Math Teacher Lounge

S4 - 02. Bethany and Dan share their math biographies

Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer Season 4 Episode 2

In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer get personal and share their “math bios”—their early experiences with math and how those experiences turned them into the educators they are today. 

Speaker 1:

We're recording. What's up everybody. This is Dan Meyer with Matthew teacher lounge

Speaker 2:

And I'm Bethany, Lockhart Johnson. We are so excited to be back season four, episode two. Hi Dan.

Speaker 1:

Hey Bethany, how are you doing today?<laugh>

Speaker 2:

I'm so excited to be talking with you. You know, as we record this, our reunion at NCTM is getting closer and closer.

Speaker 1:

The NCTM live show is gonna be bonkers. I don't think people are ready for it. You, you think, you know, we're about on MTL, uh, from listening to us, but the live show is gonna be outta control. You cannot imagine how many clowns at elephants Bethany wants to have at the live show. We're still, we're trying to talk her down from like three to one, but we'll

Speaker 2:

See. All I want is the t-shirt cannon because I used to go to these baseball games and they would have a t-shirt cannon. And I thought I wanna operate a t-shirt cannon. So like, if I could be standing on stage aiming t-shirts at people who are jumping up and down requesting a t-shirt. I don't know. Doesn't that sound fun?

Speaker 1:

Sounds awesome. High point of my co college education was catching a, a t-shirt. No, it was, it was a burrito. It was a Brio cannon, but I think it was just t-shirt cannon. Uh, but it was, it was a Brio cannon and I caught, caught a Brito at a game and it was probably the, the most memorable, uh, moment of all of, uh, college education for me. Was the

Speaker 2:

Brito still warm?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah. I think it got, like, I think it might've been warm at one point and then it got warm back up by, uh, through the muzzle velocity of the cannon. So it was pretty great. This I had gone on there.<laugh> yeah,<laugh> anyway, I'm put off topic, but, uh, we're thrilled to, I'm thrilled to chat with you and we're thrilled to thrilled to be listened to by you folks out there in MTL land. In, in, in the lounge itself, we got a fun show today.

Speaker 2:

So if you listen to episode one, which if you haven't hope you go back and listen to it. If you listen to season four, episode one, you're gonna hear, we asked Huon, KT, who is this delight of a joyful teacher. We asked her to talk to us about what's her math bio. And we want to ask all of our guests, like I wanna go back and ask every single guest we've ever had to tell us their math bio. Yep. Because while seemingly simple in nature, you know, our students enter our math classroom already having had this relationship and with math and this, these notions about their role in math or what they think about math. And it impacts our school year with them. If we're a teacher and it impacts our relationship with math as we move through our education and beyond. Right. And I I'm so excited about this question, cause I think it also ties into this theme for season four, which is joyful math and diving into when has math felt joyful? When has it not? Does it feel like how do we think about how our math bio, our relationship with math has evolved into a joyful or less joyful place?

Speaker 1:

I get it. And what's really key here, I think, is that teaching more than other professions is a, is a generational profession. You know what I'm saying? Like, no one, no one is, is like, well, um, you know, I, I, I sold insurance to you and now you're selling insurance to, you know, my, my grandkids. That's amazing, but people are always posting photos. When then like you teach someone who then becomes a teacher later, teaching is a, a generational sort of thing. So the kinds of joyful experiences that we offer or don't offer students now affect the experiences that students who haven't even been born yet will have, you know, some 20, 30 years later, that to me is a trip and, and well worth exploring, you know, how, how we got here. Uh, mathematically speaking,

Speaker 2:

I remember a friend had sent me this image of an assignment that her son got, that was asking for their myography. They wanted to know about their history of mathematics. And this was their first assignment. And this teacher, I would like to imagine read them all and used it to inform conversations about the, uh, students like relationship with math. And, you know, some of the questions they asked were thinking about whether you consider yourself quote, unquote, good at math, like what kind of experience says have you had, what, what do you like or dislike about math? What is, you know, what, what do you expect to learn in math this year? This asking students to actually pause and examine and reflect on their relationship. And then also looking forward to like, what kind of a classroom community do we wanna create? And I loved that assignment and yeah. So today's episode Dan, guess what?

Speaker 1:

What's going on, what's happening?

Speaker 2:

I figured we should ask each other about our math bio.

