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5 simple Math Therapy strategies for your classroom (weekly podcast launch!) · Math Therapy

• 0:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hey guys, it's Vanessa, AKA, The Math Guru, and welcome to Math Therapy.
• 0:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, this isn't just another episode, because as of today, Math Therapy is officially a weekly podcast.
• 0:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, which I know so many of you have, you know that normally we've only done 10 episodes a year, and while that was amazing, I always felt like, ugh, there are so many other people I want to interview, there's so many ideas I have, there's so many episodes I wanna do, but I felt so restricted and I've been working a long time to get this going so that we can just have a new episode for you every single week.
• 0:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: So every single Thursday you can expect a new episode of Math Therapy.
• 0:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: So make sure you're subscribed on whatever podcast app you use so you never miss a week.
• 0:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now to kick off the season, I know it's back to school and some of you have already been in school for like a month, but as of today, every single educator is back in the classroom.
• 0:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I know it's such a stressful time.
• 1:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're getting used to your new classroom, your students, like your new coworkers, if you've changed schools, like new routines, there's so much going on and I wanted to make my first episode something that could be really useful and practical without like, overloading you.
• 1:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I thought, because so many of you have been doing math therapy book studies with my book, which I have loved by the way, I've also gotten so many messages from you being like, I love this so much, there are so many things I can use in the classroom, and I'm wondering what the one quick thing I can do right away is.
• 1:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: I get that question all the time.
• 1:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: What's one quick thing I can do right away?
• 1:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I get that.
• 1:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, as educators we're so strapped for time.
• 1:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have so much going on and math therapy's about healing relationships with math.
• 1:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's about mitigating math anxiety.
• 1:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's about deeply healing math trauma.
• 1:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: And yeah, there are some things that take a little more time.
• 1:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: But there are things we can do in literally five seconds that will totally change the game for us and our students.
• 2:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: And on today's episode, I'm going to share five low lift, five second strategies, like tiny teacher moves that will have a huge impact on healing math trauma, and lowering anxiety.
• 2:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm actually so pumped because you guys can use these right away in the moment, and they will have a huge impact, and they will take you literally five seconds.
• 2:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: So before we get to those, I also wanna tell you a couple of other like announcements.
• 2:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: The first is the audiobook for math therapy is done.
• 2:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is finished.
• 2:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: It should be available on Audible and every single other audiobook platform very, very soon.
• 2:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: I, I don't know when it just kind of drops and there's no like warning.
• 2:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I don't know.
• 2:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: It might be out right now.
• 2:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Go check.
• 2:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Also so excited to tell you guys that I have created an entire Math Therapy merch line, which will also be available soon.
• 2:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can go to math therapy.com and click merch, and you're gonna see that all very, very shortly.
• 3:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: So now you can wear your love for Math Therapy.
• 3:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, one more thing.
• 3:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can now text the podcast.
• 3:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: So this year, you know, now that we're a weekly episode, or sorry, a weekly, uh, podcast, we're gonna be doing all sorts of cool things.
• 3:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've got a ton of interviews with incredible guests that you're gonna love, but I'm also gonna be doing solo episodes, like today's episode where I'm just talking and sharing.
• 3:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're also gonna be asking for questions from you guys and doing mailbag episodes where we ask for your stories.
• 3:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: So if at any point you have a question or a suggestion or something you want us to do an episode on, you can now text the podcast by clicking the link in the description of this episode in whatever app you're listening to right now.
• 3:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can also like DM me at the Math Guru on Instagram.
• 3:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Email me vanessa@themathguru.ca.
• 3:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 3:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Those are all the things I wanted to tell you.
• 3:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: But let's do it.
• 3:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Let's get into it.
• 3:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, you don't have time.
• 3:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: I already just said that.
• 3:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I want to share right now, five low lift, five second strategies, five tiny teacher moves, that have a huge impact on healing math trauma, and lowering anxiety that you can use right now.
• 4:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: And if you've got friends, teacher friends, district leaders, colleagues who are like, Ugh, I really wanna do some math therapy this year.
