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By Lorraine Kasyan, August 9, 2013 9:36 pm

There are so many opportunities to say thank you and to watch another person change the trajectory of someone else’s life. Folks in the medical profession do that often by healing an illness or repairing a limb. Helping a loved one through a major surgery recently made me think of the many ways we get to leave a legacy. How very grateful I am for talented physicians who specialize in quirky muscles, tendons, and bones that do not behave the way they are supposed to. Giving someone back the use of his or her arm and shoulder – wow, that is something to be thankful for.

Readjusting to life after my visit to India continues to surprise me.  There is a difference in the way I see and feel my surroundings. A deeper hue or reflected vision. Everything feels crisper visually. The subtleties of birdsong and shadow, sunlight and wind, feel like tender gifts. My senses are alive in a new way and so are my connections to people. India in all her humanity and chaos has created a shift in me that makes me want to pay attention.

This new view makes me eager to get back into my classroom and try once again to do a better job this year than ever before. To create new lessons, find great literary companion pieces, show my students their power and connect them to the world around them – both here in Western NC and across the globe in Mumbai or Delhi. The path ahead energizes me. The policy changes, new student tests, budget cuts and adverse legislation, teacher measurement tools, and financial trimming create a hum in the background of my mind, but they do not overtake my senses. I see smiling faces, hopeful new students, classes coming together as a family, surprise leaders, and thoughtful analysis that changes minds and spurs hope awaiting me.

My legacy. I am mindful that every child matters. Each set of eyes is related to a family with hopes, dreams, challenges, and frustrations. Each set of eyes belongs to caregivers who love them, who toil and work diligently to support and nurture them. And just in case I encounter one who is not that lucky, I am honored to be that set of eyes.

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By Lorraine Kasyan, March 16, 2011 7:33 pm

I had the great pleasure of hearing Yann Martel speak the other evening. He was talking about his new book, Beatrice and Virgil, at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, NC. Martel is a significantly famous author for our town. We do get some big names through now and then but usually those folks speak at one of the local auditoriums. Malaprop’s does a fantastic job of inviting important writers to our area. Yann Martel was no exception.

There were many things that struck me from the evening. Martel was eloquent, poised, gracious, funny, and quick witted. He used no notes during the talk and was really impressive in his delivery. Perhaps the most noteworthy were his responses to the questions from the audience towards the end of the night. He fielded some tough ones.

When speaking of his art and what makes a work endure he shared, “The book is only one half the thing, it depends on what the reader takes out of it.” This was one of the simpler comments of the evening but it resonated for me because of how much it felt like teaching. Often, no matter what I do, I can’t seem to reach, teach, instruct, guide, or move a student, at least not in an obvious way. I keep reinventing my craft and trying new strategies but the bottom line remains connected to this fact: the student is “half the thing.” I was amazed by the simplicity and honesty of the statement. Sometimes, no matter what we do, our craft can derail because of our audience.

That doesn’t leave the teacher off the hook, not by any means. We are one half of that whole learning experience and the import of that also resonated. It is even more important that we bring everything we have to the table so that our charges have the best possible chance of meeting us where they will learn.

When asked about what books he has coming next, Martel spoke of a book about teaching. Yes, teaching. He said, “Teaching involves a living, essential dynamic.” He asked, “How do you keep it from not becoming dogma? How do you keep it alive?” His respect for the craft and his awareness of the need for teachers and willing students was tangible. His next animal allegory will probably have as the main characters “a chimpanzee, the primate resembling a human the most, and a rhinoceros, an animal with a tremendous symbolic echo.” This book is important he reminded us as he asked, “how do we keep that wisdom alive?”

Education is forging some rough waters right now, and many of the changes that will evolve are necessary. One thing, however, will never change. We need to keep bringing our fifty percent to the table – one hundred percent of the time. The wisdom depends on it.

Inspiration

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By Lorraine Kasyan, July 28, 2009 11:36 am

BLC09 – I have arrived at the conference hotel and I am already soaking up the energy and enthusiasm surrounding me.  Last year’s conference made me hopeful and certain of my role in education and my place in the wider community of passionate educators who believe that we have the power to change the way students learn in today’s schools.  Pedro Noguera’s ending keynote offered us a challenge.

