Some footage used in this video was filmed prior to the pandemic and may not depict social distancing measures.
Year: 2021 — Province: Saskatchewan
Certificate of Excellence Recipient
Marion M. Graham Collegiate
Grades 9 – 12 - mathematics
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Quote
“I am one of many students, past and present, who have had the privilege to be in Mr. Banting’s class. That experience not only affected my view of mathematics, but also the way I view education and the world around me. His teaching methods introduced me to the love of mathematics, but more importantly, also prepared me to succeed as a learner long after leaving his classroom.”
Teaching Approach
What sets Nat apart from other innovators in his field is his fervent dedication to re-visioning the profession, beginning with the junctions that have often been overlooked - the relationships between learners and mathematical meaning, between the students within the classrooms, between the teachers, and between the wider public and meaningful mathematical experiences. His efforts are about innovating at these crossroads. He elevates the potential of teaching and learning mathematics.
In the Classroom
For many Canadians, the mathematics classroom evokes a very specific set of memories: symbolic choreography performed quietly in neat rows, with questions such as “Why?” and “What if?” too often suppressed in favour of formal procedures and the tidy, repeated exercises that have long served as the hallmark of many a school math program. Since the beginning of his career, Nat has pushed against this norm by modeling a vibrant, connected alternative to teaching and learning mathematics.
One can only describe Nat’s classes with one word: dynamic. His students move around the room, discuss, troubleshoot, and arrive at solutions to the problems he has set out for them to investigate. He places students in the role of active producers of mathematics, rather than passive recipients. When students are placed in the position of making meaningful mathematical decisions, rather than simply following the pre-determined decisions of the teacher, they gain access to the rich connections that mathematics has to offer.
Outstanding achievements
Recently, in an effort to bring classrooms together for a playful mathematics experience amidst the COVID confinement, Nat adapted the mathematics board game MULTI into a digital format and invited classrooms to play against one another province-wide. He facilitated the games for close to 100 Saskatchewan classrooms in what he coined the 2020 Saskatchewan Mathematics Invitational Tournament. The tournament received rave reviews from both teachers and students engaging in heated debate over their next move and creating copies of the game to challenge friends and family. The outcomes for students are increased autonomy, confidence, and leadership skills. Nat’s energy and dedication are truly contagious.
Nat has a big presence in the internet math community. In 2019, his work drew attention from the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, which made him the first practicing classroom teacher to receive the prestigious Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award recognizing innovation and excellence in mathematics education. He received this honour, in part, for his ability to explore new possibilities as a mathematics teacher in a digital age. Nat’s pupils are the first beneficiaries of his forward-looking approaches.
Get in touch!
Marion M. Graham Collegiate
602 Lenore Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7K 6A6
306-683-7750
Email: MarionM.GrahamSchool@spsd.sk.ca