• 4:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: I really wanna make math anxiety a focus.
• 4:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Make sure you send them this episode because this is totally gonna change the game for you and for them.
• 4:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 4:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Let's get into it.
• 4:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: ​Low lift Math Therapy strategy number one, watch your facial expressions and body language.
• 4:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay guys, I have been learning so much about the nervous system for the past two years.
• 4:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: It is literally my obsession and it has changed my life.
• 4:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: And one of the things I've learned is we are designed, we have evolved biologically to co-regulate with one another.
• 4:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: I just, here, let me explain what that means.
• 4:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, when you kind of say like, you can feel someone's energy, or you're like, that person has bad energy, or their energy is off, or, I just love that person's energy.
• 4:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's not a woo woo thing.
• 4:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's actually science.
• 4:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: We have evolved to be able to sense somebody else's energy so we can feel safe and we know when to feel scared.
• 5:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: So that's actually often why we like partnership or we have these really great friends and we like spending time with them because when we're around them, our entire body's relaxed.
• 5:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, there are those people that like, you're relaxed when you're around them.
• 5:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Your shoulders drop down a bit, you breathe a bit easier.
• 5:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: And then there are those people where you're around them and you like get really tense and your back is literally up, like your shoulders are raised and you're like, Ugh, like I just, I, everything feels tighter.
• 5:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, it's a real thing.
• 5:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: And because it's a real thing, it happens in our classrooms and our students actually regulate off of our cues, and our nervous systems regulate off of their cues.
• 5:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: So what that means is our body language and facial expressions actually have a visceral effect on somebody else, right?
• 5:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like if we are feeling tense and our faces show that we're feeling tense.
• 5:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our students can sense that, and they tense up alongside with us.
• 5:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: In fact, when they say, you guys may have heard that like math anxiety is, uh, contagious, part of what that means is literally when we're really, really anxious because our students are co-regulating with us, that anxiety is contagious.
• 6:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, what this means is, it's actually really, really quick.
• 6:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's a quick fix for you to deescalate when a student is in a state of anxiety.
• 6:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm gonna give you an example.
• 6:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: The last episode, uh, we recorded when I was in Bali, actually was with this woman named Charizma.
• 6:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: She's amazing.
• 6:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: She was 30 and I helped her like work through her relationship with math.
• 6:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: And so she's on this journey, she's healing her relationship with math, and she had this, like episode where she was doing math in her house and her boyfriend was testing her and she got the wrong answer to something.
• 6:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she remembers and describes this moment so perfectly where she's like, everything was going well.
• 6:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: And then he scrunched up his face.
• 6:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she said it threw her into a literal spiral.
• 6:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like he crunched up his face and said, how did you get that answer?
• 7:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, you know exactly what I'm talking about because I've done this so many times inadvertently to students.
• 7:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, I'm like, what?
• 7:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: How did you do that?
• 7:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: She said it completely dysregulated her.
• 7:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: She had been in this state of like trying to actually do math and like feeling good about it and being okay with making mistakes, but as soon as he did that, it sent her entire nervous system into dysregulation, and that's a very real thing that happens.
• 7:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: She ended up like spending the night crying.
• 7:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: She talked to ChatGPT, who like gave her some of its own math therapy and eventually she ended up, up having like a really big talk with him and being like, this is what happened, and why you threw it, threw me off.
• 7:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: And it was, it's, it's an amazing romcom story.
• 7:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: He was like, oh my God, I totally get that and like I'll watch my facial expressions in the future.
• 7:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: What this means for you is, we can't help it, right?
• 7:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Sometimes we just have these facial expressions, like our face scrunch up, or you know, like our body language, like we cross our arms.
• 7:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just from this point forward, be mindful, right?
• 7:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like when a student seems like they're really flustered, for example, or a student gets a wrong answer or does something in a way that like you didn't expect them to, or that surprises you, just take a, the briefest pause before you react.
• 8:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Check yourself, check what your face is doing, check what, what your body language is saying and just adjust.
