to establish a proper agreement (Keeptwo, 2021) will be able to experience "...[restoration of] historically significant sites…; contributions to the social and cultural objectives of [their] communities; and a foundation for economic development for the region" (Algonquin Land Claim).

This is exciting news, yet as inspiring as it all sounds, we must recognize that as settlers, we have much work to do to decolonize our own approaches to teaching and learning, and to share this with our membership. 

Much of this work will be rooted in listening, in feeling, in honoring the land and its people, and co-creating welcoming and safe spaces, with our Indigenous partners. Our work will also involve engaging with various mathematical perspectives that we might all "circulate together" (Wiseman et al, 2017).

We are thankful for the examples of Indigenous stewardship--that is, of the land and of relationships within and across peoples--that we have the opportunity to learn and work as a Council, and to provide leadership for our colleagues in Math Education.
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Niá:wen, Miigwech, Nakurmiik, Thank you.

Below, you will find examples of Land Acknowledgements we have constructed and used to open our meetings and events. Notably, each one is of considerable length. Our purpose is simple, yet incredibly powerful and so important. As a chapter, we have decided that we will research and embed historical perspectives, stories, and examples of how we can encourage our members to counter oppressive narratives, thus making new spaces and opportunities for our Chapter to truly make good on its vision:

Keeptwo, S. (2021). We all go back to the land: The who, why, and how of land acknowledgements. Brush Education Inc. 

The Algonquin Land Claim. ontario.ca. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.ontario.ca/page/algonquin-land-claim  

Wiseman, D., Glanfield, F., & Lunney Borden, L. (2017, September 11). How we are coming to know: Report. Show Me Your Math. Retrieved May 6, 2022, from https://showmeyourmath.ca/comingtoknow/report/

Our Impact!

What else? Membership has grown through the study; new relationships have been built; continued interest in the study and chapter’s activities have been expressed; and opportunities for members to join Council have been created and shared.

Looking Ahead: Fall 2021

​Although it was not possible, at this time, to study all chapters of the book, many members have expressed a desire to continue working with Building Thinking Classrooms during the 2021-22 school year. And we’ll be doing our very best to meet our members’ professional learning needs!

What to expect? With more educators exploring this pedagogy in their own practices, we'll be enriching our shared time with practical findings from the field--in the #OttawaZone!

​In the meantime, we'd like to offer up some encouragement! And a sample of resources as insight to some of the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of the study’s organization, facilitation, and degree of participation.

Encouragement!

• Check out our latest book study tweet on Twitter. Follow us :)
• Join our Facebook Math Sharing Group! We're almost at 100 members!!
• Bookmark our website! and blog!! 

Invite a friend/colleague! Bring someone along to the next iteration of the book study. Recall: If they're an OAME member, we'll buy them the book! There's so much value in becoming an OAME member!! Here's how.

Let's Connect!
On behalf of the O34ME Council and Professional Learning Committee, we wish you all the very best for a strong finish to the year and for a relaxing Summer.
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Contact: Need to connect with O34ME? Use our Contact Form to ask questions, share concerns, and/or provide suggestions.

Yours in #mathedu

Chris Stewart
2019-22 O34ME President

Welcome: The Ottawa Zone for Mathematics Education (O34ME)

On behalf of O34ME (The Ottawa Zone for Mathematics Education, Ottawa Chapter of OAME) Executive & Council, I'd like to start by introducing the members of the 2021/22 Executive. I am both privileged and honored to be working alongside such an enthusiastic, committed and dynamic group of educators serving Mathematics Educators in the Greater Ottawa Region.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with each of our Executive members.

Yours in #mathedu,

​​Chris Stewart, OCT
O34ME 2019-22 President

Perspectives:
When students are inspired to share and discuss their thinking and reasoning, they become their own and others’ teachers! An educator's role is then to help guide their students to becoming better at this — the content students learn is a vehicle to serving conversations. How to engage in the process of learning is the core of all teaching and learning. 

This engagement requires that students develop and use a variety of skills as they are learning mathematics: Learning (p11), Transferable, Social-emotional, and Mathematical Process Skills. As a result, students develop their mathematical identity—i.e., understanding themselves as knowers, doers, and sense-makers of mathematics--and become empowered to use mathematics in ways that not only grow their achievement but that can be used to solve a variety of real-world problems (e.g., addressing matters of social injustice).  And none of this could be possible without the culture of care, respect for equity and inclusion, and professionalism we see in educators and systems of education.

Aspirations:

• Through classroom-, school-, and system-related work, I will be collaborating to create opportunities for educators and their students to experience the joy and wonder associated with learning mathematics — through culturally relevant and responsive teaching approaches that emphasize the human side of mathematics. I look forward to beginning this important work in the Fall of 2021 with the implementation of Ontario's new Grade 9 Mathematics course, MTH 1W.
• I'm curious as to how research intersects with pedagogical practice and have engaged in action-based research in the following areas: Professional Learning Communities, Student Voice, and Flipped Learning. Currently, I'm interested in exploring the impact of Thinking Classrooms, Culturally-Responsive & Relevant Pedagogy, Instructional Leadership, and Virtual Learning Environments on student learning.