Speaker 1:

I think the people out there would love to know this about us. Cause you know, we're both awesome, but also what's really cool here is that like, I don't know this about you. Like not, not a lot, you know, the, the folks that amplify, they kind of assembled me and Bethany together in the same way that, you know, record labels, assembled, you know, pop boy bands, girl bands, that kind of thing back in the day, you know, grabbing some stars from screen or film and just like throwing together and saying, all right, now, now here to perform together. And so it's just a, a really good moment for us to like, you know, settle back and, uh, and, and just know who we've been working with for the last, uh, last three seasons and change here. I love it.

Speaker 2:

Well, I don't know. I don't actually agree with that, Dan, because don't you remember? We knew each other beforehand. And while I would like to think of us as, oh, I'll say one direction. Well, no one direction is now defunct. Who's another band that got formed by, by one of those shows and is still together and still by

Speaker 1:

BS Kpop, you know, let's go

Speaker 2:

K pops, BTS,

Speaker 1:

Go Bethany<laugh>.

Speaker 2:

So can we incorporate some K-pop into the NCTM math teacher lounge live episode to don't answer. Now don't answer now. Okay. So not only are we gonna share our math bios, but we want to encourage you listeners to share your math bio with somebody in your life. It could be a child in your life, maybe talking to your, your kiddo about what was it like, what was math like for you? It could be a student that you have. It could be a partner, a friend, a parent. I mean, the sky's the limit share your math bio. And most of all, share with us. We wanna hear about your math bio and you can share it with us at Twitter, at MTL show or in our Facebook group, math teacher lounge.

Speaker 1:

Stop on by please. Um, alright. I'm gonna just share like, just a couple of quick, uh, sign post. Not, not the full bio. Gotta leave them wondering about something here, but here's a quick, uh, few quick, uh, highlights and lowlights of my math bio and how maybe it may be the teacher that I, I was an educator. I am. Is that cool?

Speaker 2:

Wait, I didn't even, I didn't ask you

Speaker 1:

Yet. Ask me what,

Speaker 2:

What, Hey, Dan, is

Speaker 1:

It, is there, is there like a magical word? Like what's your math bio<laugh> oh, go for it. No, no, that's right. They won't know, uh, what I'm talking about, talking about his math bio, Bethany,

Speaker 2:

That whole lead in that we just gave, they might not know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. We just talked about math bios for the last 20 minutes, but uh, yeah, they might not know what we're

Speaker 2:

<laugh> so Dan, why don't you go first? Cuz I know you were gonna ask me to go first, but why, why don't you go first? Dan? What's your math bio.

Speaker 1:

Oh wow. Well thank you for the formal invitation to share my math, bio Bethany lahar Johnson. So, uh, I'll just share, I, you know, I just wanna share a couple items here, not the full, you know, history, gotta leave them, leave a little mystery in there. You know what I'm saying? But here's a, here's a few highlights and lowlights and I think what it means for me as an educator. Um, so, uh, I was, uh, a homeschooled for eight years. That was big. Did a lot of math learning on my own couple of lowlights from that a lot of, lot of highlights, uh, in terms of just like being able to like learn at my own rate and just jump on ahead and pursue different wacky things. But I tried to switch into public school in fourth grade and I lasted, um, four hours. I didn't even go to a class I enrolled and then it was like, boom, I was out of there because we went to the school. We met, the teacher, saw the room, very nice person in place, but I got the homework assignment and the homework assignment was gibberish. I had no idea what to do and such was this feeling of just like despair and hopelessness. I was like, I, I cannot be a part of this. I remember the assignment. It was about identifying, scaling I soles and equilateral triangles. I'll tell you this. I am quite good at that now. But at the time, like I didn't note what those words meant. And you know, at that moment we had, uh, encyclopedia Brittanicas could not Google this or even ask JS or AltaVista this, uh, so well back then, it just, it, it was an entry moment of failure and realizing that so much of math is like a, kind of a social, uh, social kind of construct. And if you're not part of that social circle, what, what can you do? So, um, that was, uh, bummer. Another bummer was, uh, eighth grade math learned all by way of videotape, um, you know, put in the tape and, uh, watch, uh, not gonna say the person's name and not this person's fault, but, uh, it was just like watching someone work on a whiteboard, kind of a precursor to con academy, kind of a drag, uh, went to high school.

Speaker 2:

Wait, wait, wait, wait. We were, I'm not ready to jump to high school. Wait, can you pause for just a second? Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Rock on.

Speaker 2:

I, I, I just need you to go back to the, the triangle thing. So in that moment, what did that mean for you that you had had all these experiences with math and then you encounter math in a completely different sphere. I public school and it did not have a connection or meaning to you because prior to that, it sounds like it was pretty positive. Right? Explore these things you're curious about, there's not like a level you need to stick with.

Speaker 1:

Yep, yep. Yeah. I think that's right. Maybe it was a little bit of a classic, like, uh, oh, I didn't have a growth mindset. My mindset was like, oh, I'm good at math because I am, you know, born that way or, and all of a sudden that identity was, you know, thrown into question and I've, I, you know, my foundation was all of a sudden quite shaky and uh, yeah, that's, uh, you know, I think I've taught a lesson recently where I was like, Hey, like this whole thing with a less than or equal to sign and a greater than or equal to sign, like what those signs are. It's just it's language. And if it's confusing to you, it's not because you're bad at math it's cuz language is oftentimes confusing cuz people have to agree on it. Um, so I dunno, that sort of thing is kind of filtered in filtered back in periodically, um, some sympathy for like how, how a lot of math is like just socially agreed upon ways of working with, you know, number of shapes, patterns, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Anyway. Okay. And, and in this whole school, yeah. I have a lot of questions about that, but, but I'll stick to one, were you in a community of people that you talked about, these math ideas with, were you homeschooled, solo, you have a sibling, so I think you were together, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah. I've got a twin sister. So we, uh, we were, you know, like right on with each other the whole way through there. And uh, yeah, so we had a, but it wasn't, it wasn't like a, a, it was a lot of individual work, um, with, uh, my, my flavor of homeschooling.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Got it. And, and the tapes, wait, before you go to high school, the tapes, the, the, the HS tapes, which I'm just loving this image. Yeah. Was that a positive experience? Was that because that was an area of math that whoever was homeschooling you wasn't that comfortable with? Or how, why was it that route for, for the tapes and what was that? Was that joyful for you?

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Uh, definitely not joyful. Um, yeah, it was like, if you had questions, you couldn't really ask them of the VHS tape. Uh, it didn't work out so well in that way. Um, and it was a lot of operational type math. Um, it was, you know, there was no, no give and take. It was all, it was all kind of take from the video teacher and yeah, I was doing that because, uh, my homeschool teacher, my mom, who is very smart in lots of areas, ha did not have like the math knowledge or, or confidence, especially to help of math at eighth grade. And that was a big reason why flash forward to the next year went to high school.

Speaker 2:

Nice segue. Okay.

Speaker 1:

<laugh> uh, you kind of high school. I, I encountered like just like four years of just crazy good, just bonkers, good math teachers who, um, just really changed a lot for me. Um, especially, uh, Mr. Bishop and, uh, Mr. Cavender, uh, very cool folks who did a lot. Um, and especially I think Mr. Bishop and caver, both modeled for me, what curiosity from a knowledgeable adult looks like, like someone who, you know, now, now I can say to myself, oh, they were kind of like putting on the, an act of being very curious about answers. They were hearing for the 2000th time from a student, let's say, um, but what a, a, a powerful experience that was for me to feel like, oh, wow, my thoughts are interesting to someone besides myself. Um, I got like, maybe there's like two real highlights that I'll just point to, uh, from that's that kind of my math bio that made me the, uh, math teacher and person that I am. Um, let's see here. Uh, maybe three, if you you'll indulge me, one is just like the idea that you could, uh, you could do math wherever you have, like your brain, a pencil and, uh, a paper. And so I remember like in high school, uh, I was in church with my family and kind of a little bit bored of whatever's going on. And I just had the Bolton and I like drew, uh, a Pentagon, a regular one, then a hexagon, a regular one, and kept on drawing, like adding sides to the shape. And it was like, it was becoming a circle. And, you know, I was able to like take the area of each of those shapes and say, you know, what happens as you send the number of sides to infinity and watches the formula for area of a circle PI squared pop out. And it was kind of a literal religious experience, uh, in that moment, just like, wow, like my brain's so cool and math is so cool and paper and pencil, so cool. And, um, so there was that, uh, just that kind of experience was pretty awesome. And then I would just say like, uh, I've had some really fantastic experiences with math in the world itself. Um, stuff like, um, let's see, this is gonna invite more questions from Bethany. Probably. Maybe I should avoid, I, I got, uh, a Guin. I have a Guinness, I have a Guinness world record. That's almost 20 years old. This is, this is Guinness world record is, um, it's old enough to drive basically at this point and Al almost old enough to drink, but like it was, uh, it was a record, uh, for chaining the longest paperclip chain together in 24 hours. And the only way I was able to, to, uh, break that record was through mathematics where like I would be finishing a box of, of clips. And I would say to my buddy who was there, um, I just finished a box of clips and that that person would type in the number of clips that I had just done. Um, and then a mathematical formula that I had created would tell me how many, how long the chain was at that point. It was, it was being rolled around a spool. Um, and like, it's just like, wow. So math just like made this possible. You know, math revealed that the record I was trying to beat was beatable because I like did the math on it. It was like thousands of feet long in 24 hours. And other folks might be like, oh, like, that's, that's a, that's huge. But me, I was like, all right, let's divide this out. You know, divide by 24 hours in a day, divide by, um, you know, 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. Oh, that's like one clip every four seconds. That's really slow. You know, think about that clip to three, four, clip two, three, it was just slow. So math helped me, uh, helped me, uh, you know, wreck that record, which, uh, to my knowledge still still stands. Don't get any ideas. Uh, math teacher lunch folks is this news to you, Bethany, you haven't blinked in the last, like five minutes. I'm curious if this is new. It

