letters to my class

Dear Humans,

What’s the first thing I tell you to do when you get a piece of paper? Put your name on it. And even though a startlingly high number of you forget to do this, I can still usually match students with their no-name papers.

Because in life our names are written on everything we do, whether we put them there or not. Every word we say, every action we do, every opportunity we pass up. Our name is on all of it.

So it’s important that everything we do is the best we can do. No matter how small or seemingly inconsequential, if it has our name on it, it represents us. And we should act like it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

A Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million last week. Seventy years ago that piece of cardboard sold with a few other other paper rectangles (and a piece of brittle, chalky gum) in a wax pack for five cents. 

But I’m not here to complain about a society that puts such value on valueless things. In fact, I think it’s pretty remarkable. Because in real life humans won’t pay the most for things that are the most useful. We value the things that make us feel alive more than the things that actually keep us alive. 

So if you figure out a way to make people feel alive, the world will beat a path to your door.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

I went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science yesterday and they have an exhibit about mazes. Mazes and labyrinths show up on cave walls, the sides of vases, and old stories throughout human history. 

Because we humans like to create problems for ourselves to solve. You’d think we have enough problems in this complex world without creating our own, but we just can’t help ourselves.

And it’s a good thing, too. Because the natural world is unpredictable and doesn’t always offer up problems with clear lessons. So we make up our own, put ourselves in the middle of them, and try to get out.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

I notice that the students who shush their classmates the loudest are almost always the ones who most often need shushing themselves. 

Because we see our own flaws most clearly in other people. (Just wait till you have children.) If we’re wise, we recognize those flaws as belonging to ourselves, and we take some steps to fix them. If not, those flaws grow. Because nothing feeds our flaws like a lack of self-awareness.

If you reflect on your own behavior and learn from it, then you’re starting to get it. If you learn something about yourself from the behavior of others, then you’re really living right.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Because I’m finicky, I make my coffee on a digital scale. I measure the beans to the gram and every drop of water to the milliliter.

And there is a magical button on my scale called the “tare” button. No matter what’s already on the scale–in my case, 42 grams of perfectly ground coffee–when you hit the tare button, the number goes to zero. 

It doesn’t get rid of what’s on the scale. Because once something is there, it’s there. And you don’t really want to forget about something’s that happened in your life anyways. But it’s still nice to see that zero there, and to know that you’ve moved on, and you’re ready for the next step.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

You know I like crossword puzzles. And I especially like the clues that end with a question mark. Because that means that the clue isn’t really asking for what it seems. So you have to think about the words in a different way.

A lot of what humans say to each other is like a crossword puzzle clue that ends in a question mark. We don’t really mean what we say, or we mean it in a slightly slanted way. And the only way to really understand what somebody means is to think about the words in a different way.

We can beg one another to be more clear with our words. But there’s only so much we can do. Language is a puzzle. But humans are born to solve it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

“Do we have to?” is a teacher’s least favorite question. Because, yes, of course you do. But I guess it’s semi-polite of you to turn it into a question instead of just stating, “I don’t want to.”

But here’s the secret: Do the things you have to do in a way that you want to do them. Because if you only do the right things in life because someone told you to do them, you won’t get real far.

But if you uphold your responsibilities in a way that makes you really want to do them, then you’re gonna be set. 

It is a lot more work to do the things you’re supposed to do in your own way. But I promise you that it’s worth it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Today is going to be a good day because I’m wearing a new pair of pants. I buy new pants that are exactly like my old pants, so nobody else will notice. But no matter what happens today, I’ll have new-pair-of-pants-energy and overcome it.

It really is the little things in life that help us get through. Something as simple as wearing a new pair of pants is enough to lift our spirits and make us feel refreshed (at least for a while).

And that’s good news for the rest of us. Because the tiniest deed or simplest word to someone else can completely turn their day around. But we have to make sure we go out of our way to do it or say it.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

Yesterday one of you told me that human beings pee about seven times a day. I’ve been alive for nearly 15,000 days, but I guess I’ve never really counted.

The day before, one of you taught me that Komodo Dragons dig up graves and eat human remains. So people cover graves with rocks to keep the Dragons away.

And that’s what I love best about being a teacher. I get to learn weird, strange facts every day.

The world is too big, too old, too deep, and too weird to know it all (or really much of anything). So we rely on one another to teach us. It doesn’t matter how much you know; there’s always someone nearby who has something to teach you.

I can’t wait to find out what I learn today.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt

Dear Humans,

This time of year I spend a lot of time testing the ripeness of fruit. I squeeze, heft, poke, and smell. Nectarines, peaches, and cantaloupes. Because eating a fruit before its perfect state of ripeness or letting it sit on the counter for too long are wastes.

It sure would be easier if there was an expiration date like there is on my processed foods. But that could never work for fruit. There are too many variables. The elements are different. The fruits are unique. So I’m there keeping a close eye on my fruit. 

Because the best things in life–like biting into a perfectly ripe peach–we have to figure out on our own. We have to pay attention to the clues and solve the mystery ourselves.

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt