March 21, 2024 • 4 mins
Season 6 drops March 28th - here’s a sample of who and what you’ll hear!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vanessa Vakharia (00:03):
Hi, I'm Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math
Guru, and you're listening toMath Therapy, a podcast that
explores the root causes of mathtrauma and the empowering ways
we can heal from it.
We're about to launch seasonsix, and I cannot wait to share
these convos with you.
This season covered so manytopics that I know will hit home
for so many of you.
From the roots of math anxiety,to the growing movement to find
(00:25):
wonder and joy in the beauty ofmath, from the challenges
teachers face in keeping up withthe changes in the education
system, to the power of buildingtrust and community in the
classroom.
Here's a little sample of what'sin store.
Pamela Seda (00:37):
As adults, we very seldom ever put ourselves in
situations where we can bewrong, but we ask our students
to do it every single day.
Who are we, if we ask our kidsto do that every day, who are we
then to excuse ourselves fromthe discomfort of learning?
Especially when another humanbeing can be impacted.
Zak Champagne (00:58):
If I get to spend 180 days in the classroom with a
kid, I would rather them leavemy classroom having a positive
outlook on who they are as amath learner than knowing a
bunch of shit about math.
I think it's more important fortheir well being and their
future that they walk outfeeling like they have a
connection and they seethemselves as a math learner.
Francis Su (01:17):
You don't learn music to start learning to play
scales.
People put the emphasis onthinking about math as learning
scales, versus listening to asymphony.
I just want people to experiencethe symphony, even if they don't
end up becoming professionalmusicians.
Howie Hua (01:33):
The teacher and the student are on the same side.
When I was an undergrad, Ithought of my professors as like
mini boss battles, it's like, Ineed to defeat this boss to get
my degree.
but now that I'm on the otherside, I'm like, no, like
teachers want to help students.
Brittany Hege (01:49):
I think every teaching experience is also a
learning experience.
Like I've never been in aclassroom with students where
I've not learned something aboutthe math that I'm teaching.
Kyle Pearce (01:59):
We came in as these like, math geeks, both wanted to
be math teachers.
One day we were in the classroomand finally realized that other
people don't like math, andthat's a real shocker,
especially when you've gonethrough schooling and you have
this excitement, you want toshare it with students.
And very quickly we recognizethat, the majority of the
(02:20):
students that we have tointeract with each day, that
we've been entrusted to actuallyeducate, are not on the same
train as us.
Sean Nank (02:29):
Mathematics classrooms can sometimes be
extremely comforting, but theycan be borderline abusive at
times, hence, you know, why wewould need, math therapy.
Math doesn't give people trauma,people give people trauma.
And I think about that a lot inthe classroom.
Chris Luzniak (02:43):
And at the end, when we debriefed the lesson,
the teacher said, that girl whoshared first has never spoken
all year in my class.
But she several times raised herhand and wanted participate
because she suddenly feltcomfortable.
She suddenly has a voice.
She doesn't have to know theanswer, but she has some opinion
about things.
And so she can talk about it.
Dr. India White (03:00):
The reason why people feel like they're not a
math person is because they'vehad some type of trauma or some
type of negative experience.
You might not be a rocketscientist.
But you're still a math person.
And if you had the rightteacher, you would have been
able to build that confidenceeven more.
But even if you don't have theright teacher, hang out with
people like me, and we'll buildyour confidence over time.
You'll be just fine.
Dan Finkel (03:19):
What books are to reading, play is to mathematics.
We all know we're supposed toread at home with our young
children.
Hey, you want your kids to read,read to them, from the moment
they're born, right.
So then it's like, okay, well,what do you do for math?
And the answer is you've got tobe playing with kids, but it's a
type of playing that has to dowith counting and organizing,
but also patterns.
Playing is really the keyelement.
Vanessa Vakharia (03:42):
Season six kicks off March 28th with a mind
blowing conversation with Dr.
Pamela Seda about what canreally move the dial when it
comes to making sure everysingle student believes that
they are capable of building abetter relationship with math.
Until then, make sure you'resubscribed to the podcast
wherever you listen, tell afriend about the pod, and follow
me@TheMathGuru on Instagram,Twitter, or TikTok.
Hi, I'm Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math
Guru, and you're listening toMath Therapy, a podcast that
explores the root causes of mathtrauma and the empowering ways
we can heal from it.
We're about to launch seasonsix, and I cannot wait to share
these convos with you.
This season covered so manytopics that I know will hit home
for so many of you.
From the roots of math anxiety,to the growing movement to find
(00:25):
wonder and joy in the beauty ofmath, from the challenges
teachers face in keeping up withthe changes in the education
system, to the power of buildingtrust and community in the
classroom.
Here's a little sample of what'sin store.
Pamela Seda (00:37):
As adults, we very seldom ever put ourselves in
situations where we can bewrong, but we ask our students
to do it every single day.
Who are we, if we ask our kidsto do that every day, who are we
then to excuse ourselves fromthe discomfort of learning?
Especially when another humanbeing can be impacted.
Zak Champagne (00:58):
If I get to spend 180 days in the classroom with a
kid, I would rather them leavemy classroom having a positive
outlook on who they are as amath learner than knowing a
bunch of shit about math.
I think it's more important fortheir well being and their
future that they walk outfeeling like they have a
connection and they seethemselves as a math learner.
Francis Su (01:17):
You don't learn music to start learning to play
scales.
People put the emphasis onthinking about math as learning
scales, versus listening to asymphony.
I just want people to experiencethe symphony, even if they don't
end up becoming professionalmusicians.
Howie Hua (01:33):
The teacher and the student are on the same side.
When I was an undergrad, Ithought of my professors as like
mini boss battles, it's like, Ineed to defeat this boss to get
my degree.
but now that I'm on the otherside, I'm like, no, like
teachers want to help students.
Brittany Hege (01:49):
I think every teaching experience is also a
learning experience.
Like I've never been in aclassroom with students where
I've not learned something aboutthe math that I'm teaching.
Kyle Pearce (01:59):
We came in as these like, math geeks, both wanted to
be math teachers.
One day we were in the classroomand finally realized that other
people don't like math, andthat's a real shocker,
especially when you've gonethrough schooling and you have
this excitement, you want toshare it with students.
And very quickly we recognizethat, the majority of the
(02:20):
students that we have tointeract with each day, that
we've been entrusted to actuallyeducate, are not on the same
train as us.
Sean Nank (02:29):
Mathematics classrooms can sometimes be
extremely comforting, but theycan be borderline abusive at
times, hence, you know, why wewould need, math therapy.
Math doesn't give people trauma,people give people trauma.
And I think about that a lot inthe classroom.
Chris Luzniak (02:43):
And at the end, when we debriefed the lesson,
the teacher said, that girl whoshared first has never spoken
all year in my class.
But she several times raised herhand and wanted participate
because she suddenly feltcomfortable.
She suddenly has a voice.
She doesn't have to know theanswer, but she has some opinion
about things.
And so she can talk about it.
Dr. India White (03:00):
The reason why people feel like they're not a
math person is because they'vehad some type of trauma or some
type of negative experience.
You might not be a rocketscientist.
But you're still a math person.
And if you had the rightteacher, you would have been
able to build that confidenceeven more.
But even if you don't have theright teacher, hang out with
people like me, and we'll buildyour confidence over time.
You'll be just fine.
Dan Finkel (03:19):
What books are to reading, play is to mathematics.
We all know we're supposed toread at home with our young
children.
Hey, you want your kids to read,read to them, from the moment
they're born, right.
So then it's like, okay, well,what do you do for math?
And the answer is you've got tobe playing with kids, but it's a
type of playing that has to dowith counting and organizing,
but also patterns.
Playing is really the keyelement.
Vanessa Vakharia (03:42):
Season six kicks off March 28th with a mind
blowing conversation with Dr.
Pamela Seda about what canreally move the dial when it
comes to making sure everysingle student believes that
they are capable of building abetter relationship with math.
Until then, make sure you'resubscribed to the podcast
wherever you listen, tell afriend about the pod, and follow
me@TheMathGuru on Instagram,Twitter, or TikTok.
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