TDSB Mathematics and Numeracy Department

Diagram of a tables and chairs problem with trapezoids arranged in rows. A table of values with an expression of 3n + 2 is on a whiteboard.

A growing pattern with blue tiles.

A growing pattern with red and blue tiles

A growing pattern with blue and red tiles. An expression of 5n+3 is written.

Elementary teachers from the West Toronto math cluster explore how to guide students from simple patterning to algebraic thinking. There will be some serious math magic back in the classroom!

Day 2 of Leadership in Destreamed Mathematics PD and leaders got to play with algebra tiles to explore how they could use them to collect like terms, add/subtract polynomials, multiply and expand, factor and complete the square. So much fun! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

How can we count efficiently? Counting Collections to start the Number Sense unit that will focus on representing, composing and decomposing numbers. Grade 3s @tdsb.on.ca Gracedale PS came up with amazing observations! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Day 1 of facilitating with @codruc.bsky.social on Shaping Algebraic Reasoning with grade 7-10 teachers. Such a great PD on patterning and linear relations. Great activities to bring back to the class and do with students. @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Exploring unit fractions with grade 9s at Emery CI. Lots of math conversations happening! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Day 1 of Unlocking Fractions with grades 2-5 math teachers was great! Dived into equal sharing, estimating proportions and unit fractions! @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mrjasonto.com

Using mini whiteboards as a tool for a whole class formative assessment is so quick and easy to do. Great strategy! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Working on algebraic rules with Grade 6’s at Lord Dufferin
Great work!
@tdsbmath.bsky.social
#visualmath
#slgebraicthinking

Getting started with Number Talk strategies in Grade 2/3 at Bruce PS
@tdsbmath.bsky.social
#NumberTalk
#visualmath

Day 1 of Leadership in Destreamed Mathematics🤩! Had VP/Ps,CL/ACLs & teachers analyze school data to help set goals.& Looked at formative assessments & talk about next steps through small group instruction. & Worked on linking factor trees to scientific notation! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Getting started with a Number Talk for Grade 3’s at Rose Ave
#NumberTalk
#visualmath
@tdsbmath.bsky.social

First 20 days of math with the grade 2/3’s in Ms Wells class at Lord Dufferin
His many dots?

Jason speaking to a crowd.

An audience holding up whiteboards

A diagram with 3 axes. One is Rachel Lambert’s continuum of instructional practices from less to more support (unassisted discovery, guided inquiry, guided strategic development, strategic coaching, and explicit instruction). A second axis is high fidelity to surface level, and the third is timely to ill-timed.

A diagram on presenting new material in small steps illustrated by thin-sliced tasks

Some screen grabs of my OAME presentation, “Let’s Get This Straight: Making Sense of the Explicit vs. Inquiry-based Instruction Discourse and What it Means for your Math Teaching.”

The audience created word clouds, shared ideas, answered math questions & sang a little Bon Jovi. All in a day’s work.

Implementing @tdsbmath.bsky.social “Shaping Algebraic Reasoning” PD with our Math Learning Partner schools & teachers. As we enter our linear relations unit, gr 9 students are building patterns➡️equations➡️graphs. @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social

The double number line: quite popular among the
@tdsb.on.ca Gr. 3 students. An effective visual tool to help solve multiplication, division and ratio-related #math problems! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mervisalo.bsky.social

Sticky notes with reflections on their work with students that reflects the Sk’ad’a principle of “Learning occurs through contribution.”

Sticky notes with reflections on their work with students that reflects the Sk’ad’a principle of “Learning emerges from strong relationships.”

A visual math solution written on a chalkboard.

A trajectory of Ontario mathematics curriculum expectations for simplifying polynomials from Grade 5 to Grade 8.

Teachers dove deeper into how Sk’ad’a principles, paired with @peterliljedahl.bsky.social’s Thinking Classrooms, can improve math achievement for all, but particularly First Nations, Métis, & Inuit children. Always grateful to work in partnership w/ the @tdsb.on.ca Urban Indigenous Education Centre.

Nico launches a math activity for participants.

Jason leading an activity on solving equations using Polypad.

The UDL math framework by Dr. Rachel Lambert.

Teachers work on whiteboards to solve a math problem.

Math extraordinaire @nicorowinsky.bsky.social & I are working w/ educators through a 3-day @tdsbmath.bsky.social series on Rethinking Disability & Mathematics, inspired by @mathematize4all.bsky.social. Ensuring students w/ disabilities achieve grade-level math is key to improve academic outcomes.

Despite today's winter weather, teachers in North York #TDSB had an energy-filled Day 2 of Building Foundational #Math Skills! We analyzed the lasting usefulness of Up & Over 10 & Constant Difference & played games to promote various (+/-) strategies. @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mervisalo.bsky.social

The importance of collecting ongoing data w/ formative assessments. We were keeping our eye out on these students,taught them algebra with algebra tiles and were able to move them forward. Still have more work to do but happy to see these students succeed.🤩 @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Watch this gr9 solve 2x+3=x+1 w/ algebra tiles. Day before we used tiles to add&subtract polynomials. Then a bit of direct instruction for solving eq&off they went! I didn’t even do an example for multi step&they figured it out themselves. @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social

Thin sliced activity on unit rates and proportion happening here. Being able to see students collaborating and engaged & hearing the math conversations is so great 😍 @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Analyzing gr 9 math student exit tickets & grouping them for targeted math instruction the next day. We were able to move students forward within a few minutes of small group instruction & collect data. @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social @tdsbmath.bsky.social

When the correct answer isn’t 22, but I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t use the mini whiteboards a a tool for assessment. This helped my partner teacher & I know that this was a question we needed to take up with the class. @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Day 1 of Shaping Algebraic Reasoning allowed teachers to engage and play in the math. We built patterns with tiles and saw how this can help our students see the multiplier&constant, determine equations and make predictions. @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social @tdsbmath.bsky.social

#Fractions through Paper folding today in the 4/5 class @Flemington PS. This hands-on activity was engaging and super fun for all students; at the same time: a great assessment opportunity for the teacher! @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social

Every time there’s been an A-ha moment, an understanding of the math concept as a result of work with concrete objects, I thought of Maria #Montessori’s belief from almost 100 years ago: a child’s “hand activities” and “psychological development” are so closely entwined. @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Students loved playing the Ghanaian game of Mancala/Oware/Awalé at Carleton Village. It's apparently one of the world's oldest games! Lots of great math conversations! @tdsbmath.bsky.social #Blackhistorymonth2025

Great conversations re: the importance of teaching various strategies @ Building Foundational #Math Skills in the Early Years, Day 1. A very special Thank You to @tdsb.on.ca Gosford P.S. staff & students for offering their beautiful library for our learning! @mrjasonto.com @mervisalo.bsky.social

A child and an adult are sitting at a table in a classroom, building towers with colourful wooden blocks. The background shows a classroom setting with various educational materials and decorations on the walls.

From celebrating excellence to supporting student success, our March newsletter covers:
- Excellence Awards Nominations
- Math Achievement Action Plan
- Public Policy Consultations
- Special Education & Inclusion Drop-in Sessions

See what’s new: tdsb.on.ca/enewsletter

PD participant writing a solution to a linear generalizing problem on a whiteboard.

Three OD participants solving a linear generalizing problem on a whiteboard.

A linear growing pattern built using two-coloured tiles.

A linear growing pattern built using two-coloured tiles.

Grades 4-10 teachers in @tdsb.on.ca are learning how to effectively develop algebraic thinking (specifically functional thinking) by leveraging growing patterns and the research of Dr. Ruth Beatty and Dr. Cathy Bruce. Patterning and generalizing is the cornerstone to strong algebraic understanding.