Speakers

Curtis Carmichael reignites educators' passion, empowering them to transform any barriers into bridges of possibility and hope in times of uncertainty. Combining humour, personal anecdotes, global case studies and cognitive exercises, Curtis equips K-12 teachers with emerging technologies, practical tools and evidence-based strategies to enhance teacher well-being, increase student engagement, and boost academic achievement in mathematics and STEAM education for all students regardless of their background and circumstances. With upbeat storytelling, he empowers teachers to actively participate in the future economy as builders and creators, fostering confidence and clarity while eliminating fear and confusion.

Dr. Peter Liljedahl is a Professor of Mathematics Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University and author of the best-selling book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics (Grades K-12): 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning. Peter is a former high school mathematics teacher who has kept his research interest and activities close to the classroom. He consults regularly with teachers, schools, school districts, and ministries of education on issues of teaching and learning, problem solving, assessment, numeracy, and building thinking classrooms.

Nat Banting is a classroom mathematics teacher with Saskatoon Public Schools who blogs about teaching math at natbanting.com/blog and tweets as @NatBanting. He also enjoys working as a lecturer in math education programs at St. FX University and the University of Saskatchewan. Recently, he received a 2021 Prime Minister’s Certificate of Excellence in STEM, and in 2019 the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences awarded him the Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award recognizing innovation and excellence across Canadian mathematics education. When he is not working in math education, you can usually find Nat spending time with his kids, on his gravel bike, or in a rink coaching young goaltenders..

Lauren Baucom is a Curriculum Developer for Amplify Desmos Math. A former math teacher of 15 years, Lauren has devoted her time to teaching students from both rural and urban areas to use math as a tool to identify, describe, and understand the patterns within their world. As a recent doctoral graduate, her research prioritizes how teachers’ identities shift when using curriculum focused on developing critical statistical literacy and how technology can be used as a tool to disrupt power structures in the math educational system. Dr. Baucom believes that math learning and teaching is a conducive space that can be used to bend the arc towards justice and strives towards a vision of equity by seeking justice for students and teachers of historically excluded populations.

Aleda began her teaching career in Attawapiskat, Ontario, where she taught English for one year. Since then, she has been working with the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) in different capacities: a math teacher, an English teacher, a journalism teacher, a learning support teacher, an itinerant coach, and a consultant. In 2018, she worked with a cross-curricular team to shift assessment and evaluation practices to focus on feedback instead of numerical marks/grades, an approach that Aleda made a consistent part of her practice. In 2019, Aleda received a Regional Certificate of Achievement from the Prime Minister’s Awards (PMA) for Teaching Excellence in STEM, an honour she shares with the colleagues with whom she has been able to collaborate. Facilitating learning experiences that are responsive to the needs in the space is important to Aleda. Her classroom practice and work with educators has focused on adapting instruction and assessment so that students contribute to their learning and develop confidence as learners, specifically in mathematics. She currently supports intermediate and secondary educators in WRDSB in her consultant role.

Marian Small writes and speaks about K-12 math across the country.

Her focus is on teacher questioning to get at the important math, to

include all students, and to focus on critical thinking and creativity.

Some resources she has written include

MathUp,

Making Math Meaningful for Canadian Students: K-8,

Good Questions: A Great Way to Differentiate Math Instruction,

More Good Questions: A Great Way to Differentiate Secondary

Mathematics Instruction,

Open Questions for Three- Part Lessons,

Do They Really Understand?

She is the main contributor to a digital math professional

development magazine, M magazine ( https://www.mzine.ca/home/ ).

Elham Kazemi is a professor of mathematics education at the University of Washington. For 25 years she has worked collaboratively with teachers, teacher educators, and school leaders to create joyful and thriving classrooms for both teachers and students.  She has studied children’s thinking and learning experiences in classrooms, the teacher’s role in facilitating discussions, and how teachers learn from and with their students. This work has been informed by research on sociocultural theories on learning, classroom discourse, organizational change, and equitable and just teaching and learning in schools serving racially diverse communities. 

Jenna Laib is a math specialist at the Driscoll K–8 School in Brookline, MA. She started her career as an upper elementary classroom teacher and later became a grade 6 math teacher, K-8 math coach, and educational consultant. She is grateful to have wonderful colleagues—at her school and in the larger education community—to share in the pursuit of dynamic and equitable learning environments. Jenna enjoys collaborating with others to develop content knowledge, pedagogical strategies, and infinite curiosity for mathematical thinking and learning.

