Northwest Mathematics Conference October 24-26, 2024 -
Whistler, BC
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Webinars

Here you will find links to various online professional development series that the BCAMT has offered. Each professional development series consists of multiple sessions, with recordings and slides / notes / supporting information available where applicable.

Check the front page of our website or our Twitter account (@bcamt) regularly for news of any upcoming professional development series.

ASSESSMENT SERIES

The BCAMT invites you to become part of a virtual conversation about assessment (K-12). The Assessment Series started in 2020 and continued with regular presentations through 2022. Each session starts with a time to share with other educators what you are trying in your classrooms, followed by a short presentation with time for a Q&A at the end. Knowledge of previous sessions is not necessary for participation. 

NOTE: Sessions are recordings and there is no opportunity for interaction with peers.

Recordings, uploaded to YouTube, and files for the sessions can be accessed from the buttons below.

Recordings
Slides & Files
12. A Journey to an Outcomes Based Assessment Practice
-Susan Robinson-
Join BCAMT president, Susan Robinson, and one of her students, Zoe Clarke, as they discuss the journey to an outcomes-based assessment practice and the impact on students.

Susan Robinson has spent her career teaching on islands in the Pacific Ocean, finally landing with her family on Salt Spring Island in 2007. She loves being surrounded by the energy and chaos of teenagers as she helps them navigate the tension between confusion and understanding. Susan completed a Masters in Arts Education from SFU, which helped her to bring creativity into her mathematics classes and mathematics into her artistic endeavours. Susan shares editor-ship of Vector with Sean Chorney, and looks for any opportunity to swim in the ocean.
11. Assessment as Empowerment
-Jimmy Pai-
Assessment is a process that is ongoing, contextual and human. Often, when these descriptors are invoked, they rightfully highlight the fallible nature of judgement, necessitating triangulation from multiple sources of data in order to better understand how students think. However, humanness also enriches our assessment processes as opportunities to reflect, affirm, and enhance. In this session, I begin by briefly sharing my journey with integrating competencies/standards, with triangulation, and with rehumanizing mathematics. I will then share thoughts, experiences, and questions of how assessment is power-laden, why assessment needs to empower, and who assessment can empower.

Jimmy Pai has been a high school mathematics teacher in the Ottawa Carleton School Division in Ontario for 12 years. He is the regional representative of the local OAME (Ontario Association of Mathematics Educators) chapter (O34ME) and the grades 7-2 director for OAME. He served on the executive of the Canadian Association for Learning Networks (CAfLN) and is very passionate about assessment and equity in the classroom.
10. Outcomes Based Assessment
-Michelle Chu-
As Michelle’s approach to teaching mathematics changes, she has moved from averaging scores on assignments and tests to using proficiency scales. That shift was a positive one, but still needed some tweaking to best demonstrate how students are understanding material. In this session, Michelle will share how she has been using outcomes-based assessment in her elementary classroom to better reflect how students are progressing.

Michelle is a late French immersion teacher with the Burnaby School District and self-professed math nerd. After realizing that a traditional approach to teaching wasn’t helping students think deeply or better comprehend concepts, she became passionate about expanding her math program with the goal of helping students move beyond the idea that they are “math people” or “not math people” towards developing richer understanding. Michelle has her M.A. in Educational Technology and Learning Designs.
9. An Assessment Framework at Work
-Nicki Nightingale & Alicia Burdess-
Have you been building a Thinking Classroom? Are you stuck on assessment? Join us as we discuss what we’ve learned in our junior high and senior high classrooms. We have built and implemented an assessment framework for a Thinking Classroom. Be ready to take a deep dive into outcome-based assessment, focusing on student autonomy and choice.

Since 2005, Alicia Burdess has taught in Grande Prairie where she is currently an Assistant Principal at an 8-12 High School. Her experience includes four years as a Math Coach, working with teachers and students in their classrooms. She has served as the President of MCATA and currently sits on the NCTM Publishing Committee. She wants every child to believe that they can learn math to the highest level and that their inner mathematician is waiting to be awakened! Alicia has recently published a children’s book: The Dragon Curve: A Magical Math Journey to help spread the joy and beauty of math. You can connect with her on Twitter @BurdessAlicia and visit her website at www.aliciaburdess.com.

