Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Vanessa Vakharia says to be yourself and do math at the same time
82 Plays1 year ago
Music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Learner Centered Spaces podcast, where we empower and inspire ownership of learning, sponsored by Mastery Portfolio, hosted by Star Saxton and Crystal Frommer. In each episode, we will bring you engaging conversations with a wide variety of educators, both in and out of the classroom.
00:00:21
Speaker
This podcast is created for educators who want to learn more about how to make the shift toward learner-centered spaces for their students, schools, and districts, or education at large.
Joining the Teach Better Network
00:00:32
Speaker
The learner-centered spaces podcast is now a member of the Teach Better Podcast Network.
Vanessa's Passion for Math & Keanu Reeves
00:00:41
Speaker
We are so excited to have Vanessa Vicaria on the show today. She's joining us from Toronto, and her passion
00:00:51
Speaker
is that she wants people to feel like life is fun. And she doesn't want math stress to stand in the way of that. And we are all about that here at the Learner Centered Spaces because we love math too. And one fun fact about Vanessa is that she is in love with Keanu Reeves and she has been 23 years. That's a long time. Thank you. It's a long time. My devotion runs strong.
00:01:18
Speaker
I really do believe we're meant to be, so Keanu, if you're listening, you know where to find me? Canada, where you lived? He lived there, I didn't know, okay. Oh my god, I went to the same high school as him on purpose, like a real stalker. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's where I failed math, actually, twice, because I was busy painting pictures of his face. I'm not joking.
00:01:46
Speaker
So if Keanu reads, if you're listening to this, get in touch with Vanessa. Okay, podcast over. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you so much.
Overcoming Math Struggles
00:01:57
Speaker
So Vanessa, what started you on your current journey? And I'm talking more about your math journey and not your Keanu obsession. Right. Well, they are very intertwined, I would say. I did honestly fail grade 11 math twice in high school.
00:02:14
Speaker
very busy trying to marry Keanu Reeves but more importantly I was like very into art and painting and I constantly just put all my devotion into painting beautiful portraits of his face and as a consequence failed math mostly because I didn't do any work I had no interest in math and I was always told that you know I was just more of this artsy type and like math wasn't for people like me so I never questioned it I was always just like of course I hate math like like not for me
00:02:43
Speaker
And then I ended up after failing it twice and barely passing
Breaking Math Barriers
00:02:47
Speaker
in summer school. I ended up at this incredible alternative school, which is what we called it back then. It was like the school for Misfits. There were only a hundred kids in the whole school and I just, it changed my life. I had this teacher who completely believed in me against all odds and like wouldn't accept the thought that I thought I wasn't a math person. She didn't even know what that meant. And I ended up with a 98 in her class and I just was like,
00:03:11
Speaker
Oh my god, I have been sold this entire lie that the person I am does not mesh with the type of person who does math and it's false. I'm like, I want everyone else to know it. And it just was the best thing ever. And it really made me realize not only that I could do math, but that, you know, we all are sold so many limiting beliefs that tell us what we can or cannot do. And for so many of those people, it's math and
00:03:36
Speaker
I figured if I could help people bust through that limiting belief that the world would be full of possibility for everyone. You know, Vanessa, I'm really happy that you said that. I, by trade, am an English teacher, a writing teacher, and those same fears that you talk about with math and that identity that we create early on based on
00:03:58
Speaker
one bad experience or two bad experiences where we deeply kind of hold on to these defining moments. It's so important for folks who have had changes in those kinds of experiences to share them because
00:04:17
Speaker
How debilitating and sad to say because of those, you know, couple of experiences, you could never grow to love or be good at something. I'm just grateful to hear that you actually went into math after, you know, after you had that narrative of not being good at math.
Personalized Education Experience
00:04:38
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Well, I think I was also like lucky and had the privilege to be sent to the school and had parents who supported me and had these amazing teachers. So it really, I always, you know, think it's, you know, students who feel disconnected from math or who told that they can't do it often need that extra support and don't get access to it. So I think I was just really lucky to have that and then to like, you know, it is my life's work to mobilize on into action.
00:05:05
Speaker
So, yeah.
Creating Learner-Centered Environments
00:05:07
Speaker
So usually at this point we ask, you know, what a learner centered space looks like, feels like, it sounds like to you. But what I'm curious about is what about that math class changed everything to... Oh my God.
