The year before I left the classroom, I began making a conscious
effort to connect literacy and mathematics because it only made sense. I had already spent the first decade of my
teaching career connecting my English classes to various social studies, arts,
and science classes, so mathematics was my new subject to conquer. Now, just like many other English teachers,
this was not initially an easy task for me because I had a terrible fear of
math. Fortunately, our high school had a
young and innovative teacher who taught me about mathematical literacies. This was my foray into connecting my
discipline to math.
The next year I left the classroom for a new challenge as a
literacy consultant at a state education agency, and my work there led to more
mathematics connections because I was asked to serve as the “outside content
area” participant on a workgroup for developing Characteristics of HighlyEffective Teaching and Learning for mathematics. It was during this time I met and worked
closely with mathematics consultants who possessed a passion for mathematics
the same way I possessed a passion for reading, writing, speaking and listening. I found it truly inspiring, actually, to see
educators committed to ensuring students in our state have the best mathematics
experiences they need to be successful.
With one particular consultant, I traveled to numerous national
convenings as the work toward developing assessments for the Common Core State
Standards began. We were each the
subject matter experts for our state’s participation in the PARCC Consortium. At the same time, our state was rolling out
the standards, so our work was not in isolation; we each had numerous other
colleagues for mathematics and English Language Arts. My work with mathematics experts grew. The more I surrounded myself with these
dedicated educators, the more my fear of thinking about math dissipated.
Last year I spent pi day with this group and experienced
their fondness for the day. One
colleague shared a picture with me via twitter as I celebrated pi day for
the first time ever in 2012. This year
on pi day, I facilitated a convening of English department chairs from middle
and high schools, so I decided to share the pi day enthusiasm and included the
image on the top of our agenda. Most told me they, too, had celebrated pi day at their respective schools.
When I awoke this morning and gave pause to consider the Ides
of March, I tweeted a message to encourage my mathematics colleagues to celebrate
the day. Ah, they know their history and
their literature! One colleague cleverly
replied—"Celebrate—aren’t we supposed to beware
the Ides of March?” She’s obviously
read Julius Caesar. Mathematics and literature aren’t so detached,
are they?