• 8:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: And the key things to keep in mind are stay neutral.
• 8:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: Calm and open, even if you're confused or surprised.
• 8:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: So just like really pause and just say the words neutral, calm, open in your mind really quick, and relax your face.
• 8:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Relax your, you know your arms, make sure you're not crossing your arms and just be in a relaxed position so that the student who's trying to co-regulate with you senses safety instead of danger.
• 8:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: When you do that, you're telling students you're safe here.
• 8:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Struggle is normal.
• 8:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: And that is the first step when it comes to Math Therapy.
• 8:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are the safe space.
• 8:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're creating that space simply by your facial expressions and your body language.
• 8:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you can do that in five seconds.
• 9:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, Math Therapy, low lift strategy number two is to watch your language.
• 9:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Words shape our identity.
• 9:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, there's a lot of research that shows the way we talk to ourselves and the way that people talk to us.
• 9:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: That really makes its way into our narrative, into our general story about who we are and what we're capable of.
• 9:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: But more than that, words have power.
• 9:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: They can either reinforce or rebuke stereotypes.
• 9:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: And often, even when we are well-meaning and trying to be positive, we might inadvertently reinforce a stereotype that we absolutely didn't mean to.
• 9:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have a guest coming up that you guys are gonna hear from.
• 9:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: She was actually on the Mel Robbins podcast.
• 9:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Her name is Dr.
• 9:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Sarah McKay.
• 9:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: She's a neuro neuroscientist.
• 9:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: And we had a fascinating conversation about how it's these tiny little micro, like these micro movements we do that can give students the idea that they're not capable of math, therefore reinforcing their math trauma.
• 9:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because so much math trauma for so many students actually comes from the fact that they were made to feel like they don't belong in math class.
• 10:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: And actually, this can happen to groups of people, right?
• 10:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like girls are often made to feel like they can't belong by a lack of representation that has followed them historically.
• 10:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: And in this example, she gives, she talks about how, so often we say the phrase, well, of course girls can do math too.
• 10:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she pointed out that that phrase, which is obviously well-meaning, and we're trying to say, girls can do math.
• 10:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just the word too at the end of that sentence makes it sound like boys are the default category of people who can do math, and sure, of course girls can do it as well.
• 10:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: But if we just hook out the two and we said girls can do math, look at the difference of those two statements, right?
• 10:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Think about the message we're getting.
• 10:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Imagine someone just said, girls can do math too, versus girls can do math, right?
• 10:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: The second one is a statement of power.
• 10:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's a statement of fact.
• 10:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's a statement of obvious, like, no, they're not the secondary group.
• 11:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I'm using that example just to say that, it really is this very subtle thing, you know?
• 11:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: I know it's really hard to be like, oh my God, we've gotta watch every single word we say, but that's not what it's about.
• 11:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: To me, it's just about reflecting and really thinking about how we use language, right?
• 11:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Being really purposeful with the words we use and being open to examining them.
• 11:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: So when we replace limiting language with just more inclusive phrases like, you know, another one I love, like I used to always say to students, oh, this is really easy, don't even worry about it.
• 11:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Or we'd get to like a more difficult concept that I knew most students might struggle with, and I'd say, oh, this is really hard for everyone.
• 11:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: And what I thought was when I said, this is really easy, I thought that was gonna deescalate students.
• 11:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when I said, this is really hard for everyone, I thought it would make them feel like, you know, less like icky if they didn't, if they struggled with it.
• 11:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: But what I didn't realize is.
• 11:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: Those two words, easy and hard, was actually setting them up for feeling anxious.
• 12:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Right?
• 12:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: When I said, this is really easy, don't worry.
• 12:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: The message is, well, if everyone else thinks it's easy and I don't, then maybe there's something wrong with me.
• 12:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when I said, this is really hard, don't worry about it, the message was, oh my God, all these other students think it's hard.
• 12:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm never gonna be able to get it.
• 12:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: So it just made me really think of like, I'm not perfect, you know, I'm not saying I know the exact words to use, but I really try to think about my language before I say something, right?