00:05:22
Speaker
Okay. This is such a good question because I actually think it's funny. Like obviously back then, um, we weren't talking about learners entered classrooms or anything like that, but because this, the whole point of this school was that we were all, and I'm using air quotes, we were all misfits that like didn't do well with quote unquote traditional education. The way it was set up was so different than a regular school. So for example, it was in an office building. We took elevators to class.
00:05:49
Speaker
Number two, we call teachers by their first names, which might seem like such a benign thing, but it really changed the power dynamic of like, talk about learner centered, right? Being like, no, like we trust you to use our first names. Like we value what you think and say. Three, which is a huge one. We were allowed to chew gum and we didn't have to raise our hands to go to the bathroom. And I think like those things, like, I mean, obviously there were other things like we had small class sizes,
00:06:15
Speaker
We have these amazing teachers who believed in us. There are other things, but I think it's really interesting to note that some of these superficial attributes can actually completely change the dynamic between a teacher-centered and student-centered classroom because the whole end result was that we felt respected, we felt our voice was valued, and we felt that there was a level of trust that we could then instill onto our teachers because they had instilled in us.
Welcoming Tutoring Spaces
00:06:45
Speaker
And I am, this is Crystal here and I'm a follower of your podcast. And I hear about your tutoring center that you have. And I would love to know like how you could tell the listeners about that. And also how do you take that experience from the quote unquote alternative school? How do you take that experience and apply that to the students at your tutoring center? Well, it was, that was kind of like,
00:07:11
Speaker
always what I wanted to do after I had this incredible experience because I realized that so much of like my problem in my old high school where Keanu Reeves went was that
00:07:25
Speaker
identity who I was was not valued there so when I walked into a math class I was expected to shed my identity like you could look at it as something as like seemingly frivolous as chewing gum but it isn't it's like a big thing you know like I like to chew gum and like drink a cup of tea when I'm doing work and like I couldn't do that but we could go further to be like I like to laugh around and make jokes and like
00:07:48
Speaker
I like to socialize with my peers and I like to talk about interesting things and I like to ask questions and I like to talk about pop culture and I want my environment to smell good and I like astrology and like all of those things I had to leave at the door when I walked into math class and I had to be quiet and I had to be obedient and I couldn't drink my tea and I had to leave my drink at the door and I couldn't talk to anyone around me so I feel like
00:08:11
Speaker
that was the biggest disconnect for me. So when I started my tutoring place, I was like, I wanted to be this space where people can come in and just be whoever they are. So I, I designed it after me. And that's just like their pink velvet couches and I like incense and
00:08:25
Speaker
There are candles and we sell our own brand of sweatpants and I make students tea lattes and most importantly all of the tutors are so different. Some of them are actors and magicians and musicians and engineers and just really reinforcing the concept that whoever you are is welcome in that space and in that space everyone is welcome to do math. So I think
00:08:43
Speaker
And, you know, obviously I decided around my needs, but it's, it's mostly like, not just me. It's like, as I, you know, my students would come in and out, I would take their feedback and I would adjust the space and we would pick cents for the candles together. So I think it's like this vibe of like.
00:09:00
Speaker
I hate to be so cheesy and be a holistic approach, but so often, math education is not holistic. It's the exact opposite. It's so divisive for a human being to be like, in order to do math, I have to ditch my personality at the door. And if you're a young person, why would you want to do that? And also, it's also really hard and really traumatic to have to do that also.
00:09:23
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like a very authentic learning space. And as a math teacher myself, I'm also very curious about what kind of math are the kids doing? Is it problem solving that relates to them and their lives or their local community?
Addressing Individual Student Needs
00:09:41
Speaker
Well, it's a tutoring center. So I think one of the key interesting things to navigate for me is we usually have one hour a week with a student to help them with what they're learning in school.
00:09:53
Speaker
I would love to, you know, do all sorts of things. But our goal, like when a student wants tutoring, it's for several reasons. And one of those reasons is usually they show up and they're like, I don't understand what happened in my classroom. And like, I have a test this week, or like, I don't understand what's happening in math. And I feel completely lost and anxious. Right. So
00:10:10
Speaker
we have to use whatever we can in that moment to get them out of that and to help them move forward. And often it is often it's like relating the way we're teaching something to a concept they know or or but more than that I would say it's simply relaying it to them in their language. So like speaking to them like a normal teenager and explaining the concepts right but I would say and I think it's really important that
00:10:34
Speaker
When you're a teacher of a classroom and you have your whole classroom for a year, it's very different than when you have an hour a week with a student to catch them up on whatever is happening in their home classroom. You can't take over and be like, we're just doing open middle problems for this entire hour. They'd be like, I have a task. I need to learn this entire unit.
