President's Message - December 2007

Tis the Season One and All

Tis the Season One and All! As teachers our year is in full swing. As OAME Board members our committee work is in full swing. I hope you get a chance this holiday season to enjoy the things you love.

I would like to think you had a chance to attend your local chapters' mini-conferences or fall offerings this year. Coming up we have the OAME Leadership Conference on February 21 and 22, 2008. The K-8 focus is Japanese Lesson Study. The second theme is Emerging Technologies in Grades 9-12. Our Annual Conference is being hosted by Y4MA in Markham this year. The dates are May 8-10, 2008. Math is the Path is the theme for this conference and the organizing committee has gone to great lengths to ensure that teachers and coordinators alike will have many selections to attend that meet their individual needs. The last initiative for this school year is the Ontario Mathematics Olympics that is being hosted by the PRMA chapter. The event takes place at Trent University on May 30th and 31st of 2008. This is a great challenge and inspiring time for our young grade 7 and 8 mathematicians.

A few phrases to keep in mind when you think about Differentiated Instruction:

1. There are no two students who learn at the same pace or solve problems in exactly the same way or have the same interests or have learned the same skills
2. If students aren't learning the way we teach,… then we need to teach them the way they learn. (Dunn and Dunn)
3. Give the students lots and lots of choice, in the process, product, and content
4. " A philosophy that enables teachers to plan strategically in order to reach the needs of all the diverse learners …to achieve target standard… [A philosophy] to reach the unique needs of all learners." (Gregory & Chapman)
5. "Curriculum tells teachers what to teach, while differentiated instruction tells teachers how to teach it to a range of learners by employing a variety of teaching approaches." (Education for All, 2005, p. 14)

I would like to leave you with what I feel is a very nice math problem. As written it does not have any "what if questions attached" but it is a great problem if you are looking to see the thought process of your students. Question: Using the last four digits of a phone number, how many times will the first three digits add up to the final digit? (i.e. 2316 is 2 + 3 + 1 = 6, that is, the first three digits add up to the last digit, the (6) Explain your answer using two different methods.

Until next issue,

Yours in Mathematical fun,

Jacqueline Hill

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