Latest / Math Therapy / More clickbait in the classroom! w/ Howie Hua

Transcript

More clickbait in the classroom! w/ Howie Hua · Math Therapy

• 0:02
  Howie Hua: When I was an undergrad, I thought of my professors as like mini boss battles, it's like, I need to defeat this boss to get my degree.
• 0:11
  Howie Hua: now that I'm on the other side, I'm like, no, the teacher and the student are on the same side.
• 0:15
  Howie Hua: I think math can be marketed better.
• 0:17
  Howie Hua: Maybe they don't want to watch like a 20 minute YouTube video, if they just want a one minute explainer, I can do it.
• 0:22
  Howie Hua: I joined TikTok kids are there anyways, might as well just have them learn while they're on there.
• 0:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hi, I'm Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, and you're listening to Math Therapy, a podcast that explores the root causes of math trauma, and the empowering ways we can heal from it.
• 0:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Whether you think you're a math person or not, you're about to find out that math people don't actually exist.
• 0:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: But the scars that math class left on many of us definitely do.
• 0:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh, and don't worry, no calculators or actual math were involved in the making of this podcast.
• 0:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: Who is ready to meet a real life math TikTok celeb?
• 0:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are, I am, we all are, and it is happening.
• 1:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Today, you're going to meet Howie Hua, math teacher extraordinaire and viral math celebrity, who is legit making math cool on the internet.
• 1:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you know me, you know just how obsessed I am with improving math's horrible reputation in mass media and Howie is doing just that by making it fun and accessible to absolutely everyone.
• 1:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Today you're going to find out how he's doing that, why it's such an important factor in helping our students build better relationships with math, and the most TMZ level gotcha question ever posed on this podcast: what is your favorite number and why is it 7?
• 1:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: The answer will shock you! Howie, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:41
  Howie Hua: Hi Vanessa, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm so excited you're here.
• 1:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Just for the listeners to know Howie's hair looks amazing.
• 1:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Basically the Justin Bieber of math right now.
• 1:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Very jealous.
• 1:53
  Howie Hua: Aw,
• 1:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 1:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I have to say, you were the first TikTok celebrity I've had on the podcast since, I've only had one other one and it was Kyne.
• 2:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you know who that is?
• 2:03
  Howie Hua: She's amazing, yeah.
• 2:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I feel like I had her like before she broke because now she's so famous.
• 2:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: But what I was going to ask is, so like Kyne obviously does, she has a whole thing of doing math and drag.
• 2:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's so incredible.
• 2:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love it.
• 2:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm so glad it's taken off.
• 2:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: But you've also taken off for doing math on TikTok.
• 2:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I wondered if you could explain to us like what your thing is, like what do you do?
• 2:24
  Howie Hua: What my thing is, um, I just really like explaining the whys, because I think people just deserve to understand what's happening, and there's a lot of K 12 math that I didn't really understand when I was a student.
• 2:37
  Howie Hua: Um, it wasn't until I was a teacher after my master's in math, that I'm like, Oh, that's what's happening.
• 2:43
  Howie Hua: so I just wanted to share all of that.
• 2:45
  Howie Hua: I'm super low tech.
• 2:46
  Howie Hua: I just use a whiteboard.
• 2:47
  Howie Hua: so yeah,
• 2:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, I think that's actually one of the coolest things about you because I'm really big on making math accessible, right?
• 2:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: To like everyone.
• 2:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: And TikTok, I feel like social media gets such shade because people don't take the platform seriously.
• 2:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: But you're like, my goal is to reach people that wouldn't traditionally be trying to learn math, right?
• 3:04
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, otherwise they would be in school or they'd be like at teacher's college or whatever.
• 3:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: So you're reaching all of these people who happen to be on this platform, many of whom probably have never been interested in math before.
• 3:17
  Howie Hua: Yeah, that's half of the reason why I made a TikTok.
• 3:20
  Howie Hua: One half was that I'm a very sentimental person.
• 3:23
  Howie Hua: I hate things ending.
• 3:25
  Howie Hua: So, uh, half the reason why I made a TikTok was because I wanted to still teach my past students who are future teachers, or currently teachers.
• 3:33
  Howie Hua: And, you know, I do teach math, so there's a lot of math that I cannot teach in class because it's not, like, part of the curriculum or the standards.
• 3:42
  Howie Hua: So I'm like, hey, like, if you still wanna, I have a newsletter, I send them a newsletter if they want to still hear from me.