00:10:59
Speaker
almost the same. But the way to get there is a lot more streamlined and different. So like, yeah, and I wouldn't say there's one method because people come in there for so many different reasons. That makes sense. It sounds very customized and tailored to the right.
Making Classrooms Authentic
00:11:17
Speaker
Um, so my, so thinking about that, you know, year long classroom teacher that you just mentioned, what advice would you have for an educator like that to make their space more authentic to their learners? I mean, they're, they're different than a tutoring space, but what advice would you have trying to lean that direction?
00:11:36
Speaker
Well, and I know it's hard because some people don't even have their own classrooms and they have to move around and some people have rules at their schools about what they're allowed to do. But I'm such a sensory person and so many people are, but I feel like it's the little touches that can make the biggest difference. So if you could do something concrete to your classroom, I would
00:12:00
Speaker
I feel like my two first things I would do is do something about the lighting and do something about the smell. Honestly, get one of those sage diffusers or those oil diffusers that it's all hypoallergenic, like nice smelling eucalyptus lavender oil or something, and stick it in the room. And if you can, just get some cute lamps and throw them around. If that's completely unrealistic, then I would focus more on things like what kind of tone are you setting non-aesthetically? So for example,
00:12:30
Speaker
The whole goal is for students to feel like they can come in and be themselves. And that requires you knowing who your students are. So I feel like any sort of work you can do around getting to know your students as quickly as possible, and that can be non-curricular tasks, like getting to know you tasks. They can be doing reflection journals. It can be writing a letter to math. Anything that you can do to build on getting to know who they are in your classroom and what they like,
00:12:58
Speaker
I feel is really, really helpful because I think someone feeling seen is like the first step to them feeling like they belong in class. And I know this is sounding like super vague and wishy washy, but thinking like, what could someone do for you that would make you feel like you could take a sigh of relief and be yourself? What are like, what are those things for you? Is it somebody like not sneering when you say something? Is it somebody being really encouraging when you ask a question? Is it somebody saying to you when you walk into a room, Hey,
00:13:28
Speaker
I'm really, really happy you're here. And I invite you to just be yourself in my class and we're just going to do math at the same time. What are those pieces that would make your students feel like, oh, I don't have to put on some whole show for my teacher. I'm just going to be me and do math.
00:13:48
Speaker
I really love how you mentioned that it's important for us as teachers to think about how would we want to come into this space and how would we want to be seen and welcomed. And it sounds to me like you're describing a place where it's okay to make mistakes and you can still be yourself and you can laugh and you can talk and it's very chill kind of space for kids.
00:14:12
Speaker
Yeah, and you know, to follow up on that, you know, more on that, like, what if there's a teacher who's just so afraid to and I'm kind of describing my own self, but you know, my former self, just so afraid to like, lose control?
Fostering Cooperative Environments
00:14:26
Speaker
And how do I, how do I follow the classroom management? But I'm also like, this is a space where you can feel safe and take risk.
00:14:33
Speaker
So one of my favorite, favorite things to do is making a classroom agreement like as soon as you can at the beginning of the year or like the beginning of next week whenever you're listening to this, where you sit down with your class and you actually make a contract with the class and
00:14:47
Speaker
That can take many forms, but the simplest way to do it is to generate a discussion of like, guys, what do you not like about math in school or in class or in a group? And what are the things you do like? And to engage in a negotiation. So you'll have students saying things like, I just hate when teachers call on me when I don't have my hands up, or I hate when people are talking over me when I'm trying to speak. And then they'll say things like, oh, I like when we get to do group work, or I like when we get to like take home our assignments, whatever the things are.
00:15:13
Speaker
And you guys actually create a classroom agreement where you negotiate with one another and say things like, all right, listen, like I won't pick on you without your hand up, but you've got to show me one form of participation this week. Here are some options, whatever it is, write it up, stick it on your wall and have that be something that everyone agrees to, that you read every single day before your lesson so that everyone's kind of in agreement that this is like a classroom culture and community and we have to work together to make everyone happy. So I think,
00:15:41
Speaker
A, that kind of achieves the first goal of really welcoming student voice and saying, I'm here for you, but you guys are also here for me. We're in a relationship together. What can we do and where are negotiation points? And what are things like I can't buy John and what are things you can't buy John? And that's likely the first time that a student is ever going to have been asked that question. So that already steps the stage of being like, oh, OK, I don't want to lose
00:16:08
Speaker
that level of respect that I have and I'm going to give that respect in return. So I think that's like one of the most powerful things you can do in a classroom and you'll be surprised to find that as if you guys all come up with it together, peers don't want to disappoint each other and they don't want to disappoint you. So I feel like that's a big first step in creating an environment where there's trust and it's a bit of a safer space and people kind of like know what the rules are, but in a way that doesn't feel like so top down.
