letters to my class

Dear Readers,

I think I learn more from fiction than from non-fiction. I’ve read a lot of nonfiction books about World War II, but I think I’ve learned more about the war from novels like Catch-22, Slaughterhouse Five, and From Here to Eternity.

Because fiction makes us feel like we’re there. It asks us to exercise our empathy muscles and pays us back with a riveting story. It is important to know when fiction authors take liberties or smudge some facts. And we should understand that fiction and nonfiction have different purposes.

But our goal as humans is to better understand the world around us. And our best way of doing that is not simply gathering facts about it, but imagining ourselves moving about it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Tinkerers,

In school we usually ask you to only use the front part of your brain and the parts of your hands that grasp a pencil or tap keys. 

But on Fridays we tinker. Which means we take garbage and try to turn it into a machine that does something—cars that move, rockets that zoom, machines that scribble. And to do that (or even to fail spectacularly and creatively), you’ve got to use your whole selves. And most of all, you’ve got to be persistent.

In the real world you have to communicate clearly, problem solve logically, and collaborate with fellow citizens. But most of what you do everyday is try to get things to work. And persistence is often better than knowledge.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Readers,

I say to you all the time, “The answer is in the text.” Usually I’m talking about those comprehension questions that come at the end of a reading passage, but I mean it much more broadly.

Because as 21st century humans, we see the world as text. Our own experiences come alive when we render them as texts—stories we tell or memories we cherish. Scientists observe the world and record it as texts—charts, graphs—so it can be shared and understood. 

But our world of texts must be pored over and decoded and discussed and debated. Deeply and repeatedly. Because that’s where all the answers lie.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

The other day I told you that it wasn’t very likely a stranger would kidnap you, and you thought I was crazy. You have learned the stranger danger lessons well, and it is good to be careful and take proper precautions. 

Because it is true that random bad things do happen to people. And we should be prepared for them. 

But most of the trouble we get into in this world is of our own making. It will probably be the friends you choose to hang out with that cause you problems, not strangers you run into. The stuff you freely choose to put into your body that does the most harm.

Life is mostly the result of our choices, for good and bad.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Learners,

Sometimes I’ll cook something from a recipe. And usually it turns out okay. But I never really learn anything when I cook from a recipe. I don’t feel like a chef. It’s just one step after another.

But when I try to make something up. When I think about the ingredients and how they go together. And when I really screw it up. (And then choke it down anyways.) That’s when I learn a lot about food and cooking. 

You can learn some things in a step-by-step process. And you might even get the right answer. But true learning—the kind that changes who we are—comes in starts and fits. And lots and lots of failure.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Political Animals,

We’ve been reading about corn production in the United States. But really, we’ve been learning about resources and how we decide which ones to develop. And it’s a nice thing that you’ve started doing this in 5th grade, because it’s something that you’ll do for the rest of your life.

Harold Laswell says that politics is deciding “who gets what, when, and how.” We like to play political games and gussy it up in pageantry, but the heart of the matter is divvying up resources. 

And there is no way it’s “supposed” to be. It’s all up to us—we the people—to decide. And if you’re not involved in the messy process of making those decisions, they get made for you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Earthwalkers,

You could go through life without knowing that day and night are caused by Earth’s rotation or that the seasons are caused by Earth’s tilt. Indeed, for most of human history, people did exactly that. 

This knowledge won’t necessarily put money in your pocket, make you more handsome, or help you deal with the difficulties of daily life. 

But I do walk differently through this world knowing about the heavens overhead. My foot lands a bit more forcefully when it knows the world it’s stepping on is a spinning sphere. And I feel a little closer to all the other people who have walked on this same spinning sphere, watching the same stars overhead, and all the time asking that same eternal question, “Why?”

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Finders,

About once a week I lose something. Keys or wallet. Shoes or sunglasses. And I maniacally rush around the house, looking in all the obvious places. And the not so obvious places, like the time I put my car keys in the Taco Bell takeout bag and put it in the trash. 

Eventually I find them and feel that rush of relief that’s the best feeling in the world. And wouldn’t it be nice if we could feel that feeling more often? If we could lose things intentionally just to feel the thrill of finding them?

But we can’t lose things on purpose. It’s just a little puzzle that the universe gives us, a blessing in disguise.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Datekeepers,

I used to make fun of teachers who wrote the next day’s date on the board before they left. I’d go into their rooms to pester them after school and say, “Oh, wow, it’s already tomorrow in here!”

Then I tried it myself, and I’m a fan. But I learned a secret: It’s not writing down the next day’s date that’s the good part; it’s erasing the current one.

Because you can’t start tomorrow until today is over. And some days it feels really good to get today over with. Wiping out the current date reminds us that we get another chance tomorrow.

Of course, the good days get erased just like the bad ones.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Americans,

Yesterday was Constitution Day–the 236th anniversary of the Framers signing the United States Constitution in Philadelphia. 

Many countries have Constitutions (and celebrate them on Constitution Day). And many of those Constitutions are modeled after ours because it’s the oldest (and the shortest) and it’s held up over time.

While other countries have long histories of kings and tyrants, our history started as an idea. That people should rule themselves; that we’re a country of laws, not rulers; and that we’re tied together by principles, not ancestry.

We haven’t always lived up to those ideals. But each day we strive to “form a more perfect Union” and “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt