Math Therapy

By Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math GuruScience Education Self-Improvement Mathematics

Math Therapy episodes

October 29We're not teaching content, we're teaching students w/ Kevin Dykema (NCTM re-air)
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We're coming to you from DENVER this week for NCTM 2026, bringing Math Therapy LIVE to the conference for the very first time! If you're attending, come join Vanessa and producer David on Thursday, October 29th at 11 AM in Bluebird Ballroom 2A for a candid conversation with math education disruptor Dr. Kristopher Childs! Full session details here.
To celebrate, we're revisiting Vanessa's 2024 conversation with "famously nice guy" Kevin Dykema, who was President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics at the time. Vanessa wanted to learn about his journey to the top, but was surprised to discover that even HE struggles with imposter syndrome! Kevin shares how he's learned to deal with it by "learning what he doesn't know" and not being afraid to reach out for help.
They discuss:
Why teachers struggle to adapt to changes in math education
The pros & cons of professional development, and what teachers really need
How shifting perspectives on math anxiety can change the classroom
Kevin has an incredibly inspiring and optimistic outlook on education, reminding us that we're not just teaching math, we're teaching human beings. Whether you missed this conversation the first time around or want to revisit it, you're going to LOVE this convo!
Links mentioned:
Math Therapy LIVE at NCTM 2026 — October 29, 11 AM, Bluebird Ballroom 2A
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
Dr. Kristopher Childs
Productive Math Struggle — co-authored by Kevin Dykema
About Kevin:
Kevin Dykema is a past President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and a longtime eighth-grade mathematics educator in southwest Michigan. He is a frequent speaker before mathematics education audiences and co-author of Productive Math Struggle.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
44 min
October 22Why telling someone they're a math person can backfire w/ Teresa Brown
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What if telling someone they're a math person is actually making things ... worse?! We say it to encourage people, but what if we're unintentionally dismissing what they've actually experienced in math class?
Math educator, curriculum specialist, and competitive powerlifter Teresa Brown joins Vanessa to challenge the way we talk about math identity. After experiencing a stroke that made her, a math teacher, literally start from scratch again with math, Teresa found herself relearning skills she'd spent years helping others understand.
They discuss:
Why “you're a math person” can backfire (even with good intentions)
What teachers gain by admitting “I don't know”
How relearning math changed Teresa's relationship with the idea of "identity"
Teresa's inspiring story reminds us that struggling doesn't mean we aren't capable. And maybe we don't need everyone to LOVE math—we just need them to believe they can learn it.
Links mentioned:
Teresa's LinkedIn post that inspired this conversation
Math Fact Fluency by Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling
Math Therapy: Why math sucks and how to fix it w/ Raj Shah
About Teresa: (LinkedIn)
Teresa Brown is a veteran math educator, curriculum specialist, and doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction. A former classroom teacher who now supports K–12 educators through Intermediate Unit 1 in Pennsylvania, she's also a competitive powerlifter and strongman athlete. Her work focuses on teacher learning, instructional practice, and creating environments where taking risks and making mistakes are part of learning.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
54 min
October 15Your students have a math identity bank account. Are you making deposits? w/ Tammy McMorrow
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What happens when you give a bunch of 6-year-olds a challenging math problem and they CAN’T figure it out? Well, in Tammy McMorrow’s grade one classroom, they might just celebrate with a confetti cannon. Seriously.
Tammy’s been teaching for 32 years, but she still loves learning new tricks. She believes every student has a “math identity bank account,” and that teachers have countless opportunities to make little deposits that build confidence and create positive relationships with math!
Today she joins Vanessa to share how even the smallest changes can make a huge difference and discuss:
Why teachers should take charge of their own professional development
How 6-year-olds learn resilience, flexibility & optimism
Simple ways to celebrate mistakes and build math confidence
Whether you’re a brand-new teacher or you’ve been doing this for decades, Tammy is proof that you don’t have to overhaul your teaching to make a difference - sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact.
Links mentioned:
Good Inside by Becky Kennedy
A Mindset for Learning: Teaching the Traits of Joyful, Independent Growth
by Kristine Mraz & Christine Hertz
Building Thinking Classrooms K–2 Facebook Group
About Tammy: (Podcast, Facebook, Bluesky)
With 32 years of first-grade teaching experience and recognition as a PAEMST Finalist, Tammy McMorrow is passionate about the magical and messy elementary math classroom. She helps educators implement Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms framework to make math engaging, equitable, and student-centered. As host of the podcast Little Minds, Big Thinkers, Tammy celebrates the voices of teachers and the brilliance of young mathematicians. Unfinished and imperfect, she embraces learning as a journey, inspiring teachers and students alike to take risks, explore, and grow together.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