• 12:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Especially to students who might be generally anxious with math, but to students in general.
• 12:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: So, this low lift strategy really is just about watching your language, right?
• 12:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: It doesn't say police your language, it just says watch it.
• 12:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Think about the words you're saying.
• 12:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Reflect about, you know, we as teachers have phrases we say often, we say all the time, like we all have like our thing.
• 12:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just think about those things and make sure that the intention is really matching the result.
• 12:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: So watching your language is really just about that.
• 13:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just watching our phrases, our everyday language to make sure the intention we have behind saying what we're saying matches the impact that they're having on our students.
• 13:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just remember every word you say is a part of rewriting your student's math story, and they're so lucky to have someone there to help them do that.
• 13:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: And don't be hard on yourselves.
• 13:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Remember, this is about watching your language, that's it.
• 13:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's all you have to do.
• 13:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: All right.
• 13:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Math Therapy, low lift strategy number three, ask students to explain their thinking.
• 13:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: I know we've heard so much about this, right?
• 13:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like we are all about student thinking now and that is so amazing.
• 13:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: But here's what I want you to know.
• 13:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: Anxiety actually peaks when students think that math is just about right answers.
• 13:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: We've seen it firsthand and there's so much research to support it, but anxiety actually peaks for teachers.
• 13:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: When they think that math is just about right answers too.
• 13:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: So this strategy is for you as well as your students.
• 13:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't know about you, but I used to always get super flustered when a student would get to an answer in a way that I didn't know how to get to or like even actually, I think this is worse when they don't get the right answer, but that I can't understand what it is that they're doing.
• 14:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I feel like I, you know, I feel like I would just be like, no, that's wrong, just do it my way.
• 14:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Instead of, maybe they were actually on the right track but I actually couldn't see them getting there because I didn't know what they were doing.
• 14:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: And in my flustered like whole thing, I'd just be like, just do it the way I taught you how.
• 14:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: And what was happening in those moments when I look back is my math anxiety was totally flaring and so was theirs because there was this disconnect where they felt misunderstood and I was just so scared that, I didn't know, you know, what was going on, I didn't have a real firm understanding on the math and that they were gonna figure me out.
• 14:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: In a few weeks, you're gonna hear from Mike Flynn, and we had an incredible conversation about how asking for thinking builds identity in both teachers and students.
• 15:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: When a student feels like their thinking is valued, it breaks the walls down, right?
• 15:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because often our students just feel like my only job here is to get to the right answer, and if I can't get to the right answer, and if I can't do it quickly, I'm not a math person and I don't belong here just like I thought.
• 15:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: But when we, instead of asking for the answer, ask about a student's thinking, all of a sudden there's this huge sigh of relief, right?
• 15:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: You'll see them become more able to communicate.
• 15:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Their guard drops, they feel valued, they own the math.
• 15:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: And for us as teachers, when we move from, what's the answer to tell me how you were thinking about this, the same thing happens to us, right?
• 15:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: Instead of getting all flustered or you know, feeling like insecure about the fact that we don't know what a student is doing on their page, we open ourselves up to becoming the learner.
• 15:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: We no longer have to be the expert in the room.
• 15:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Suddenly it's okay in the classroom for nobody to know what the answer is.
• 15:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: And with math, that is one of the greatest sources of anxiety, is not knowing the answer.
• 16:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when we focus on thinking, we normalize not knowing the answer because all of a sudden the focus is on the thinking.
• 16:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: So the teacher move I'm gonna give you is simply this.
• 16:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to swap the question, what's the answer for, tell me how you thought about this.
• 16:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I would go so far as to say, you don't just have to do this when you feel like a student isn't getting it.
• 16:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: I would try to replace this as much as possible, make this kind of the classroom code that, yeah, answers are important, but the thing you care about first before the answer is the thinking.
• 16:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: Put that in the driver's seat, like put the spotlight on the thinking and the answers come later.
• 16:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: This shifts students from performers to valued thinkers.
