Latest / Math Therapy / Math Therapy Masterclass Part 1: How to start next year with confidence

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Math Therapy Masterclass Part 1: How to start next year with confidence · Math Therapy

• 0:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: math anxiety grows in isolation.
• 0:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's actually how anxiety flourishes.
• 0:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: We keep it to ourselves, our thoughts spiral, we get all in our heads, and that's how it grows and takes us over.
• 0:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: But math confidence grows in community, because when we have community, when we have somebody else reflecting back to us what we're doing and what we're thinking, we see the reality instead of the tricks anxiety is trying to play on our mind.
• 0:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hello, hi, and welcome to another episode of Math Therapy.
• 0:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's me, your host, Vanessa Vakharia.
• 0:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm staring at a lake.
• 0:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is July.
• 0:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: as much as I wanna jump into that lake that I'm looking at, and I'm going to as soon as this is done, I have to record this episode because yesterday I was on a run and I was like,"Oh my God, I had a sudden epiphany, and now I need to turn it into the episode." So, like, I'm aware that this sounds like the ramblings of a crazy person, which it low-key kind of is, but let me back up and tell you this.
• 0:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: So as educators, we are constantly learning.
• 0:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: My teacher friends are, like, the most amazing learners, It's July, they have the summer off, but I, don't know a single person who isn't still, like, listening to podcasts or, like, enrolled in a book study or doing some casual professional development or some not casual professional development.
• 1:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: A couple of weeks ago, I actually keynoted the Summer Learning Institute in Maine, and 100 teachers gathered for three days, like three overnights, to learn about literacy and numeracy.
• 1:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was actually amazing.
• 1:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: But, like, it's work, right?
• 1:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, they're, they are learning.
• 1:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: And so many of my teacher friends are like,"My number one goal is to feel more confident in the classroom next September," you know?
• 1:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like,"I've been feeling a bit anxious around math, and I really wanna feel more confident.
• 1:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: I wanna enter the classroom a more confident teacher." And I feel like the thing we don't talk about that often is the biggest thing standing between you and a more confident September you isn't, like, new instructional practices or more content.
• 1:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm not saying it never is, but I feel like there's a low-key secret thing that's actually standing in the way, and that is your relationship with math.
• 2:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I would even take it one step further.
• 2:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our relationship with math isn't just about math.
• 2:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's our relationship with doing things that seem hard or doing things that we've been told we can't do or doing things that feel unsafe.
• 2:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: And for so many of us, educators included, math is this thing that has historically made us feel unsafe.
• 2:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we can learn all the content in the world, and we can develop all this new pedagogy and instructional practices and get all these new strategies and, like, this and that and ways to start the class and, like, you know, tasks and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 2:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: Those are all great.
• 2:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: But if we feel unsafe, if our nervous systems feel as unsafe as they always have around math, we're never gonna feel better.
• 2:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: It doesn't mean that we're bad teachers.
• 2:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Doesn't mean that we're not doing a good job.
• 2:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: But I want you, the listener, you, hello, I want you to feel good.
• 2:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to walk into September and be like,"I got this.
• 2:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: I fucking got this.
• 2:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I'm not scared." Because being scared is just a shitty feeling, and as someone who feels scared and out of control a lot, um, I, I'm saying that.
• 3:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm saying that firsthand.
• 3:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I say that because you guys have probably all listened to my mental breakdown episode about taxes.
• 3:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, it's not that I'm coming to you with the same energy right now, but the energy is not so different.
• 3:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because I'm noticing that once again, I'm in a spiral around something that makes me feel unsafe, and that thing for me is feeling like I, I'm not organized, feeling like I don't have organizational systems in place, and feeling like I don't understand where to start.
• 3:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: And it is the exact same way that so many educators and non-educators feel about math.
• 3:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: "I don't understand it.
• 3:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've traditionally never felt good at it.
• 3:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: It feels like every time I do it, I get it wrong, and ugh, ick, bleh." Now, let me, let me make this parallel even stronger right now.
• 3:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: I am an organized person, right?
• 3:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you guys, you guys know me.
• 3:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I mean, I'm not saying I'm the most organized person, but I'm obviously organized enough, right?
• 4:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I run several businesses, I travel all the time, and I have yet to miss a flight.
• 4:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: I mean, it's Mercury retrograde, so I shouldn't be putting that out into the ether.
• 4:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: But, like, you know what I mean?
• 4:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I get shit done.
• 4:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, everything's- I'm living my life.
• 4:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I get it together.
• 4:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm fine.
• 4:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I must be organized enough, right?
• 4:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: But it doesn't matter, because I don't feel organized, right?
• 4:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: So as organized I am, as much as my...
• 4:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, it's just like you guys, teachers.
• 4:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're teaching.
• 4:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're doing a great job.
• 4:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: In fact, s- your students are probably like,"This is the best math teacher I've ever had." But you don't feel confident.
• 4:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: You don't feel like a great math teacher, and that honestly matters just as much, if not more, than the reality.
• 4:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I want to get into an episode today that is all about how we are going to get you to feel confident and safe when you are teaching math in the fall.
• 4:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: And if you're listening to this and you're like,"I'm not teaching math in the fall," fine.
• 5:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to feel confident and safe by the time September rolls around.
• 5:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to feel confident and safe whenever math is present in your environment.
• 5:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, here's the thing.
• 5:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Confidence isn't something you have.
• 5:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: Confidence is something your nervous system learns, and it learns that through experiences that validate the fact that you are doing the thing that you are scared of doing, and nothing bad is happening.
• 5:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: It happens through having experiences that actually are safe, and when you complete those experiences or engage in them, your nervous system registers,"Oh, I am safe doing this thing." And it happens through experience because you have had experiences that have showed you the other side.
• 5:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: You've had experiences around math that have shown you,"I'm not safe doing math.
• 5:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Bad shit happens when I do math.
• 5:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't feel good when I do math, and I get in trouble when I do math.
• 5:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get yelled at.
• 5:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get a bad mark.
• 5:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Something bad happens.
• 5:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get a..." Whatever it is, your nervous system has learned that it's not safe for you.
• 6:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we now need to show it through experience that it's not true anymore, that that is an old story.
• 6:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: And the way we are going to do it is through eight experiments that show your nervous system that it is safe doing math Now, okay, this was gonna be one episode.
• 6:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: I was just gonna do eight things in one episode, and then I realized as I started writing them out, I was like,"This is gonna take forever." Like, it's already been five minutes, and we're still in the intro of the episode.
• 6:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I'm actually gonna do my first, like, two-part, let's call it a masterclass'cause it sounds great, but, like, a two-part episode, right?
• 6:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: A two-part mini masterclass on how you are going to feel more confident entering the math classroom in September.
• 6:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: A two-part mini masterclass of eight experiments that we are going to engage in to teach your nervous system that it is safe to do math, and to, through safety, feeling confident around mathematics.
• 6:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: you don't need to try all of them But I want you to find one thing to try.
• 6:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we're about to get into four things right now, and then next week we're gonna do four other things.
• 7:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to find the one thing that you're like,"Okay, I could, I could start trying this out.
• 7:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: I could try this out for a week." Okay?
• 7:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to do that, and I want you to try it.
• 7:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: I also want you to...
• 7:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm sure right now as I'm talking you're like,"Oh my God, I know exactly who needs to hear this episode." Whoever that person is, text this episode to them right now.
• 7:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Get them into the two-part mini masterclass with you.
• 7:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: So for the next two weeks, you guys can listen together, you can pick a thing to try together, and you can engage in this together, because actually, spoiler alert, my first tip is going to be about finding a person to do this with.
• 7:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 7:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we're- I'm jumping ahead here, but I want you to think of that person, okay?
• 7:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to think of that teacher friend that, like, you, you know they have so much potential to feel good, and you're just like, ugh, it breaks your heart every time they, like, you know, sit with you at lunch or on the weekend or in your group chat, and they're like,"Ugh, I feel so shitty, and I feel like, you know, I don't feel confident." And you're sitting there watching them being like,"This person is a great math teacher, and they have the potential to be an even better math teacher if they just felt better and they felt more confident." This episode is for them.
• 8:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's gonna give them actionable things to try, and you sending it to them is gonna show them,"Hey, I believe in you.
• 8:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You have what it takes.
• 8:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: You just need to feel more confident, and I believe that you can do that." So send it to them.
• 8:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you know what?
• 8:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: The eight experiments I'm gonna give you for your nervous system have nothing to do with teaching, okay?
• 8:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Anybody can use these eight things right now.
• 8:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: And remember, we're only gonna get into four of them just so, like, I just wanna prevent overwhelm.
• 8:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're gonna get into four things you can try right away.
• 8:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you're gonna see this isn't really about math, right?
• 8:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: I- like, it is about math, of course, but the cool thing that happens, uh, be- because here's, here's what I'm thinking.
• 8:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you're listening to this and you're like,"I don't feel weird about math," like,"I feel great about math.
• 8:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've never been anxious about math," the reason I love choosing math as a gateway here is because so many people have anxiety around math, right?
• 8:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: We know that by the age of 6, 50% of kids already have anxiety around math.
• 8:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Reports show that 75 to 90% of North Americans have anxiety around math.
• 8:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: That is crazy, right?
• 8:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: That- that's a lot.
• 9:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because so many people feel like math is this thing that is hard, that they can't get over, that makes them feel unsafe, it is the perfect gateway Right?
• 9:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Once we can start feeling more confident around math, all of a sudden it opens up the door to feeling more confident about other things.
• 9:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: If we can tackle this thing that has always felt scary to us, what else can we do, right?
• 9:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: So you'll see, like, it isn't about being like,"Oh my God, I'm gonna feel better about math, so now I can, like, enroll in calculus and become an engineer." No, I want everybody listening to feel a little bit better about their relationship with math, to feel a little bit safer, to feel a little more confident, so then they can go after the thing they really want that they have been scared of for years and years and years, right?
• 9:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is just, like, a stepping stone.
• 9:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, so we're gonna get into it, but before we do, guess what, guys?
• 9:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: This episode is sponsored by Texas Instruments, which means we're doing another giveaway.
• 9:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, I only have one more giveaway left.
• 9:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's happening in August.
• 9:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you guys remember, Texas Instruments has given us the, the, uh, go-ahead to do a giveaway for the new Texas Instruments Evo calculator, and an entire gift box that goes along with that, and I've done one a month since May.
• 10:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: So there's only two left, this one right now, and then one in August.
• 10:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I- if you guys a- are, like, on, on the TI Instagram, you'll know that people are going insane for this calculator.