48 min
October 08What neuroscience tells us about who can & can’t do math w/ Hillary Mastarciyan
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What happens in the brain when we're learning math? What makes some students struggle more than others with it? Can someone study brain science if they're scared of math?! These are some of the questions that took today's guest Hillary Mastarciyan from severe math anxiety in high school (she was a former student at Vanessa's tutoring centre) to her current PhD in neuroscience at Toronto Metropolitan University!
In today's episode, they discuss:
if math anxiety is "transmissible" to students (from either teachers or parents)
the real reasons we see differences in math attitudes between genders
how learning math is different from learning reading in the brain
Hillary is living proof that math anxiety in school doesn't put an expiry date on your ambitions - if she can become a neuroscientist, you can achieve your dreams too!
Articles mentioned:
The AIM Collective: Connecting Research and Practice in Canadian Early Mathematics Education
Bridges over troubled waters: education and cognitive neuroscience
Computing Whether She Belongs: Stereotypes Undermine Girls’ Interest and Sense of Belonging in Computer Science
About Hillary:
Hillary Mastarciyan is a PhD student in Psychological Sciences at Toronto Metropolitan University, working in the neuroIDEA Lab under the supervision of Dr. Moriah Sokolowski. Her research draws on developmental psychology, numerical cognition, and cognitive neuroscience to investigate how children develop mathematical knowledge and why some learners struggle to acquire foundational mathematical skills. She aims to build on this work by combining behavioural and neuroscientific approaches to better understand the cognitive foundations of early mathematical learning and the factors that support successful development in mathematics.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
50 min
October 01How to treat math like a team sport & help every kid find their role w/ Kallen Currie
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We talk about math trauma all the time on this podcast, but sometimes the feelings around it can be hard to articulate. There's one confidence-crusher we can all easily picture from school though - the feeling of being picked last for the team in gym class. So today we're going to explore something a little different: what math class would be like if we treated it like a team sport!
Kallen Currie is a physical education teacher and sports coach from Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan, and he has figured out something most of us are still struggling with: how to make every kid feel like they belong before we ever ask them to perform. Vanessa chatted with him live at a conference in Saskatoon to discuss:
The importance of helping students find their roles on the team
How a disengaged kid might actually just be an anxious kid
Positivity: the ultimate superpower on and off the field
This episode is a must-listen no matter what subject you teach, because it shows how to make sure every student in the class feels like they belong.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
30 min
September 24How to support teachers the way we expect them to support students w/ Courtney Flessner
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Ever drive down a familiar road, hit the same old pothole, and think "Didn't they patch that up last summer? And it's already back?!" Well buckle your seatbelt, because today's guest is going to show you how the same is true in math education, and why we need to FIX THE DAMN ROAD!
Courtney Flessner has 30 years of experience behind the wheel of teaching practices, and is an advocate for supporting teachers with schools that help them grow and professional development that actually makes a difference. Today she joins Vanessa to discuss:
Why teachers often default to teaching the way they were taught
The power of vulnerability and honesty in helping students learn
Whether a teacher's own math anxiety is "contagious"
This is a must-listen for any teacher that's felt like they want to keep growing but don't know where to start!
Links mentioned:
Learning Together: Organizing Schools for Teacher and Student Learning (book)
About Courtney: (Instagram, LinkedIn)
Courtney Flessner is the Director of Keep Indiana Learning at the Central Indiana Educational Service Center. She spent 17 years working in public, private, and public charter schools as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and administrator. Her work focuses on supporting instructional leaders and elementary mathematics teachers in creating environments that foster ambitious and equitable mathematics teaching. She is passionate about changing the narrative that some people are simply “not math people” and inspiring educators to teach mathematics ambitiously - and maybe even have a little fun while doing so.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
47 min
September 17How to follow the curriculum without selling your soul
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Over the summer, Vanessa recorded our first interview with an actual real life audience when she sat down at a conference with Chase Orton for an unfiltered and tense conversation.
Among many hot topics debated, they discussed the challenges teachers face in wanting to make changes in their students' lives while having to closely follow curricula and standards - and one clip went VIRAL online with teachers all over the continent weighing in!
Even months later, Vanessa is convinced that there MUST be some middle ground, so today she explores 5 strategies teachers can use to seek balance between the extremes by finding the "middle path":
if you can't move the mountain, move a stone
use the curriculum, don't let it use you
protect the first 5 minutes of your class
build your community
redefine "success"
Links mentioned:
The Math Therapy episode with Chase Orton that started it all and the clip that went viral on TikTok with 200 comments
3 things every math teacher should do from Day 1
Episode on redefining "success"
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
26 min
September 10Before & After Pt. 2: How Math Therapy changed Lauren Keeling's life (4 months later)
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Last week we shared a full Math Therapy session with lifelong "not-a-math-person" Lauren Keeling, which was recorded as part of Imagine Learning's "Heart Work" podcast series on math anxiety.
And as promised, today Vanessa follows up with Lauren 4 months later to learn the domino effect that session had on her whole life! They discuss:
How her story around math impacted her ENTIRE identity
How Duolingo Math made learning fun & low-stakes (131-day streak & counting!)
The key to healing math trauma: build trust & remove shame
Links mentioned:
Last week's Before & After Pt. 1 w Lauren Keeling
3-part podcast series: "Heart Work: Breaking the Cycle of Math Anxiety" by Imagine Learning
How Math Therapy changed my entire life w/ Charizma Laughton (Jun '25)
About Lauren:
Lauren Keeling is a National Curriculum Consultant with Imagine Learning and the host of Heart Work, a podcast exploring the work of America's educators. A literacy leader with more than 15 years of experience supporting public education systems, she has served as a teacher, principal, curriculum strategist, and educational leader, helping districts navigate meaningful instructional change. Lauren is passionate about the intersection of learning, leadership, and the
human side of educational transformation. She is also completing doctoral research on collaborative leadership and curriculum change.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
1 hr 8 min
September 03Before & After Pt. 1: How Math Therapy changed Lauren Keeling's life (May 2026)
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Today we bring you part 1 of 2 of our first ever Math Therapy Makeover "Before & After"!
When Vanessa first met Lauren Keeling earlier this year, being "not a math person" defined her entire life. Visiting Vanessa's tutoring centre in Toronto with her team from Imagine Learning's Heart Work podcast, Lauren was dreading her IRL math therapy session - literally terrified that Vanessa would ask her to do math with the mics on and cameras rolling!
But what actually happened was magic; the two unpacked the roots of her icky feelings around math and talked through how to flip the script. The 2nd episode of Heart Work's 3-part series on math anxiety included portions of that session, but Imagine Learning graciously allowed us to share the FULL convo with Math Therapy listeners!
And what makes this EXTRA special is that Vanessa interviewed Lauren 4 months later to find out what changed - and we'll be airing THAT episode NEXT week!
Links mentioned:
3-part podcast series: "Heart Work: Breaking the Cycle of Math Anxiety" by Imagine Learning
Watch this interview: extended video interview on Heart Work's YouTube
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
36 min
August 27What to do when your math class needs an intervention w/ Juliana Tapper
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Have you ever felt like math education needs to take a good long look at itself in the mirror and make some major changes before everything goes off the rails? Like one of those Hollywood interventions - but for math class?
Well today's guest, Juliana Tapper, is a math interventionist! She steps in to help students before they slip through the cracks.
Today they discuss:
what a math intervention is and how it works
the keys to a successful intervention
small shifts teachers can try that really make a difference
The conversation also gets emotional when Juliana reads out some of her student “mathographies” (their personal math stories), showing how powerful it can be when students are able to voice their deepest feelings and fears around math.
Links mentioned:
Coherence by Design article by TNTP about intervention tutoring
Free download: "My Mathography" - print and try with your students!
About Juliana: (Website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)
Juliana Tapper is living proof that your worst subject can become your superpower. After healing her own early math trauma, she dedicated her life to ending the cycle of math trauma for other kids and to empowering teachers with strategies and tools that actually work for students who have been historically unsuccessful in math. She works with schools, districts, state departments of education, and juvenile justice systems to make math accessible for all. She is the bestselling author of Teaching 6-12 Math Intervention: A Practical Framework to Engage Students Who Struggle and the host of the K-12 Math Intervention Summit.
Contact us:
Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Join the Facebook group
Get the book: Corwin, Amazon
Audiobook: Audible, Spotify
Merch store: Shop here
51 min

About Math Therapy

From the publisher's feed

Math Therapy explores the root causes of math trauma, and the empowering ways we can heal from it. Each week host Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, dives into what we get right and wrong…