Kids Will Always Keep You In Check

Son: Madre why do you call it Zenned Math if you’re always angry about something in education?

Me: Yeah, my blog posts sometimes do sound angry.

Son: That’s not very Zen.

Me: You’re right. Math has become this thing that is boring and hated. It is broken. I guess I feel my writing and workshops are a way to take steps to rebuild its reputation. So people can see it can be fun and positive.

By no means am I suggesting that I, in any way, could fix an entire education system. But this made me reflect on the reason why I started my company in the first place. I mean it is called Zenned Math for a reason, right?

 

 

 

 

Creation of Zenned Math

I created Zenned Math years ago. It started with me making products for Teachers Pay Teachers. I HATE producing products and would much rather talk about and explore concepts with you know…humans. So the products that I took time to create were what I thought at that time not your run of the mill worksheets.

These products were dull, not colorful, and flat out ugly, but they had a depth to them. They were things that I have researched. Things I felt should spread for the greater good of math. To prove that math could be this joyful experience for students AND teachers. These resources were to help people lose their anxiety and hatred of the subject and find their love for it. My company has now grown into something much bigger but with the same message.

You Quit What?

To make my company grow, I had to quit my job. I have taught all grade levels in K-5 as a teacher, (more years being spent in fifth grade). I then spent several years as a K-5 math coach. So, yes, it sounds crazy, but I quit my secure, tenured position to become this math promoter of sorts.

I’m a big-picture kind of girl. I wanted to be a math coach because I would be able to change more math mindsets then the 25-30 students I had each year. I wanted to be a math consultant so I could reach more teachers and students than the ones I worked within my building/district.

My math mission never changed or altered. I just wanted its audience to grow. It came as a surprise to me when I actually decided to quit. It was a terrifying leap to take. But apparently, for everyone around me, they knew it was always my destiny. They were just waiting for it to happen.

 

 

 

 

If It’s Zenned, Why Does It Sound So Angry?

Our educational system has primarily been a status quo system, sprinkled with “We’ve always done it that way” statements. There’s a reason why very few people like math. It comes down to the way we were exposed to it.

There is a math revolution on the rise. Many math educators are studying and relaying ways to change the system. From small things like eliminating timed tests to broader topics like how to reach your poor, ethnic, special ed, and traumatized students. People are talking about and making progressive changes on how to create equity in their classrooms and schools.
Growing up, I was a poor, Latina with a terrible home life jumping around from foster to group homes. I care about the big picture deeply because I was one of these students. There’s a reason people are trying to change the education system. There is a reason people are trying to change what was the math structure. Math needs a reboot. The old mechanism does not work. Education needs reform.

 

 

 

                                                                                                              We’ve all had these days

Keeping Myself In Check

So circling back around to that conversation with my son. Will my posts be flowery and poetic? Hmmm…no. Here’s why. Since the current system needs an overhaul. I will continue to use my voice and this platform to advocate for changes. My work won’t be done for a long time. So I guess I can’t promise that it won’t sound frustrated or angry. But know this, whatever it is I share with you will always have the intention to bring that anger and/or anxiety in math to a place we can find math joy, math love and math zen.