By Timesha Brooks, Senior Specialist, Professional Learning Design
We often talk about math anxiety when it comes to students. But there’s an elephant in the professional development room we rarely name—and even more rarely design for.
It’s something nearly every teacher has felt at one point or another: that knot in the stomach when you’re about to teach content you don’t feel confident about. For many teachers, that moment happens in the math classroom.
Maybe it’s a topic that wasn’t taught well when they were students. Maybe it’s a content area they haven’t touched in years. Maybe it’s the fear of being stumped by a student’s question in front of 30 watching faces. Whatever the reason, math anxiety can quietly shape a teacher’s instructional decisions and their confidence in the classroom.
And here’s the thing: When teachers are silently battling math anxiety, it shapes how students experience math, too.
Why Teacher Confidence Matters More Than We Say
It is well understood that math anxiety is not limited to students. Research has shown that teacher math anxiety can negatively affect student achievement (Schaeffer et al., 2020; Ramirez et al., 2018; Beilock et al., 2010).
Moreover, anxiety about teaching math can also impact student outcomes (Hadley & Dorward, 2011).
How might a classroom look different if every teacher felt as confident facilitating a math discussion as they do reading their favorite novel aloud?
To confront this reality, teachers need space to engage as learners themselves. In professional learning environments where math is explored collaboratively—where mistakes are treated as part of the process and routines provide structure for trying new strategies—confidence grows naturally.
The goal is not for teachers to have all the right answers but to guide students in making sense of problems together. Over time, that shift transforms both a teacher’s relationship with math and the community that forms in their classroom.
I’ve Been There Too
Even as a high school math teacher, I’ve felt that knot in the stomach more than once.
I remember the year I was assigned to teach Pre-Calculus—a subject I hadn’t touched in over fifteen years. Or the time I was given an Honors Geometry class that dredged up memories of Foundations of Algebra, my first math theory course in college. Or the first time I taught Trigonometry and had the unpleasant realization that I was far from fluent with trigonometric identities.
It wasn’t fun. I spent hours planning just to feel competent enough to teach the material. I worried students would realize I didn’t fully understand it myself. And because of that fear, I often kept lessons surface-level. My students copied formulas. I memorized processes to stay one step ahead. I breathed a sigh of relief whenever a DOK 1 assessment came back with mostly passing scores.
Looking back, I can see how much my anxiety shaped everything—my planning, the questions I asked, and how deeply students were able to engage with the content. And while my discomfort came and went depending on the topic, not every teacher gets that reprieve. For many, that anxious feeling becomes a daily companion.
That’s where strong curriculum and professional learning make all the difference.
The Power of Teacher-as-Learner Spaces
The first step in building confidence is giving teachers the chance to explore the math themselves. When professional learning invites teachers to solve tasks, discuss strategies, and reflect on student thinking, something powerful happens:
- Confidence grows.
- Curiosity is reignited.
- Anxiety begins to fade.
And suddenly, those moments of “I hope no one asks me this question” are replaced by “Let’s explore this idea together.”
This shift from fear to curiosity is the foundation of meaningful math instruction.
But naming the challenge is only the first step. The next question is: What actually helps teachers move forward?
Coming Next
In Part 2, we’ll dig into what actually helps teachers move from anxiety to confidence.
We’ll explore how IM’s curriculum and professional learning are designed to build teacher confidence in real classrooms, share insights from districts across the country, and offer a simple self-assessment to help teachers reflect on their own math-confidence journey.
References
Beilock, S. L., Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. C. (2010). Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(5), 1860–1863. https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0910967107
Hadley, K. M., & Dorward, J. (2011). The relationship among elementary teachers’ math anxiety, their mathematical knowledge for teaching, and their instructional practices. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 5(2), 27–44. https://www.joci.ecu.edu/index.php/JoCI/article/viewFile/100/pdf
Ramirez, G., Hooper, S. Y., Kersting, N. B., Ferguson, R., & Yeager, D. (2018). Teacher math anxiety relates to student achievement through instructional practices. American Educational Research Association (AERA), 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858418756052
Schaeffer, M. W., Rozek, C. S., Maloney, E. A., Berkowitz, T., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2020). Elementary school teachers’ math anxiety and students’ math learning: A large-scale replication. Developmental Science, 23(5), e12996. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33382186/
Timesha Brooks
Senior Specialist, Professional Learning Design
Timesha Brooks is a professional learning designer who specializes in mathematics pedagogy and teacher development. She designs practical, equity-centered professional learning that translates research into daily classroom moves. Driven by a passion to ensure all students have access to high-quality education, she helps teachers shift from being the math “doer” to being facilitators of learning so all students see themselves as capable, brilliant, and successful in mathematics.