• 3:48
  Howie Hua: They can sign up using their email address and I said, if you still want to learn math from me, I just made a TikTok.
• 3:54
  Howie Hua: So follow me there.
• 3:56
  Howie Hua: And the other half was that I think math can be marketed better.
• 3:59
  Howie Hua: So maybe they don't want to watch like a 20 minute YouTube video on something, it's like, if they just want a one minute explainer, I can do it.
• 4:05
  Howie Hua: I joined when TikTok had a one minute cap, um, so it's, like, try to explain it as quickly as possible and as succinct as possible.
• 4:14
  Howie Hua: So yeah, that was half the reason why I made a TikTok in the first place, because kids are there anyways, teenagers are there, adults are there, so it's like, might as well just have them learn while they're on there,
• 4:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: What do you think, like, it's interesting what you just said about being like, try to explain it as fast as I can in a minute.
• 4:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: I think there are so many benefits to that, just because, like, first of all, I certainly have zero attention span, and I know that most kids don't either, but I actually get a lot of shade myself whenever I, post something, like, okay, sorry, I've ranted to every podcast guest about this.
• 4:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you're going to be, you're going to, this is going to be our supercut is me ranting about this.
• 4:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've been getting all this shade for talking about the times tables and not like fully explaining.
• 4:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: So for example, like I did this minute long video about like how cool the nine times tables are and all the tricks you can do.
• 4:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: And all of these people are like, you need to explain the why and this and that.
• 5:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I'm sort of like, Okay, but the whole point is I have one minute and I'm trying to engage an audience that otherwise wouldn't be engaged, and to pique their curiosity.
• 5:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you feel that's irresponsible of me?
• 5:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you feel there is a benefit and a curse to only having a minute?
• 5:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, what are your thoughts?
• 5:16
  Howie Hua: You could always have a second part.
• 5:18
  Howie Hua: It's like now that I piqued your curiosity, here's why it works.
• 5:20
  Howie Hua: So you could do a second part.
• 5:22
  Howie Hua: But like every video has its purpose and like no one can expect a video to be like complete, you know.
• 5:28
  Howie Hua: It's like, there's going to be something, that you missed or that someone misses or whatever.
• 5:33
  Howie Hua: So it's, we just need to all accept that like not everything can fit in a single video.
• 5:38
  Howie Hua: There's always going to be different cases to consider and all of that.
• 5:42
  Howie Hua: So
• 5:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you, what kind of reaction do you get from your videos and who is your audience?
• 5:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, do you find that people like, are like, Oh my God, I never liked math and then I found your account?
• 5:50
  Howie Hua: Yeah, there's like half that and half like, I'd rather do the long division algorithm.
• 5:55
  Howie Hua: It's like, okay, but do you understand what's happening?
• 5:58
  Howie Hua: Like, um, do you know what carry the one means?
• 6:00
  Howie Hua: Do you know what bring down the two means?
• 6:02
  Howie Hua: So there's that, but everyone has different values.
• 6:06
  Howie Hua: So I don't take any of that too seriously.
• 6:08
  Howie Hua: Some people are like, I just want to get the answer and that's great.
• 6:11
  Howie Hua: Some people are more like, I want to understand what's happening.
• 6:14
  Howie Hua: That's great.
• 6:14
  Howie Hua: But I just need to remember that everyone has different values and you really can't please everyone.
• 6:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, that's wise words.
• 6:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: I mean, I need to hear this because, what do I say to the trolls?
• 6:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, do you have haters?
• 6:25
  Howie Hua: I don't even reply to them just because it's like, they want that.
• 6:29
  Howie Hua: Yeah, I mean, like, there's a lot of accounts that just don't have their like, actual name, their picture.
• 6:35
  Howie Hua: So if you're hiding behind an anonymous name, you're going to talk whatever you want, with no consequences, they're going to feel like that.
• 6:41
  Howie Hua: So I don't really take any of that to heart.
• 6:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wow, you're a better person than me, Howie.
• 6:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you so much.
• 6:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Um, I, So I've heard a lot of talk lately about humanizing mathematics.
• 6:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: People love to say the term humanizing mathematics.
• 6:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I often wonder, like, when a term gets so big that we just use it without contextualizing it for people, what it actually means.
• 7:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I actually wondered when I was thinking about you, I was like, does humanizing mathematics have to do with making math accessible to more people?