• 10:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: I actually presented at CAMT in Texas last week.
• 10:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was crazy.
• 10:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: They had this, like, thing where, like, 500 people could, well, you know, could get entry into, like, this TI party, and they'd get a gift bag.
• 10:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, no one knew what was in the gift bag, okay?
• 10:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: But I walked through the hall during the lineup for this party.
• 10:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was like a Taylor Swift concert.
• 10:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: There were 500 screaming fans in line, so excited to get in, so excited for the chance to just, like, party and rage with Texas Instruments, and it turned out that all 500 of them got a new Evo and the cute little calculator plushie that comes in the gift box I'm giving away that everyone's obsessed with.
• 11:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 11:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: So there are so many reasons to be obsessed with this calculator.
• 11:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: My newest obsession, okay, I, that I discovered last week.
• 11:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: The points of interest trace function.
• 11:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Let me explain this to you, okay?
• 11:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: So if you've used a graphing calculator, and even if you haven't, I want you to picture you've got a graph on your screen, okay?
• 11:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: On their beautiful, shiny, lovely screen, there is a graph.
• 11:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can literally trace across that graph, okay?
• 11:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Trace across the function, and the calculator will dynamically highlight key graph features like the zeros, the minimums and the maximums, the Y intercepts, the intersections.
• 11:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: No second function nonsense.
• 11:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you can just trace, and it'll highlight that all for you.
• 11:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: So that is amazing, and also, like, it comes in the cutest colors like berry pink and, like, teal and lavender and silver.
• 11:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, it's just, the whole thing is stunning.
• 11:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, so here's how you're gonna win this calculator.
• 11:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: At some point during this episode, I'm gonna share a code with you, and to enter the giveaway all you have to do is text the podcast.
• 11:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Go to your show notes, click the Text Us button, the link, whatever, and text us the code word and you will automatically be entered.
• 12:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'll pick a winner next week, and just like that, the TI is yours.
• 12:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 12:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is a long introduction, but I feel like I've said some very useful stuff in the introduction.
• 12:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: So whatever.
• 12:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is what it is.
• 12:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Here we go Part one of a two-part mini masterclass on how to feel more confident about math in September by engaging in eight little experiments that are going to help your brain feel safer around math.
• 12:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're gonna do four this week, starting with number one, which is find one math friend.
• 12:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, here's the thing.
• 12:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: There's a whole myth out there that, like, confident mathematicians don't need help.
• 12:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, it's a solo sport.
• 12:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, they don't need to ask for help during questions.
• 12:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: And in fact, I actually think this is why we have been so adverse to collaboration in math class for so long.
• 12:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we've really treated math class like it's this thing you're supposed to be able to do on your own.
• 12:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: You asking for help is cheating.
• 12:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 12:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is such bullshit because I want you guys to think about the real world.
• 12:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to think about what scientists and mathematicians have been doing for years, for centuries.
• 13:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: They have been working with one another.
• 13:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's what they do.
• 13:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Any good scientist, they, they're not discovering things on their own.
• 13:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're collaborating, they're exchanging experiments, they're, like, doing trials.
• 13:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're being like,"Ooh, what worked for you?
• 13:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: What, like, should I do here?" Like, la, la, la, la, la.
• 13:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, that is how innovation actually happens, and problem-solving is all about creativity and collaboration.
• 13:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: So that's number one, okay?
• 13:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: We've gotta get rid of this solo sport thing.
• 13:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I want you out there, if you're thinking,"Well, yeah, I can do math sometimes, and sometimes I get this right, but I always have to ask someone," great.
• 13:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Guess what you're doing when you ask someone?
• 13:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're acting like a mathematician.
• 13:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, like if this is not your first episode ever, if this is your first episode, welcome to the pod, and like, I know this episode sounds very unhinged, but I'm not always this unhinged, and I also am always this unhinged.
• 13:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 13:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Anyways, if you've been listening for a while, you will know that all of our guests are constantly talking about the people they love.
• 14:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: They are referencing those that inspired them to get into field.
• 14:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're talking about how other people's works have been a jumping-off point for their work.
• 14:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we are all working together.
• 14:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I want you to know the mathiest people you know, like if you're like,"Oh my God, but this person's so good at math," they, they are standing on the shoulders of greats.
• 14:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know?
• 14:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Someone inspired them.
• 14:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: They used their work.
• 14:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're still asking for help.
• 14:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're still collaborating with their friends.
• 14:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I want you to find one math friend to collaborate with you starting right now on your journey.
• 14:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: This doesn't mean that you and your friend have to do math together every day.
• 14:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's that friend that you are going to text when you're like,"Ugh, I'm really, really stressed.
• 14:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: I can't figure this thing out," or,"Ugh, I'm so frustrated.
• 14:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: I tried to do this thing and I failed.
• 14:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Can you help me not feel like shit about myself?" It's your pep-talking friend.
• 14:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: This friend doesn't need to have to do anything with math.
• 14:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe they hate math And if they do hate math, they, they should actually engage in this entire program with you.
• 14:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: That would even be better.
• 14:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's the friend that you're gonna text for that pick-me-up.
• 14:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's the teacher friend that when a lesson flops, you message them to be like,"This thing totally flopped," and they help you see the other side.
• 15:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: They help you see what they learned, okay?
• 15:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: That is gonna be step number one.
