Rain in Appalachia

I believe that there are ideal ways in which we all learn, but that we are all capable of learning in many different environments.

I believe one of the greatest things we can do for our students is, get to know them and observe how they learn, be present with them and ourselves, and become more aware of the values we are teaching them.

I also believe that teachers can’t do it all. I believe that parents must play a role in children’s learning and well-being, as busy as they may be.

I believe in messing about, I believe in aesthetics – in terms of beauty and learning properties. I believe in following your happiness and your peace and that either may lay in un-expecting places. I believe that things happen for a reason, but that you can affect those reasons.

For me I found peace and happiness and aesthetics (beauty and learning) in the cold wet spring months in the Appalachian Mountains training as a whitewater raft guide. In a county lovingly referred to as Fayettnam, as things remain the same there now as they did during the era of Vietnam. I learned many things about others, water, nature, life and its fleetingness, our country, and myself in the years I ended up spending ‘on the water’.

I have left and returned many times, and often struggle now as ‘grown up’ to not drop everything and return – especially when it rains. One of the strongest things I learned in my time there was a crazy mad appreciation for rain, and thunder, and an abundance of water any time of the year. The sound of rain, the smell; the feeling of thunder reverberating through you, is something I believe you can only experience in the Appalachian Mountains. For me, it is one of the most real, tangible things I have experienced. No one sat down to teach me the meaning, value, importance, or feelings of excitement, fear, apprehension and pure joy associated with rain, down pouring, sudden, continuous rain in Ohiopyle Pennsylvania. I learned it though, along with many other things.

You may be wondering what the big deal with rain is. The deal is it’s real. When it rains you know that: there will be water, it will be high, you will have work the next day – a lot of it, the best kind of work, you will question your sanity, your competence, you will wonder about the lives that you have been entrusted with, you will do your best and hope that it’s enough.

I believe I learn best through aesthetics in combination with wonderment, challenge and some level of competition that serves my personal determination. I believe I learn best when I don’t realize I’m learning, whether that’s through play and enjoyment or struggle and misery. I believe that learning is never complete. I believe we all are capable (ourselves, our students) of learning in many different environments, and I hope that everyone gets to experience on some level their own rain in Appalachia.