Embracing the Powerful Role of Failure in Math Class – Vanessa Vakharia
What do Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Steven King, Michael Jordan….and Albert Einstein have in common? They all faced massive amounts of failure before getting to where they are today! Let’s be real. Fear of failure is one of the biggest reasons that so many students have math anxiety. It prevents students from asking questions, speaking up in class, and even supporting their peers. But one thing no one talks about is this: most mathematicians and scientists in real life get paid to fail! ln this workshop we will explore the powerful role of failure in math class and how you can harness it to inspire your students to embrace failure in math class – and in real life.
About Vanessa Vakharia
The Math Guru, The Math Guru🔖MA, Mathematics Education 📚Author: Math Hacks (A best-selling Scholastic series) 🎙️Podcast Host: Math Therapy 👩🏫Founder/CEO: The Math Guru

Known as the Lady Gaga of math education, Vanessa is the founder and director of The Math Guru, a super cool boutique math & science tutoring studio in Toronto that’s changing stereotypes about what math education looks like. She is also the host of the Math Therapy podcast, author of the Math Hacks Scholastic book series, and lead singer/keytarist for rock band Goodnight Sunrise. She has a Bachelor of Commerce, a Teaching Degree, and a Master’s of Math Education. She appears regularly on national television and news outlets as an expert in math education and math positivity, and her #goals are to be Oprah-level-famous and to totally change math culture so that STEM is finally as cool as every single Taylor Swift song ever written. She failed Grade 11 math twice, which was the best thing that ever happened to her.
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Embracing the Powerful Role of Failure in Math Class – Discussion
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