I substituted for a Math class the other day and I realized that Math and English are not too far apart. It's something I've talked about with colleagues for a number of years. Like I tell my students, what you're really working on in middle school is the ability to form structure to your imagination, or think in the abstract. These fancy rules about where to put a comma, how to build suspense, or how to distinguish a metaphor from a simile can also apply to mathematics. What's the difference between understanding that x = 6+4, or suspense = the buildup to something exciting or scary. It's all working on your imagination, after all.
Ah, yes, me, with my small liberal arts education, would love to preach about the ways that all subjects can connect. What's the potential energy inside a story, and how much of it should be kinetic or potential, is a great conversation I had with one of my students who was writing his scary story. Science or English, Social Studies or Music, there has to be a way to connect all these things together, right? My students challenge me and ask great questions about my theory, but it's something I think could benefit us greatly to see the connection between what we're learning and how it applies to the rest of our lives.
My roommate and I created a song about body positivity that we might be able to share with students, possibly by collaborating with the music department at my school. My role model, Fred Rogers, as well as professors at my school, would always talk about how important it is to create alongside students. The health teacher is excited about this song as well, for reasons that might better go unexplained. And the whole idea of the song came from a student who called someone else out for body-shaming. This, to me, is what a great community can feel like. We're all trying to get somewhere, aren't we?