Math Therapy
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On the Season 6 premiere of Math Therapy, Vanessa chats with Dr. Pamela Seda, an expert in all things education and inspiration! They dive deep into hot topics like how teachers can build trust in the classroom by modelling vulnerability, the benefits of cultivating community over competition, and a fascinating metaphor that illustrates what equity and accommodations truly mean in our schools. ABOUT PAM SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Its March 14th, aka 3.14 ... so Happy Pi Day! To help you get in the zone, were re-airing an episode from last year recounting the Math Therapy teams Pi Day 2023 trip to Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Michigan. This stemmed from Vanessas Season 3, Episode 10 https://www.maththerapypodcast.com/1734392/8673539-s3e10-how-math-rehabilitated-a-murderer-w-christopher-havens interview with Christopher Havens, an inmate serving a 25-year sentence for murder who has rehabilitated himself with math and founded the Prison Mathematics Project. Find out more about PMP at prisonmathproject.org https://www.prisonmathproject.org/ where you can: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
The rumours are true! (The rumours that Vanessa has been spreading herself.) Season 6 of Math Therapy launches March 28th! To get you hyped while we get this batch of episodes ready for you, here are some brief thoughts she recorded immediately after we finished a marathon 10 interviews over 4 days. What themes did she cover? Will she or her guests get cancelled this season? How much did she annoy her producer David? You be the judge ... Make sure youre subscribed to the podcast feed, and tell a friend about Math Therapy!
Dont worry, Math Therapy isnt going anywhere ... but heres a fun bonus episode as we look back on an incredible 5th season! It was a total success in every possible way, except one: for whatever reason, Vanessa lost the ability to simply say "goodbye" at the end of the interviews. This hadnt been an issue in previous seasons but she somehow got very in her head about it, and when her producer David recently listened back to them he thought they were hilarious and had to be shared our listeners. If you have any advice for how Vanessa can deal with her sudden onset "goodbye anxiety", you can hit her up as always on socials @themathguru - feel free to let her know what topics/guests we should consider for next season! Thank you so much for listening - BYE! ;)
In Vanessas masters thesis titled "Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math", there was nobody quoted more frequently than todays guest, Stanford professor Dr. Jo Boaler. On the season 5 finale of Math Therapy, Vanessa sits down with her math ed hero to discuss how limiting beliefs vs a growth mindset impact the brain, how struggle and mistake-making benefit learning, and the extremely personal resistance shes faced in a career dedicated to making math more equitable and accessible. ABOUT JO: (Website https://joboaler.org/, Twitter https://twitter.com/joboaler) https://www.youcubed.org/ https://www.youcubed.org/resource/data-literacy/LINKS MENTIONED: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Peter Liljedahl is literally changing the math classroom. His book "Building Thinking Classrooms https://buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/" has taken the educational world by storm with a simple message: instead of teaching students to memorize, we have to teach them to think. Sounds trite, but if you ... think about it, traditional classrooms are not designed that way! Today, Peter explains to Vanessa how a "thinking classroom" swaps out tables for vertical whiteboards to reduce barriers for student interaction in problem-solving, and how small randomized groups foster collaboration that lifts the whole class. He also shares what his time as an Olympic athlete (yep!) taught him about the difference between focusing on the rewarding work of process vs the perilous trap of focusing on outcomes. ABOUT PETER: (Website https://www.peterliljedahl.com/, Twitter https://twitter.com/pgliljedahl) CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Should mistake-making be encouraged in math class? Or should mistakes be shamed because “in the real world” you can get fired from your job from making a mistake? You can probably guess how Vanessa feels, but a fellow educator recently disagreed … so of course she took to Twitter https://twitter.com/themathguru/status/1633212950122045442?s=46&t=YXDpVEewYXq9ir8J3q4aKQ and a spirited convo ensued! On today’s episode she further outer-processes her thoughts on this topic, and shares two classroom exercises that encourage constructive mistake-making and help normalize growth from failure. CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Todays guest literally entered the chat wearing a t-shirt that read "TRUTH MATTERS”, and that sure set the tone for this wide-ranging episode! Crystal M. Watson is an educator who firmly believes in centering student voices in the classroom, and she also advocates for empowering students by making math practical and meaningful to their life experience. Throw in some discussion on defining success, different approaches to grading, and a simple but thorough explanation of what "critical race theory" is and what it definitely isnt, and weve got an astonishingly jam-packed episode that left Vanessa with even more questions than she came in with! ABOUT CRYSTAL: (Website https://crystalmwatson.com/, Twitter https://twitter.com/_CrystalMWatson, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_crystalmwatson/) LINKS REFERENCED: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
