a shared vision . We are at our best when we are a community of learners who support one another .

Listening as Leadership
At the largest scale, OAME/AOEM has to operate as a listening organization too . Our role on the Board of Directors is to witness the potential of our members and to lift others up .

Our commitment to equity and excellence is not a top-down statement . It is a pattern that has to be present in everything we do, from how we curate our Gazette archives to how we develop new tools like chatOAME . We are practising a form of institutional reciprocity . We aren’t just listening to see if people got the message . We are listening to be changed by the feedback and the needs of Ontario’s educators . Listening as leadership means actively seeking out a variety of viewpoints, intentionally providing opportunities for members to share their thinking, and genuinely learning and growing because of what we have learned . Our goal is to intentionally select provincial speakers who directly address the evolving equity and pedagogical needs of our classrooms . We are actively building new pathways to engage math educators across every corner of Ontario, ensuring our systemic work directly improves daily student experiences .

A Chance to Reflect

• As the school year is starting, I invite you to look for the fractals in your own teaching .
• Are we providing tasks that are loud enough so that our students can be listened to?
• How can we move from evaluating an answer to witnessing the process?
• How can we continue to engage in more professional discussions and learning opportunities?
• Whose voices are being heard (both at the student and adult levels)? How can we expand who is being listened to?

Mathematics is not a solo performance; it is a collective movement that begins with the simple, profound act of hearing one another . We know our students are more successful when they are empowered to share their thinking, but that empowerment must be mirrored at every level of our system . For our “math fractal” to thrive, we must lead by example: listening to our students, listening to our colleagues, and listening to the diverse perspectives that make our community strong . I look forward to learning with you, listening to you, and seeing the patterns we build together throughout the next two years as OAME/AOEM President .

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