• 7:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, what do you think?
• 7:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are those two things, like, is what you're doing humanizing mathematics?
• 7:15
  Howie Hua: So when I think of humanizing mathematics, I think that, when I was in K 12 and even in my bachelor's program in math, I just wished that I was a robot.
• 7:24
  Howie Hua: I wished that I could just like memorize all of these things.
• 7:26
  Howie Hua: Even like when I finished my bachelor's degree, or actually during my bachelor's degree, I thought that to be good at math, all I needed to do was memorize formulas, theorems, definitions, and just that's it.
• 7:37
  Howie Hua: Like that's what it means to be good at math.
• 7:39
  Howie Hua: Um, so rather than wishing that you're a robot that, we just think about how math is creative, how math is accessible, that we think of math in so many different and correct ways, and just honor that and go from there.
• 7:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hmm.
• 7:54
  Howie Hua: To see that there's so many different ways of approaching a problem, it's not just about memorizing, and all of that.
• 8:01
  Howie Hua: And just make math class a way of we're just like listening to each other, building off of people's ideas rather than like, just follow this algorithm and then you're good.
• 8:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you think that like in doing that, because in a way you're doing that too, right?
• 8:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're kind of like here, I'm doing this on a different platform, I'm sharing a different perspective with a different audience, like allowing different people to access it, which to me is like the epitome of humanizing mathematics, right?
• 8:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: Allowing everyone to feel like their humanness is respected and belongs in the math class.
• 8:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: How closely do you think our lack of doing that leads to math trauma or, like, math anxiety for kids?
• 8:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, how related are those two to you?
• 8:40
  Howie Hua: Yeah, I teach math to future elementary school teachers, and a lot of them, I ask them like, raise your hand if you've ever done it a different way than your teacher, and you got it correct, but they marked you wrong because you didn't do it their way.
• 8:53
  Howie Hua: And almost every single time everyone raises their hand.
• 8:57
  Howie Hua: Um, math should be accessible and math should be, understandable to them.
• 9:01
  Howie Hua: It's like, well, it made sense to me.
• 9:03
  Howie Hua: I did a long division algorithm video maybe two weeks ago and so many students, or not long division partial quotients, like what's with this new way of dividing even though it's not new.
• 9:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wait, what is that?
• 9:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is the, what, tell me what it is.
• 9:16
  Howie Hua: Yeah, so like partial quotient.
• 9:17
  Howie Hua: So say that we're doing, 136 divided by four.
• 9:22
  Howie Hua: Partial quotients would be, okay, how many 4s are in 136?
• 9:26
  Howie Hua: Someone can say, well I know 25 4s is 100, I have 36 left, I know 9 4s is 36, so we just combine what we have, so 25
• 9:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wait, what?
• 9:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: I've never done that! Is it 25 plus 9?
• 9:41
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 9:41
  Howie Hua: So
• 9:41
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wait, I love, see, this is what's so cool, is like my mind would never work that way.
• 9:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I get what you did.
• 9:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: I would never think to do that in my life.
• 9:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like why would I choose a hundred and why would I choose, like, I have so many questions also for everyone listening, if you're like fucking stressed out right now, it's so hard to do this kind of thing without paper.
• 10:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: So like, just keep in mind that like, this is hard for even me.
• 10:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I'm like looking into my brain for these numbers.
• 10:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I also, I never do math with guests on the podcast.
• 10:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is the second time I've done it ever, because it's actually, I get serious math anxiety.
• 10:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I start being like, Oh my God, what if I can't calculate this?
• 10:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: But also who fucking gives a fuck the whole point is that we're learning.
• 10:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's the whole point is like, we don't know everything.
• 10:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, so I totally took away from your initial point, which was that you were doing a video on partial quotients.
• 10:26
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 10:26
  Howie Hua: And so many people would say like, that is how I would naturally do it, but, the teacher would mark me wrong I didn't do it with long division.
• 10:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: i see.
• 10:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 10:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: So here's the thing.
• 10:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, we're on a podcast about math trauma and about math anxiety, and you were talking about what like prompted you to do this is even though you have a degree in math, and in teaching, you were kind of like, I don't even understand the math behind what I'm teaching, like, I was never taught it.
• 10:49
  Vanessa Vakharia: Have you, Have you ever felt anxious around math?
• 10:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like do you have you ever had anxiety around math yourself?
