letters to my class

Dear Humans,

Bottle shape can tell us a lot. When it’s early on a Saturday morning and I’m reaching over the various leftovers on the top shelf of my fridge for the maple syrup, I can tell by touch when I have the amber sweet stuff rather than the ketchup because the bottles are different shapes.

So when I saw the giant container with a pour spout on top of the washing machine, I assumed it was laundry detergent. But no. It was fabric softener. And then I knew why the last few loads of laundry didn’t seem as clean.

The world knows that humans don’t always use our rational brains. We pick up many clues, we use all of our senses, and we often skip right over the big front part of our brain. Most of the time it works out okay. But sometimes we need to stop and read the label.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

We have two cats. One of them is a chonk who demands a full bowl at all times. She bites at your feet and follows you around the kitchen until you comply.

So we buy giant bags of dry cat food. But because it would get stale before even the chonk could eat it all, we pour the food from the bag into a 5-gallon bucket with airproof lid. Then, because it’s difficult to pour the food out of the 5-gallon bucket into the food dish, we keep a smaller amount of foot in a 1.5 quart, pourable plastic container. Then, finally, when the cat gets annoying enough, we put the food from the pourable container into the cat’s bowl.

It’s the same stuff. It’s all cat food. But to make the cat food usable, we go through a process of storing it and pouring it.

We do the same thing with knowledge. We have to put it in lots of different “containers” before we can truly understand it. And it’s useful to think about the process of getting knowledge from the big box that is the world into the small bottle that is our mind.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

They say cats have nine lives because their curiosity gets them into bad situations and their flexibility gets them out. Most of the time. Have you seen cats wedge themselves into the tiniest boxes and fall asleep? Have you seen a cat cross the thinnest ledge and not seem the least bit afraid? That’s because cats are flexible.

Cats are flexible with their bodies, but humans need to be flexible with our brains. If we react and change our behavior towards the world’s dangers, we’re more likely to avoid them. Terrible things can and do happen all the time. But, if we’re smart and flexible, we can lower the likelihood that they’ll happen to us.

There’s nothing we can do to guarantee that they don’t happen. There are few guarantees in life. All we can do is lower our risk. So that’s what we do.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Congratulations on finishing the strangest school year ever! But I hope you’re prepared for a weird summer too. And who knows what it will look like when we go back to school.

People say these are unprecedented times. But people have always faced strange new realities. And throughout all of those times a few skills have always mattered–how to clearly communicate with other humans and how to solve problems.

So I hope you read a bunch of books this summer. I hope you write something or create art. I hope you solve problems in the kitchen, garage, or backyard. Because if you do that, you’ll be prepared for anything.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I’ve made multi-course meals with all the trimmings, but because I could see the sink overflowing with dirty dishes while I ate them, they didn’t taste that good. The best home-cooked meals are those that don’t make too many dishes.

When we learn to do something, we’re not just picking up skills and knowledge. We’re learning how to carry out processes, follow procedures, and create systems for getting things done.

And how we do something is just as important as the finished product. Because while we might be able to crop the dirty dishes out of the perfect social media photo of our prepared meal, in real life if we still have to deal with them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I haven’t seen the ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, but I have been reading a lot about Michael Jordan recently. Now we see Michael Jordan as a logo on your sneakers.

But he was a real person with a real history. Biographies show us what events form individuals into the icons that we see. The famous story is how MJ was cut from his high school varsity team. But the guy who took his spot–Leroy Smith–was a pretty good player himself, who played college and professional basketball.

And it made me wonder what slight changes in history could have made Leroy Smith into the logo that you see on your shoes. Because nothing is ever destined.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

One thing about schooling from home is that I have more time to make my children breakfast. They used to eat at school or throw something in their faces as they walked out the door. Now, I can make them pancakes, breakfast burritos, eggs and bacon.

But they mostly choose cereal. So I pour the cereal into the bowl, grab a spoon, and pull the jug of milk out of the fridge. But I’ve learned that putting milk on your cereal is very personal. So I pour it into a little creamer and they pour it themselves.

If you’re pouring milk on someone else’s cereal, you might be being too helpful. Life together is a balance between helping and giving people autonomy.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I walked past a baseball practice yesterday in the park and the fielders were mostly just standing around. I drove through a construction site this past weekend and the workers were mostly just standing around.

It’s not because these people were lazy. It’s just the nature of life. There’s a lot of standing around and waiting. You wait in lines at amusement parks. You wait for the rest of your family to get ready to leave the house. You wait for visitors to arrive. You wait for pandemics to end.

But the thing about life is that it happens in those waiting moments. So we have to figure out how to fill ourselves up while we’re waiting. Not so we’re productive; but so we’re present.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

We’re learning about surface area today. When I think about surface area, I think about wrapping paper and presents. Just don’t count the extra scraps that I always seem to end up with.

I could be wrong, but when I was a kid, the back side of wrapping paper never had grid lines on it. That made it difficult to cut straight lines and figure out how much paper you needed. Now, I see those little grid lines on every roll. Someone had the really simple idea of putting lines on the back so it’s easier to measure and cut.

I think most good ideas are really simple ideas. And they’re sitting out there in plain sight, waiting for us to pick them up.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I bought my wife a Kindle for Mothers Day and now I borrow it from her freely. It’s still “hers” but I use it a lot more. That’s not a very nice thing to do, but she’s been very nice about it.

I still like and read paper books. But it sure is fun to read on the e-reader. I used to think I’d never want an e-reader. I used to think it couldn’t compare to “real reading.” I used to think (and probably loudly state) a lot of really foolish things.

It’s okay to change your mind. And it’s also okay to not have completely made up your mind. And most of all, it’s okay to feel unsure and conflicted about something. That’s called being human.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck