iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 02/05/2026

This year's @oamelearns.bsky.social conference was amazing! It’s so great to connect with & learn from math teachers, consultants, and coordinators from across Ontario. I now know more about the kindergarten play continuum! Getting to chat with @pwharris.bsky.social was icing on the cake 🍰

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 30/04/2026

It was a pleasure earlier this week meeting with other members of the LD@School/TA@l’école Advisory Committee of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. Great brainstorming about system change, resource development, pedagogy, and coalition building to support students with LD & ADHD.

Group photo of members of the LD@School/TA@l’école Advisory Committee

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 28/09/2025

I got to meet folks from Tokona te Raki, an organization that is tackling academic streaming to promote educational equity for Māori children in New Zealand. I shared some insights about destreaming in Ontario and they captured them in their annual report. www.maorifutures.co.nz/research/kok...

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 21/09/2025

When I’m not math-ing, I’m winning NHL94 world championships 🏆🏆🏆 @nhl94.bsky.social

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 01/09/2025

Financial literacy education is most plagued by the relevancy issue. 13-year-olds just don’t see credit card debt as being relevant. Also, Ontario students rank amongst the highest in the world in financial literacy. So what problem is this test trying to solve? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

OECD chart showing students from Canadian provinces as ranking with Denmark as having the highest level of financial literacy in the world.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 19/08/2025

MAGAs from Oklahoma need to worry a little less about leftist boogeyman teachers and a crap ton more about actually teaching kids how to read and do math. This is just bizarre and embarrassing. apnews.com/article/okla...

Screenshot of the linked article with the title: “Oklahoma ideology test for teachers from New York and California draws criticism.”

Screenshot of an article with the title “Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are in, and Oklahoma remains near the bottom nationally.”

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 12/08/2025

People catch flack for changing their opinions when new facts become available. As if changing one’s position is a sign of weakness. But changing an opinion should be seen as a sign of growth and humility. If you’re a leader who asks others to change their minds, be ready to model it yourself.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 01/07/2025

Gunning for the three-peat! Registration for the NHL94 World Championship opens today: www.eventbrite.ca/e/king-of-94... @nhl94.bsky.social

King of 94 - NHL94 World Championship.
Sept 20: Super Nintendo
Sept 21: Sega Genesis

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 14/05/2025

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.

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

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 01/05/2025

Asian Heritage Month will no doubt involve many celebrations of Asian culture in schools across Canada. However, let's take this month to also learn about the history & resiliency of Asians in Canada & how to address anti-Asian racism so that ALL students thrive: www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/do...

Cover of the document "Addressing Anti-Asian Racism: A Resource for Educators"

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 30/04/2025

Beautiful cherry blossoms outside George S. Henry Academy @tdsb.on.ca

Cherry blossoms in front of George S. Henry Academy.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 19/04/2025

Happy Easter and early election time! Make sure to go out and vote 🗳️

Pierre Poiliegg, Eggmeet Singh, and Mark Carnegg

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 12/04/2025

Across the city, teachers are enhancing how they build foundational math skills for our youngest learners, support algebraic reasoning for the older ones, & better serve students with disabilities in math education. @tdsb.on.ca is a learning organization & it’s inspiring to see it all in action.

Teachers standing by whiteboard and solving an algebra problem with graphs.

Teachers sitting in a u-shaped configuration and analyzing a video

Teachers sitting in groups and scanning a QR code

Teachers standing by whiteboards and working on a math problem

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 03/04/2025

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.

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.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 03/04/2025

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.

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.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 24/03/2025

I love this @npr.org graph. Compare Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring pace with Alex Ovechkin’s. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What does it mean? Discussions of slope, and how to calculate rates of change for curves, abound here. Pretty good calculus warmup 👌🏽 www.npr.org/2025/03/23/n...

Graph title: Alex Ovechkin is 7 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's top scorer

Description: Gretzky and Ovechkin stand apart from the rest of the NHL's top 50 goal scorers. Only three other players in the NHL's top 50 are still active — Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Evgeni Malkin (bolded on the chart).

Gretzky’s pace is faster, but then slows down, whereas Ovechkin’s pace has been relatively steady.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 06/03/2025

This Grade 9 financial literacy expectation has "let's discuss these stupid tariffs and what we can do with our money to support Canada while also sticking it to the USA" written all over it.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 06/03/2025

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.

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.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 02/03/2025

The Ontario government must increase education funding & improve working conditions to address chronic staff shortages. Overcrowded classrooms without consistent teachers do not improve outcomes. We need to do better. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/sta...

Calculation of per-student education funding:

In 2018-19, total core funding was $24,629,430,827 for 2,003,421 students, or $12,300 per student. Adjusting for inflation, that is $14,700 per student in today’s dollars.

In 2024-25, total core funding was $27,250,964,260 (excluding provision planning amount not available to school boards), for 2,067,666 students, or $13,200.

Comparing the two amounts, there is a $1500 decrease in funding per student in Ontario.

A graphic from People for Education: Proportion of schools experiencing teacher shortages

Elementary schools:
- Daily: 24%
- Weekly: 46%
- Monthly: 25%
- Never: 4%

Secondary schools:
- Daily: 35%
- Weekly: 39%
- Monthly: 21%
- Never: 6%

A graphic from People for Education: Proportion of schools experiencing shortages in educational assistants

Elementary schools:
- Daily: 42%
- Weekly: 41%
- Monthly: 14%
- Never: 3%

Secondary schools:
- Daily: 46%
- Weekly: 28%
- Monthly: 12%
- Never: 14%

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 12/02/2025

It was great to connect w/ math education leaders from across Ontario at the @omcamath.bsky.social retreat. Our keynote @mrvalencia24.bsky.social was lively, inspiring & insightful. I also had chats on how to strengthen destreaming in many districts. As always, our best work is done together.

Libo speaking in front of a screen describing a Desmos art project.

OMCA retreat participants sitting and listening.

OMCA retreat participants standing around the edge of the conference room.

OMCA retreat participants standing in groups in front of whiteboards.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 06/01/2025

Teachers everywhere saying bye to their families after the break.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 10/12/2024

This is what flow state looks like when teachers learn deeply about fractions 🤩 #EduSky

$A teacher standing in a group and modelling a fraction problem on a whiteboard.$

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 05/12/2024

Math Learning Partners from @tdsbmath.bsky.social, in partnership w/ @oiseuoft.bsky.social, ran the 4th & final day of our PL series on destreaming Grade 9 math. Teachers experienced geometry & financial literacy expectations, and small-group instruction to push student thinking forward. #EduSky

Handout with activities on circle properties.

An audience of teachers holding up an answer to a math question on mini-whiteboards.

A table with Check Your Understanding questions.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 01/12/2024

Now that @gparekh.bsky.social is here, I want to share her “Equity and Human Rights in Special Education: Critical Reflective Practice Guide,” which offers educators strategies to reduce the negative effects of bias & racism in decisions around special education. www.criticalreflectivepractice.com

Disability as an Intersectional Experience
Bias related to racism, classism, xenophobia, language learning, and other forms of discrimination can influence how ability is perceived and understood (Annamma et al., 2013; Erevelles et al., 2019; Reid & Knight, 2006).

As disability is both relationally and socially produced, this work will draw on the framework of disability justice. Disability justice is oriented towards centring the lived realities, dreams, and desires of disabled peoples, particularly those who have faced marginalization by able-centric societal systems (Piepzna-Samarasinha,
2018).

For instance, white, South Asian, or East Asian students are more often perceived to have “excellent” learning skills compared to Black students, despite having similar levels of achievement (Parekh et al., 2018). In the context of schools, students' identities intersect with how ability and disability are constructed and inform the perceptions, expectations, and attitudes of those around them. For instance, bias related to racial identity may lead to the perception that a racialized child's behaviour is disordered, or that low achievement from a child living in poverty is due to disability as opposed to a lack of access to resources (Artiles et al., 2010; Connor, 2017; Howard et al., 2009).

Key practices in special education vulnerable to bias:

Identification
Processes
Assessments
Interpretations of behaviour
Assumptions around ability and capacity

Placement Processes
Assessments around best 'fit'
Ideas around how learning is best supported
Aligning placement to notion of 'need'

What is critical reflective practice and why is it important for special education?

Critical reflective practice requires educators to position themselves as learners in the service of students

Educational practice serves as the true catalyst to achievement and critical educators must resist bias in relation to student abilities, labels and social identities.

Critical reflective practice can help educators identify and dismantle classroom and school-based barriers

Critical reflective practice can arm educators with tools to help guide them through classroom assessment, referral, identification and placement decisions, as well as negate the over-representation of historically marginalized students in special education

Inclusive Instruction across K-12 Classrooms:

Effective instructional practices by classroom educators are key to ensuring success for all students. However, these practices are influenced by an educator's conception of student "ability" and how it is perceived alongside race, class, disability, gender, sexuality, and other identities.

Guidance/strategies for Educators
Setting conditions for inclusive classrooms
• Value student diversity.
• Support high expectations through relationship-building.
• Ensure learning experiences are accessible to all students.
• Support students within the general classroom.
• Ensure classroom teacher is students' primary educator.

Questions for reflection:
• Based on my current practice, what barriers might exist for students to fully participate, engage, and demonstrate their learning? What steps could I take to remove these barriers?
• Which student identities may experience disadvantage in my class? What is my perception of these identities?

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 29/11/2024

Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy is in the densely-populated Thorncliffe Park community & focuses solely on kindergarten! Their 20+ classes are rich w/ models, including ten-frames & number lines, & strategic provocations to get students thinking & doing mathematics! 🙌🏽 #EduSky #iTeachMath

A whiteboard with a 10-frame, number line and inequality statement

A concept circle that shows 4 in different ways

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 22/11/2024

For Indigenous Education Month, #TDSB staff from local Math, Science, and Technology (MST) programs learned how Cherokee numerals can help enrich Grade 9 math. Gratitude to the Urban Indigenous Education Centre for partnering. Article: thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/sequoyah-and... #EduSky #iTeachMath

Teachers standing and working in groups on whiteboards.

Text says: Use these clues to determine the Cherokee numerals from 1 to 10. A list of 10 clues with arithmetic facts are shown in Cherokee numerals.

Text says: Fill in the blanks of this pattern. The pattern involves a series of Cherokee numerals and four blanks.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 20/11/2024

I tagged along w/ my @tdsbmath.bsky.social teammate Greg Saylor to a Grade 10 class at Thistletown CI who were solving quadratic equations via factoring, quadratic formula, & graphing using thin-sliced tasks. It was so cool to see the connections students were making between these strategies.

Math Learning Partner Greg Saylor explaining today’s activity with students.

Three female students working in front of a whiteboard. One student is writing and using the quadratic formula.

Three male students examining their solution to a quadratic equation on a whiteboard

Greg Saylor is consolidating the learning by speaking to all students that are gathered around him in a huddle.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 20/11/2024

The #OAME webinar w/ @mathematize4all.bsky.social was 👌🏽. While many want simple answers for serving disabled students in math, Rachel reminds us that disability is complicated. But, listening to students will help us design more open math classes that work to include everyone #iTeachMath #EduSky

A picture of a slide with a quote from Rachel Lambert’s book, “Rethinking Disabilities and Mathematics.”

The quote is: “When we as teachers trust in the thinking of our students, especially our students with disabilities, we create the conditions our students need to trust themselves as mathematical thinkers. When we, their teachers, believe that our students can and will solve complex problems, they will be able to.”

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 19/11/2024

I got the chance to tag along w/ my teammate Marcus Hagley to Meadowvale PS to see some wonderful math learning and the improvement efforts of staff at the school. It was wonderful to see Grade 3 students thinking multiplicatively & flexibly with numbers! #iTeachMath #EduSky

Three students standing and working on a whiteboard. A hundreds chart is up and students are listing prime numbers and their multiples.

8 piles of rocks with 12 rocks in each pile.

Marcus Hagley leading a whole-class math conversation about multiplication and arrays.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 19/11/2024

Call me loyal but this is my favourite coffee cup that I have at home. I mean, it’s got the URL and everything. #EduSky

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 19/11/2024

Math Learning Partners @tdsbmath.bsky.social journey from patterns to algebra w/ Ruth Beatty. Takeaway: describing patterns like “start w/ 3, add 2 each time” doesn’t promote algebraic thinking. Rather, connect the number of items to the position number to support generalization #iTeachMath #EduSky

Ruth Beatty pointing to a growing pattern of tiles on a table surrounded by 6 Math Learning Partners.

Two Math Learning Partners working together to build a growing pattern with tiles.

Ruth Beatty explaining and pointing to a growing pattern on a screen along with its associated graph.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 18/11/2024

Last week, Math Learning Partners from @tdsbmath.bsky.social learned w/ Dr. Alex Lawson & Heather Wark on their research into multiplicative reasoning. Thinking multiplicatively is so crucial for children. Without moving from additive thinking, students are ill-prepared for more complex math ideas.

About 20 educators standing around the edge of a room and listening to someone speak.

Rows of linking cubes on a screen with Alex Lawson presenting

Muffin papers with red and white cubes inside them. Beside them are 2-coloured counters and a bag with more cubes.

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Jason To | 杜澤信 @mrjasonto.com · 14/11/2024

My terrific teammates & I held sessions over 2 days for over 120 secondary math leaders on building math content knowledge of linear inequalities, thin-slicing the development of geometry formulas for Grade 10, applying a deeper understanding of direct instruction & leadership moves back at school.

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