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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 3, 2017 | 14 Education m inister boosts m ath at O akville school by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff The Province of Ontario is supporting a num ber of initiatives to help students improve their math skills, in order to make them successful inside and outside of the classroom. On Tuesday, Jan. 31, Ontario's Education Minister Mitzie Hunter met with students and teachers at Oakville's St. Mary Elementary School to discuss a variety of current initiatives to increase math achievement. One of those initiatives is the provincial government's support of TVO mPower, a creative, game-based math resource developed in partnership with Ontario teachers and students. It promotes positive attitudes towards math for children in kindergarten through Grade 6, while developing foundational numeracy and related skills in the classroom. MPower will continue to be introduced in classroom s this year as a free tool to strengthen learning, understanding and real-world application of the Ontario math curriculum. "Strong math skills are crucial to helping young learners succeed in school and later in life. Math literacy is key to the jobs of the future and creating a skilled workforce, which will ultimately strengthen Ontario's economy and enable the province to compete globally," stated Hunter in a media release issued following her visit to the Oakville elementary school. 60 minutes of math daily Ontario is also implementing an improved math strategy that ensures teachers Ontario M inister o f Education Mitzie Hunter watches Sofia Silva, 11, in Maureen Asselin's Grade 6 class, work on the pilot project games fo r older students in TVO mPower tool a t St. Mary Elementary School on Tuesday (Jan. 3 1 ) afternoon. The new com puter program rolled ou t for students in Kindergarten to Grade 2 last year and w ill be used by Grades 3 -6 later this year. Students can use the technology, both a t school and at home, to develop th eir numeracy, math skills and understand ing of real world applications. | Nikki Wesley/Metroland in Grades 1 to 8 will now spend 60 minutes per day focusing on effective instruction in math. Math-focused PD day LUXURY RAILTRAVEL The strategy also includes having up to three lead math teachers in all elementary schools and creating opportunities for educators to deepen their knowledge in math learning, teaching and leading, including a dedicated math Professional Development (PD) day. The provincial government has invested $60 million in the renewed math strategy, which guarantees educators have access to the supports B lo w w f Guest Speaker: Laurent Pinci Tuesday Feb. 7th · 7-9 pm in o u r o f f i c e : W inter Ends today! 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F o r fu ll term s an dco n d itio n sv isit S ellO ffV acatio n s.co mo rcall 1 -8 7 7 -S ellO ff (7 3 5 -5 6 3 3 ). W h ileall reason ab le efforts are tak e ntoen su re th eaccu racyof th ein fo rm atio ninth ead ,S ellO ffV acatio n s.co maccep ts n oresp o n sib ilityfo ractio n s, erro rsan do m issio n sarisin g fro mth ereader'su seof th isin fo rm atio n h o w so ev ercau sed .S ellO ffV acatio n s.co m , ad iv isio nof S u n w in gV acatio n s In c ., 2 7F ask enD riv e ,T o ro n to ,O n tarioC an ad aM 9 W 1 K 6 .T IC OR e g . #4 2 7 6 1 7 6B ritishC o lu m b ia licen se#39606Q u eb ecP erm it#7 0 2 9 2 8 they need to teach a curriculum that develops conceptual understanding, fluency with basic facts and ability to apply mathematics to solve problems. Since 2014, Ontario's two-year teacher education program has placed more em phasis on imparting math for new teachers and has supported more than 6,000 teachers in earning additional qualifications in math. The Province will continue to offer financial support to teachers to pursue intensive professional learning in math.