• 15:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: You need someone to engage on this journey with.
• 15:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: They don't have to do the journey with you, but they have to be the person that you're gonna text when you feel like, ugh, this isn't working the way I thought.
• 15:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because guess what, guys?
• 15:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're embarking on a journey, an experimenting journey, which means what happens when we do experiments?
• 15:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: They flop a lot of the time, right?
• 15:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: They don't turn out the way we expect.
• 15:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: That is a whole part, thing about, like, experimenting.
• 15:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: You've gotta be ready for that, right?
• 15:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when you're ready for that, you are gonna be good to go.
• 15:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because when you fail, when you encounter an obstacle, which you will, you'll have that person to text for a little pep talk, okay?
• 15:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: So think about that one person who's gonna be your go-to texter.
• 15:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe you're even gonna message them and be like,"Hey, I don't know, I'm doing this weird, like, experiment, this mini masterclass with, like, math therapy.
• 15:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: It might be nothing, but I might need to text you one- once in a while for a pep talk." You know?
• 15:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Tell them that right now so they are ready and they're on board.
• 15:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to remember math anxiety grows in isolation.
• 16:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's actually how anxiety flourishes.
• 16:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: We keep it to ourselves, our thoughts spiral, we get all in our heads, and that's how it grows and takes us over.
• 16:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: But math confidence grows in community, because when we have community, when we have somebody else reflecting back to us what we're doing and what we're thinking, we see the reality instead of the tricks anxiety is trying to play on our mind.
• 16:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 16:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number two, experiment and experience number two is you are going to replace proving with improving.
• 16:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: How often are we secretly trying to prove that we're good enough, right?
• 16:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Especially I feel like in education, we are constantly feeling like we're being evaluated by our students, by their parents, by the leaders, by the admin, like by the whatever, the, the data.
• 16:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you know what I mean?
• 16:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, it's always like this feeling like we've gotta like show that we are mastering what we're doing.
• 16:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, here's the thing What are we asking our students to do?
• 16:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: We want our students to be learning and growing and progressing.
• 16:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: We don't want them to be perfect, yet we hold ourselves to a completely different standard, right?
• 17:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I think a lot of us think, I don't know about you guys, but I always think when I tell someone that I do math or I'm a math teacher, immediately something in my mind goes,"Okay, Vanessa, you just told them you are a math teacher.
• 17:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: You now have to get every single mathematical thing ever perfect in front of this person," right?
• 17:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: You cannot make a wrong calculation error.
• 17:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can't hesitate.
• 17:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can't say,"I don't know." Like, you better be ready to calculate, to crunch numbers, and to just get it right every single time, to have every single answer.
• 17:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's crazy.
• 17:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I do this work, and I still feel that way, and I think it's because, again, I, I...
• 17:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: We could dig so deep into this.
• 17:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have this idea that if you're good at math, you're supposed to be this, like, genius that's, like, infallible.
• 17:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I actually think about music, you know?
• 17:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I think...
• 17:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: I, I'm actually wondering this out loud.
• 17:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm like, if I tell someone I'm a musician, which, like, I am, I'm a musician, there have actually been times when people have done things to challenge that.
• 17:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: I remember our band was auditioning this drummer once.
• 18:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we were trying to find a new drummer for the band, and this guy we were auditioning said, he named some band.
• 18:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: He was like,"Oh, blah, blah, blah, I'm really inspired by whoever." And I was like,"Oh, I don't know who that is." And he literally said to me,"You're a singer in a rock band, and you don't know who blah, blah, blah is?
• 18:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, that should be illegal." And I was like,"Okay, well, first of all, fuck you.
• 18:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm never hiring you.
• 18:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's my band, and you are not gonna be my drummer." But I also was like, even though I knew it was bullshit, I was sort of like,"Oh, like, that's the, that's his standard?" Right?
• 18:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Is, is that a thing?
• 18:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, if you're a musician, you should know every single band?
• 18:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, if you're a musician, should you know every single note?
• 18:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: And it's taken me a while, but I'm very comfortable now with being like,"Yeah, I'm a musician, and these are the things I do." Like, I play a keytar, and, like, I can shred a solo for you, but, like, I don't know anything about music theory.
• 18:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I think about David, actually, who is one of the best guitarists I know.
• 18:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: He knows nothing about music theory.
• 18:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: It doesn't matter.
• 18:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: He's an incredible guitarist, right?
• 18:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: No one would ever debate that.
• 18:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I think we've got to carry that over into math class is, like, you can be, uh, uh, like somebody who does math.
• 19:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can be good at math.
• 19:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can teach math.
• 19:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can be a math learner.
• 19:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can be a math doer.
• 19:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can be a math thinker, and it doesn't suddenly mean you need to, like, expertly know how to do every single mathematical thing in the world.
• 19:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: That doesn't even make sense.
• 19:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: There's so much math, right?
• 19:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: So, like, I think this is the thing, the idea of replacing proving with improving.
• 19:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Instead of being like,"Oh my God, I need to be 100% at everything I do," I want you to ask this question Okay?
• 19:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Every single day starting now, I want you to ask this question about anything.
• 19:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: It can be about math, it can be about math, but remember, these are eight experiments to get your nervous system feeling safer around doing math, AKA around doing something that you think is hard, that you don't feel confident about right now.
• 19:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: And that doesn't always mean doing math.
