President's Message - September 2012

Welcome!

Welcome to another super-charged year in the world of mathematics! As your new OAME President, I'm excited about the initiatives and challenges before us-and I hope you are too. As members of one of the most focused and visionary professional organizations in any subject discipline, we have the unique opportunity to make a real difference in both the direction and delivery of math education for teachers and students alike.

As we head into a new school year, it might be a good idea to remind ourselves of where we're headed and how we hope to get there...

The mission of OAME/AOEM is to promote excellence in mathematics education throughout the Province of Ontario:

• excellence for students by striving for a curriculum that will prepare them to meet the mathematical challenges in their lives, by fostering familiarity with the methods of mathematics and an admiration for its principles, and by giving recognition and respect to their own mathematical achievements
• excellence for educators by promoting their role as facilitators and resource persons, by supporting a variety of teaching methods to meet the varied learning styles and needs of students, by encouraging their students to gain facility in learning both co-operation and independence, and by celebrating the mathematical excellence of both individuals and groups

One of the main strengths of our organization is our grassroots nature. Our membership is comprised of educators from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and beyond- and our members represent all aspects of the math profession, from those in the trenches to those in supervisory and administrative roles. Individually and at the regional chapter level, our members are achieving amazing results, while at the same time, keeping an eye on the big picture so that, collectively, OAME is a force to be reckoned with!

Of course, all of this does not magically occur without clear-sighted leadership, in this case by your Executive and Board of Directors. If you attended this year's Annual General Meeting during OAME 2012 in Kingston, you already know that we are in the midst of a restructuring of our governing body. Over the next three years, we will be phasing in a pared-down Executive and Board of Directors. Our goal in doing this is geared toward increased efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and hands-on involvement and input at the chapter level. No longer are we tied to three or four face-to-face meetings per year; we have begun to employ interactive Google docs, Adobe Connects, and virtual meeting rooms as effective and costsaving add-ons.

Another of our strengths as an organization is the publication of a high-calibre professional magazine for our members. It's hard to believe that The OAME Gazette has been in circulation for 40 years now-and every year, it gets better and better! Within the past few months, most of our members have opted for the new online version of The Gazette. From both cost-saving and environmental perspectives, I applaud this move on OAME's part! I would like to take this opportunity to thank our retiring Gazette Editor, Dr. Marian Small, for a job well done... and welcome our new Editor, Immaculate Namukasa!

On behalf of all our members, I would like to offer a vote of thanks to Connie Quadrini for her innovative thinking and tireless efforts on our behalf during her past term as President. She has set the bar especially high for those of us following in her shoes. On a personal note, I would like to say how much I have appreciated all her help and mentorship, especially when it came to such things as her invaluable pointers on how to run a successful annual conference. But perhaps the most important lesson I learned from Connie was that we should always try to find a way to "pay it forward" for our membership. It just takes a bit of creativity and outside-the-box thinking to find ways to offer rich learning experiences for as many members as possible, whether it be with a gift of a professional resource for everyone attending a professional development event or through a "pay it forward" contest, where winners are sent to an OAME conference with most expenses paid. Our ultimate goal is capacity building within the Ontario math community, so the more educators who can benefit from this professional development, the better!

That said, my term as President is aptly sandwiched between OAME 2012 "CON.NETWORKS" and OAME 2013 "Think Big" -perfect positioning for my personal platform of OUTREACH. While I firmly believe in the powerhouse that is the present-day OAME, I can also see areas where we need to improve, and I would like to enlist your help in helping to raise our visibility and building an even bigger presence on the Ontario math scene. It never ceases to amaze me when some folks in the education field have no knowledge whatsoever about OAME's existence, let alone the accomplishments of our members. Why is it that some school boards, Directors of Education, Supervisory Officers, math coaches/consultants, and, especially, math teachers have never heard of our professional organization? Clearly we need to kick our communication skills up a notch if we hope to let people know about the good things we do and how we've been working to make OAME's vision come alive. I need your help in this regard. It's as simple as networking with your colleagues and taking every possible opportunity to share OAME news within your chapter. If we are more vocal about how we are helping to "make math happen," I believe it will open up opportunities for more individuals to take part in the excellent professional development opportunities afforded by OAME mini-conferences, the Fall Leadership Conference, and the Annual Conference in May of each year. It will also help us garner support and involvement in such events as Ontario Math Olympics, both within our chapters and provincially. That said, when you receive information concerning chapter events or conferences, please take the time to think seriously about attending-and inviting a non-member to join you. OAME events offer top-quality, cutting-edge professional development, and are open to everyone!

Lastly, as you are no doubt aware, in the near future, we will be faced with the prospect of a provincial curriculum review in math. Our mandate is to be as prepared as possible to offer informed feedback from an OAME perspective. To this end, our Curriculum Committee has already developed and been testing a curriculum-analysis tool that can be used to gather valuable insights and information. As the school year progresses, watch for opportunities to get involved in this initiative, either online at oame.on.ca or within your chapter. We will be approaching our membership for pertinent feedback. I would urge you, therefore, to be doing some directed and serious thinking about the curriculum presently in place, so that you can pinpoint possible gaps or conceptual inconsistencies within your grade level or division, as well as taking a look at "the big picture" that represents the math continuum from K-12.

Before I sign off, I just want to wish you a wonderful start to the new school year, no matter where you are or what you're doing. Remember to have fun and take time to marvel at its magic as you "make math happen" in your world!

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