00:16:39
Speaker
I really appreciate that,
Belonging & Supportive Culture
00:16:41
Speaker
Vanessa. I think that students need to feel like they belong in order to learn effectively and creating environments where you get to know your learners so well and you literally just ask them, like, what do you need? How can we do this together? Really does go a long way because you're right. Most teachers don't do that. And it's such a simple thing and so often overlooked.
00:17:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I think like, I'm on this really big Brene Brown kick, like 10 years later than everyone else. But I love, like she talks about vulnerability and trust and how one of the most important things, or like powerful things a leader can do is actually be vulnerable at the front of the classroom. So like, we think that like, no, it's like the most powerful if you're always the expert and you always have the answer, but actually studies have shown over and over again, especially in bigger organizations that when the leader can say like, guys, listen, like I'm struggling here, or I don't know the answer, or I need your help.
00:17:38
Speaker
It like everyone's guard in the room goes down and A, they're like, oh my God, humanity. Like I want to treat this person like a human because I've felt those feelings, but it also opens them up to sharing those feelings with you. So I think like, you know, we are so worried about losing control, but in an, you know, in, in an attempt to never lose control, we end up over controlling to the point of like stifling. So there is power and relinquishing control of it and being a bit vulnerable.
00:18:07
Speaker
I totally agree with that. When I was in my classroom, it was the most freeing thing to realize. I didn't need to know all the, you know, to actually say that to kids, to have an adult person in their life who they respected as their teacher say, you know what, let's try to figure that out together. And your insight is as important as my insight is. As a matter of fact, it's more important in this learning space
00:18:37
Speaker
your needs and your interest and your context are more important than mine. And I think what you said is just spot on. So to that end, who would you like to shout out for people who you think are doing a really good job promoting learner centered spaces or authentic spaces, math instruction or otherwise, who do you want to give a little shout out to?
00:19:06
Speaker
Okay, well, this is a no brainer for me. 100% Crystal Watson. I feel like she's like the queen of student voice and learning centered spaces and she just completely gets it. So follow her and like, go check out her work. And she's just an incredible person has so many great ideas about how to respect student voice and how that's paramount and the most important thing in your classroom.
00:19:29
Speaker
Number two, Deborah Pierat, she does a lot of work around mindfulness and math. And one of her biggest things is that idea of like, how to bring student centeredness into a learning space, Lisa McConchie, brain based learning specialist, like, so incredible. And again, like one of her key cornerstones is
00:19:47
Speaker
You can't possibly know what instructional strategy works best for a concept before you meet your students, because it's all about what your students need. So those are my big three, Crystal Watson, Deborah Pierre, Lisa McConchie.
Celebrating Learner-Centered Education
00:20:02
Speaker
Thank you for mentioning that because today actually I was teaching seventh grade algebra and completely throughout my plans. And I was like, this is not going to work for them today. And yeah, make up some stuff, but it I had to customize it because I was like, this is they're not going to dig this. And so I need to change course. I love that very powerful and amazing.
00:20:28
Speaker
Yes.
Connect with Vanessa
00:20:29
Speaker
Okay, so you are located at the Math Guru on all social media. Is that right? On Twitter? And are you on LinkedIn as well? I'm on all the things. All the things. So listeners- On TikTok. Come find me on TikTok. Oh, on TikTok. I didn't know that. Great.
00:20:50
Speaker
So listeners, please follow Vanessa, the math guru. You won't regret it. Some good stuff. And check out her podcast. She has excellent guests. And it's not just for math teachers. I think it's just for anybody, because everybody's a math person. And I just think you have really great tips. And your guests have really great things to say. So we appreciate you joining us today. Well, thank you so much for having me and for asking the hard questions about where Keanu Reeves went to high school. I just am glad that we
00:21:20
Speaker
clarify that for everyone. Thank you so much for having me, guys.
Closing Remarks
00:21:25
Speaker
Thank you for learning with us today. We hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as we did. If you'd like any additional information from the show, check out the show notes. Learn more about Mastery Portfolio and how we support schools at masteryportfolio.com. You can follow us on Twitter at MasteryForAll and on LinkedIn on the Mastery Portfolio page.
00:21:49
Speaker
and we'd love your feedback. Please write a review on your favorite podcasting app.