letters to my class

Dear Learners,

When I get a new gizmo, I shove the owner’s manual in a drawer full of them and figure out how to use my device. Soon, however, I’ll have to dig the manual back out. But I’ll only look at one section: troubleshooting.

While it might be nice to know how a thing works, what’s really useful to know is how it doesn’t work. What should I do then?

The same is true in school. When you’re reading or writing or solving a math problem, you’re going to come across problems. Something’s not going to work right. Learners know how to use strategies to “troubleshoot” these problems, even though there’s no owner’s manual.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Historians,

History is not just rereading the same story from a dusty book and putting the right events in the right order on a timeline. History is a site of contention. History is where we try to figure out what happened in the past using evidence, arguments, and theories.

Mesa Verde shows this. Historians aren’t sure why the Ancestral Puebloans left in the 13th century after living there for 700 years. But it’s important for us to work to figure it out. Because we live here now. And the forces that drove people in the past are the same forces that drive us today. The better we understand them–the better we know our history–the better we can live with them.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

My brother made turkey rice soup the day after Thanksgiving, and it was delicious. And I thought, how can simple turkey rice soup be so good? And then I saw green specks of parsley floating in the broth.

Most people would probably skip the parsley. It’s an extra ingredient, it’s extra chopping, and when you drop it in the pot those little wet leaves stick to your hands. Anyways, how much difference can it make?

All the difference. It adds flavor, it adds color, it adds bite. It’s like the bow on top of a wrapped present.

The difference between life and the good life is those little extras–the parsley in turkey rice soup.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

No matter what you want to be great at–video games, writing, playing guitar, cooking, juggling–it takes a lot practice. And the foundation of practice is dedication and discipline. You dedicate yourself to being great and you discipline yourself to make it happen, everyday, no matter how you feel, what’s on TV, or what your friends are doing.

And if you do those things, “talent” doesn’t really matter. “Talent” is just an excuse for those you don’t put in the practice.

My hope is that each of you becomes great at something. Because that is how you make the world a better place. That is how you leave your mark.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Historians,

What does an old prospector and his burro, who died almost 90 years ago, have to do with our lives in Colorado today? At first glance, it might not seem like much. But if we look closer, we see the past lives on in the present–the foods we eat, the words we use, the stories we tell, and, most importantly, the things we believe about ourselves.

Everyone has a Colorado story–what brought them here and how they made it. Understanding the prospector and the burro’s story might help us better understand our own. And that’s why we learn history. It’s a mirror that helps us more clearly see ourselves.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

I woke up early this morning to look at Cyber Monday deals. There were all these shiny, new, and cheap devices that I was convinced would change my life for the better. But they won’t. I know this, but I still forget it when I see something new and feel that want in my belly.

It’s nice to have things, and tools can definitely help us do the things we want to do. But they can’t help us be the people we want to be. That can only come from inside of ourselves.  And there’s no Cyber Monday deal for that.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

When I lived in an old house with old wiring and old pipes, I’d often call repairmen to fix things. They’d come out and give me this look of exasperation that said, “There’s not a good fix to this problem, but I think we might be able to figure something out.” And we’d patch something together to get the water and electricity in and the waste out.

The world is patched together like an old house. Most of its problems can’t be fixed. We live with them and do what we can to make them better and keep the world spinning.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

When you’re a kid, it’s easy to think that the world is small–that it’s just the people and places around you. And sometimes when you’re a kid, you might feel like you don’t belong in that world.

But if learning teaches us one thing, it teaches us this: the world is much bigger than we think it is. And if we explore it, we see it has a place for everyone.

So keep doing the things that make you special, even if the people in the small part of the world around you think it’s weird. Because the bigger world has a place for you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Yesterday, I was having kind of a bummer day. I’d woken up too early and could have really used another cup of coffee, some lessons hadn’t gone as well as I would have liked, and I started having doubts about how good I was at teaching.

Then, one of you put a pink sticky note on my desk that said, “Thank you for being a great teacher.” And that changed everything.

As humans with words and a voice, you have great power in this world. You can completely change someone’s day (and maybe even their life) with the simple words that fit on a small, pink sticky note.

Do it today.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

When I screwed up that potato and egg skillet the other morning (dry, sad potatoes; overcooked eggs; the flavor and texture of cardboard), I wasn’t too happy. I thought, “Man, I’m a bad cook.” But then I bought donuts at the store, reflected on what went wrong, and thought about what I could try next time.

If I would have made something delicious (or even edible), I wouldn’t have changed anything. I would have just kept making it exactly the same way. Mistakes, however, make us reflect. Mistakes teach us.

So when you make a mistake, apologize, try to fix it, and then carry that mistake with you as your best teacher.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck