Dear Humans,

Teachers think a lot about the full moon. We’re halfway convinced it actually does something to our students’ brain–gravity pulls them, making them oblong and imbalanced–and affects their behavior.

It’s all hokum, of course. It’s based on old tales from way back when humans thought the moon gave its own light and moonlight could turn you batty. Turn you into a lunatic.

But sometimes even if a thing has no basis in fact, thinking it can make it so. And because the full moon sets early in the western sky, if you’re a teacher who’s driving to school, you can’t help but see it, as it’s just sitting up there, staring down on you, convincing you that today is going to be one of those days. And once we start thinking that, then our fate is sealed.

And though we can’t control the phases of the moon, we can control our thoughts about them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt