BHNmath
NEWSLETTER | ISSUE 9 | NOVEMBER 21, 2021
Written by Adam Gesjorskyj
ROUND 2
It’s hard to believe that we’re already well into this year’s second quadmester. Although the past few months have seemingly flown by, when I take a minute to reflect on how much work has been done in launching the new de-streamed Grade 9 mathematics course, I’m blown away. From making major pedagogical shifts in support of equity and inclusion to ongoing collaboration and resource building/sharing, I’m constantly reminded of how dedicated our teachers are to the success and overall well-being of their students. Through engaging and uplifting classroom visits, I continue to be inspired by our students’ motivation and resilience. As we venture forth (with a continued, but no longer surprising lack of support/clarity from the Ministry of Education), I wish you all the best for a smooth and enjoyable quad two. As always, please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or suggestions.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GRADES?
With all the updates regarding MTH1W lately, it may appear that the other secondary mathematics courses are being neglected on the BHNmath website. I assure you, however, that such is not the case! Resources continue to be created by request across the secondary math curriculum. Furthermore, the Question and Answer Centre is available to students in all intermediate/senior mathematics courses. If you’d like to request a resource for any course, please use the Resource Request Form.
MTH1W TEACHER SECTION RECAP
Here’s a quick summary of the most significant changes and additions that have recently occurred around the MTH1W resources for teachers:
- The Scope and Sequence resource has been updated with the following goals in mind:
- providing clearer connections between the lessons and overarching questions
- reducing the amount of “jumping around” from lesson to lesson
- better facilitating quadmester scheduling
- better supporting Thinking Classroom lesson delivery
- A video series titled Python in 5 Problems: A Friendly Introduction to Coding for Mathematics, Grade 9 is available to help teachers get started with using the Python programming language in the context of the MTH1W curriculum. An accompanying Reference Guide is also available.
- The Microsoft Word versions of the Check Your Understanding documents are no longer available alongside the other lesson resources, but rather can all be accessed here. Files will continue to be added to this page as they are created.
A NOTE ABOUT DOWNLOADING
I, for one, can certainly relate to the comfort of having all the files needed for a course neatly organized in folders and stored locally on a computer or portable drive! Please be aware, however, that the BHNmath resources (particularly the Check Your Understanding documents) are frequently undergoing improvements. Not only are they updated to address errors (many thanks to those who have notified me about such mistakes), but they’re also occasionally revised to better connect with one another. I highly recommend always accessing the most up-to-date version from the site each time you use it, as opposed to using a locally saved version. Some teachers have expressed a concern that these resources might one day become unavailable online, but trust me, they’re not going anywhere!
CLEAR YOUR HISTORY
A lot of updates are being made to the BHNmath website these days! If you notice that things aren’t displaying properly, clearing your browser history should always fix the problem. Doing so will also also ensure that you’re viewing the most recent version of each page (although regularly clearing your cache really shouldn’t be necessary for that reason)!
Recently Added Resources
Here are the five resources most recently created for BHNmath (excluding Question and Answer Centre resources):
Course: Mathematics, Grade 9 (MTH1W1)
Topic: Inequalities on the Number Line
Type: Key Questions
Target: Students
Location: How can we represent it?
Notes: Requested by a teacher. Seven interactive problems to confirm understanding of inequality notation and its connection to the number line. This topic is presented as an extension to the Algebraic Expressions lesson. Full solutions are included.
Course: Mathematics, Grade 9 (MTH1W1)
Topic: Inequalities on the Number Line
Type: Interactive Applet
Target: Students
Location: How can we represent it?
Notes: Requested by a teacher. An applet to practice connecting inequality notation to number line representations. Hundreds of variations with fully adapted solutions.
Course: 10 Academic (MPM2D1)
Topic: The Sine Law
Type: Interactive Applet
Target: Students and Teachers
Location: Trigonometry
Notes: Requested by a teacher. An applet to explore the law of sines.
Course: Mathematics, Grade 9 (MTH1W1)
Topic: Coding
Type: Check Your Understanding
Target: Students
Location: How can we represent it?
Notes: Practice problems for the Coding – Part 1 lesson in PDF format. An editable Microsoft Word version is also available here.
Course: Mathematics, Grade 9 (MTH1W1)
Topic: Coding
Type: Check Your Understanding
Target: Students
Location: When are different operations useful?
Notes: Practice problems for the Coding – Part 2 lesson in PDF format. An editable Microsoft Word version is also available here.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR BHNmath?
- Completing the Check Your Understanding resources for all MTH1W lessons (according to the order outlined in the Scope and Sequence).
- Creating resources and providing support on request.

Best wishes for quadmester two!
– Adam