• 19:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: It means setting the stage in your nervous system and mind to feel better around hard things that make you anxious.
• 19:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: So here's the question you're gonna ask every single day this week.
• 20:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: What's one thing I could understand 1% better today?
• 20:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: It can be anything.
• 20:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe I wanna know how AI actually works.
• 20:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe I wanna understand why does my oat milk curdle in coffee sometimes, but not all the times.
• 20:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, is it the, is it a temperature?
• 20:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Is it the type of oat milk?
• 20:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I don't get it.
• 20:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: How your car works, how GPS actually works, how the thing on Waze will say, like,"There's a police person here." Are they still there?
• 20:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, who has to input that in for that to show up?
• 20:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe you're trying to understand why your hair is frizzy sometimes.
• 20:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, Maybe you are trying to understand why flipping and multiplying works with fractions.
• 20:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe it is a math thing you're trying to understand.
• 20:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't care what it is you're trying to understand, but I want you to try to understand something.
• 20:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: No, I want you to understand something 1% better.
• 20:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to- don't want you to understand the entire thing.
• 20:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: So for example, if I'm like,"I wanna figure out why my oat milk is curdling," I might do a preliminary search.
• 20:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: I might ask a barista, and I'm gonna take one piece of information, and that is gonna make me 1% smarter about that thing.
• 21:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, this is not a mathematical calculation, okay?
• 21:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: But, like, the point is, I don't want you being like,"I am going to fully research all the ins and outs of oat milk and exactly how curdling works." And, like, a 10 hours later, you have, like, a 20-page report.
• 21:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: No.
• 21:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: No.
• 21:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't want you to do that.
• 21:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Why?
• 21:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number one, it's overwhelming, and we're not trying to overwhelm you.
• 21:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're trying to show your nervous system it can learn new things incrementally in a small and stress-free way.
• 21:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 21:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're trying to show you,"I didn't understand something, and now I still don't fully understand it, but I understand it a little bit more." You're trying to show your nervous system it can grow and change.
• 21:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're trying to show your nervous system that as your brain grows and changes, it doesn't have to be scary.
• 21:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you see what I mean?
• 21:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: So, like, how does GPS work?
• 21:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's, that is giving me anxiety even thinking of trying to learn that.
• 21:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe I can figure out one question.
• 21:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: One question.
• 21:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe I can go onto Google and be like,"How does GPS know where I am right now?" And if I was really being smart about it, I'd be like,"Can you explain to me, like I'm a six-year-old, how when I open my phone, GPS locates me in this exact spot?
• 22:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is it doing?" Like, I don't know, whatever.
• 22:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, do you know what I mean?
• 22:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, what is something that you're interested in learning about that every day you're just like,"I don't really know.
• 22:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't really care." Right?
• 22:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Or you're like,"I don't really know and it stresses me out." You guys know from that episode I did around taxes right?
• 22:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: You guys know what happened to me.
• 22:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: I had such a meltdown because every day for my entire life I have not understood how taxes work.
• 22:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Really.
• 22:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Honestly.
• 22:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: And finally, I called an accountant and asked a few questions, and it took the temperature down so much.
• 22:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have 10 billion more questions.
• 22:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't really...
• 22:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't know a lot of things.
• 22:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: But in him explaining a few things to me, number one, it showed me I am capable of understanding things related to taxes.
• 22:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number two, it made me realize, oh, him answering these three questions make, like, 30 of my other questions null and void.
• 23:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't even have to ask them.
• 23:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: They don't actually really matter now that I understand these three questions.
• 23:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: And three or four, whatever number I'm on It signaled to me, oh, I understand a little more now.
• 23:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm less confused.
• 23:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm less stressed out because I'm less confused.
• 23:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, this kinda reminds me of my episode with Cathy Marks-Kirpan last week, how she was talking about how the reason plane travel and things going wrong on planes feel so stressful to her is because of just not knowing what's going on, right?
• 23:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you're sitting there, you're on the plane, and you're like...
• 23:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're like,"Mechanical issues.
• 23:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you're just gonna sit here for some indeterminate amount of time." And you're like,"I have no fucking clue what's going on." Like, what is the technical issue?
• 23:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Is it the wing falling off or is it the air conditioning?
• 23:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, what's an indeterminate amount of time?
• 23:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Could you keep us here for 10 hours?
• 23:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: And if like a flight attendant was just like,"Just FYI, we can't tell you that much, but just so you know, the mechanical issue is just a superficial one.
• 23:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's not related to the safety of the plane.
• 23:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: And regarding timing, we don't know how long you'll be here, but it won't be longer than two hours." You'd be like,"Okay, I don't know everything, but I know 1% more and I feel a lot better." So number one, it really turns the temperature down.
• 24:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: But the key thing about learning that little 1% is it shows you you have the ability to learn something you did not know.
• 24:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: You wanna give yourself that aha moment every single day to train your body, to train your mind to know I'm getting this aha moment.
• 24:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: I can get it with math.
• 24:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I would start by doing it with things that feel really comfortable and not scary.
• 24:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like for me, the scariest thing would be like, all right, I'm gonna learn 1% about like something legal or tax related.
• 24:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, ugh, that's, that's too high stakes for me.
• 24:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's too stressful.
• 24:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's like, you know, someone listening being like,"I'm gonna learn 1% more about math." If that's such a trigger, don't start with math, right?
• 24:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Start with something else.
• 24:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, start with something you want to understand.
• 24:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe you wanna understand, like, why it is that, you know, some people can dye their hair blonde and others like me can't because it just starts falling off.
• 24:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I don't know.
• 24:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't know.
• 24:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I really don't know what you wanna understand.
• 25:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Start with something low stakes, but every day make sure you're learning 1% more about something.
• 25:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when you're ready for it, add onto that.
• 25:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: So maybe we're g- let's go back to the oat milk.
• 25:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: One, one little fun fact about why oat milk curdles, and maybe tomorrow I'm like,"Okay, I understand that.
• 25:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm gonna, I'm, I'm gonna ask further." Like, are there different types of oat milk that, like, curdle differently?
• 25:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Then maybe I'm gonna ask the next day, what about the acidity of the base that I put the oat milk in?
• 25:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Why am I obsessed with this?
• 25:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't know.
• 25:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: But the point is now I'm building on that knowledge, right?
• 25:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: The goal is for me to learn all about this thing, but to know that my goal is never to learn 100% of the thing.
• 25:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: That is so overwhelming.
• 25:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: So okay, that's what you're doing this week, okay?
• 25:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are gonna learn 1%.
• 25:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is your question: What's one thing I could understand 1% better today?
• 25:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I want you to start that as soon as this podcast is over.
• 25:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is something you're gonna learn today?
• 25:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is something you're gonna understand 1% better?
• 25:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when you're ready, and this does not have to be this week, maybe it's next week during our part two, you are going to ask yourself about something mathematical.
• 26:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is something about this concept I could understand 1% better?
• 26:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: But you don't have to do that yet.
• 26:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 26:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, it has been a lot.
• 26:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God, can you believe I was gonna try to do eight experiments/experiences in this one episode?
• 26:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're only at number two and it's already been over 25 minutes.
• 26:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, don't worry.
• 26:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm gonna be, I'm gonna, I'm gonna wrap things up a little bit quicker with the next two.
• 26:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: But before I do, it is time for the Texas Instruments code word, which is a code sentence, and that sentence is,"Math is hot." Go to the app that you're listening to this podcast to, click the Text Us link in your show notes, and text us the sentence,"Math is hot," and you'll automatically be entered to win the new Texas Instruments 84 Evo.
• 26:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 26:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we had experiment number one, which is finding one math friend.
• 26:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna find a math friend that you are gonna text when things get rough.
• 26:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number two, you're gonna replace proving with improving.
• 26:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, you're gonna replace the idea of proving that you're right to just improving on your knowledge every single day.
• 27:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: And number three is that you are gonna build an evidence folder.
• 27:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, let me explain this to you.
• 27:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our brains are, are wired with a negativity bias, okay?
• 27:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: And that is a protective mechanism.
• 27:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: I talk about this on the podcast a lot, but as a reminder, our negativity bias wants to remember the bad shit that has happened to us.
• 27:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is trying to protect us.
• 27:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is on the lookout.
• 27:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's like,"Ugh, remember this time though when you did math and, like, you felt so ashamed, and you shut down, and you couldn't even, like, breathe, and you couldn't see straight, and it just sucked, and you couldn't understand no matter how much your teacher explained it to you?
• 27:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Remember that time?
• 27:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: That could happen again.
• 27:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Danger.
• 27:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Danger.
• 27:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Danger.
• 27:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Danger." That's what it's doing, okay?
• 27:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, maybe since that time you've had, like, 30 great math experiences.
• 27:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: You understood something.
• 27:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: You taught a lesson.
• 27:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: You taught a ton of lessons.
• 27:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Everything was fine.
• 27:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Doesn't matter.
• 27:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Your brain is still like,"Yeah, but that one time, that one time could happen again." Because its entire job is to protect us from bad shit, which is so nice, right?
• 28:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, so nice of it to, like, be on the lookout for us.
• 28:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: What a great friend.
• 28:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, that's so nice.
• 28:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: We appreciate it.
• 28:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: However, it is really cramping our style at this point because it is preventing us from doing the thing we need to do to feel more confident around math, which is we need to engage in more mathematical experiences, and we don't want to because we're scared of this bad shit happening to us.
• 28:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: So here's what we have to do.
• 28:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have to build an evidence folder to show this negativity bias.
• 28:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have to literally be like,"I get that you're hung up on that one time, or these few times, or all of grade four, whatever.
• 28:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get that you're hung up on it, but look at all the evidence I have that when I do math and when I'm around math, it's actually a good vibe." We can't just experience math in a positive way.
• 28:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have to experience math in a positive way, gather that evidence, and hold it up to our negativity bias and be like,"Hello.
• 28:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Check it out.
• 28:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've got the receipts, babe.
• 29:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, they're all right here." We have to make it so salient to our brain that we are counteracting the negativity bias with all of the positive receipts Now, remember at the beginning of this episode I was like,"It's not like I'm having another mental breakdown, but, like, I low-key am"?
• 29:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Here's why.
• 29:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: We, I, I now know what's going on.
• 29:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is exactly like my last episode.
• 29:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get v- I get really worked up around feeling disorganized.
• 29:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: I am constantly feeling like there are better systems, there are better ways of doing things, I'm so behind, I'm being inefficient.
• 29:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: It, it's my trigger.
• 29:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's just my thing, okay?
• 29:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: And every time it comes up, I start spiraling.