• 10:55
  Howie Hua: Yeah, uh, there was, one class in college that made me cry.
• 10:59
  Howie Hua: Um, on the first test, I got a 48%.
• 11:03
  Howie Hua: and I was literally, when I saw that, I was in my bedroom, just like laying on the floor crying.
• 11:08
  Howie Hua: Cause it's like, how am I going to recover from a 48 percent, on my first test?
• 11:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, how did you do it?
• 11:16
  Howie Hua: Well, I ended up with a C with a 66 or 69 percent.
• 11:21
  Howie Hua: So, yeah, I'm very grateful.
• 11:23
  Howie Hua: Only six of us passed out of like 24 students.
• 11:26
  Howie Hua: It was a really hard class.
• 11:28
  Howie Hua: Um, so,
• 11:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: I have some questions this.
• 11:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: The first is, was that the first time you experienced any sort of like nervousness around math?
• 11:36
  Howie Hua: Yeah, and it just, and it, it just like, okay, like, screw all of the creativity and all of that, I just want to memorize things.
• 11:44
  Howie Hua: Cause like, when you're in a, when you're in a situation like that where your grade is on the line, it's like, I'm just going to do my best to memorize.
• 11:50
  Howie Hua: I'm not going to care about anything else.
• 11:52
  Howie Hua: I just want to memorize this and that's it.
• 11:54
  Howie Hua: There's no joy.
• 11:55
  Howie Hua: It was just like, just memorize as can.
• 11:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, but you've hit on something really important.
• 12:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because it's, you know, I talk about math trauma a lot, and when we think about math trauma, we always think it's like some huge thing, like someone yelling at you or being bullied.
• 12:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: But we all have these little tiny like wounds around math.
• 12:11
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I don't know if, would you ever, would you consider yourself as someone having experienced math trauma or no?
• 12:17
  Howie Hua: Uh I mean, does it count that when I look at an exit number, whenever I see that math course number, I get, like, I get really, not scared, but I get, I just remember that math class.
• 12:29
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 12:30
  Howie Hua: Then, yeah.
• 12:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because that's, and it's not again, I'm not trying to be like, Howie, you, come on my podcast so I can tell you your traumas.
• 12:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm just like, I actually think it's really important for us to relate to our students this way and being like, we've all had at least one experience with math that has made us feel like very uncomfortable.
• 12:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I've never actually heard anyone talk about what you're talking about, which is that, and I don't want to phrase this wrong, so tell me if I'm incorrect, but it's like, you're going along your life, math is joyful, math is good, and some experience in math made you feel like the joy was much less important than getting the grade.
• 13:07
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 13:09
  Howie Hua: Yeah, because, like, I don't want an F on my transcript you know?
• 13:12
  Howie Hua: don't, I want like, I want to graduate with honors.
• 13:14
  Howie Hua: Like, I don't want to retake this class.
• 13:16
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's deep to me because it's like in that moment you had to sacrifice the joy you felt your whole life and be like, what strategies can I use to just get the mark?
• 13:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I would wager that our students feel like that all the time.
• 13:28
  Howie Hua: Mm hmm.
• 13:29
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 13:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: So how, how is it fair of us to be like, Don't worry about the mark, like joy, creativity, la, like, what if someone had said that to you?
• 13:40
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 13:40
  Howie Hua: I mean, like, right now, I do tips of the day.
• 13:43
  Howie Hua: I start every day with a tip of the day.
• 13:45
  Howie Hua: And it's really funny that we're talking about this because the next tip of the day that I'm giving to my Thursday class is"focus on the learning, the grade will earn itself".
• 13:54
  Howie Hua: Um.
• 13:56
  Howie Hua: And before that, one of my previous tips is that"The teacher and the student are on the same side".
• 14:01
  Howie Hua: So just like building that relationship, it's like, hey, we're all on the same side.
• 14:04
  Howie Hua: Because when I was an undergrad, I thought of my professors as like mini boss battles, like in the way of getting my degree.
• 14:12
  Howie Hua: It's like, I need to defeat this boss to like get, get my degree.
• 14:17
  Howie Hua: But now that I'm on the other side, I'm like, no, like teachers want to help students.
• 14:21
  Howie Hua: Um, So, I'm very big on being explicit with my students.
• 14:26
  Howie Hua: It's like, hey, remember, we're all on the same side, so ask as many questions as you want, come to office hours.
• 14:32
  Howie Hua: If you're too afraid to ask questions in front of everyone, just ask me after class, before class, through email.
• 14:37
  Howie Hua: But yeah, just being really explicit that we're all on the same side, and if you just focus on learning, I promise you the grade will earn itself.
• 14:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you?
• 14:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do you really believe that?
• 14:47
  Howie Hua: Yeah, yeah because grade, the grade reflects the learning.
• 14:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because the grade reflects the learning.
• 14:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: I really like that because I also think this is a really important thing for parents and stakeholders to know when they're like, Oh my God, why are you wasting all this time with our kids and teaching them about like the emotional component of math and all this learning?
• 15:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: And you're like, no.
• 15:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I always say this too, where I'm like, the goal of math therapy isn't for a kid to get a 90.
• 15:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: But if you're helping a child build a better relationship with math, the grades will come.
• 15:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: I mean, like, I'm not saying they'll get a 90, but like, they're going to end up doing better because they have all these math adjacent skills that will help them do better.
• 15:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: They'll be more confident.
• 15:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: They'll be more resilient.
• 15:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: They'll be more enthusiastic.
• 15:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know what I mean?
• 15:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like all those things.
• 15:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: So I think that's actually a really like profound, a really powerful quote.
• 15:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm saying powerful because I've said powerful in every interview.
• 15:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: Um, I actually watched a video you just posted about how you don't like to use the word"you".
• 15:41
  Howie Hua: Oh, yeah.
• 15:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: I want to hear about that.
• 15:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: That was juicy.
• 15:44
  Howie Hua: Oh, yeah.
• 15:44
  Howie Hua: So my freshman year of college, I took a communications class and something that stuck out to me was she said you is one of the most powerful words.
• 15:54
  Howie Hua: Like you did this wrong, you didn't get this correct, and that like stuck with me and that was like 14 years ago.
• 16:03
  Howie Hua: I still remember that.
• 16:05
  Howie Hua: So I'm like, yeah, you is a powerful word.
• 16:07
  Howie Hua: So I try to avoid it whenever it's anything negative, like pointing out their work and saying, like, you got this wrong, you use the wrong formula.
• 16:15
  Howie Hua: We could just like talk about the work without connecting it to the student.
• 16:20
  Howie Hua: It's like, Oh, this formula would be used for perimeter rather than area.
• 16:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my god.
• 16:25
  Howie Hua: Rather than saying like, you got this wrong, you know, so
• 16:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love that because I mean, I talk a lot about how powerful language is and like, it's funny because I've never even thought about this particular word.
• 16:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know, I think about words like, oh, it's really tricky to use the word hard or easy, like there's so many to, but"you", who would think, yeah, like that idea of like.
• 16:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Would you say you should use the, or like maybe it's an okay idea to use the word you when you're saying something positive?
• 16:50
  Howie Hua: Exactly.
• 16:51
  Howie Hua: Because it's so powerful, I would use it for positive.
• 16:54
  Howie Hua: It's like"you did an amazing job".
• 16:56
  Howie Hua: I can tell you put a lot of effort into this.
• 16:59
  Howie Hua: So just know that the word you is so powerful that I would personally not use it for anything negative But I would absolutely use it for positive.
• 17:07
  Howie Hua: Cause like written language can be interpreted in so many different ways.
• 17:11
  Howie Hua: So like, even though I try to be kind, the word you can just like totally make it so personal.
• 17:17
  Howie Hua: It's like, you forgot to do this.
• 17:19
  Howie Hua: Like they could take it so hard.
• 17:21
  Howie Hua: And like, I don't blame them because, it's just written.
• 17:23
  Howie Hua: They can interpret it however they want.
• 17:25
  Howie Hua: So, I just avoid it.
• 17:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: Honestly, that's such a great tip and it's so easy do, right?
• 17:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I love things that you're like, this is so easy.
• 17:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is just a really quick fix.
• 17:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 17:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God.
• 17:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: This is incredible.
• 17:35
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're an incredible human being.
• 17:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Do your, do your students think you're so cool because you're on TikTok?
• 17:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, does it make you like, do they listen more?
• 17:43
  Howie Hua: This, this semester was the first semester, that students actually registered for my class because they knew me from TikTok.
• 17:51
  Howie Hua: no one else before this knew, but
• 17:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's cool!
• 17:54
  Howie Hua: yeah I tell them, it's like half the reason why I make this, why I have an account is for you.
• 18:00
  Howie Hua: so, you'll notice that I do a lot of like repeated videos.
• 18:04
  Howie Hua: Like I'll just like remake them.
• 18:05
  Howie Hua: And it's more for my students.
• 18:07
  Howie Hua: It's like, hey, let's talk about the different ways to subtract.
• 18:09
  Howie Hua: Let's talk about long division.
• 18:11
  Howie Hua: Let's talk about, greatest common factor.
• 18:13
  Howie Hua: Half the reason is for my students, so they can watch it if they were absent, or if they need to prepare for the test, or if they need to re watch it again.
• 18:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love this.
• 18:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love this so much.
• 18:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: You know what?
• 18:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: Honestly, my master's thesis was called Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math, and it was all about how math has a marketing problem.
• 18:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was all about that.
• 18:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: It was like, what the fuck are we doing?
• 18:32
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, look at the media around math.
• 18:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: Everyone who does math looks like a loser.
• 18:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: When we advertise math to students, it looks so lame.
• 18:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like it has such a branding problem.
• 18:40
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I love that you're out there on the platforms where the kids are.
• 18:44
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because I find with school, we're like, well, kids have to come to school so we can do whatever we want.
• 18:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: We can make it as shitty we want and they have to come anyways.
• 18:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: And it's like, yeah, but they're not going to like it.
• 18:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I like that you're like, no, I'm going to go where my audience that I want to reach is.
• 18:56
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm not going to expect them to come to me.
• 18:58
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm actually going to serve them.
• 19:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like I just think it's really beautiful and really cool and really noble.
• 19:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: And this is a, if you can't beat them, join them.
• 19:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like for everyone out there, who's like, Oh, social media, like kids, it's like, well, guess what?
• 19:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: They're on TikTok, so do you want to talk to them?
• 19:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's right there.
• 19:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wow, that just tired me out.
• 19:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, we're down to the final two questions that I ask everyone.
• 19:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: You have 30 seconds to answer, it's not a hard 30, like, take long as you want.
• 19:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, What is the one thing you'd like to see change about the way math is taught in schools?
• 19:28
  Howie Hua: I know it can't be, like, a standard, but I wish that there were more, like, built in surprises and curiosities, um, in math.
• 19:38
  Howie Hua: I really wish that the Birthday Paradox, like all of the different paradoxes are talked about.
• 19:43
  Howie Hua: Um, just things that like blow your mind, that you're like, what?
• 19:47
  Howie Hua: Just to make students interested in math.
• 19:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: love that.
• 19:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: Surprises.
• 19:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's so fun.
• 19:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm just picturing someone jumping out of a cake every day.
• 19:56
  Howie Hua: Yeah like, there's so many cool math problems that are online.
• 20:00
  Howie Hua: I wish that, I don't want to say like, that it's mandatory for them to show it, but it's like, hey, let's take a look at this, to see, like, why does this work, what's happening, what's wrong here, why does this conclude to one equals two, what's wrong?
• 20:13
  Howie Hua: Um, so, I wish there were more of, like, those types of problems, And, like, you can force it, a lot of those one equals two things is that you can't divide by zero, but I wish that it was more, like, explicit that, those types of questions are in the classroom.
• 20:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: More clickbait in math class, is what I'm hearing.
• 20:31
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 20:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Fuck yeah.
• 20:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 20:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: And finally, what would you say to someone who's like, Howie, cool, great stuff, but I'm just not a math person.
• 20:41
  Howie Hua: Well, if you're a person and you do math then you're a math person, that's what I believe.
• 20:45
  Howie Hua: I would start by saying like, well, how would you do some problem like 17 plus 18, right?
• 20:51
  Howie Hua: And whatever their way is, that's their own and how they think about it is their own and everyone has their own way of doing things.
• 20:59
  Howie Hua: And that's the beautiful thing about math.
• 21:00
  Howie Hua: Math is so creative that, don't think that, oh, I'm not a math person because the long division algorithm isn't natural to me.
• 21:08
  Howie Hua: Or whatever, something else is more natural.
• 21:10
  Howie Hua: It's like, well, sure, like it's an algorithm.
• 21:14
  Howie Hua: It works all the time, but like maybe your way is more efficient in other scenarios.
• 21:19
  Howie Hua: Everyone thinks about math differently, and, because everyone thinks about math differently, we are all math people.