Speaker 2:

Is news to me and I have so many questions because okay. If four seconds was slow, so then what was your like, so then I'm assuming a hundred clips per box. Like, what was the rate, you know, per box, how long did it take you to complete a box? What did this friend like? Did this friend stick with you for the whole 24 hours? Did you really do it for 24 hours? Or once you beat the record, did you rest, how did you account for biological function for like needs like a restroom?

Speaker 1:

Like what? Eating, like what Bethany. Okay.

Speaker 2:

Um, sleep. Uh,

Speaker 1:

So yeah, maybe we dive into some of the specifics in a different time. Just tell me what I'll just say. So as tell me what I'll, I'll say. So as to discourage, um, other, uh, math teacher, lounge listeners from taking this on back, back off of the record, folks, it, I did, um, this was back in college, so I was a little more limb back then. Um, but I did, uh, one, I think it was 1.8 seconds per clip for an entire 24 hours. Just like, so just, just like, think about it. Would you, if you're gonna step to me on this one, just think about that. Okay. And then, and then, and then, you know, make an informed decision. Wait,

Speaker 2:

Wait, wait, I just wanna tell you one thing. I'm picturing somebody with a straw and like giving you water as you keep clipping. I'm picturing like music.

Speaker 1:

I that's not far. That's not far. That's not far from, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So many questions. OK. Go on. Sorry. Sorry, start, go on. This is your bio.

Speaker 1:

We gotta, we gotta, I gotta wrap this up, but I wanna hear your bio, but like, I would just say like this, this move to this sense, that math is actually a thing that's useful for more than just a grade it's useful for more than just, you know, the societal, uh, you know, uh, adulation that comes from being a math nerd, that kind of thing. Um, and so that, that, I think that affected a lot of, a lot of math teaching for me. And, uh, if I got like summarized math teaching itself in a, in a journey, it went from like, Hey kids, aren't I awesome. You know, to, Hey kids, isn't math, awesome to, Hey kids, aren't you awesome. And like that journey, you know, was facilitated by lots and lots of people, you know, a lot of personal growth, but at this point, at one point I was like, Hey, math can help you get records and whatnot. It's really useful. And now I'm like, wow, your brain's just doing just really interesting things. I can help you understand how interesting those things are and maybe make them more interesting or interesting in a different way with some help here. That's uh, let's, let's put a pin in that. That's the, that's the math bio.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So I have no doubt that if you ask someone in your life listeners for their math bio, that you will discover things about them, that you never knew. I literally the questions that I have, I have so many questions and Dan is very good at kind of like, you know, bring, bringing me back, bring me back, like, come on, come on. But I just wanna say your overall, your, your journey seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty full of confidence. Um, I, I don't wanna say ego in a negative way, but I wanna say like you were buoyed by these experiences that allowed you to feel like math was a place for you to thrive. Right. Where you could try out things, you could try it out and just, I could do that. Right? Like it just, the amount, like your relationship just felt very, like you, you felt like you had autonomy agency perhaps much like you, you operate in this world. Dan, is that, is that<laugh>?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's fair to say. And without telling too much of her story, uh, my twin sister with whom I share most things, including genetics, you know, she had a very different experience in math early on. She's, uh, brilliant. She's a doctor and not, you know, the book kind of doctor that I am, but like a real, you know, medical doctor, she's brilliant. Um, but like we were, we, we encountered different messages about who math was made for early on in, uh, you know, in, in our entire math learning. And she, uh, she, we both digested the, the messages that we were sent and, uh, took, you know, different, different paths, um, because of them, for sure.

