Jason To | 杜澤信

Happy Day 1, teachers! There are lots of changes and challenges this year, but think of every challenge as a new opportunity. At least that’s my mindset going into it all. Enjoy meeting students today and have a hope you have a great start to the year.

Ontario elementary teachers can exercise judgement, but need more time to collaborate and also strengthen the consolidation portion of math learning. “Chinese and Canadian approaches to math teaching have a lot to learn from each other.” theconversation.com/chinese-and-...

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 🍰

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.

Grading attendance and participation seems incongruent with the Ontario government's stance on meritocracy, will fuel the flames of grade inflation, and will likely be subject to racial bias. "A" for Effort: Why Grading Attendance and Participation Might Actually Make Things Worse

Greenwood S.S. hosts their annual Math Carnival where students enjoy a variety of math games and puzzles like “Guess My Pattern Rule” ! Great to see math learning and engagement happening as the schools Math Learning Partner! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Including small group instruction in our 75 minute class time is possible! Lesson➡️formative assessment on lesson➡️analyze student data➡️small group instruction as other students work on check your understanding. @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

Thank you to all Parents who joined us today @tdsb.on.ca Sheppard PS to learn about the various strategies for adding numbers & ways in which they help to build strong number sense. So nice to see parents work together with their children to solve math problems! @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mrjasonto.com

Before jumping straight to the algorithm and you show the visual representation of converting mixed fractions to improper fractions, vice versa, and they yell out “Ooooh, that makes sense!!” 🥹🤩proud of these students! @mrjasonto.com @tdsbmath.bsky.social

My heart breaks for the Tumbler Ridge community. All of Canada mourns for the victims of this immense tragedy.

Today, teachers @tdsb.on.ca Stanley PS had a Math PLC focusing on High Impact Instructional Practices. The format: observing 2 co-taught lessons (Gr. 2/3&3/4). The outcome: rich learning experience for teachers in classrooms with students deeply engaged in math! @tdsbmath.bsky.social @mrjasonto.com

God bless Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for saying what needed to be said in his Davos speech.

If you haven’t listened to the full speech, do it right now. It’s bold, pragmatic, yet still values-driven. Canada had a good day today on the world stage. This speech is one for the ages. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Bob was a good man and left a mark on so many people. My condolences to his family and friends. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

This is a great history lesson on how the Government of Ontario has reformed school boards since the 1960s to increase efficiency and offer more services, but also to exert more control on local schools. Bill 33 appears to be the next stage in this evolution. www.tvo.org/article/how-...

The annual nature of EQAO assessments promotes quick-fixes that don’t necessarily have sustainability in mind. Large-scale improvements that really matter take time to implement. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Check out the latest episode of the @thinkthankthunk.ca podcast to hear me rant about inquiry-based vs. explicit instruction and how they fit: thinkthankthunk.ca/ep-27/ or wherever you get your pods.

Implementing our Shaping Algebraic Reasoning Patterning PD into the classroom. Students built and walked around trying to determine other groups’ pattern rule. They were able to see the rate of change and constant. Great way to start linear relations! @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 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

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

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...

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

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

I wrote up an experience using a slow reveal graph with a fourth grade class for Edutopia. ✨

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/...

Great thread about the role of motivation/connection/interest in cognitive load theory . . . #ITeachMath #MathEd

Solid math teaching really is a strategic blend of inquiry for sense-making & agency w/ explicit instruction for skill-building & fluency. The key is knowing how concepts progress & how students in the class learn best. Inclusion in math ed needs BOTH approaches. www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

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...

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.

Students using AI to complete work is a direct reflection on the school system’s focus on products & end results. If we want students to form opinions, analyze information, and really think, then THAT needs to be what we look for. The PROCESS needs to take centre stage www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Mark Peterson’s black-and-white images of ICE agents evoke film noir and the urban-crime photography of the 1930s and ’40s. “If someone is doing everything right, and then they still get detained, it’s a crime scene,” he said.

Every American who’s been unlawfully detained under this immigration dragnet should organize a class-action lawsuit. Police have to pay for this catch-and-release racial profiling. My heart goes out to communities that must be living in a constant state of fear. www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Congratulations to my TDSB math teaching colleague and friend, Sam Garrison, on swimming across the freakin’ English Channel!!! Sam trained for years and raised funds for the Daily Bread Food Bank. Read/listen to his story: vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/08/08/t...

The mathematician John Venn was born on this day in 1834. To commemorate the occasion, here’s a poem in the form of a Venn diagram.

Hot take: Yes, teachers need to learn how to use AI and how to leverage it to help students learn even better. But, policies that already exist to support and regulate technology use in schools (e.g. laptops, cell phones, email) apply to AI. Nothing is new. www.cbc.ca/news/educati...

Student identities are NOT “politics”. Students experience the real world - good, bad & ugly - and schools have a duty to foster belonging for ALL identities & experiences www.thestar.com/news/gta/wha... Vague ‘no politics’ edict from province leaves some worried. #onpoli #ongov #education

Affirming human rights is absolutely within teachers’ roles in classrooms, whether it’s addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of discrimination. Because if schools don’t, then kids will seek out discourse online & we already know how that’ll turn out. www.thestar.com/news/gta/wha...

New post: Permission to Go Off Script Building Thinking Classrooms practices are powerful—but they’re not all-or-nothing fawnnguyen.substack.com/p/permission...

Friends at @wr-dsb.bsky.social created a terrific video in support of destreaming and the real positive impacts that it is already making on students and communities. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmwU...

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

Happy summer, #OntEd!

On National #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we honour the enduring histories, cultures, and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, and we reaffirm our partnership in reconciliation.