• 21:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love that.
• 21:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love that.
• 21:26
  Howie Hua: So, don't like, fill in like, this is what I think a math person is and I don't fit that characteristic.
• 21:31
  Howie Hua: Um, nope.
• 21:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: Is there anything you wanted to talk about that I didn't bring up?
• 21:36
  Howie Hua: Hmm, I think we are all good.
• 21:39
  Howie Hua: Um, What is your favorite number?
• 21:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my God, that's right.
• 21:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: What's, no, the question was supposed to be what, you were supposed to ask me, what is your favorite number and why is it?
• 21:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: No.
• 21:52
  Howie Hua: No, what is your least favourite number?
• 21:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay.
• 21:54
  Vanessa Vakharia: You ask whatever question you want.
• 21:56
  Howie Hua: Yeah, because last time I said, what is your least favorite number and why is it seven?
• 21:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: Why did you say that?
• 22:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Why is it seven?
• 22:01
  Howie Hua: I was going to tweet about it saying like, what is everyone's least favorite number from one to ten and why is it seven?
• 22:07
  Howie Hua: Um, and then you said that seven is one of your favorite numbers.
• 22:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: It's my favorite number.
• 22:12
  Vanessa Vakharia: But why is it your least favorite
• 22:14
  Howie Hua: No, because I just, you can't divide by seven mentally really well.
• 22:19
  Howie Hua: Like, you can't tell if a number is divisible by seven readily, versus, like, all of the other single digit divisibility rules are so easy.
• 22:26
  Howie Hua: Seven's just way too hard to do mentally,
• 22:28
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay I've never thought about it this way.
• 22:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're looking at like the functionality of the number.
• 22:34
  Howie Hua: Yeah
• 22:34
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm looking at like the aesthetic of the number.
• 22:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: Like, seven is like a fucking wild ride.
• 22:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: Oh my god, this reminds me that I'm going to guess your sign.
• 22:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: Because I was about to be like, I feel seven is a very Gemini number.
• 22:45
  Vanessa Vakharia: Don't make a facial expression.
• 22:48
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're already doing it! What sign are you?
• 22:51
  Vanessa Vakharia: What sign are you?
• 22:52
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, just don't tell me.
• 22:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: You hate seven.
• 22:55
  Vanessa Vakharia: I love seven.
• 22:57
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't feel like you're a Gemini, but now I'm like, are you a Gemini?
• 23:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: Don't say anything.
• 23:03
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are you an air sign?
• 23:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are you a water sign?
• 23:06
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're not an earth sign.
• 23:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're not a fire sign, in my opinion.
• 23:13
  Vanessa Vakharia: I think you're an air sign.
• 23:14
  Vanessa Vakharia: I think you're a Gemini.
• 23:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are you a Gemini?
• 23:17
  Howie Hua: Do you want me to answer?
• 23:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Yes
• 23:19
  Howie Hua: No, I'm not a Gemini.
• 23:20
  Vanessa Vakharia: Yeah.
• 23:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hold on.
• 23:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Hold on.
• 23:22
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are you an Aquarius?
• 23:23
  Vanessa Vakharia: No.
• 23:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Are you a Libra?
• 23:25
  Howie Hua: I'm not a Libra.
• 23:26
  Vanessa Vakharia: What the fuck, Howie?
• 23:27
  Vanessa Vakharia: What are you?
• 23:29
  Howie Hua: I'm a Leo.
• 23:31
  Vanessa Vakharia: I don't know what to say.
• 23:33
  Vanessa Vakharia: I did not see this coming, literally at all.
• 23:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: Fine.
• 23:37
  Vanessa Vakharia: I mean, I think Gemini, I think a 7 is a very Gemini number, and I feel like, what do you like, an 8?
• 23:42
  Howie Hua: What number do I like?
• 23:43
  Vanessa Vakharia: Yeah
• 23:44
  Howie Hua: Um, 8?
• 23:46
  Howie Hua: 8's nice.
• 23:47
  Vanessa Vakharia: That's a Leo number.
• 23:48
  Howie Hua: Out of any number, I think 16 or 24.
• 23:51
  Howie Hua: I really like even numbers.
• 23:53
  Vanessa Vakharia: So 8, so, but multiples of 8?
• 23:55
  Howie Hua: Yeah.
• 23:56
  Howie Hua: I would say that.