He said, among other things:

“Internal accountability is far more important than external accountability.”
“Schools don’t exist in a vacuum.”

“Academic excellence and equity are not conflicting goals, they are the same goals and worked on simultaneously.”

“We are stuck in practices that prevent us from truly educating kids at all levels.”
“Too many high school teachers confuse teaching with talking.”

“The best teachers teach the way kids learn.”

“Your background should not determine who should go to college.”

He asked:

“Who are the advocates in your school for the kids whose parents are too busy?”

“Who is in your basement?”

I asked his permission to share his keynote with you and he graciously responded – yes.  He wished me another great year.  I ask myself now, as I prepared to engage in this new, learning experience, have I met his challenge?  Am I reaching all learners, making learning equitable and accessible to all?  “Am I constantly modifying and changing?”

The link below will take you to a recording of the keynote.

Pedro Noguero Keynote 2008

I began last year with the fervent hope that I would use the abundance of ideas to propel learning in my classroom forward.  I made some strides and learned some big lessons.  Here at November Learning – teachers and stakeholders from all over the globe believe those strides can happen.  There should be no student left in the basement.

Thank you Alan for this opportunity for all of our students.

Let the learning begin.

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By Lorraine Kasyan, July 8, 2009 11:12 pm

While attending an organic, raised bed gardening workshop I was struck by the master gardener’s commentary on weeds. He was a proponent of heavy mulching, no worry about weeds emerging. “Have you ever wondered why you’d see old farmers tilling their fields in the moonlight? Why would they work so long into the night?” Well, the simple answer was weeds. They could go years without worrying about the pests as long as they didn’t turn the soil over in the sunlight. “Almost all the weed seeds need is a flash of sun to germinate.” He gave us this pearl of wisdom in support of his recommendation not to till our soil. I, however, had a huge ah hah moment. Weed seeds as students! Not because they are weeds, no let me say up front that I view them with reverence and appreciation. The analogy for me was speaking to our disenfranchised students, the ones who for whatever reason have not been ignited by learning. Maybe all they need is a bit of sun – a flash of light on their passions to inspire a fresh bloom of inquiry and engagement.

Wildflower

I look to technology for many of these sparks. Look what it has done for us as we network on Twitter and attend keynotes and workshops via chatrooms and video. My learning curve has soared; the Internet brings us ever closer to one another as co-creators of learning. With guidance and intent. I really do believe our students can inspire themselves and each other to discover uncharted waters of learning and discovery. But, the average school is filled with kids who have stories of ache, discomfort, abandonment, increasing financial worry, addictions, fear, and the list continues, to contend with. Yes, there are many students who come from loving homes and all of their needs both physical and emotional are met. They are all attempting to navigate a demanding social structure and ever changing societal landscape. Our kids have ‘stress.’ They move, change, respond and adapt faster than we can imagine. School is a hurdle they must jump and jump with skill if they have any chance of keeping up. Imagine how that must feel when you are starting out so far behind the others?

So, what if technology cannot break through? Maybe the flash that is needed will be a guest speaker, field trip, group project, or community service activity. Maybe it is a chance to share their views on a topic that doesn’t really fit into the curriculum seamlessly. Maybe if asked what they are interested in they would show us how to engage them. Maybe we have to start teaching them with the idea that we will till all the soil, in the blazing light of day, till one day they too find the topic or tool that germinates their learners’ heart.

I have always viewed teaching from my gardener’s eye – how original! I love to plant seeds and watch them grow. To dig deep into the rich earth, worms and all, and feel the aches of my labor sweetly as the day wanes. I viewed my students as flowers to tend with care; always looking for the right balance of tools, structure, understanding, surprise, vision, challenge, creativity, acceptance, and oh so many other things to stand for the sun, rich earth, water, and hard work in the school garden. Not all of my students can be categorized this way anymore. Their gardens are paved over, tattooed, spiked, and YouTubed. New forms of sunlight are going to be needed to germinate their learning seeds. This gardener is going to pay more attention to cultivating all growing things, plants, vegetables, and weeds alike.