Speaker 2:

Funny how that works. I thank you, Dan. I do, I for in all sincerity I'm I appreciate you sharing that. And I think that it's exciting to hear how it influenced your teaching. It feels like you want to cultivate those experiences for your students. And I've been in the room when you've presented, I was in a room where you taught a class live. It felt like you were making space for the students to have these aha moments. And it feels like your work at Desmos. And now amplify, you're trying to create these products that allow folks to recreate these amazing math moments, right. And that it's for everyone and that it's accessible and you, it can be very positive. I, I feel like I have this new perspective on kind of the energy you bring to your teaching. So thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Been a pleasure. Thanks for, uh, your, your questions to your Bethany. And it's been a, it's been fun to reflect on it. And I, I do, I do feel very lucky in lots of ways, privileged, lucky. I know, like, I think the world has been set up for my success in lots of ways as you know who I am, but I do just, yeah, I feel, I want more people to experience what it's like when you walk into a math classroom and it's like, Hey, this place is for you. You have interesting thoughts about this. Let's, uh, let's get, get'em out. So that's awesome. I would love to hear about you and how you, I mean, we, we have taught different kinds of kids. You know, I taught kids who I think were, uh, somewhat set in they're a little bit more solid at secondary in like who they are as a math learner. Like I know who math is and who I am with math. And I'm really excited to hear, you know, like what your math bio allowed you to do with students who were perhaps open to the idea. They are very mathematical or at least not yet closed off to those possibilities. So yeah. What, what, what are some of the, the high, the, you know, the high, high, high, and low water marks of, you know, uh, the, the making of Bethany, Lockhart Johnson, math teacher.<laugh>

Speaker 2:

Um, thanks for asking Dan<laugh> no, I I've shared aspects of my math bio because I think it really informs the way that I talk to people about math and think about math. And I like to share it because I'm, I want folks to consider their own journey, uh, with math, as we like engage with problem solving and sense making and thinking about the students in our classroom. Uh, my dad, I is a math and computer science major. So he had a computer very early on. I wish he had invested in apple early on when he had like one of the first apple computers ever. And, um, sorry, dad, but it's true. I do wish you had done

Speaker 1:

That. Sure. He does too.

Speaker 2:

