Our Journey from Math Avoidance to Math Advocates. 

Believe it or not, we weren't always enthusiastic about math. 😳
In fact, it used to be one of our least favorite subjects.

The thought of teaching math was intimidating because, like many of our students, we never had a solid foundation in the subject. We were raised on traditional math methods, where timed math facts tests, procedural memorization, and even the word "fractions" induced anxiety.  

Our early teaching experiences mirrored our own math education – focused on rote memorization and procedural practice. It lacked the deeper understanding and meaning that we now know is essential for successful math education. 

A Transformative Journey. 

Fortunately, our paths took us on an incredible journey that changed everything. Tiana, eight years ago, became a Cotsen Math Coach in Culver City Unified. Her role gave her the opportunity to collaborate with some of the brightest math researchers at UCLA. This experience opened our eyes to the idea that math should be approached differently from the traditional methods employed in most classrooms.

 Around the same time, Whitney embarked on a four-year journey into Cognitive Guided Instruction (CGI). This immersive training taught her to truly understand math as an adult. She learned that with the right foundation, all kids (and even adults) are capable of doing complex math! 

Inspired to Share Our Passion.

Our experiences were so transformative that we couldn't keep them to ourselves.
We started reading books on math research, trying new math concepts in our classrooms, and discussing math over glasses of wine during family weekends.

The Birth of
Math Happy Hour.

 Out of our shared passion for math education, Math Happy Hour was born. We created this platform to share our ideas, activities, strategies, and insights with fellow elementary teachers.

We firmly believe that math is a collaborative subject, and we are always excited to hear from other teachers about their strategies and activities that are working in their classrooms.

We're Not Math Geniuses, Just Passionate Educators.

We want to make it clear that we are not math geniuses. We're regular teachers on a mission to change the negative mindset many people have about math.

We've learned to feel confident even when faced with intimidating math concepts. We've embraced curiosity and the ability to admit when we don't know an answer. We want to model that math is about thinking, not just being fast.

We aren't afraid to make mistakes because we see them as opportunities to show our students, our children, and other teachers that mistakes are proof we are learning.

Join Us on Our Math Journey.

We invite you to join us on our math journey, filled with inspiration, curiosity, and, most importantly, joy.
Grab some of our free resources and let's be math pals!