Nicki Nightingale has been teaching since 2012 in a variety of grades and subjects, from elementary all the way up to high school. Nicki has her Master’s in Education with a focus on Numeracy from Simon Fraser University and is currently the Numeracy Coordinator for her school district in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Her passion is to work with teachers and students to develop their own positive relationships with math so they can experience the joy and connection that comes from deep understanding and confidence in themselves as math learners.
8. No Surprise Assessment
-Richard DeMerchant-
In recent years the conversation about formative assessment has focused on its use to guide instruction. It is also important that formative assessment provide information directly to students so they can guide their own learning. Being explicit about what students know and do not know provides students with the opportunity to have agency over their learning. This sessions will present one method to use Google Sheets to communicate directly with students.

Richard has worked in a variety of positions in teaching, administration, professional development and publishing in Nunavut, British Columbia and Alberta. He currently teaches Middle School at St Michaels University School in Victoria and is on the executive of the British Columbia Association of Mathematics Teachers.
7. Using Observations and Conversations in Assessment in All Grades
-Ann Arden-
6. Assessment That Changes Student Behaviour
-Steffi van Dun & Rhya Wandeler-
Do you notice student behaviours that you would like to change? Are students off-task or not engaged in their activities? In this session, we will share how assessment was used to transform our classrooms. We will share how to build rubrics with your class, and how these can alter their interactions and engagement, provide students with more ownership of their learning, and how this has given us a tool to influence positive learning skills.
5. Tiered Practice Quizzes
-Elysia Dubland-
Elysia has been recently using something she calls “Tiered Practice Quizzes” as formative assessment near the end of a unit. Students complete a standards-based review quiz in four phases and identify what they need to work on in regards to the learning outcomes. These quizzes provide evidence for assessing the Connecting and Reflecting curricular competencies and inform students in their test preparation.

Elysia Dubland has been a secondary mathematics teacher in Surrey for 10 years. She is passionate about inspiring her students to enjoy mathematics, think hard, and persevere in problem solving. Ever since completing her master’s degree with Dr. Peter Liljedahl she has been implementing the Thinking Classroom framework and hasn’t looked back! Her master’s research on self-assessment and homework has led her to examine how traditional classroom tools and assessments can be re-imagined to provide students with richer learning opportunities and more meaningful feedback.
4. New Light Through an Old Window
-Marc Garneau-
As one looks to shift their assessment practice towards standards-based assessment, what does this look like for assessing mathematical content standards? This workshop explores the what, why, and how of assessing content on a proficiency scale. The questions may be largely the same (old window), but looking at them through a proficiency lens (new light) is an important and meaningful shift.

Marc Garneau is a Numeracy Helping Teacher for the Surrey School District, in which capacity he supports the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics across grades K-12. Marc has served on the BCAMT Executive since 2001 in various roles including President, conference chair, and the NCTM/NCSM representative. Marc has also served on the K-12 BC Math Curriculum Committee, as well as nationally for the NCTM and NCSM. Marc has a passion for professional learning, and has done workshops provincially, nationally, and internationally. In recent years, Marc has focused much of his own learning, and workshops, around supporting the curricular competencies and on transforming assessment.
3. Rubrics and Exemplars
-Robert Sidley-
Assessment of student work is a complex, multi-dimensional process of noticing, organizing that noticing, and learning to associate what we notice with benchmarks of performance. This presentation unpacks these aspects by bringing attention to what we notice in student work, suggesting characteristics of mathematical discourse as an organizing framework for looking student work, and offering examples and suggestions for rubrics to help categorize the range of student work we encounter.