• 16:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: It shifts them from this perfection oriented sense to a progress, process driven purpose.
• 16:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: It really changes everything, I've seen it happen so many times, and it'll change stuff for you too, honestly.
• 17:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: It opens everyone up to just chilling out, talking, being curious, noticing and wondering like we want them to, and if we want them to, we have to take the focus away from the answer.
• 17:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: So your quick teacher move is just that, swap"what's the answer" for"tell me how you thought about this".
• 17:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 17:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Strategy number four.
• 17:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is about body language, but it's actually so specific that I wanted to give it its own strategy.
• 17:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: Strategy number four is actually about positioning yourself at the same height of the student that you are helping.
• 17:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, let me explain.
• 17:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: I, we interviewed one of my old students, she's in grade 11 right now, and you're gonna hear from her in a few weeks.
• 17:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was such an incredible conversation because obviously she hasn't read like Building Thinking Classrooms, right?
• 17:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like she doesn't, she's not reading math education, books or going to pd.
• 17:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: But she was explaining to me how her relationship with math shifted and she was talking about a lot of the different teachers she had.
• 18:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she said that this year she had a teacher, and she said that something that stood out to her and actually made such a differences when her teacher would help her, you know, with a math question, she would kind of like crouch down next to her next to her desk, so she was her, you know, her eyesight, they, they were eye level kind of, and would help her from that vantage point.
• 18:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she was like, it made such a difference.
• 18:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: She was like, normally teachers are like towering over me and they're like shifting around and making it so, you know, they're kind of like above me and making it clear that they don't really wanna be there or that like they have power over me or something.
• 18:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: And she was like, when this teacher would crouch down next to me or even like, take a seat next to her, she was like, it completely relaxed me.
• 18:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: And it's really interesting because, this works because power dynamics matter.
• 18:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Standing over a kid can actually feel really intimidating.
• 18:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: I even think about this weekend, my sister brought her new dog over and I, okay guys, I have to say I'm not like great with animals.
• 19:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: I, I, it was a really cute small dog, so I went down to pet it.
• 19:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now, if you have a dog, you know that the worst thing you can do is from your height as a human.
• 19:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Bring your hand down to pet the dog.
• 19:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: The dog almost bit me.
• 19:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like she freaked out and I was like, oh my God, what's going on?
• 19:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: And my sister was like, you can't like calm down from over top like that, right?
• 19:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like it intimidates the dog.
• 19:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: So then I crouched down and I was like eye level with her little cute dog and like pet her that way.
• 19:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I was totally fine.
• 19:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Obviously our students are not dogs, I'm not like comparing them, but you can kind of like see what I'm talking about, right?
• 19:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: For somebody who's low when we're high, there's a very distinct power dynamic.
• 19:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you have to remember that so much math trauma has unfortunately happened in classrooms for students, right?
• 19:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like they have had bad experiences with math.
• 19:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're in our classrooms with baggage from their previous experiences.
• 19:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: So a lot of them do have a negative relationship or perception of what being a math teacher is and what the role of the math teacher is in their lives.
• 20:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: So just by doing this simple move, again, five seconds just by crouching or sitting beside a student when helping, it completely changes that dynamic.
• 20:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: It reduces any anxiety that a student is already feeling from having to ask like this expert in the room, that they may already feel intimidated by, a question.
• 20:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: It changes the entire dynamic.
• 20:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: When you do that, you're signaling I'm with you instead of I'm above you.
• 20:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm really curious for you to try this one out.
• 20:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: When, when Taylor said it on the podcast, I was just struck by like, oh my God, she didn't read this in a book somewhere.
• 20:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like she experienced it and she's living proof that it can completely change a student's relationship with learning math.
• 20:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, guys, we are down to the last strategy, low lift, Math Therapy strategy number five is my favorite one, one that I have used for the past 15 years and it's simply to ask students about their math story.
• 21:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: And honestly, guys, I'm gonna, I'm gonna break it down even further because that you're probably like, that's not gonna take five seconds.