Oh, he does. So math and computers and conversations about counting, you know, it felt like it was kind of just normal. Like it was around me and I went to Montessori, uh, which is a, a private school that, or, oh, they have some public Montessori, but it's very self-directed. And so we would have these kind of charts, these goals for the day that you, you explored. And so we would explore math in very, I don't know, very organic ways with these natural materials. And I, I feel like I excelled at math, but it wasn't something that I was conscious of. It was just like, oh, well, yeah, math it's, you know, something we do. And then when I went to, when I left Montessori in fourth grade, I remember that year being a lot of like repetition. Like I, I was like, well, we did this, we covered this. And except for the mission project that we hadn't done, that was all new. And, uh, and that's it for another time I'll share about that. But<laugh> then, um, they actually, I, I was moved with a group of students to the fifth grade math class, cuz we had already done the, the work that we were doing. And so it wasn't that it felt like it came easily, but it did make sense what we were doing made sense. And then it all kind of changed. There was a, a lot of change in my family. There was like missed school time and I, we moved and I went to a new middle school and I was in this environment with students who it was like an accelerated program. And so I was in this environment with students who were pretty competitive with each other. And I remember going, and I, I was not from of a competitive environment. Like Montessori is not competitive. It's not about that. Right. It's it's, it, it was very strange to me that I would be competing against anyone even competing against myself and I, you know, knew how to set goals, but I, it was a different level of, of energy. And I felt like, because I wasn't competitive in that nature. I felt like that kind of, I, I felt on the outside of a lot of the, the energy besides the regular, like middle school feeling outside of things. And I remember the first friend that I made, hi, Susan, uh, she had said to me, this was like maybe our second week of school. She's like, oh, what lunchtime come with me to math club. And I was like, okay. And I remember walking into that room and I had no idea what was going on. And so that was one of the first times where I was just like, whoa, I have absolutely no concept of what they're talking about or what these are my peers. I, I felt very, um, it was very, it was strange. It was a strange, I was like, this doesn't feel like a space for me at all. Um, when I think ordinarily, I was kind of excited about the idea of going to math club at lunch, you know, and over middle school, I kind of just got progressively more and more behind it started with like missing some work and then missing more and then checking out. And, and, you know, I, the problem was is that I really made it about myself. That, that, that, like, it wasn't something that I was then good at or could do when really it was that well pre-algebra, I was having a really hard time in like the rest of my life. And so I wasn't real present in that class. And so when I got to algebra, it, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. And then if I missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, well, Thursday is gonna be hard, you know? And, um, it just got progressively harder and harder. So I had this great idea that between eighth grade and ninth grade, I was going to take this accelerated geometry class. Cause that was the ninth grade class was geometry. And I would take it. It was like geometry in three weeks or something. So then when I entered high school, I would've gotten this like jump start. Right. But I, I wish I had said, oh, I'll take this. And then in ninth grade I'll take geometry. So like I've already kind of gotten a preview of the material, but instead I went to the 10th grade math, which was like intermediate algebra trigonometry. I had absolutely no clue what was going on. And I had a very, very difficult time and I wasn't ready for that class, but it was exacerbated by the fact that this teacher felt very free to let the freshmen in that class know that they shouldn't be in that class, that this class was for 10th graders. Oh wow. And, oh, wow. We had a rather contentious relationship and I will never forget that we were in the hallway. And he says to me, you don't belong here. And, and I've talked to, I've talked to a girlfriend of mine about her experiences with his teacher and she has the fondest memories. She wow. She, in fact, almost everyone I've spoken with, you know, if we are talking about past teachers or, oh, what was that class like? I mean, they just have these wonderful memories. And for me, my sense of like belonging was already, so like on a tight rope anyway, that to have this adult, this teacher tell me, you do not belong here, just crushed me. And in hindsight, I think he was saying like, this class is too hard for you. I mean, maybe<laugh>, but all I heard was you don't belong here. And I extrapolated it to connect to math and to anything having to do with math in general. And it just got worse and worse through high school. And, um, in the world of math, you know, I, my next math class was even, I repeat, had to repeat that class and still didn't understand what was going on and felt more out of place. And, you know, it's, it's one of those things that I, I just kind of had started to accept that, I guess, math isn't for me, I, I guess I'm just not a math person or whatever these stories are that I started to create and build and find evidence for around me that was informing that this wasn't for me. And I, I had always done well in school. I was in, you know, accelerated classes. I, I felt like I was capable of problem solving. And, and, and yet in math, I just felt like I had all of this evidence saying that I, I didn't belong there. And so when I went to college, I took like the, whatever two math classes were the, you know, that I, I was in performing arts and then I, I did ethnic studies as well. And I remember your, you had to take two math classes that were GEs. There were these classes that if you don't wanna deal with math, you go take those classes. And I was like, oh yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that. The Gulf widen, you know,<laugh> and I didn't feel like anxiety when I had to do things like balance my checkbook or navigate math in everyday spaces. It was just, it would never occur to me that I would like seek out opportunities to engage with math or think about it or talk about it.

Speaker 1:

That is, yeah. That's just so wild. How, I don't know, like it, you it's often the, from the student's perspective, it is them in a vacuum with math and the two of them interact and decide if, you know, if they're right for each other, but like from the grown up perspective, it's just, you know, it's a little bit clearer that your story with math was not just you in math, but you with, you know, various external things happening with family, various teachers playing, you know, their different roles sometimes, you know, really tragic and, and horrible roles. Um, and then like the compounding, like mathematical debt that it feels like you were kind of building up as like challenges in one year kind of yes. Didn't get resolved and moved into the next year and so on. And yeah, all that makes me wonder all it makes me like really, really scared. Uh, first of all, because I would, I would bet that like, your teacher might not even remember that, that moment, that for you is part of like just a pivotal moment in your math story and how many kids have I played, you know, have I been a part of their story in that way? And wouldn't even recall, you know what I'm saying? So that's, that's a scary part. Right. Um, and then also I'm just wondering, like, how can we, yeah. How can we help kids who are in those moments recognize that, oh, this kid is like absent a bunch and give them more resources to be successful rather than say, well, you just gotta try harder now. Um, those are things I'm wondering, uh, hearing your story, thank you for sharing that, how I'd love to know more about like, how you then became a teacher and what that, all that did for you as you helped students.

