Dearest teachers, May I share my hopes with you for the new school year. Now that the ministry has taken a little step back, I hope that you will once again feel the freedom to move forward and teach the math fundamentals without fear of reprisal. We look forward to seeing our children, once again, becoming efficient and proficient at math. I hope that, despite Education Minister Jeff Johnson's current lack of courage to fully implement the standard algorithms, you will be guided, for our children's sake, not by textbook publishers or "educational consultants" with vested interests, but by time-proven, evidence-based practices. It will be a disservice to all our children if they knew not the algorithms by heart. I hope that together you will push back against the Inspiring Education mandate that seeks to diminish the roles of teachers. And together, perhaps your fellow colleagues from places such as the Rocky View school district can rise above the ministry-enforced inquiry-based methods that they are chained to. I wish you the confidence to lead our children in the right direction. Thank you so much for being our children's mentors and teachers. All the best, Dr. Nhung Tran-Davies p.s. I can't let Jeff Johnson rest yet :) https://ca.news.yahoo.com/healthbeat-brain-scans-show-kids-learn-early-math-171310551.html