• 21:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know what will take you five seconds?
• 21:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: Saying the words, have you ever had a bad experience with math?
• 21:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Here's the thing.
• 21:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Most of us, not only students, most adults assume that they've always been bad at math or they have just always hated math.
• 21:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: And they never unpack why.
• 21:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Right?
• 21:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: We kind of assume that's just the way it is.
• 21:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I, I don't know.
• 21:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: I just hate math.
• 21:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't like it.
• 21:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Uh, it's really interesting because I've met so many adults who when I ask why, they're stunned.
• 21:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're like, I, I don't know.
• 21:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've just always hated it.
• 21:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: And then I'll say, have you ever had a bad experience with, and everything changes in that moment.
• 21:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Here's the real fact of it.
• 21:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: We as humans are not good at asking questions.
• 21:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I, I'm serious.
• 21:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to ne the next time you go out with friends, I mean maybe not your best friends, but like you go out with acquaintances or you meet someone and you have a coffee or like you have a casual conversation, I want you to clock how many questions that person asks you.
• 22:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have noticed that people ask shockingly few questions.
• 22:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's like my new obsession in life.
• 22:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: I won't go that far into it.
• 22:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: My point is that most students and most adults.
• 22:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are experiencing the same thing.
• 22:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: They are not being asked that many questions, that many probing deep questions by the people in their lives.
• 22:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: And most people never think to ask, have you ever had a bad experience with math?
• 22:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because most people assume that if somebody doesn't like math, it's a totally normal thing because most people don't like math, right?
• 22:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like we've heard the story time and time again.
• 22:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: So.
• 22:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: By you simply asking, have you had a negative experience with math, the next time a student exhibits math anxiety, they tell you they hate math, they don't wanna do math, like you know, all the signs.
• 22:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Let me tell you what's gonna happen when you ask that question.
• 22:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number one, it's going to validate their feelings.
• 22:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number two, it's gonna open up a conversation where they can reflect on why they have a negative relationship with math, possibly for the first time ever.
• 23:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number three.
• 23:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: In that conversation, you are going to be able to see where their math trauma might lie.
• 23:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna hear stories, right?
• 23:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Not only are they unpacking this for themselves, here's the other thing, when they unpack something for themselves like this, they start realizing there's a reason why I feel the way I do, and that is such a powerful moment.
• 23:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Instead of feeling like I was just born hating math, all of a sudden there's a reason.
• 23:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when there's a reason, there's an opening to solve a problem.
• 23:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: And we as teachers need to hear the reason, right?
• 23:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like if somebody, if a student says something like, yeah, this one time this thing happened to us, or this one time my boyfriend actually told me that, you know, girls suck at math, all of a sudden we have an opening to be like, oh my God, well now that I can see that, let me help you with it.
• 23:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Right?
• 23:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, now we know where our entry point is.
• 23:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: And when that happens, it gives you an entry point to reframe their identity, to help them rewrite their math story.
• 24:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: We can't help a student rewrite their math story unless we know what math story they've been carrying this entire time in the first place.
• 24:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: So your teacher move here is simply to ask the question, have you ever had a negative experience with math, and to see what unfolds?
• 24:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, guys, I'm gonna tell you, I know, I know I said these things could be done in five seconds, and you're probably thinking, well, this conversation can't happen in five seconds.
• 24:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Asking the question can happen in five seconds, but let me tell you something.
• 24:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have often found that by simply asking the question, even if a student is kind of like, Hmm, I'm gonna have to think about this, or they say a couple things and it doesn't seem that impactful, later on you're gonna find out that you asking that question actually unlocked something for them.
• 24:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Seriously, it is the asking that validates a student's experience and allows them to reflect, and that opens up to the possibility of maybe something being rewritten.
• 24:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: When you ask that question, you're saying your feelings about math make sense?
• 24:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: And guess what?
• 25:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: They can change, and I'm here to help you change them.
• 25:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay guys, so there you have it.
• 25:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Five low lift, five second strategies you can use right away to bring math therapy into your classroom.