Speaker 2:

Well, but to, to answer kind of what you were saying, I, it wasn't that I wasn't, I was always absent physically, but at least like mentally at that point, because it had become so difficult, it didn't make sense to me. So I was like, just really checked out in math class, you know? So in hindsight, you know, as a teacher, yeah, for sure. I can look back and especially hearing these stories and these experiences my friend had with this teacher and just like chalks up as one of like her most favorite teachers ever. And all, you know, I, he, he clearly did a great job for so many students, but for me, a a and I think for some people they would've taken those challenges and, you know, it would have fortified them in a different way or something. But for me, I took it upon myself to mean certain things about myself and about my ability and what I was capable of. And so I think, I think in some ways, you know, um, yeah, it's all, it's all interconnected. You know, when your students walk in the door, they're not this, that the things that are impacting them in their life are coming into the room with them. And I don't think we can take that for granted and think, well, if they just focus hard enough. Yeah. So let's go back to my love of Oprah. You know, Oprah talks about living your best life. And something I really appreciate about Oprah is that she encourages you to examine like sticking points, right? Like she doesn't just say, well, this, um, you know, just pretend nothing ever happened. And everything's fine. You know, she really talks about making time for reflection. And I kind of got mad that anytime I thought about math or math schooling came up or, you know, whatever, anytime that came up that I just felt Ugh about it. And I felt like a failure. And I'm like, you know what, what if I took a math class and I'm an adult at this point, I've graduated. I have, you know, I, I I've left college. I have my degrees. I I'm, but I, I said, what if I took a math class? So I, so I went down to, uh, the city college and I found out that you have to take this exam, like a placement exam. And I went and took the placement exam. And I remember it's one, it's one of the like responsive tests where if you get it right, the next question's a little harder and that, so I'm taking it like panicking because it's getting more like, I just, you know, and I remember it placed me in like, whatever algebra is something, this class that was far more advanced than I thought I should be in. And I was like, there's been a mistake. You know, when I went to the counselor, like, you know, I got these results, but I couldn't answer like a lot of the questions on the test. She's like, no, no, no, that's how it works. So I go take this, this class and the class was hard. And I decided that I was just gonna keep showing up. And I, every day before class, I kid you not, they had a little math. Um, it was like a math center where you could go in and they had a bunch of tables and you'd sit at the table and you could sit and do your work or whatever. If you had a question, you walked up and put your name on a clipboard and then somebody would come and help you. So I did that every single, like before every single class I would go in, I'd sit there, I'd do the work. I'd go and I'd get help. Like somebody would walk over and you know, some, some kid for whom they're like this, you know, they're math. It might be you, Dan. It could be you, it could have been, you, you know, would walk over and be like,

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was in help like that. Now. It's awesome. Love, love those people. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you know, we, I, I did it and I did so well in the class. I did like exceedingly well in the class. And I said, take that. I said, take

Speaker 1:

That everything, every other math experience. I said, what? Yeah,

Speaker 2:

Wait a second. Yeah. What, and it was that I was present. I was not afraid to look at what didn't make sense. And if something didn't make sense, it didn't mean there was something wrong with me.

Speaker 1:

What? Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I was just in such a different space. And then I took another math class and that class was even harder. And I did the same thing where I went to my, the little lab and, you know, and it, it just buoyed me. And it made me realize that, like this story, that my experience with it was very powerful and that was a real lived experience, but that it didn't have to define my relationship with math. But then I decided I wanted to go back to school to become a classroom teacher. And I totally, this was a couple years after that math class experience. So now, you know, I'm healing my relationship with math through basic positive experiences, da, da, da, you know, doing other work, but fast forward for a whole number of reasons, decided to become a classroom teacher. And I freaked out all of my, like I'm studying for the GRE and the CSET and, and all the things you have to the hoops, you have to jump through to, to apply to the masters program and the credential program. And I freaked out, I, I was so close to quitting Dan, because I was convinced that the reason I couldn't be a classroom teacher is because I wasn't capable in math. Like I was, it was all that resurfaced. And even though I now had evidence to say something different to the contrary, it was still so visceral. And I was so scared, but I passed that math C set. I did well enough on the GRE that yes. You know, I, I, I finished my credential. I worked really, really hard. I had to work so hard in my student placement, uh, when I was student teaching for a fifth grade class, cuz I felt like, oh my God, I, I mean, now I could do the mathematics, but I couldn't teach it to someone, you know, but I had amazing professors at UCI and they, my math professors really like just, and my mentor teacher, shout out to Jennifer, I shout out to Phil like these amazing mentor teachers who just loved teaching and who loved, like you said, you, you know, you have these teachers in your life who you got to see, the way that they listened to students. They taught me about that. Love of listening to students. And then I fell in love with, you know, CGI, cognitively guided instruction and started learning all about all of these educators who just wanna learn from students thinking. And it was just so powerful. And I realized as a kindergarten teacher that I have this really special role in helping to create space for a positive school experience. Like we get to talk about, I talk about my students as mathematicians, they're writers, their, their thinkers they're problem solvers. And I also want to make space for parents. Some of them, this is their first kid in kindergarten and they brought all of their experiences. A lot of it negative that they had had with mathematics. So I felt like it was such a, such an exciting opportunity to help show parents how they could have conversations about math with their students. That also, I hope helped heal their own anxiety with mathematics. Right,

