Miss Masha Maths
overcoming maths anxiety
About Us
Miss Masha Maths is about supporting those who have anxiety about maths. It was born from experience of teaching maths to students of various ages and backgrounds, and finding how many were suffering from some form of anxiety about it, which was affecting their ability to learn maths or function properly with it.
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Finding techniques that have been successfully used to overcome maths anxiety has been very rewarding, and this site is intended to make these tools and techniques available to many more people so that others can gain the benefits from them. It also provides a community for discussion of issues related to maths anxiety, where people can share their experiences and what has helped them.
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About Me
My name is Masha Apostolidu and I am a qualified maths teacher in a large college in South London. Prior to joining this college I taught maths in primary and secondary schools in London and internationally.
Before entering the teaching world, I worked with children with severe physical and learning disabilities in orphanages and communities in Central Asia. My degree is in Management and I retrained to become a teacher as I wanted to make maths fun and creative for the learners. I know how important maths is for being successful in every area of work and life!
I am currently studying a MSc in Psychology and I research mathematics anxiety and mental health in maths education. I am passionate about making our maths classrooms safe and positive spaces for all learners.
About Maths Anxiety
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Maths Anxiety is a situation-specific anxiety condition which affects people of any age. Research has shown, for example, that 36% of 15-24 year-olds in the UK are anxious about maths. As maths anxiety is not always obvious it can often go unrecognised while still impacting people's ability to learn or function properly with maths.
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Previous negative learning experiences with maths can condition the brain into maths avoidance behaviours which then impact people’s choices and self-efficacy, and students' curriculum progression. Otherwise capable learners find themselves unable to study effectively and put off studying until the last minute believing that they are simply not ‘good’ at maths.