In Robert’s over 20 years in public education, he has dedicated himself to improving students’ experiences and teacher development. After transitioning from primary education to secondary mathematics, Robert completed a Masters in Secondary Mathematics Education at Simon Fraser University. As a past President of the BC Association of Mathematics Teachers, Robert has consulted with the BC Ministry of Education on curriculum design and development, provincial exams, and teacher in-service. As a private consultant and author, he has worked with over 20 school districts across Western Canada, supporting teachers towards delivering learning experiences which are hands-on and minds-on, using problem solving to build conceptual understanding, and meaning making in mathematics. Robert is currently aligned with Simon Fraser University in the Professional Development Program and as a Doctoral candidate engaged in teaching pre-service teachers and in research on teacher professional vision, assessment, improvement, and Building Thinking Classrooms.
2. Assessing Curricular Competencies
-Mike Pruner-
In this workshop, I outline my beliefs around mathematics education, as beliefs motivate how one assesses in their classrooms. In order to bring curricular competencies into the fold of assessment, I think it is more practical to re-purpose existing assessments than it is to build a whole new assessment system. In this workshop, I will share how I used previous assessment tools to assess the curricular competencies and how progress within the curricular competencies shape my final evaluations.

Michael Pruner is a high school mathematics teacher in North Vancouver. He is a past president for the BCAMT and is currently studying in the PhD program at Simon Fraser University. He teaches using the Thinking Classroom framework developed by Dr. Peter Liljedahl that centers around vertical non-permanent surfaces, visibly randomized grouping, and teaching through rich tasks.
1. Standards Based Grading
-Phil Stringer-
This presentation covered the foundations of SBG including reasons to use it as an assessment practice and how it fits with best practices: measuring learning with respect to the expectations, providing feedback, and formalizing the learning achievement. Examples of SBG assessments and data collection were presented.

Phil has taught in both public and independent schools in BC for the past 25 years and is currently the Department Head of Mathematics at Crofton House School in Vancouver and co-founder of the Assessment Consortium of British Columbia. For the past five years, Phil has been exploring the use of SBG in his mathematics classes and working with schools across the country to explore assessment practices.
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INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES

NOTE: Sessions are recordings and there is no opportunity for interaction with peers.

Recordings, uploaded to YouTube, and files for the sessions can be accessed from the buttons below.

Recordings
Slides & Files
4. Justifying a Choice
-Chris Hunter & Susan Robinson-
Chris Hunter has been teaching in Surrey for more than twenty years. Currently a numeracy helping teacher, formerly a high school math teacher and department head, Chris collaboratively works with–and learns from–teachers of mathematics from Kindergarten to Calculus; it is his privilege to be invited to teach in many different classrooms throughout Surrey. Chris is passionate about designing experiences that engage learners in mathematical problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Chris is also an active member of the “MathTwitterBlogoSphere,” an online community of math educators; he tweets at @ChrisHunter36 and blogs at chrishunter.ca.

Susan Robinson has spent her career teaching on islands in the Pacific Ocean, finally landing with her family on Salt Spring Island in 2007. She loves being surrounded by the energy and chaos of teenagers as she helps them navigate the tension between confusion and understanding. Susan completed a Masters in Arts Education from SFU, which helped her to bring creativity into her mathematics classes and mathematics into her artistic endeavours. Susan shares editor-ship of Vector with Sean Chorney, and looks for any opportunity to swim in the ocean.
3. Sharing Math Thinking and Modeling Notations
-Marc Garneau & Janice Novakowski-
Marc Garneau is a Numeracy Helping Teacher for the Surrey School District, in which capacity he supports the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics across grades K-12. No matter what grade or concept, Marc likes to bring the lens, “Who’s Doing the Math?” to the learning experiences. In addition to the BCAMT Executive, Marc has also served as a member of the K-12 BC Math Curriculum Committee, and was the Canadian Regional Director for the NCSM (math-ed leadership organization) from 2015-2018.

Janice Novakowski is a district teacher consultant in the Richmond School District learning with K-12 teachers and students. She is also an adjunct professor at UBC where she learns with elementary teacher candidates. Janice is involved with the BC Numeracy Network, NCTM, NCSM and facilitates the BC Reggio-Inspired Mathematics Project.
2. Similarities & Differences
-Marc Garneau & Amanda Russett-
Marc Garneau is a Numeracy Helping Teacher for the Surrey School District, in which capacity he supports the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics across grades K-12. No matter what grade or concept, Marc likes to bring the lens, “Who’s Doing the Math?” to the learning experiences. In addition to the BCAMT Executive, Marc has also served as a member of the K-12 BC Math Curriculum Committee, and was the Canadian Regional Director for the NCSM (math-ed leadership organization) from 2015-2018.

Amanda Russett is the District Numeracy Coordinator for SD 73.
1. Introduction to Instructional Routines
-Marc Garneau-
Marc Garneau is a Numeracy Helping Teacher for the Surrey School District, in which capacity he supports the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics across grades K-12. No matter what grade or concept, Marc likes to bring the lens, “Who’s Doing the Math?” to the learning experiences. In addition to the BCAMT Executive, Marc has also served as a member of the K-12 BC Math Curriculum Committee, and was the Canadian Regional Director for the NCSM (math-ed leadership organization) from 2015-2018.
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ASSESSING WITH INTENTION

The BCAMT Assessing With Intention series is designed to dive deeply into what assessment means, with each session focusing on a different aspect of assessment.

NOTE: Sessions are recordings and there is no opportunity for interaction with peers.

Recordings, uploaded to YouTube, and files for the sessions can be accessed from the buttons below.

Recordings
Slides & Files
3. Adding and Subtracting
-Deanna Brajcich & Jen Carter-
Deanna Brajcich started her career in 1994 teaching grade 9/10 Math and French. She gradually changed grades and schools to find herself teaching grade 5! In addition to working with students, she enjoys working with adult learners. She was a Numeracy Coordinator mentoring teachers, she is a member of the Island Numeracy Network on Vancouver Island, and she has worked on mathematics initiatives with the Ministry of Education. She designs and facilitates Advanced ELL programs for Foreign English teachers at the University of Victoria and in China. She is also a Queen’s University online instructor in Elementary Mathematics and ELL.

Jen Carter is a Numeracy Coordinator for Vernon School District and an instructor for UBC Okanagan. As a prior elementary teacher and administrator, Jen had a deep curiosity about the discomfort students and teachers felt around mathematics. This personal inquiry led to her current “passion” and role working alongside teachers to explore and rethink what mathematics education currently is, and the possibilities of what it can be for students.
2. Partitioning and Place Value
-Deanna Brajcich & Jen Carter-
Deanna Brajcich started her career in 1994 teaching grade 9/10 Math and French. She gradually changed grades and schools to find herself teaching grade 5! In addition to working with students, she enjoys working with adult learners. She was a Numeracy Coordinator mentoring teachers, she is a member of the Island Numeracy Network on Vancouver Island, and she has worked on mathematics initiatives with the Ministry of Education. She designs and facilitates Advanced ELL programs for Foreign English teachers at the University of Victoria and in China. She is also a Queen’s University online instructor in Elementary Mathematics and ELL.

Jen Carter is a Numeracy Coordinator for Vernon School District and an instructor for UBC Okanagan. As a prior elementary teacher and administrator, Jen had a deep curiosity about the discomfort students and teachers felt around mathematics. This personal inquiry led to her current “passion” and role working alongside teachers to explore and rethink what mathematics education currently is, and the possibilities of what it can be for students.
1. Counting
-Deanna Brajcich & Jen Carter-
Deanna Brajcich started her career in 1994 teaching grade 9/10 Math and French. She gradually changed grades and schools to find herself teaching grade 5! In addition to working with students, she enjoys working with adult learners. She was a Numeracy Coordinator mentoring teachers, she is a member of the Island Numeracy Network on Vancouver Island, and she has worked on mathematics initiatives with the Ministry of Education. She designs and facilitates Advanced ELL programs for Foreign English teachers at the University of Victoria and in China. She is also a Queen’s University online instructor in Elementary Mathematics and ELL.

Jen Carter is a Numeracy Coordinator for Vernon School District and an instructor for UBC Okanagan. As a prior elementary teacher and administrator, Jen had a deep curiosity about the discomfort students and teachers felt around mathematics. This personal inquiry led to her current “passion” and role working alongside teachers to explore and rethink what mathematics education currently is, and the possibilities of what it can be for students.
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