In todays episode, Vanessa explores the dangers of narrowly defining success and argues that contrary to popular belief, failure and success are actually BFF, not opposites (looking at you, Merriam-Webster!). She also shares a practical classroom tool for teachers and students to collaborate on shared definitions of success to support everyones learning. CONNECT WITH US: __ __
In honour of Pride Month, were taking a mid-season 5 break to re-air one of our all-time fave episodes featuring mathematician / drag queen Kyne Santos. Drag has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, so we wanted to share Kynes inspiring story of breaking stereotypes and defying the haters. If youre new to the podcast we also highly recommend going back and listening to the season 4 finale with Dr. Anthony Bonato https://www.maththerapypodcast.com/1734392/10642920-s4e10-queering-math-w-dr-anthony-bonato which dove further into the fraught relationship between academia and the queer community and the trailblazers working to change the status quo every day. *this interview first aired Apr 8th 2021 https://www.maththerapypodcast.com/1734392/8278337-s3e01-a-drag-queen-walks-into-a-math-class-w-kyne-santos* LINKS MENTIONED: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Think of this weeks episode as a kind of reverse palate cleanser ... Vanessa and todays guest Robert Kaplinsky more than make up for the lack of swearing last week! What got them fired up? Oh, just the systemic barriers to educational reform and the lack of support for both teachers and students when it comes to working through math anxiety ... But dont worry, its not all doom and gloom; Robert is certain that if we make math more practical to daily life and more welcoming to a diversity of learners, we still have hope. ABOUT ROBERT: (Twitter https://twitter.com/robertkaplinsky, Website https://robertkaplinsky.com/) LINKS REFERENCED: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __ TOPICS DISCUSSED: __ __
Last weeks episode featured a deep dive with Vanessa into math trauma: what it is and how to avoid it. Today, brain expert Liesl McConchie joins her to explain the neurological science of trauma, debunk the myth of the "math gene", and discuss the hopeful promise of neuroplasticity. And not to be all clickbaity, but Vanessa ends up sharing some pretty intense math trauma of her own... ABOUT LIESL (Twitter https://twitter.com/LieslMcconchie, Website http://lieslmcconchie.com/) LINKS REFERENCED: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __ TOPICS DISCUSSED: __ __
Each episode, Vanessa discusses the impacts that math trauma can have on our collective relationship with math. But she realized shes never explained what it is! In this episode she defines what math trauma actually is, unpacks why traumatic educational experiences happen more often in math than in other subjects, and lists 8 common causes of math trauma for educators to be aware of. __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
You know how readers read and writers write? Well one day Deborah Peart decided that math should also be a verb, so she created the Mather movement. She and Vanessa discuss the difference between a "mather" and a "mathematician", how numeracy and literacy are basically the same thing, and how bringing a mindfulness approach to her classrooms led to her being known by her students simply as "Peace Lady". Shake up your glitter jar (yep, thats a thing) and settle in for this hilarious and heartwarming ep! About Deborah: LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
When Vanessa crossed paths with Dan Meyer at a math conference, she sensed some pushback on her concept of math therapy. So naturally, she invited him on the podcast to get into it! The ensuing rollercoaster interview blurred lines between clearing the air and settling the score, as they hilariously debated hot topics ranging from the need for student-centred educational reform ... to which of them holds the most impressive Guinness World Record. You be the judge! About Dan Meyer: https://amplify.com/ LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
We have some serious A-list math celebs coming at your podcast feeds over the next 10 weeks - heres a little sample until season 5 launches this Thursday!
Longtime listeners will remember Season 2s Jill Waddell https://www.maththerapypodcast.com/1734392/8155457-s2e04-how-math-therapy-changed-my-life-w-jill-waddell who shared her inspiring decision to switch careers at age 40 and go back to school for power engineering - facing down her lifelong math anxiety along the way! Vanessa caught up with her after graduation to find out how things turned out (spoiler alert - she was class valedictorian!) and hear what advice shed give her younger self. Jills epic story can show everyone that its never too late in life to face your fears ... even if one of them is math! __ __ And exciting news - Season 5 of Math Therapy is dropping next week! Tell a friend! Share an ep! Rate the pod! You do you. __ __
Theres no other way to say this: we went to prison for Pi Day this year. Longtime listeners will remembers Vanessas fascinating and inspiring interview with Christopher Havens, an inmate serving a 25-year sentence for murder who has rehabilitated himself with math and founded the Prison Mathematics Project (Season 3, Episode 10 https://www.maththerapypodcast.com/1734392/8673539-s3e10-how-math-rehabilitated-a-murderer-w-christopher-havens). Vanessa helped with the virtual Pi Day celebration last year, but this year was a first: PMP was able to host an in-person event at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility in Michigan, and Christopher asked Vanessa to MC! She brought along the OG Math Therapy team, producers Sabina and David, and they recorded their thoughts from the road both en route and immediately after leaving the unforgettable event. Vanessa also unpacks some of the many complex reflections shes had since the trip, and shares the ways Pi Day in prison was ultimately no different from the math events shes facilitated at countless schools and conferences - further proof that the capacity to embrace math is truly universal. Find more about the Prison Math Project at prisonmathproject.org https://www.prisonmathproject.org, where you can: __ __ If you have any questions Vanessa didnt cover about our trip, or any thoughts on this episode at all, please get in touch: __ __
Math Therapy is (briefly) back! Weve been hard at work on a new season which I cant wait for you to hear soon, but I had to share an excerpt of one of the interviews I just did - youll see why. Stanford professor Jo Boaler is one of my math heroes, I referenced her all through my masters thesis, and her work in trying to make math education more equitable has been an inspiration to literally millions of people. But there are some who disagree with her vision so much that they have taken things far beyond the classroom, from accusing her of academic dishonesty to media attacks which have led to threats of violence towards her and her family. So I wanted to share her story of the renewed attacks that shes currently dealing with - if she has helped/inspired you in your math journey please let her know! __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
In our final episode of the season, Vanessa chats with math professor Dr. Anthony Bonato about what it means to be queer in - let’s face it - the historically snobby and closed-minded field that is math. But as soon as you hear Anthony in today’s episode, you’ll understand there will be no silencing his advocacy for diversity & inclusion in math … or for that matter his insistence that Adele’s album titles actually form a unique prime-numbers based mathematical sequence?! Anthony discusses how pop culture can be a tool to make math education more fun, and also how the richest mathematical problem solving that is needed to solve our world’s great challenges can only reach its full potential if we are involving EVERY person in the process. *THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED IN DECEMBER 2021; ANTHONY MENTIONS A POTENTIAL INVASION OF UKRAINE BY RUSSIA, WHICH WAS BEING DISCUSSED AS A POSSIBILITY IN THE NEWS AT THE TIME, BUT NO INVASION HAD BEGUN YET. ABOUT ANTHONY SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Did you know that the infamous math movie Mean Girls was actually inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s non-fiction book called ? Today Vanessa talks to Rosalind about why we need to change the media and messaging that girls get about how it’s not “cool” to be good at math. How can we teach students that they can be good at more than one thing? How can we help them embrace who they are individually in the face of the completely insane pressures of high school!?! Well, don’t despair; Rosalind has a whole career’s worth of inspiring answers to those questions, and provides hope that we can fix our messed up education system. ABOUT ROSALIND https://culturesofdignity.com/ https://www.amazon.ca/Queen-Bees-Wannabes-Boyfriends-Realities/dp/0307454444 https://www.amazon.ca/Distance-Learning-Playbook-Parents-Development/dp/1071838326 https://www.amazon.ca/Owning-Curriculum-Empowering-Adolescents-Injustice/dp/0878226095 SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
You’re probably thinking “what the F*CK is a dude wall?!”, and today Vanessa talks to the incredible Katie Hafner to find out. Katie is an author, journalist, and host of the podcast “Lost Women of Science,” whose mission is to tell the stories of female scientists who history has inconveniently forgotten. But how do we prevent this from happening in the future? How do we encourage more girls and women to go into STEM, and how do we ensure their portraits aren’t left off the walls of our academic institutions? ABOUT KATIE SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
One of the missions of this podcast is challenging stereotypes, and on today’s episode we tackle a big one: Asians and math. Steven Tran grew up with Asian parents, and the pressures and expectations from his family, community, and society as a whole affected his perception of his own math ability. Getting caught cheating in high school could have led him down a very different educational path if not for a teacher that treated him with genuine care and compassion, and, most importantly, believed in Steven and him so. Steven tells Vanessa about how that experience informed his own approach to teaching his students math as a tutor at The Math Guru. ABOUT STEVEN SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
This one’s for all the adults out there who are like “hmmm maybe it’s not too late to learn a little math…”! On today’s episode Vanessa talks to journalist A.K. Whitney, who went back to school at 38 to learn math and chronicled it in Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, and her own podcast/website delightfully titled “The Mathochism Project”. She is basically the definition of overcoming math trauma and making it less of a stigma - but how did she do it? Why don’t more people do it? And how can we make math less traumatic for women and girls? ABOUT A.K. http://www.mathochism.com SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Nothing shows how important teacher-student relationships can be than actually being friends with some of your students over a DECADE later, as is the case with Vanessa and Sophie Soberano. Sophie was one of Vanessa’s first tutoring students, long before The Math Guru even existed! Sophie went from daily math meltdowns in high school to becoming a math teacher who leads her class with compassion and creativity, and today she shares how she uses a mindfulness approach to get her students ready for learning before class. Whether you’re a teacher, a student, a parent, or you just want to hear some hope and optimism about overcoming math anxiety, this episode is for you. ABOUT SOPHIE
Today’s guest has a dream: to dance on the moon. With a robot. The craziest part? This is actually an attainable goal for Dr. Merritt Moore, better known as the “Quantum Ballerina”! Merritt has a PhD in Atomic & Laser Physics and is also a professional ballerina, and if that’s not enough for one resumé, she was recently selected for astronaut training. She went viral during a pandemic lockdown with a video of her dancing with an actual robot as her partner. Today, Merritt tells Vanessa about her fascinating journey, how all her interests intersect, and the inspiring role her parents played early on in fostering an environment in which learning was not just encouraged but celebrated. ABOUT MERRITT https://www.forbes.com/profile/merritt-moore/?sh=7cee47c648cc https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b092ng4q#:~:text=Astronaut%20Chris%20Hadfield%2C%20former%20Nasa,takes%20to%20be%20an%20astronaut. https://www.rebelgirls.com/products/good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Today’s guest is an actual celeb in the math-world. We’re talking A-list, we’re talking literally MILLIONS OF FANS. Grant Sanderson explains very high level math on his YouTube channel, 3Blue1Brown, in a way that is accessible for anyone to tune in and learn from! Vanessa and Grant discuss how he makes math so appealing and unintimidating, how a feeling of discovery or usefulness can help students develop a sense of ownership over a topic, and how teachers can motivate their students to pay attention offline in the classroom. ABOUT GRANT https://www.youtube.com/3blue1brown https://www.3blue1brown.com/podcast SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
We’re not the only ones who binge-watched Netflix’s The Circle over the pandemic, and one reason we were OBSESSED was the breakout star of the show: Terilisha, a math teacher AND musician, who stole our hearts with her IDGAF attitude! Today Vanessa chats with Terilisha about her experience on the show, how the media (and society) struggle to accept that people can be multifaceted, how the educational system fails us early by not prioritizing practical math skills like personal finances, and how she’s determined to defy the stereotype of who/what a “math person” can be. ABOUT TERILISHA SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __
Will you be watching the Oscars this Sunday, comparing the winners with your predictions? Well one person who will be is our first guest of season 4 - Ben Zauzmer https://twitter.com/BensOscarMath, author of Oscarmetrics https://www.amazon.com/Oscarmetrics-Behind-Biggest-Night-Hollywood/dp/1629334405! Ben, who is also the director of baseball analytics for the New York Mets, uses stats from past and present awards to try to predict this years winners, and we also discuss representation and diversity among award winners and across all media, as well as the classic Math Therapy debate: can math and pop culture truly be BFF? SHOW NOTES: __ __ CONNECT WITH US: __ __ Transcript for today’s episode: www.maththerapypodcast.com http://www.maththerapypodcast.com/
