MƒA teachers can register for this event on the Small-World Network. Other guests can register here.
Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium
160 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Floor
The MƒA Thursday Think Speaker Series brings accomplished speakers who dive into cutting-edge topics in STEM education to MƒA. These talks, held once a month throughout the school year, invite MƒA teachers and the general public to learn and engage with these thought leaders and professionals in mathematics, science, and education.
Mathematics anxiety is deeply embedded in American culture, with the phrase “I’m not a math person” heard repeatedly in STEM classrooms across the country. But when someone says they are "not a math person," it is often rooted in more than anxiety and indicative of unresolved math trauma.
In this talk, Vanessa Vakharia explores why mathematics frightens so many students and how educators can transform this fear into courage, curiosity, and even passion. She presents the 5 M’s of her “Math Therapy” framework that specifically address the dynamics of fear and how it manifests in mathematics classrooms.
Rather than relying on common, temporary solutions, these tools aim to help students truly overcome their fears. Teachers leave with practical, ready-to-use strategies to break the cycle of fear and avoidance, ultimately changing students' lives well beyond the classroom.
Vanessa Vakharia, known as the Lady Gaga of mathematics education, is the founder and director of The Math Guru, a boutique mathematics and science tutoring studio in Toronto that is changing stereotypes about what mathematics education looks like. She is also the host of the Math Therapy Podcast, author of the bestselling book Math Therapy, and lead singer/keytarist for the rock band Goodnight Sunrise. She has her Bachelor of Commerce, teaching degree, and Masters of Mathematics Education. Her goal is to radically change math culture so that math is finally as cool as every single Taylor Swift song ever written. She failed 11th grade math twice, which was the best thing that ever happened to her.