• 29:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: All I'm thinking about are spreadsheets and apps that I've never even used, but that I'm convinced must be better than what I'm doing now.
• 29:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm like,"I must have some better system." Like,"Oh my God, I almost missed this thing.
• 29:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, my spreadsheet isn't complete.
• 29:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: I didn't fill out this thing.
• 29:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, my website is missing the..." Like, I start focusing on all the things I have not done, I'm not doing, I could and should be doing.
• 29:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: This morning in my journal, I wrote down that one of my goals for today was to collect receipts for my negativity bias of all the ways I am organized.
• 30:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is so hard to do, guys.
• 30:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's so hard to do, but that's why I'm on here telling you to do it.
• 30:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: We are both doing it.
• 30:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: I am your math friend now.
• 30:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: We are now doing step one together.
• 30:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we are accountable to one another.
• 30:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: I am trying to s- to rewire, to show my negativity bias,"But babe, we are organized.
• 30:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, sure, there's all these things we could be doing, but look at all the things we are doing.
• 30:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm sitting here recording a podcast episode at the exact date that it's due.
• 30:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm not even late.
• 30:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm recording it right now.
• 30:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have answered all of the emails in my inbox that are urgent.
• 30:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, those are done." But of course, my negativity bias is like,"But all the other ones sitting in there, you could be answering those, too." And now I'm like,"I know I could be, but I've answered all the ones I have to." Right?
• 30:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, this is collecting the receipts.
• 30:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is collecting evidence.
• 30:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: And honestly, me saying it out loud to you is solidifying it more.
• 30:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: But if, if you, if I was you, if you were me, whatever, I mean, you could start your own podcast, but I need you to write them down.
• 31:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: I need you to write them down.
• 31:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: I need you to take pictures.
• 31:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: I need you to create an evidence folder.
• 31:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: And what are you finding evidence of?
• 31:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are finding evidence that you are capable of learning new things and doing hard things, okay?
• 31:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Learning new things, doing hard things.
• 31:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Again, they can be related to math if you want them to be.
• 31:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: To me, that is the next step that we don't even have to start till next week.
• 31:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: We don't even have to bring math into it.
• 31:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: But hey, babe, if you wanna start with some mathy things that you have learned Or that you have done, please put those in the evidence folder.
• 31:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: The whole point of the evidence folder is to show the negativity bias,"Hey, when you do math, it's not always bad.
• 31:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hey, when you learn new things, it's not always bad.
• 31:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hey, when you do hard things, it's not always bad.
• 31:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: In fact, it's often great." Okay?
• 31:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I need you to gather that evidence because the more you can show your negativity bias,"Hey, I know you're scared, I know bad things can happen, but look at all the great things that have happened as a result of me learning new things, doing hard things, and doing math," the less scared you are and the more your nervous system registers,"It's safe to do math.
• 32:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's safe to do hard things.
• 32:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's safe to do things I don't know how to do." So I want you to collect moments, small wins over things you found frustrating, understanding something that felt tricky.
• 32:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, it doesn't have to be math related, as I said, but it has to be related to the fact that you are learning new things or doing hard things because we are flexing the same muscle as when you tackle the thing that feels scary to you, which for many of you listening is math, right?
• 32:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: So the more we can flex that muscle, the more we can strengthen it, the more we can just show the nervous system it is safe to engage in this type of activity, the more confident you're gonna feel in the fall, but also the more confident you're gonna feel to try more math throughout the rest of the summer.
• 32:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Remember, confidence is not positive thinking.
• 32:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's not like s- looking in the mirror and being like,"I can do hard things." Like,"I'm not scared.
• 33:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Math doesn't scare me." I love math-firmations.
• 33:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love them, but that's not where confidence comes from.
• 33:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Confidence isn't positive thinking.
• 33:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: Confidence is remembered evidence.
• 33:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: It really is.
• 33:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's embodied evidence that comes from experience.
• 33:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, and finally, for experiment/experience number four, you are...
• 33:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, you just finished collecting your evidence.
• 33:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna be collecting evidence every single day.
• 33:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now you are gonna collect math moments, and this is the only, like, fully mathy one that we are gonna do this week.
• 33:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Here's what you're gonna do.
• 33:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're collecting evidence that you can do hard things, you can learn new things, you can grow and change, you can have aha moments, like, whatever.
• 33:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, what you're gonna do is you are going to show your, not just your negativity bias, okay?
• 33:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: But you're gonna actually show your reticular activating system.
• 33:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Don't worry, big word, we'll get into it in a second.
• 33:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna show it that you have been around and engaging with math every single day, and it's actually been a great time.
• 34:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, our reticular activating system/RAS is this thing in our brain that, like, it's kind of like our algorithm in our phones.
• 34:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: It catches on to the fact that we're interested in something, and it shows it to us.
• 34:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: So for example, you guys know I love 222.
• 34:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's my angel number.
• 34:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: I see 222 literally everywhere.
• 34:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's not because 222 is, like, popping up more than normal for me.
• 34:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's because I'm seeing it more than other people.
• 34:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, you and I could go through the exact same day in the same place with the same clocks and technology around us, and I'm gonna see 222 more than you because my brain, my reticular activating system, is on high alert to point it out when it happens.
• 34:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: It doesn't mean you're not gonna see it, but you're not gonna register it or care, right?
• 34:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our reticular activating system works for us.
