What’s your math story? That’s where we begin this episode with the brilliant minds behind Smart With It, Jill Diniz and James Tanton. Together, they share powerful personal journeys—how emotions, curiosity, and frustration shaped their beliefs about mathematics and, ultimately, their purpose as math educators.
Jill and James speak with honesty and heart about what it means to be “smart with it”—to see math as deeply human, to honor student emotion as a catalyst for belief, and to boldly build a curriculum that teaches the why behind the math, not just the how. We talk about childhood moments of wonder (and discouragement), disrupting belief cycles, and why the future of math teaching must center thinking, not compliance.
If you’ve ever felt like something was missing in math class, this episode will restore your hope. It’s a call to action to make mathematics joyful, playful, and meaningful—for all the maths and all the learners.
Why emotions shape beliefs about math—and how teachers can shift them
The myth of the “math person” and what it really means to belong in math
How Smart With It brings “passion and heart” to secondary math curriculum
Cognitive science, spaced recall, and what it means to actually remember something
Why telling the human story of math makes all the difference
Check out All the Maths on SmartWithIt
https://smartwithit.com/all-the-maths/
Connect with Jill and James on LinkedIn!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilldiniz/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-tanton-9920bb58/