Heather Theijsmeijer will work with elementary, secondary teachers on Island and The Valley
MANITOULIN—Heather Theijsmeijer is the Renewed Math Strategy Coordinator with the Rainbow District School Board and the award winning teacher is looking forward to her new role. Her position with the board is new, a reaction to Ontario’s Renewed Math Strategy.
According to the province’s website, “Ontario’s Renewed Math Strategy will help our students, teachers, schools and districts in achieving stronger math results and better position our young people for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The strategy includes a number of features that will respond to the various strengths and needs of our learners, schools and district school boards. It will promote greater collaboration between everyone, including educators, students, leaders and parents.”
Ms. Theijsmeijer will be that critical link in providing that greater collaboration, particularly between educators in the RDSB. Her region includes the public schools on Manitoulin Island, both elementary and Manitoulin Secondary School, as well as Espanola and “the Valley” (Hamner, Val Caron etc.).
“I will be working with teachers and principals to really identify who needs support,” said Ms. Theijsmeijer. She will not only be identifying why those students need support, but also matching up innovative methods to provide that support.
The award-winning teacher is well positioned to meet the challenges of her new position. “I have done a lot of professional development myself,” she noted, as well as having produced a number of scholarly papers. That dedication to learning and developing best practices is a symptom of the passion she brings to her job. “Working with other teachers is something I really enjoy,” she said.
The new gig does not mean she is turning away from her first love, however, as the appointment is a one-year program. “I will be rebounding back to the classroom at the end of the year,” she said.
In the meantime she will be kept pretty busy. “The learning curve is really steep,” she admitted. “But it is a nice change of pace.”
The province identifies the Renewed Math Strategy as “an Early Years to Grade 12 strategy that will benefit from and mobilize the latest research and lessons learned regarding effective math learning, teaching and assessment. The strategy will provide new forms of support to all schools, increased support to some schools with greater needs in math achievement, and intensive support to a select group of schools with the greatest needs in math achievement.
Support for schools will focus on professional learning opportunities for teachers and principals, and will support teachers in planning for effective learning and teaching that includes problem solving, direct instruction, investigation, assessment and practice. This will allow students to learn with understanding, develop proficiency, learn mathematical ways of thinking and attain an appreciation for how math is used in everyday life.”
This will be accomplished in part through “60 minutes per day of protected learning time for effective math instruction and assessment will be required for students in Grades 1 to 8, in addition to embedding the use of math across the curriculum. To support this, the ministry will work with education partners to develop resources that articulate evidence-based practices that should be implemented during this learning time.”
