Heart Work

In this Heart Work special, Lauren is joined by National Math Improvement Project director Hillary Rinaldi to look at the big picture and discuss why math anxiety must be addressed at a systems-wide level. 

Drawing on work with some of the nation's largest school districts, Hillary shares what’s working, what still needs to change, and why community may be one of the most powerful tools for improving math outcomes nationwide. 

Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or sign up for the Heart Work Club so you never miss an episode at imaginelearning.com/heart-work/latest/.

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In this Heart Work special, Lauren Keeling and Sam Murro Shea sit down with math education pioneer and creator of Building Thinking Classrooms Peter Liljedahl to explore what happens when math classrooms stop rewarding students for simply getting the right answer and start helping them truly think — and how the right experiences can transform math anxiety into confidence.

Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or sign up for the Heart Work Club so you never miss an episode at imaginelearning.com/heart-work/latest/.

Follow Imagine Learning

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginelearning/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imaginelearning/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imaginelearningofficial

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/imaginelearningchannel

Follow Peter Liljedah:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildingthinkingclassrooms

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@BuildingThinkingClassrooms

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In this Heart Work special, Lauren joins math therapist, educator, and author Vanessa Vakharia at her boutique math and science tutoring studio in Toronto, The Math Guru.

In this raw and personal conversation, Vanessa taps into the trauma behind Lauren's lifelong math anxiety and helps her understand just how much it shaped her identity. Together, they explore what it will take to move past the idea of being a "math person" and how educators and students alike can build a healthier, more human relationship with math.

Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or sign up for the Heart Work Club so you never miss an episode at imaginelearning.com/heart-work/latest.

Follow Imagine Learning

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginelearning/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imaginelearning/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@imaginelearningofficial

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/imaginelearningchannel

Follow Vanessa Vakharia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themathguru/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@themathguru

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Lauren’s personal journey out of math anxiety concludes with an exploration into how students experience math. From classroom practices to wider school systems, what needs to change to make math feel less isolating? 

Featuring Building Thinking Classrooms creator Peter Liljedahl, National Math Improvement Project director Hillary Rinaldi, Imagine Learning’s own Kallie Markle and daughter Winter, and curriculum specialist Sam Murro Shea. Special thanks to the educators at the NCTM Annual Meeting & Exposition 2025 and the CMC South Annual Conference 2025 for sharing their stories with us for this episode, plus the educators and students in the Ceres Unified School District.

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Now in Toronto to undergo math therapy, Lauren begins to unpack where her relationship with math went wrong and why it left her so anxious. To her surprise, she realizes that math itself was never the problem. So what was?

Featuring math therapist, author, and educator Vanessa Vakharia, My Mathematical Mind founder Dr. Deborah Peart Crayton, and cognitive behavioral therapist Emma Fogel.

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In the 1950s, the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik sparked fears that American students weren’t prepared for a new era of technological advancement. Decades of back and forth in how math was taught followed. But what of the students caught in the middle?

For Lauren, those shifts left a scar. Her math experience was shaped by procedures and timed tests, and today, the mere mention of math problems leaves her anxious. But when she finds herself in an unlikely situation, she’s forced to reckon with that anxiety and confront the idea that she’s just “not a math person.” Join her as she sets out to uncover where that belief took root — and whether it can be unleared.

Featuring My Mathematical Mind founder Dr. Deborah Peart Crayton and curriculum specialist Sam Murro Shea. Special thanks to the educators at the NCTM Annual Meeting & Exposition 2025 and the CMC South Annual Conference 2025 for sharing their stories with us for this episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I’m not a math person” is a phrase almost every educator has heard. It’s a phrase that reflects a belief passed from one generation to the next: that math capability belongs to someone else. But once that belief sets in, it has the power to shape an entire life. This collection explores how math anxiety takes root in the classroom and what it will take to break this cycle once and for all.

Featuring math education pioneer Peter Liljedahl, author, speaker, and math therapist Vanessa Vakharia, curriculum specialist Sam Murro Shea, My Mathematical Mind founder Dr. Deborah Peart Crayton, policy strategist Hillary Rinaldi, and cognitive behavioral therapist Emma Fogel.

Voice: Lauren Keeling

Series Director: Justyna Welsh

Series Producer and Writer: Anise Lee

Producer: Danny McPadden

Writer: Steven Smithwhite

Field Producer: Sarah Shelton

Field Producer: Sam Murro Shea

Recording Engineer, Audio Editor, and Mixer: Fraser Allan

Artwork: Kate Clough

Location Recording Team: Danny McPadden, Kristan Crawford, David Sexton

Executive Producer: David McGinty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Lauren live from Boston in this Heart Work special with instructional coaches Nicole Silva and Janna Murphy for a candid conversation about their work in Marshfield Public Schools. Together, they reflect on what it takes to lead a shift to a knowledge-building literacy program aligned with the science of reading and the impact of embracing change, even when it feels impossible. 

Discover more: imaginelearning.com/heart-work/literacy-crisis

Host: Lauren Keeling

Series Producer and Director: Justyna Welsh

Producer & Writer: Anise Lee

Producer: Danny McPadden

Recording Engineer: Dan Victory

Audio Editor & Mixer: Fraser Allan

Artwork: Ellen Forsyth

Location Recording Team: David Sexton, Danny McPadden, and Kristan Crawford

Executive Producer: David McGinty

A big thank you to the Pendergast School District, Ramiro Alvarez, and Kelsie Pennington for welcoming us into their schools — and all the educators and students who opened their classrooms and shared their stories with us for this episode. 

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Back in Pendergast, the ultimate question: Did it work? In this penultimate episode, Lauren returns to the district to find out and speaks with renowned education writer Natalie Wexler on the missing piece in reading instruction. Could the answer have been in front of us all along? Listen and find out.

Discover more: imaginelearning.com/heart-work/literacy-crisis

Host: Lauren Keeling

Series Producer and Director: Justyna Welsh

Producer & Writer: Anise Lee

Producer: Danny McPadden

Recording Engineer: Dan Victory

Audio Editor & Mixer: Fraser Allan

Artwork: Ellen Forsyth

Location Recording Team: David Sexton, Danny McPadden, and Kristan Crawford

Executive Producer: David McGinty

A huge thank you to the Pendergast School District, Ramiro Alvarez, and Kelsie Pennington for welcoming us into their schools — and all the educators and students who opened their classrooms to us and shared their stories for this episode. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join 600 educators in the School District of Philadelphia as they embark on a journey to rethink everything they know about teaching reading. From a teacher’s tearful realization that she had been teaching “wrong” to a deputy superintendent whose own story shows how literacy can change lives, discover the heart behind this district’s push for reform. Featuring Nicole Ormandy and Megan Gierka.

Discover more: imaginelearning.com/heart-work/literacy-crisis

Host: Lauren Keeling

Series Producer and Director: Justyna Welsh

Producer & Writer: Anise Lee

Producer: Danny McPadden

Editor: Kristan Crawford

Recording Engineer: Dan Victory

Audio Editor & Mixer: Fraser Allan

Set Supervisor: Tyler Kavanaugh

Artwork: Ellen Forsyth

Location Recording Team: David Sexton, Danny McPadden, and Kristan Crawford

Executive Producer: David McGinty

A big thank you to the School District of Philadelphia for welcoming us into their Summer Institute — and all the educators who shared their stories with us for this episode. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.