Having attended and presented at the annual NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conference, Vanessa reached out to "famously nice guy" Kevin Dykema, the organization's President, to learn more about his journey to the top. Along the way she was surprised to learn that even he battles imposter syndrome, and the way he's learned to deal with it is by "learning what he doesn't know" and not being afraid to reach out for help.

Today's conversation covered the pros and cons of professional development, advice on how teachers can adapt to changing education systems, and how perspectives on math anxiety have shifted in recent years. Kevin has an incredibly inspiring and optimistic outlook on education and you're going to love this convo!

About Kevin: (Twitter)
Kevin Dykema is President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), an international mathematics education organization with more than 30,000 members. He has taught 8th grade mathematics for over 25 years and is currently at Mattawan Middle School in southwest Michigan. Kevin is a frequent speaker before mathematics education audiences and has co-authored Productive Math Struggle.

HUGE news - Math Therapy is now a book! Vanessa has taken everything she's learned in her career helping students overcome math trauma, and all the insights from the 6 seasons of this podcast, and formulated a 5-step process to bring math therapy into classrooms and help all students develop a better relationship with math.

To celebrate, Math Therapy producer David Kochberg turned the mic around and interviewed Vanessa about how Math Therapy started in the first place, what gives her hope about the future of math education, and how she really feels about the provocative term "edu celeb"...

Show notes:

• Math Therapy the book is out now - buy from Corwin Press or Amazon
• S3E09: I’m not a math person, don’t @ me w/ Bex
• Vanessa's master's thesis "Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math"

Connect with us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
• Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)

Dan Finkel is an author/educator who believes that humans are wired to be curious from birth, and that play is the secret to maintaining that joy of learning throughout childhood. On today’s season 6 finale, he and Vanessa discuss how teaching kids about math can be so much more fun than we think; it can mean playing board games, counting on their fingers, anything that helps them develop an intuitive sense that there are patterns and structures in the world for them to discover. They also discuss how play-based approaches can even help grown-ups heal from math trauma!

About Dan (Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
Dan Finkel is the Founder and Director of Operations of Math for Love, a Seattle-based organization devoted to transforming how math is taught and learned. Dan is an author and game designer, develops curriculum, leads teacher workshops, and gives talks on mathematics and education. He contributes regularly to the New York Times Numberplay blog and hosts Seattle’s Julia Robinson Math Festival annually.

Show notes:

• Dan’s TED Talk: Five Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching
• Martin Gardner’s “Mathematical Games” column in Scientific American
• earlyfamilymath.org
• Dan’s book: Pattern Breakers
• Upscale pattern blocks

Connect with us:

• Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
• Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)