• 25:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm gonna recap them all for you so you don't forget.
• 25:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Strategy number one was watching your face and body language strategy.
• 25:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Number two, watch your language.
• 25:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Strategy number three, ask for a student's thinking instead of the answer.
• 25:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Strategy number four, getting on a student's level physically when you're helping them out.
• 25:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: And strategy number five, asking a student if they've had a negative experience with math.
• 25:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Each of these take five seconds, but honestly, they send a massive message about safety, belonging, and identity.
• 25:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like they're gonna make a huge difference.
• 25:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: And because they're, I know they're gonna make a huge difference, I'm gonna give you guys, not homework, but like a challenge for the week.
• 25:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to pick one of these five and try it this week and notice how it shifts your classroom.
• 25:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Pick any one of the five and then I want you to text me, text the podcast and let me know how it went.
• 26:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Remember, you can text the podcast by clicking the link in the show description, the episode description right in your podcast app.
• 26:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You can also DM me@themathguru on Instagram, email me, vanessa@themathguru.ca.
• 26:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: I really wanna know what happens.
• 26:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: And honestly, if you're listening to this and thinking, oh my God, I was just chatting with my friends about how we're gonna tackle math anxiety this year.
• 26:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want you to send this episode to them right now.
• 26:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Literally, your teacher friend, your district leader, your supervisor.
• 26:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: Anyone who you think could benefit.
• 26:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: 'cause I really wanna make this year about making math feel safe, human, and healing for our students and ourselves.
• 26:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: And we can start with these five strategies right away.
• 26:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 26:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Now that we've wrapped all that up, I kind of need some feedback.
• 26:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you know me, if you've seen me in a presentation, you always know how I talk about needing validation, and it's something I am working on with my therapist.
• 26:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: But for now, because we have infinite episodes ahead, I really wanna know what you thought of this podcast, and if you thought it was useful.
• 26:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: I, I honestly get very self-conscious about recording solo episodes.
• 27:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I'm always like, oh my God.
• 27:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: Does anyone want to hear me talking for like 30 minutes straight?
• 27:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: I wanna know if you think this was useful and if you did, and great, and if you didn't, just say it nicely.
• 27:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Um, I'm gonna be doing a lot more of these and I wanna know what kind of tips you want, what strategies, what you wanna hear about.
• 27:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: So again, you can text that to me as well.
• 27:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Next week you are gonna be hearing from, I'm so excited to tell you this little sneak peek right now.
• 27:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're gonna be hearing from Eugenia Cheng.
• 27:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: I know I've been trying to get her on the podcast forever.
• 27:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have been successful.
• 27:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our conversation blew my mind.
• 27:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: And that is the next episode you're gonna get.
• 27:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: So remember, we're weekly now, so make sure you're subscribed to, you don't miss a single episode.
• 27:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: They drop every Thursday morning.
• 27:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 27:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: I think that's it for this week.
• 27:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you so much for listening.
• 27:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you so much for being here.
• 27:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you so much for all the work you are doing to help students build a better relationship with math.
• 27:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: And if you're not a teacher, thank you for all the work you're doing to help us collectively heal, to be open to these conversations, to heal your own math trauma.
• 28:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: I always say we may not all be teachers of math, but we are all teachers of math attitude.
• 28:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: Seriously.
• 28:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: So thank you for being here, for doing the work, for reflecting, for working on yourselves, for being you.
• 28:19
  Vanessa Vakharia: And now I will conclude by reminding you that Math Therapy is hosted by me, Vanessa Vakharia.
• 28:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's produced and edited by David Kochberg.
• 28:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our theme music is by our band Goodnight Sunrise.
• 28:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: And if you guys know anyone who needs math therapy, please share this podcast with them.
• 28:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Rate or review it on whatever podcast app you use.
• 28:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: Those things make a huge difference because they help Math Therapy reach more people.
• 28:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm as determined as you are to change the culture surrounding math, and I need your help.
• 28:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: So spread the word and until next time, until next week, peace, love pi babes.