Experiences...

Experiences...
 
The room was filled with voices, laughter, and tears. The young woman opened gift after gift, relishing in the delight of a set of new experiences awaiting her; marriage. Each gift she unveiled was brought up to the view of all, and the voices echoed in the room. I fell back into the memory of my experience while my wife and I were engaged. Ours was an experience rich with love, laughter and echoes of friends as well.

Each time my co-worker raised a gift for all to see, I could tell she was closer to her day, closer to her new life, closer to the experience she has chosen. I know she will delight in it.

A student of mine worked tirelessly on a math question. It asked her to multiply a 'positive' number by a 'negative' number. She had no experience with this type of problem. She asked for help. I wanted to tell how to work out this kind of problem but instead, I asked her to draw on her experiences with multiplication. I asked her to think about what multiplication really meant...(repeated addition). Her eyes wandered from mine and gazed outward as her mind worked. She thought aloud and I witnessed her experiences with math guide her to the answer. She realized on her own that the 'positive' multiplied by the 'negative' will produce a 'negative' answer.

Whether we are on the cusp of entering into a new experience or drawing on our previous ones, it all comes down to individual choices. We choose how we experience our lives, and thus choose how we live in our experiences. For children and adults alike, we are in a constant state of experience. It is why we have chosen to be here. Delight in the contemplation of a new experience as my soon-to-be-wedded coworker does; lean on your previous experiences as my student has done. And in the doing of either, relish the gift of life that has been afforded to you; drape yourself in the experiences that have shaped you; welcome with loving embraces the experiences that await you.

Mr. Casten

Jan. 28, 2011

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

Join Us...

Join Us...  

Our 8-month old lay crying in her crib in the middle of the night.  It's her time to learn how to soothe herself back to sleep.  Our 3 year-old (who shares a room with the baby) and our 2 year-old, lay in bed with us.  We are all listening to the baby cry.

I wanted to go into her room and have her join us.  I felt incomplete without her and I thought she might feel lonely--especially if she knew we were all in mommy and daddy's room.  She stopped crying and fell back asleep...she was learning.

And so it goes...that feeling of wanting someone to join you.  In essence, that's what we do as parents and as teachers.  We wait for our children to join us.  

My students approach me daily with questions relevant to what we're studying.  They also inquire about life and how things work, or why things are the way they are.  They are attempting to "join us"; to figure out how to fit into the adult world and they realize, at some point in their childhood, that it is inevitable that they do join.  

Ours is a task of great importance.  For we nurture the growth of all whom we encounter, both young and old.  Ours is a task that has to be quietly and lovingly expressed.  For in the gentleness of our task lies the greatest treasures.  The gift of compassion.  Our world needs compassionate people.  Ours is a task of great importance.

Have your children "join you".  Show them how to love and be loved.  Let them strike out on their own when growth and learning is necessary.  Keep them close and protected when life shows its difficult side.  Let them join you unconditionally, knowing always that we are all one.

Join us...

Mr. Casten

Jan. 21, 2011

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

In Sync...

In Sync...
The art of teaching often asks the teacher to understand the students.  To understand the place in life that each student finds him or herself.  Occasionally, it is asked of the student to understand the teacher.  Albeit, this is much more difficult for the student for their simple lack of life experience.  My role as a teacher offers me several opportunities to explore who I am as a person.  Opportunities to help the younger generation find ways to learn, accept, understand and cope.  To do this I must stay in sync with my students and help them to stay in sync with me.
My wife and I like to keep busy.  It seems as though we move from one life event to another with lightning speed.  We do, however, take time to "stop and smell the roses".  It is in this stopping that we find we must sync with each other.  It's important. It's necessary.  It is who we are.
Children need time to sync with those who are most important to them.  Their lives change so rapidly.  Often, they do not understand the origins of that change or more so, the implications.  Taking any time at all to allow yourself to practice empathy with children, to walk a mile in their shoes, will serve to strengthen the existing relationship with them...to stay in sync.
My wife and I have been married for 4 years this past August.  We now have three children under 4 years of age, have lost several close family members in a short period of time, bought a house while still owning a previous one that wouldn't sell, purchased 3 different cars via trade-ins and loans (to keep up with the ever growing family), had our house on the market then off, and started a business. In all of this I have found that staying in sync is not something that is automatic.  Just as one has to "sync" their computer with various devices by plugging them in or clicking a button; we too, as human beings, must make the conscious effort to sync with those we love and care for.
Take a moment, take two moments.  Sync with your loved ones.  They need you as much as you need them
In Sync...

Mr. Casten

Jan. 13, 2011

You Said...Sticks and Stones~~

You Said...Stick and Stones~~

All too often we hear the old saying "sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me".  While there is some truth to that saying it only holds the weight of it's claim to the degree that one is able ignore what others may say.

Even then...the words have been uttered & heard and the sub-conscious knows it.

Written words also hold power over us; for the "pen is mightier than the sword" as the saying goes.  It stands true that the written word can elicit emotions, spur agreements, fuel disagreements, be misunderstood, and repair broken relationships.  The written word is quite powerful.

As I have been writing my Friday Reflections, I have been told that my writing "touches" many.  I often wonder if I stir up emotions that may have been deeply buried.  I wonder if I give the words to some that they may not have be able to find otherwise.  I wonder if I my words are ever misunderstood.

I hope my words find themselves comforting people and leaving them better than they were before they read them.

We must all be careful what we say and what we write.  We must teach our children to have patience when speaking, writing and communicating with others.  We must have them embrace the truth while tempering  their choice of words to express it.

Words are one of those abstract powers that is naturally mastered but very seldom tamed.

Mr. Casten

Jan. 7, 2011