Fawn is on the Math Advance Team at Amplify Desmos Math. She was a math coach for a K-8 school district for three years. Before that, Fawn was a middle school teacher for 30 years. Fawn was the 2014 Ventura County Teacher of the Year. In 2009, she was awarded the Math Teacher Hero from Raytheon. In 2005, she was awarded the Sarah D. Barder Fellowship from the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.

Fawn blogs about her lessons and classroom teaching at fawnnguyen.com. She also authors three other websites for teachers: visualpatterns.org, between2numbers.com, and chewablemath.com.

Fawn has been a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at math conferences throughout the country. She has been a part of the UC-Santa Barbara Mathematics Project Leadership team since 2005.

In 2012, she co-founded the Math Teachers' Circle in Thousand Oaks, California. Fawn served a three-year term as a committee member of NCTM's Professional Development Services Committee (PDSC) during 2015-2018.

Sunil Singh was a math, science, physics, and English teacher for 19 years, teaching in various high schools, ranging from the most socio-economically challenged one in Toronto to an International IB School in Switzerland. He left teaching in 2013 to embark on a new journey for himself that would intersect a completely new world to him–the history of mathematics.

He is the author of four books, Pi of Life: The Hidden Happiness of Mathematics, Math Recess: Playful Learning in an Age of Disruption, and Chasing Rabbits: A Curious Guide to a Lifetime of Mathematical Wellness.

His fourth and final book is called Sonic Seducer: Lust for Life With The Transcending Moments, Memories, and Magic of Rock and Roll. It will be out in 2024.

With that, he will become the first person to ever author detailed books on mathematics and rock music!

His work centers exclusively around the importance of storytelling/narrative/history in mathematics. As well, he has given dozens of workshops on the importance of curiosity and play, weaving in rich mathematics with our natural awe and wonder. Some of the places include The Museum of Mathematics in New York City and The Fields Institute at The University of Toronto.

He is an international speaker who has given webinars in South Africa and the UK, and was invited by The United States National Commision on Mathematics Instruction in 2021 to give a presentation on Culturally Responsive Mathematics.

Octavia is a York Region District School Board educator currently serving in the role of a Mathematics Consultant and Culturally Relevant and Responsive Practices Consultant. In her current role, Octavia supports system wide implementation of culturally responsive comprehensive mathematics programs that reflect students' identities and lived experiences. She has been leading and facilitating professional learning on equity in mathematics and has been featured in key learning through ETFO, OAME, and school districts provincially. Octavia encourages educators to critically examine mathematics curriculum and the ways learners are engaged through an anti-colonial, anti-oppressive and anti-racist lens. She has also been an  Equity Reviewer with the  Ministry of Education. Octavia is committed to building educators’ capacity to identify barriers and rehumanize mathematics to create opportunities for all students to be successful. She believes that teaching and learning is best achieved when children see themselves reflected in the learning and that nurturing positive identity-affirming spaces for children to thrive empowers them to reach their full potential.

Lisa Lunney Borden is a Professor in the Faculty of Education who holds the John Jerome Paul Chair for Equity in Mathematics Education striving to improve outcomes in mathematics for Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian youth. Lisa is a three-time graduate of StFX. As an undergraduate student at StFX, Lisa began volunteering with X-Project which led her to a teaching career in We’koqma’q First Nation where she spent ten years as a secondary mathematics teacher, a vice-principal and principal, as well as the provincial mathematics leader for all Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey schools in Nova Scotia. Lisa credits her students and the Mi’kmaw community for inspiring her to think differently about mathematics education which continues to shape her work today. She is committed to research and outreach that focuses on decolonizing mathematics education through culturally based practices and experiences that are rooted in Indigenous languages and knowledge systems. She is a sought-after speaker nationally and internationally and has a passion for working with teachers and their students. Lisa has helped to create the Show Me Your Math program that inspired thousands of Mi’kmaw youth to share the mathematical reasoning inherent in their own community contexts, and an outreach program called Connecting Math to Our Lives and Communities that brings similar ideas to Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian youth as an afterschool and summer program. She currently serves as the president of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group and sits on the Canadian Mathematical Society’s reconciliation committee.

Al Overwijk is a secondary math teacher at Glebe Collegiate Institute in the Ottawa Carleton DSB. He has been teaching mathematics for 34 years and has always been a student of teaching. Al is a provincial pioneer in embracing spiraling and thinking classrooms, and is a popular speaker that conducts workshops throughout North America on a variety of topics in the teaching of mathematics. He has valued his collaboration time with colleagues around Ontario and thrives on learning from others. He is renowned for being the World Freehand Circle Drawing Champion. Al has also been active in the basketball community in Ottawa throughout his teaching career. Al lives in Ottawa with his wife and two teenage boys.