Math Therapy
How to make "show your thinking" less anxiety-inducing
Dec 11, 2025 · 33 min · 24.0 MBExplicit
0:00-33:15
Streams straight from the publisher. podnod never proxies or re-hosts episode audio.
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)
Getting students to think is a hot topic - but what does it actually mean? When kids are asked to "show their thinking", can we really blame them for being like "WTF?!?!"
Today on Math Therapy, Vanessa explores the surprising number of ways we can define & interpret "thinking", and shares 5 strategies to demystify it in the classroom:
- Explain what thinking actually means
- Normalize that the thought process isn't always quick
- Give prompts that invite students into a conversation
- Outer process - talk it out before writing it down
- Model your own thinking as a teacher
How do YOU define thinking? Let us know below!
Contact us:
- Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram, TikTok, Email
- Math Therapy: Text the Podcast
More Math Therapy:
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)
buzzsprout.comInstagram
instagram.comTikTok
tiktok.comText the Podcast
buzzsprout.comCorwin
us.corwin.comAmazon
amzn.toAudible
audible.comSpotify
open.spotify.comShop here
maththerapy.com
- 0:00What even is thinking?
- 3:04But I don't know HOW I think!
- 6:51Why should we define "thinking"?
- 10:18#1: explain what thinking is
- 15:09#2: normalize not knowing yet
- 20:29#3: give open sentence starters
- 24:17#4: talk it out before writing it down
- 27:30#5: model your own messy thinking
- 30:16Summary / homework
- 32:05Outro