Math Therapy

By: The Math Guru
  • Summary

  • Math Therapy explores the root causes of math trauma, and the empowering ways we can heal from it. Each week host Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, dives into what we get right and wrong about math education, and chats with some of today’s most inspiring and visionary minds working to make math more accessible, diverse, and fun for students of all ages. Whether you think you’re a "math person" or not, you’re about to find out that math people don’t actually exist – but the scars that math class left on many of us, definitely do. And don’t worry, no calculators or actual math were involved in the making of this podcast ;)

    © 2024 Math Therapy
    Show more Show less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
Episodes
  • We're not teaching content, we're teaching students w/ Kevin Dykema
    Sep 12 2024

    Having attended and presented at the annual NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conference, Vanessa reached out to "famously nice guy" Kevin Dykema, the organization's President, to learn more about his journey to the top. Along the way she was surprised to learn that even he battles imposter syndrome, and the way he's learned to deal with it is by "learning what he doesn't know" and not being afraid to reach out for help.

    Today's conversation covered the pros and cons of professional development, advice on how teachers can adapt to changing education systems, and how perspectives on math anxiety have shifted in recent years. Kevin has an incredibly inspiring and optimistic outlook on education and you're going to love this convo!

    About Kevin: (Twitter)
    Kevin Dykema is President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), an international mathematics education organization with more than 30,000 members. He has taught 8th grade mathematics for over 25 years and is currently at Mattawan Middle School in southwest Michigan. Kevin is a frequent speaker before mathematics education audiences and has co-authored Productive Math Struggle.

    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • Math Therapy is now a book! Vanessa tells all ...
    Sep 5 2024

    HUGE news - Math Therapy is now a book! Vanessa has taken everything she's learned in her career helping students overcome math trauma, and all the insights from the 6 seasons of this podcast, and formulated a 5-step process to bring math therapy into classrooms and help all students develop a better relationship with math.

    To celebrate, Math Therapy producer David Kochberg turned the mic around and interviewed Vanessa about how Math Therapy started in the first place, what gives her hope about the future of math education, and how she really feels about the provocative term "edu celeb"...

    Show notes:

    • Math Therapy the book is out now - buy from Corwin Press or Amazon
    • S3E09: I’m not a math person, don’t @ me w/ Bex
    • Vanessa's master's thesis "Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math"

    Connect with us:

    • Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
    • Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
    Show more Show less
    37 mins
  • We are born to love math w/ Dan Finkel
    May 30 2024

    Dan Finkel is an author/educator who believes that humans are wired to be curious from birth, and that play is the secret to maintaining that joy of learning throughout childhood. On today’s season 6 finale, he and Vanessa discuss how teaching kids about math can be so much more fun than we think; it can mean playing board games, counting on their fingers, anything that helps them develop an intuitive sense that there are patterns and structures in the world for them to discover. They also discuss how play-based approaches can even help grown-ups heal from math trauma!

    About Dan (Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
    Dan Finkel is the Founder and Director of Operations of Math for Love, a Seattle-based organization devoted to transforming how math is taught and learned. Dan is an author and game designer, develops curriculum, leads teacher workshops, and gives talks on mathematics and education. He contributes regularly to the New York Times Numberplay blog and hosts Seattle’s Julia Robinson Math Festival annually.

    Show notes:

    • Dan’s TED Talk: Five Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching
    • Martin Gardner’s “Mathematical Games” column in Scientific American
    • earlyfamilymath.org
    • Dan’s book: Pattern Breakers
    • Upscale pattern blocks

    Connect with us:

    • Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
    • Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
    Show more Show less
    43 mins

What listeners say about Math Therapy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Funny, intelligent, vulnerable

Vanessa is real in a way many self proclaimed “math people” are not capable of being. It’s so important for us as math educators to be our true selves and see our students as they are, and she challenges you to do just that with humor and love.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!