• 23:57
  Howie Hua: I'm an August birthday, so 8 is nice.
• 23:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: Well, that's what I'm saying, and the Leo card, the Leo tarot card is an 8.
• 24:04
  Howie Hua: Oh, okay.
• 24:06
  Howie Hua: Yeah, like, I'm the type of person that I need my volume on an even number, or else I think something bad's gonna happen.
• 24:12
  Howie Hua: Like, it's that bad, where I'm like, I need it on an even number.
• 24:17
  Vanessa Vakharia: Really?
• 24:18
  Howie Hua: Even ending in 5, I cannot do, I need it to be an even number, or else I think something bad's gonna happen.
• 24:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: Wait, but really?
• 24:25
  Vanessa Vakharia: Will you actually change it?
• 24:27
  Howie Hua: I will change it.
• 24:28
  Howie Hua: Even if it's, like, way too loud, I will change it.
• 24:31
  Howie Hua: I'm like, I'm sacrificing it.
• 24:33
  Howie Hua: I'm sacrificing the loudness for an even number.
• 24:38
  Vanessa Vakharia: Uh, that's amazing.
• 24:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, Howie, tell us, tell everyone where to find you.
• 24:43
  Howie Hua: Uh, you can find me at, Twitter or X, TikTok, uh, you can go on my website, HowieHua.Com.
• 24:49
  Howie Hua: H O W I E H U A.com.
• 24:53
  Howie Hua: Yeah, you can just find me there.
• 24:54
  Howie Hua: I have a Facebook page, Instagram page.
• 24:56
  Howie Hua: If you just look me up, Howie Hua, that would be fine.
• 24:59
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're amazing.
• 25:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: You're so cool.
• 25:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Thank you so much.
• 25:01
  Vanessa Vakharia: We're gonna say bye, but don't hang up.
• 25:02
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm really bad at saying bye, but let's try it anyway.
• 25:05
  Vanessa Vakharia: Howie, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
• 25:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: You are amazing.
• 25:07
  Vanessa Vakharia: Everyone, go follow Howie on TikTok.
• 25:09
  Vanessa Vakharia: He's so cool.
• 25:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: And I'll hopefully see you in person soon.
• 25:13
  Howie Hua: Yeah, of course.
• 25:13
  Howie Hua: Thank you so much for having me.
• 25:15
  Vanessa Vakharia: Bye.
• 25:18
  Vanessa Vakharia: Okay, what a vibe! Wow! It just makes me so happy to know that there are people out there who might think they hate math, and then they like discover Howie's channel or like similar math channels that flip their view about what math could be.
• 25:30
  Vanessa Vakharia: I really believe that this is a crucial part of how math needs to change in the public eye.
• 25:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: And the work we're doing in the classroom, it needs to be supported by changing views of math outside our classroom walls.
• 25:42
  Vanessa Vakharia: If you're not following Howie, go follow him now to be reminded that math can be many things, including a good time.
• 25:50
  Vanessa Vakharia: If something in this episode inspired you, please tweet us@maththerapy, and you can also follow me personally@themathguru on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
• 26:00
  Vanessa Vakharia: Math Therapy is hosted by me, Vanessa Vakharia, it was created by me and Sabina Wex, and it's produced and edited by David Kochberg.
• 26:08
  Vanessa Vakharia: Our theme music is by Goodnight Sunrise.
• 26:10
  Vanessa Vakharia: And guys, if you know someone who needs math therapy or just needs to hear someone else getting math therapy, please, please, please share this podcast, and rate or review it on whatever podcast app you use.
• 26:21
  Vanessa Vakharia: Those things actually make such a big difference for us.
• 26:24
  Vanessa Vakharia: I'm determined to change the culture surrounding math and I need your help, so spread the word.
• 26:29
  Vanessa Vakharia: Until next time, peace, love, and pi.
• 26:36
  Vanessa Vakharia: What is your favorite number and why is it 7?
• 26:39
  Vanessa Vakharia: The answer will shock you! Do I sound like a wrestler?
• 26:43
  David Kochberg: Wrestler?
• 26:43
  David Kochberg: What are you talking about?
• 26:46
  Vanessa Vakharia: Keep that part in.
• 26:48
  David Kochberg: In what?
• 26:48
  David Kochberg: Now you're producing?
• 26:49
  David Kochberg: "Yeah, put it in the trailer, in the outtakes trailer."