Interdisciplinary studies centered around mathematics

As someone who has grown up having a very strong passion for many different subjects in school and having many different hobbies and interests outside of the classroom, I understand the importance of branching out into other fields of study.  My interests include but are not limited to mathematics (obviously), most sciences, history and social sciences, analytical writing, visual arts, and performing arts, such as band and theater.  Don't get me wrong, I was no valedictorian or prodigy who could do almost anything with great ease, but I always felt as though my strengths were very diverse.  At that time, and honestly only until just recently, I had always wanted my strengths to be less diverse and more singular.  In other words, I would rather have been very strong at one discipline rather than average/mediocre at many.  Though at the time this idea sounded logical, nowadays, I couldn't feel more different.  The reason is that now I realize how much each study relates to and relies on one another.

This past fall and winter I had the amazing opportunity to work for the Brookings High School marching band and winter drum-line as their front-line instructor.  I had been a front-line instructor previously at my old high school, which was an amazing teaching opportunity and allowed me to grow as an educator.  When I was teaching drum-line at my old high school, I was still teaching with the perspective of isolation among certain subjects, especially between math and music.  It wasn't until I began working at Brookings High School that I started to realize how much of my teaching was influenced by mathematics. Once I realized this, I began to experiment with the idea of merging these two disciplines in my teaching.  One of the earliest attempts was my use of functions to explain the growth and decay and the shaping of dynamics in a specific phrase.  I also used trig to explain wrist rotations and angles of mallet heights off the keyboard in order to define specific dynamics and stroke types.  I also used the concept of basic machinery to explain motor movements and the math and physics of velocity and distance behind these movements.  It was also crucial to have an understanding of anatomy of our bodies in order to maximize on energy efficiency and technical development.  All of us staff members also used many different analogies and emotional connections to express the show concept to the students and to get them to perform with a certain style of movement and emotional display.

I could honestly go on and on about the different disciplines used in teaching for front-ensemble, but I think you get the picture.  The important thing to take away is not how many different disciplines can be applied to music, but instead how relatable and intertwined each different discipline can be.  In order to maximize on the learning of individual studies, all it takes is a little imagination and the knowledge of multiple perspectives of learning.  Though I'll admit, most of my experience with interdisciplinary teaching centers mainly around music, I feel very strongly that just being able to harness the power to pull concepts and perspectives from all subjects is immensely crucial in teaching any content area.