I Thought I Wasn’t a Math Person. It Started with Fractions.

I Thought I Wasn't a Math Person (Until I Learned What Math Actually Is)

A guest post by Kristi Gottwalt, Director of Marketing at Math is FigureOutAble

You know people like me. You may be people like me.

For nearly two decades in the ed tech field, I've watched from the sidelines as students got access to tools I could only dream of as a kid. Walking through vendor halls at conferences, I'd feel a pang of jealousy—all these amazing resources to help the latest generation connect with subject matter in ways that seemed almost magical.

But here's what I didn't realize: no amount of fancy tools can fix broken math instruction.

The Phrase We Don't Say Anymore

Before I met Pam Harris and the Math is FigureOutAble team, I was the first to say it: "I'm not a math person." It's a phrase that's now banned around our office, and within a few short months of working here, I understood exactly why.

I didn't fail at math. My math instruction failed me.

I aced history and English. I muddled through science. But math? Math was a true struggle that made me feel stupid, even though I knew I wasn't. The problem wasn't my brain. It was that my teachers didn't have the know-how to help me reason through math. I sucked at memorizing algorithms, and that was treated as the only way to "do" math - because we were all in the dark.

When Fractions Became the Villain

So when the team started talking about our next Math is FigureOutAble Challenge focusing on fractions, I was leery. Actually, let me be honest: I dreaded it. Fractions made me feel dumb in a way few other topics could.

Then Pam mentioned Vanessa Vakharia and Math Therapy, where Pam was a guest. Something clicked. The concept of "math trauma" wasn't just some buzzword. It was exactly what had affected me.

One quote from Pam hit me hard:

"So I'm going to suggest there are naturally mathy people who have maybe some natural talent or have enough natural interest that they go for it. And either one of those is enough for them to sort of take interest. Here's my point. We can all be mathy people, but we have to know what the actual mathy thing is."

Wait. We can all be mathy people?

That's when I asked Pam to explain fractions to me—the figure-out-able way.

The Moment Everything Changed

When Pam explained how fractions actually work in a way that made sense, it seemed so simple. Not simple like "easy." Simple like "logical." Like something my brain could actually grab onto and understand. I was no longer in the dark.

She started with something concrete: a chocolate bar broken into 4 parts. When you share that chocolate bar with friends, suddenly 1/4, 2/4, and 3/4 aren't abstract symbols. They're pieces of chocolate you can picture. Then she introduced another chocolate bar. And just like that, the idea of five ¼ segments being 5/4 clicked. It was something I could actually see in my head.

There was more to it than that. But this was my first aha moment. And it made fractions less daunting in a way that years of algorithm memorization never had.

In her Building Powerful Fractions, 1 workshop, Pam unpacks the five different meanings of fractions. Most of us were only ever shown part-whole, and even then, usually in a rushed or procedural way. But when she walks through the other four meanings and connects them back to visuals and relationships, you start to see why fractions feel so confusing for so many people. We weren’t bad at math. We were missing the bigger picture.

I felt two things simultaneously: clarity and regret. Clarity that I could understand this. Regret that my third-grade self never got this opportunity.

The root of my math trauma? It came from fractions. From being taught algorithms to memorize instead of concepts to understand. From being one of the students Vanessa described on that podcast:

"The rest of the class is not "quote unquote" good at math in this way, and they don't feel good. They aren't presented with any other options. They just leave the class thinking, well, I guess I'm not a math person and I'm not good at it."

Pam's response? "Uh yes. And what a tragedy."

What a tragedy indeed.

It's Not Too Late (For Any of Us)

Here's what working at Math is FigureOutAble has taught me: I am not too old to think like a mathematician. None of us are.

I'm someone who's constantly learning. Professionally, as a marketer, I need to understand complex products and industries. I follow current events, I'm passionate about history, I'm an avid reader. My brain works just fine.

What I needed wasn't a different brain. I needed different math instruction.

And here's the thing that keeps me up at night: there are students sitting in classrooms right now, feeling exactly the way I did. Smart kids who are being told, implicitly or explicitly, that they're "not math people" simply because memorizing algorithms doesn't work for them.

Vanessa put it perfectly when she asked Pam:

"You at one point said, our students deserve to learn these reasoning skills. You know, we don't need them to just pump out answers anymore. They deserve this, and we are robbing them of that if we don't facilitate that. How do you think learning in the way that you're proposing versus learning the standard algorithm actually shapes math identity?"

Our students deserve to learn reasoning skills. They deserve to understand what they're doing and why it works. They deserve to develop actual mathematical thinking instead of just memorizing steps.

And we're robbing them if we don't make this happen.

Join the Math is FigureOutAble Challenge

That's why I'm genuinely excited (yes, me, the former "not a math person") about our next Math is FigureOutAble Challenge focusing on fractions.

What Makes This Different?

Pam walks you through how to help students reason about fractions rather than teaching them algorithms. She uses four primary approaches to make sure fractions resonate with all students. You'll learn by doing math yourself, experiencing firsthand how reasoning beats memorization.

What to Expect

Three nights of math instruction, all focused on fractions and how to teach them differently. You'll discover ways for students to truly reason through fractions so they're no longer a black hole of math instruction. And here's the thing: these strategies work at all grade levels.

For younger learners just starting out, you can build strong foundations from day one, based on your knowledge that there’s more than one meaning of fractions - not just part-whole.

For older learners who've already developed fraction anxiety (like I had), you can help them grasp fundamental concepts that will improve their learning and give them the skills and confidence they need to master this crucial building block.

Each night, Pam will model specific strategies you can implement in your classroom the very next day. You'll see exactly how to guide students through reasoning rather than rote memorization.

What You Get (All Free!)

• Three nights of professional learning focused on transforming your fraction instruction
• Nightly prize giveaways for participants
• Math is FigureOutAble handouts that provide clear takeaways from each evening's learning
• An exclusive Facebook community where Challenge participants share ideas and learn from their peers
• Ideas you can use immediately, not theory, but practical approaches for your classroom

Whether you're teaching third grade or high school, your students need support to truly understand fractions. Not just to follow the algorithm. Not just to pass the test. But to actually figure it out in a way that builds their mathematical confidence and identity.

Help your students avoid the math trauma that so many of us suffered. And maybe, just maybe, find a little healing for yourself in the process.

The best part? It's completely free. We've made it fun, we've loaded it with giveaways, and we've designed it to support both you and your students in developing real mathematical reasoning.

Because here's what I've learned: we can all be math people. We just need to know what the actual mathy thing is.

Ready to figure it out together?

Join the Math is FigureOutAble Challenge 

May 13-15

7:00 PM CST │ 8:00 PM EST │ 6:00 PM MST │ 5:00 PM PST

Registration opens at the end of the month. Want first access when doors open? Join our mailing list now.

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P.S. If you've ever said "I'm not a math person," this challenge is especially for you. Trust me on this one.