letters to my class

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

Dear Problem Solvers,

When we live together, we create problems. And just as each of us individually adds to the problem, it takes all of us together to fix the problem.

In the year 1858, the city of London had a big problem. And it was a problem that has been facing humanity forever: how to safely get rid of human waste. Their current solution–flushing it into the River Thames–wasn’t working. Not only did the city smell terrible, but the waste in the river carried disease. So they had to find a solution.

It’s nice to think we’re independent and can fix everything ourselves. And we can sometimes. But poop really shows our interdependence. Because when we flush it away, it ends up somewhere else.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

One of my favorite things to watch on YouTube is darts. It sounds boring, but it’s insanely exciting. And the other day I got to thinking about the dartboard. Why are the numbers where they are?

And that sent me down a rabbit-hole. The simple story is that a carpenter in England in 1896 put the numbers where they are because he wanted big numbers next to small numbers to make the game more challenging. But it turns out you can’t understand the rise of darts over the last 120 years without thinking about the British Empire, industrialization, World Wars, and globalization.

And that’s how learning works. Every small thing is connected to everything else. And all we have to do is start looking.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

 

Dear Humans,

When my daughters fight they like to use the word “always.” One of them says the other is “always” in her room. Or the other one is “always” taking her stuff.

But nothing “always” happens. When they use the word “always” they’re not trying to tell me the details of what happened. They’re trying to tell me a story about the kind of person their sister is.

But we don’t get to decide that. We can disagree with what a person does. We can criticize what they say and take issue with what they believe. But we can’t decide the kind of person they are. Everyone gets to tell their own story. And we take them as they are.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I got “in trouble” from my home owners association for leaving my garbage can out on the street a few extra days. That means I got a letter telling me not to do it anymore. They even provided photographic evidence of my garbage can sitting out there alone on the curb.

Now, when you get “in trouble” you have two choices. You can get angry and complain and moan about the tyrants who unfairly rule over you. Or you can just say “Yup” and try to learn something from it.

Because we all mess up. And if we’re lucky, we have someone there to call us out on it. And if we’re smart, we follow their advice.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

For how much I put it off, you’d think that mowing the lawn is terrible. But, especially in the cooler month of May, it’s not.

But still I look for any excuse not to do it. The grass is still a little wet. Oh, I think it might rain soon. I’m not sure I have enough gas.  But when I finally pump myself up enough to do it, I actually kind of enjoy it.

We’re our own worst enemies. We know what we need to do and exactly how to do it, but sometimes it’s hard to pull that starting cord and get to it. The only thing that makes it easier is surrounding yourself with people who really enjoy the look of freshly cut grass.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck