OAME Gazette Volume 54 Number 1 released and includes four articles, nine regular columns, the Abacus insert, and several special features.

In his article Thinking about Teaching, Learning, and Mathematical Mindsets Leads Me to Learning Skills, author Jamie Pyper discusses growth mindsets and habits of mind, and also highlights a learning skills rubric that he has developed for student assessment. OAME Past-President, Paul Alves, and co-author Judy Mendaglio provide the reader with details regarding the history and format of the Ontario Mathematics Olympiad (OMO). Further, they report on local branch traditions associated with the hosting of the OMO qualification events, as shared by member representatives at the OAME June board meeting. In terms of the most recent OMO 2015 competition, co-chairs Melissa Black and Linda LoFaro contribute a full report, including photos of the organizing team, candid student shots, and the winning student team. And finally, in Meth Devendra’s Exponential Function and Tangents, he demonstrates how a single common tangent line to two given functions can be achieved, using several distinct examples.

Regular columns include the following highlights: OAME President, Tim Sibbald (President’s Message) shares his inaugural President’s Message; Assessment Abby (eponymous) answers a submitted question regarding teachers’ communication with parents/guardians; Mary Bourassa (Technology Corner) highlights the online resource known as the Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP); Carly Ziniuk (replacing Mirela Ciobanu as a guest columnist for the In the Middle column—thank you Mirela, and welcome aboard Carly!) presents a sample math investigation focusing on the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge in Paris which has garnered international attention regarding the symbolic and controversial love padlocks placed on it’s side rails; and Greg Clarke, Agnes Grafton, Ross Isenegger, and Markus Wolski (Provincial Digital Learning Resources) discuss email list notifications, images in Notepad, partitioning sets tool, and wiki supports.

Lynda Colgan (Hey, It’s Elementary) delves into forensic anthropology and how mathematics is used by experts to identify bone remains; Shawn Godin (What’s the Problem?) elaborates on the previous tiling problem and poses a new puzzle regarding buried pirate treasure; Ann Kajander (MB4T) looks at how to introduce students to integers; and Todd Romiens (OAME/NCTM Report) shares some ideas around stimulating a child’s curiosity and also how parents/guardians can be involved in their child’s math learning. As usual, this issue also features the rich contribution of ideas for elementary math teaching as found in the Abacus insert, co-edited by Mary Lou Kestell and Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij, and focusing here on equivalence and relational thinking.

Volume 54 Issue 1 also includes several special features: (i) a review by Tim Sibbald of Richard Hoshino’s book, The Math Olympian (2015); (ii) two Ontario mathematics education researcher profile highlights; and, (iii) the remaining Canadian mathematics education researcher excerpts from within Lerman’s Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education (2014).

OAME Gazette Volume 53 Number 4 released and includes three new articles and ten regular columns.

In their co-authored work, Revealing Subjective Probability in the Middle and High School Mathematics Classroom, Egan Chernoff and Jack Chernoff contrast subjective probability with classical and frequentist probability foci. Using a deck of standard playing cards, they further share an innovative approach to the teaching and learning of a central tenet of subjective probability, for recommended use in the middle or high school mathematics classroom.

In his article entitled The Mathematics of Photographs, Tim Sibbald builds upon his previous work (Mathematics of a Hill, 2014) and makes the case that sometimes modelling a physical object, seen in terms of the photographic image, can be useful for identifying patterns. Through the use of a number of intriguing geometric diagrams and photographs with grid/intercept overlays, Sibbald models his stated goal of providing a workable sense of how the taking of a photograph transforms the geometry of a physical object.

Roger Herz-Fischler, in his article entitled Doing Maths Algorithmically in the Age of the Computer, introduces and advocates for the use of a comprehensive, open-source software known as Octave. He also makes the case for introducing high school students to an algorithmic approach to solving certain complex problems; and points out the perceived dichotomy existing in the Ontario Mathematics and Computer Science curricula. Through the analysis of a familiar “birthday problem,” Herz-Fischler describes the utility of the software Octave, and further offers a link to a free introductory resource.

Regular columns include the following highlights: OAME President, Paul Alves (President’s Message) reflects fondly on his term as President; Assessment Abby (eponymous) answers a submitted question regarding the evaluation of curriculum expectations; Mary Bourassa (Technology Corner) highlights a new website entitled, Which One Doesn’t Belong, and created by Christopher Danielson; Mirela Ciobanu (In the Middle) looks at Singapore’s model-drawing approach for solving word problems using text, pictorial, and symbolic representations; Greg Clarke, Agnes Grafton, Ross Isenegger, and Markus Wolski (Provincial Digital Learning Resources) present and extol their two new web/mobile learning tool apps, Money and Notepad; Lynda Colgan (Hey, It’s Elementary) tackles large numbers such as billions, trillions, quadrillions, and…googolplexes [see also Richard Schwartz’s fantastic new book/website on a similar theme, Really Big Numbers (AMS, 2014)]; Stewart Craven (Fields Institute MathEd Forum Report) provides speaker highlights from the Saturday March 27th meeting; Shawn Godin (What’s the Problem?) poses a problem regarding telling time with two given hourglasses; Ann Kajander (MB4T) discusses student explorations of pattern rules using virtual algebra tiles; Todd Romiens (OAME/NCTM Report) discusses the teaching of mathematics to preschoolers; and, as usual, this issue also features the rich contribution of ideas for elementary math teaching as found in the Abacus insert, co-edited by Mary Lou Kestell and Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij, and focusing here on Spatial Reasoning via Patterning and Algebra and Data Management and Probability strand problems.

Volume 53 Issue 4 also includes several special features: (i) a review by Tim Sibbald of Barnett’s inspiring documentary tale, The Spark: A Mother’s Story of Nurturing Genius, in which she recounts her autistic son’s incredible and ongoing journey through life and learning; (ii) several further entries of Ontario mathematics education researchers and their respective projects; and, (iii) selected excerpts of Canadian researcher contributions to Lerman’s new Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education (2014).

OAME Gazette Volume 53 Number 3 released and includes three new articles and nine regular columns, covering a number of exciting dimensions of mathematics content, teaching, and research.

In Recasting Mad-Minutes: Going Back to the Basics?, Marc Husband and Tina Rapke share the results of a classroom-based research experiment, in which Grade 4 students were asked to complete “mad-minute” 1×2-digit multiplication questions, some (control group) using traditional algorithms, and others (treatment group) being encouraged to analyze the questions in terms of perceived difficulty level, to use a variety of previously encountered solution strategies as appropriate, and to generate and share their own set of similar questions and solutions with their peers. The results of pre- and post-tests written by each group are discussed, as are implications for teaching in light of the Ontario Curriculum.

In their article, The E-Brock Bugs Computer Game: What If Becoming a (Better) Mathematician Was a Fun-Filled Adventure?, co-authors Laura Broley, Chantal Buteau, and Eric Muller lead us through a bug’s-eye view of the recently released (2013) digital version of an intriguing educational board game that was originally developed at Brock University back in the 1980s, and that has been successfully used to help elementary and secondary (MDM4U, in particular) students explore the major concepts of probability. Join narrator Bumble the Bee as she encounters helpful friends Bugzy and Smarty, as well as the evil gang of Mac, Bash, Fitz, Trickz, Crazee, Wicked, and the ultimate mastermind, “Dr. P,” and attempts to free the six districts of Bug City. A project website featuring the free game download, teacher resources, media coverage, and related publications is also shared.

Finally, in Vectors and the Track and Field Jumping Events, author Patrick Russell explains how vectors (arrows that describe direction and magnitude of an object in motion) are applied in the various track-and-field jumping events: long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault.

Regular columns include the following highlights: OAME President, Paul Alves (President’s Message) introduces us to Daniel Kish, The Batman, and elaborates on the related importance of appropriately high teacher expectations, growth mindsets, and the fostering of challenging learning opportunities for our students; Todd Romiens (OAME/NCTM Report) discusses three NCTM websites—Illuminations, Figure This, and Reflections; Stewart Craven (Fields Institute Report) reports on the five speakers involved in the Annual Research Day (Jan. 31, 2015) of the MathEd Forum; Mary Bourassa (Technology Corner) highlights PhET interactive simulations, and revisits the open-source software, Desmos; Shawn Godin (What’s the Problem?) poses a problem regarding completing the square; Lynda Colgan (Hey, It’s Elementary) takes us up, up, up, and away with her detailed description of the history and construction of the Bell tetrahedral kite; Mirela Ciobanu (In the Middle) looks at using efficient visual representations to solve mathematical word problems; Ann Kajander (MB4T) explores the importance of connecting patterns to multiple algebraic descriptions; and Greg Clarke, Agnes Grafton, Ross Isenegger, and Markus Wolski (Provincial Digital Learning Resources) share some classic Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP) files, and also provide us with an exciting update regarding their recently released Rekenrek app for desktop and mobile devices.

As usual, this issue also features the rich contribution of ideas for elementary math teaching as found in the Abacus insert, co-edited by Mary Lou Kestell and Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij. Volume 53 Issue 3 also includes two special features: a review by Tim Sibbald of Inouye’s creative new children’s book, Introductory Calculus for Infants (2011); and, the first instalment of a series of research spotlights focusing on current projects, as shared by Ontario mathematics education researchers.

OAME Gazette Volume 53 Number 2 released and includes includes three articles and ten regular columns, dealing with a rich variety of contemporary issues in mathematics education and research.

In Consistency Checking the Math of a Hill, Tim Sibbald challenges teachers and students to carefully observe, test/measure with various methods, and discuss mathematical phenomena occurring and/or described within the urban environment. Pack your required gear (bike, level, camera, inclinometer, mobile Google Maps access), as you scale a local slope on the Trans-Canada highway!

Co-authors Meth Devendra and Yixuan Xu explore the Exponential Function and the graph of its logarithmic inverse, particularly with base numbers greater than 1, and how this affects graphic display.

Researcher Martha Koch, in her article entitled, Approaches to Integrating the Provincial Grade 9 Mathematics Assessment into an Effective Classroom Assessment Strategy, shares her findings from a qualitative study involving 19 Grade 9 Mathematics teachers who share insights regarding if/how/why they have incorporated EQAO achievement results within their overall student assessment practices.

Regular columns include the following highlights: OAME President, Paul Alves (President’s Message) reminds us of the importance of learning skills as part of formalized classroom assessment; Todd Romiens (OAME/NCTM Report) discusses the American Common Core State Standards (CCSS) document, magic squares, and the game of SKUNK; Stewart Craven (Fields Institute Report) updates members on the September/October meetings of the MathEd Forum; Mary Bourassa (Technology Corner) introduces two fascinating websites (Estimation 180, and Robert Kaplinsky); Shawn Godin (What’s the Problem?) elaborates on a journey to Grandma’s house; Lynda Colgan (Hey, It’s Elementary) takes us on a golden tour of mathematics and nature; Mirela Ciobanu (In the Middle) looks at ‘assessment as learning’ techniques, including connections to the Ontario Numeracy Assessment Package (ONAP); Ann Kajander (MB4T) explores visual patterns with students; Agnes Grafton, Ross Isenegger, Greg Clarke, and Markus Wolski (Provincial Digital Learning Resources) highlight the use of CLIPS on mobile devices; and, Assessment Abby (eponymous) answers a submitted question regarding the marking (or not) of student homework.

As usual, this issue also features the Abacus insert co-edited by Mary Lou Kestell and Kathy Kubota-Zarivnij, and focusing on elementary math teaching resources.