The Lesson

“I never teach my pupils; 

I only attempt to provide the conditions 

in which they can learn.” 

~ Albert Einstein  

Albert Einstein
Wall Papers High Quality - yesofcorsa.com

“I hear and I forget.                                       

I see and I remember. 

                                 I do and I understand.” 

~Confucius - 

Confucius 
Encyclopedia Britannica

“Life is a learning experience,

                    

only if you learn.” 

~Yogi Berra  

Yogi Berra
1956 Tops Baseball card

“You learn something new every day.”

~??????

I’m not really sure who first used that last phrase, but I’m guessing most of you have said or at least heard someone say that.

Another phrase that I heard long ago but can’t provide credit for is – 

“The best way to learn is by teaching.” 

I’ve proven this to myself many times in a variety of situations when I’ve helped someone at work, taught fly tying to Disabled Veterans at Project Healing Waters events, taught kids to tie flies or showing someone how to cast with a fly rod.

My friend and fellow Trout Unlimited member Gary 
and a US Vet tying flies
 - Project Healing Waters

My friend and fellow Trout Unlimited member Dave
teaching a young fisherman how to tie flies at a fishing expo

The Lesson

And, the lessons learned are much more than just what you were teaching.

Learning and teaching are very personal intertwined activities - one leads to another and back again. 

My most recent teaching/learning experience happened over the Independence Day weekend 2016.  I was given the opportunity to introduce the art of fly fishing to my grandnephew Kellen Hook, age 7.

If you read my last post you know that Kellen is the son of my nephew, James Hook, whom I introduced to fly fishing and built a fly rod for him before his untimely passing.  

James on the East Branch of the Croton River

My relationship with Kellen has always been at “arm’s length”.  I tend not to gush or fuss over children (except my adorable baby girls, of course).  In the case of Kellen, there was more than enough fussing, gushing, coddling and yes – spoiling for a dozen children. 

And Kellen loved it – and took advantage of it.  And, he was worthy of it in many ways.  He was the first grandchild.  He was a beautiful baby.  He was incredibly smart and knew that the adults loved him and would cater to his every whim.  

Lights on. Lights off. Lights on. Lights off.  

That game never got old.

But, as Kellen got older, he started to change, to grow up, or so I kept being told.  But, he still ruled the roost.  That July 4^th weekend I heard him exclaim:

 “I’m the king of this house!”  

I couldn’t disagree. 

I was in Connecticut the week of the 4^th to go fishing.  My wife Joyce took the train to NYC the previous Friday to visit our daughter Meghan and friends and I drove to CT that Monday.  Joyce and Meghan and Meghan’s fiancé Daniel would take the train up to CT later in the week.

After the whole family had assembled, I was showing off my latest creation, my baby bamboo fly rod and Kellen noticed, and seemed to be interested.  

I was surprised.  

And a little frightened!

So when I was asked (told?) to teach him how to fly cast, I was more than a bit skeptical (terrified) about the outcome and how long I could be patient if he started acting like the king of the house with my latest creation, the 6’6” bamboo, 3 weight fly rod that was very delicate.  

I recalled that when I started taking Kellen’s father James on my flee the family fishing forays, someone would always say, “Why don’t you take Kellen with you?” 

My standard response was “I never take more than one child fishing at a time” - my standard joke with James and his inner child that showed itself frequently, so since I was taking James fishing, I couldn’t take Kellen, too.  

The reality was that the places I fished were dangerous for a small active child who took “No” as a challenge and I was not up to dealing with that challenge.

Kellen, along with being incredibly smart is also very strong and hard on his toys, and my newly made fly rod was no toy – the rods I build are more like my babies than fishing rods and certainly not toys. 

Skepticism (FEAR) was growing!  All brought on by my over active imagination and fear of the unknown … one-on-one time with King Kellen!

But, I knew I had to take on this challenge.  A couple years earlier I assumed that I would teach his father James the art of fly fishing and he would teach Kellen and his brother Conner.  But, that was not to be.

Fortunately, the lesson would take place in Nick and Denise’s (The Grandparents) back yard on a beautiful day with a ton of family supervision, whew!

Kellen's Nona - great grandmother, Hope - Family Matriarch

Papa - grandfather Nick holding brother Conner

Aunt Danielle holding brother Conner

And of course, Mom Nicole, my niece, with her two sons -
note the weapons - I'm just sayin'! 

Now, I was probably making too much about this lesson – how bad could it be?  

Well…Kellen could ignore my instructions and break my new baby bamboo and I would want to cast him… into the woods. 

But, I probably had nothing to worry about.  After all, even Fish can Learn:

In a recent study, a group of researchers led bySandie Millot designed a feeding machine that could be operated with a pull string. 

If a fish was hungry, it would swim up, pull the string, and the food would be dispensed. Since fish – like all other animals – are capable of associative learning through basic classical and operant conditioning, the fact that fish could learn to operate this sort of basic feeder is not surprising. Indeed, 48 of 56 fish figured out how to get the food. 

The remaining 8 probably became food for the other fish! 

There must be a “fish in schools” joke in there somewhere, but I’ll save you from that – for now. 

On second thought – 

Why are fish so smart?  Because they swim in schools. 

Why do fish swim in schools?  Because they can’t walk.  

OK, OK, back to the post.

The keys to learning, of course, are desire and interest.  The fish that learned to pull the string for food had a desire to eat, and fish tend to be curious, so interest level was no doubt high.

I had no idea if Kellen had the interest and desire to learn or if he’d treat the bamboo rod I built as if it were a toy (again with the “toy” thing!).

At this point in writing this post I was trying to find ways to work learning into trout fishing, like explaining Selectivity in trout feeding habits.  However, you’ll be glad to know that I wore myself out just thinking about it, so I moved on.

Unfortunately, I moved on to “Learning modalities.”  

Did you know that Walter Burke Barbe and colleagues proposed three learning modalities? (often identified by the acronym VAK):^[13]

1. Visualizing modality
2. Auditory modality
3. Kinesthetic modality

But – not to worry – I bagged Barbe – so before you hit the back button I think it’s time to insert some photos of “The Lesson.”

When you look at these photos, watch the concentration on Kellen's face.  

I have never seen him that focused on one thing for such a long time - Skeptisism (fear) is subsiding and I'm now just enjoying my time with Kellen.

Explaining use of the reel - an Orvis Access I

Threading the line through the guides is tricky even for experienced fly fishers - but there's a trick for this tricky task

Kellen mastered the trick first try - can you see it?

Total concentration

Listening and learning

Starting to understand

Casting before he even has the rod in his hand

Here we go!

Nice backcast

First cast success!

Cousin Meghan (one of my baby girls) teaches the roll cast

And the student becomes the teacher -
showing my son-in-law Daniel (as of May 13, 2017)
the basic roll cast

How do you learn to fly cast?  Same way you get to Carnegie Hall - 

Practice....

....practice.....

....practice.

OK - I got this!  What's next!

It was supposed to be a fly casting lesson for Kellen, but I think I was the one that got the most out of the time Kellen and I spent together, learning that he is growing up and becoming a responsible young man, so I have to ask – 

Whose lesson was this, anyway?

This lesson may be over, 

but Class is not dismissed 

– never stop learning... 

never.

See you on the water!

Dave