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Like I've not even scratched the surface of math learning, but I just have such a changed perspective and relationship with math. And I just fell in love with the sense making and I fell in love with the, the journey of it. I still experience math anxiety about a wide variety of things, but I do love it. And I feel like there's a space for me in relationship with math. And that really excites me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Wow. Listen to that folks. We, we don't deserve her Bethany, Lockhart Johnson. She got, she get, she got, she got some math game and could have gone off there and you know, like done a, become an accountant or something. And she chose to hang with kids and their parents. That's so wild that you're like rehabbing parents and their self-conception about, uh, about mathematics at the same time. I think that is so cool.

Speaker 2:

Well, thanks Dan Meyer. I gotta tell you, I don't know, know when or if I've ever shared that much of my math story. So there is a certain amount of vulnerability there, but, um, thanks for listening. And I'm glad that, um, you know, I, I, I think there's space for us to talk about these things that, uh, we care deeply about, but that are, can be really complicated.

Speaker 1:

Yes. Yes. And I love how you you've really sharpened the point on what I feel like I know in my brain, but not my body all the time that like individual teachers are huge, like individual teachers and individual moments of teaching are just not something to play with. You know, like that, that kid that's in fifth grade having a tough time, like there could be a a month or a day long period where all of a sudden, like, you're just like, oh yeah, I'm back in, I'm back in the mix. Like me and math are still buddies. And there's also like moments that you had where like one casual word from a teacher can just like really put a, a huge wedge between you and a discipline that needs and wants you and, and your intellects in it. Um, that's a, that's a really powerful testimonial, not just for math, but for, for teaching your teaching bio.

Speaker 2:

I agree with you. And I also, I also like, you know, I think we can't put this. We are human teachers are human. And so I'm sure there's things I've said to students. Um, 22nd story, a student stapled his finger in my class.<laugh> and I remember holding his hand and saying, why did you do that? And I wasn't yelling at him, but it was like, I am sure the panic in my face. Like, that's what he's gonna remember about kindergarten. Right.<laugh> yeah.

Speaker 1:

That

Speaker 2:

He will remember that he won't remember the really cool like city project. We did. He's gonna remember his teacher holding his hand in his face. Why did you do that? Like,

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know, so we're human and yes, it was awful that that teacher said that to me, there were a thousand other ways that he could have said whatever it was, he was thinking, and that did deeply wound me. But despite his influence, because teachers do have a lot of power and I think they need to examine that power ongoing. It still like doesn't have to define us. So I, I don't wanna put this pressure, like sure. So never ever say anything negative, you know, like we're human.

Speaker 1:

I feel like, uh, that, that kid is that kid is currently on some office supply podcast talking about your office, supply bio and saying, let me tell you why, like how I first got really freaked out by staples. Here's a deal. I only use paper clips. And here's why

Speaker 2:

Here's why, but then, but then call back. He's going to stumble upon this podcast and think, and because I'm so adept with paperclips, I can beat that record

Speaker 1:

Though. A whoa, settle down. Don't get any ideas kid. No way, Uhuh. I don't like that at all. That's not what, that's not what I want to have happen here. No, thank you.

Speaker 2:

Well, I spent Dan, I need a nap.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I need a, I need a box of Kleenex. I need a nap. I need a, yeah, for sure. A Baba Uhhuh. Definitely. Hey, so look, I don't, I'm not expecting you folks out there in the lounge to kind of give us the same depth or breadth. You know, we are here of course, for your entertainment, feast on our, our stories and dramas. But I would love to know at some point, like what are like a few, a few moments that like really came to define you mathematically came to influence you as a teacher. I think, I think we would do really well, uh, for each other to understand that about all of our processes. So yeah, I would just talk someone to plug in for Twitter at NPL show or, or Facebook math teacher lounge would be, uh, fantastic to hear from you.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much for listening.

Speaker 1:

Thanks folks. Bye now.

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