• 34:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: It works for us.
• 34:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's like a work bitch situation, right?
• 34:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we're like,"I wanna see this.
• 34:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Show me this." Now, normally we do this subconsciously, but we are gonna do it consciously.
• 34:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: We are gonna say to it,"I want you to show me all the math I am doing and all the math around me, starting right now.
• 35:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are literally gonna become a math detective.
• 35:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 35:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: You and your RAS are gonna be like cute little PIs, and you're gonna be like,"All right, we're on the hunt." As you're walking around the day, I want you to notice things.
• 35:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: You pay for your coffee, you notice the temperature of that warm beverage.
• 35:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're in the park and you see the symmetry of the flowers.
• 35:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: You hear music at a grocery store and you're like,"This really is off tempo for the fact that I'm shopping for tomato sauce right now.
• 35:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: I just don't feel like these things are vibing.
• 35:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: The rhythm is really off." You're gonna notice architecture around you.
• 35:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna notice how buildings are designed.
• 35:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe you're on a trip and you're like,"Oh my God, wow, it looks so different here.
• 35:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: What's making it look different?" Maybe it's the angles of the houses.
• 35:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Maybe it's the way that things are constructed and built.
• 35:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are going to be watching sports, and you're gonna notice moves that people are gonna making.
• 35:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna be talking about the score, and all th- You're already doing these things.
• 35:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're already doing these things, but I want you and your RAS to work together to say,"Ding, ding, ding, math alert." Okay?
• 35:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just like that.
• 35:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: "Ding, ding, ding, math alert" every single time.
• 36:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: You go to a yoga class, you're noticing that that teacher is sequencing things so perfectly.
• 36:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're realizing that you can follow the pattern subconsciously because, oh my God, wow, I'm in tune with this pattern and sequence without even meaning to.
• 36:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: How mathematical of me.
• 36:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Ding, ding, ding, math alert.
• 36:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Right?
• 36:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I want you to like, you're on a beach and you're looking at the waves, and the pattern of the waves, and the tide, and whatever.
• 36:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to, you're collecting math moments, and you're ding, ding, dinging math alert all the way home.
• 36:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 36:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: So for the next week, that's what you're doing.
• 36:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Again, write these down.
• 36:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: What you're doing here, this isn't just like,"Oh, cool, yeah, I'm doing math," and then in your mind you're like,"But this isn't actually scary math." That's not the point of this.
• 36:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: The point of this, again, is to show your nervous system math is around me, I'm doing math, I'm noticing math, I'm wondering about math, I'm engaging in math, and nothing bad is happening.
• 36:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: That is the entire point of these four things that we've done together today.
• 36:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 36:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Right?
• 36:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: The point of these four things is not to suddenly make you a fractions expert.
• 37:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: The point is to show your nervous system when math is around me, when I engage in math, when I try new things that are hard, when I approach things that I'm anxious about, nothing bad happens.
• 37:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: I am safe.
• 37:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when you're safe, you have a gateway to confidence.
• 37:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: You cannot feel confident when you are in fear.
• 37:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: We are just trying to get you to feel safe so that next week in part two of this mini master class, this mini Math Therapy master class.
• 37:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God, why wasn't I saying that from the beginning?
• 37:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Next week in our part two of our mini Math Therapy master class series...
• 37:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: okay, whatever.
• 37:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'll workshop that.
• 37:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: We will start getting into four other experiments and experiences you can engage in to help you feel even safer and more confident when you head into the math classroom in the fall.
• 37:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 37:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God, that was long.
• 37:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: That was really long.
• 37:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, are we ready?
• 37:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: So let's wrap up.
• 37:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: So we have four things for you to try doing.
• 37:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Let's go over them.
• 37:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number one is find one math friend or just that friend, right?
• 37:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, we're calling this person a math friend, but it's that person you can text in a pinch when you're feeling like,"Ugh, this feels frustrating," or it feels hard, or,"I don't know if I can carry on." Number two, you are gonna replace the word proving with improving by asking yourself,"What's one thing I could understand 1% better today?" Number three, you are gonna build an evidence folder.
• 38:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Evidence that you can learn new things and do hard things, okay?
• 38:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to fill that evidence folder.
• 38:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: And number four, you're gonna start collecting math moments.
• 38:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: You and your RAS are gonna be ding, ding, ding, math alerting your way through the week.
• 38:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay?
• 38:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: So now, you are going to tell me which one you're gonna do.
• 38:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Reminder about the giveaway, by the way, right?
• 38:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: I said the code word after the second tip, so you can text the code word/code sentence to us by hitting the link in your show notes that says Text Us.
• 38:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: While you're at it, tell me the one thing you're gonna try this week.
• 38:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Out of these four, tell me the one thing you're gonna try this week.
• 38:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: And remember to tune in next week for part two.
• 38:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: And of course, if you're listening to this and you're like,"Oh my God.
• 38:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God.
• 38:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: I know who needs to try this", text this to them right now, and in fact, they can be your math friend.
• 38:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: You texting them this podcast can be you doing experiment number one, which is to find a math friend.
• 39:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: So there you go.
• 39:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: There you go.
• 39:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you guys so much for listening.
• 39:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're the best.
• 39:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: I hope you're having the best summer.
• 39:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: I can't wait to hear from you, and I can't wait for us to all feel more confident around math and safer in our bodies starting right now.