letters to my class

Dear Students,

My favorite part of reading a book is that I get to be someone else for a while. I get to try on perspectives that are foreign to me. I get to see the world from a different point of view.

The most powerful reading experiences I’ve had were the times I read books about places and people I’d never thought about before. They showed me new worlds and new ways of being in these worlds. And, in the best books, those worlds became a part of my own.

Now, just reading books is not enough. But it’s a start. And it’s a powerful one. Reading is practice for living.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

This summer Gracie and I took a road trip to Wyoming. I brought a ton of music with us but I spent most of the time listening to only one album. I just played it on loop and got to know it really, really well.

In today’s world, where many things are freely available and abundant, it’s tempting to think you can know a little bit about everything. But you can’t. And I know I’m happier when I know one thing really well.

Skimming the surface of many things might teach us a little about the world, but knowing one thing well teaches us a lot about ourselves.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

We don’t teach you to read, write, and think just so you can find the right answers. Those don’t exist. We teach you to read, write, and think so you can figure out what’s important to you and so you can imagine the type of world you want to live in. Because the big discussions we have in our communities are about values.

What values are important to you and what’s the best way to communicate them? That’s what you’ll need in order to play the game that humans have been playing since we were carving rules into rocks.

And it’s not a spectator sport.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I’ll let you in on a little secret: Nobody really knows what they’re doing. We’re all just making it up as we go along. But that’s okay. In fact, it’s probably better. Because if you ever find yourself knowing exactly what to do, you’re probably doing something unimportant.

The real accomplishments in life come from creating something new. And for that, there is no template. There are no blueprints. There is no plan.

So when you look at a blank piece of paper or a challenging math problem, don’t expect to know what to do right away. Just figure it out.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Readers,

Isn’t it a pleasure to get lost in a book? To get to know a character’s life from the inside? To step into a character’s skin and walk around in their world for a while? When we read fiction, we get to see the world through different perspectives. That sounds a lot like compassion training to me. And that’s exactly what reading fiction is: empathy exercise.

So not only does reading fiction entertain us, teach us new things about the world, and improve our vocabulary, it also makes us better people.

I think I found the prescription for most of the world’s problems.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

The other day my daughter filled her nightstand drawer so full of stuff that she couldn’t open it. I stuck a flathead screwdriver in the crack to push the stuff down so I could slide the drawer open. A flathead screwdriver is a useful tool, but I almost never use it for its intended purpose of driving screws.

Your mind is like a flathead screwdriver. In school we try to teach you how to use that screwdriver well, but we can’t prepare your for all the jobs you’re going to have to use it for in the future.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I don’t know about you, but some days I feel like nothing works. A lesson doesn’t go well, you do poorly on an assignment, people aren’t listening to you, and you overcooked the pork roast. Some days, it feels like nothing you do matters much.

But life always gives us more opportunities. Today may have been rough, but tomorrow is another chance for a new lesson, another meal, and another opportunity to make some kind of difference in the world.

Stay hopeful,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Readers,

When humans first started reading and writing, they mostly did it to keep track of how much wheat they grew and who it belonged to. But soon, they started asking questions about gods and goddesses and the Big Questions of life.

You’ll need to read and write to pay your bills, keep a job, and act like a law-abiding citizen, but, more importantly, you’ll read and write to live a life full of ideas, questions, and the urge to think beyond the world that presents itself to us.

My hope for each of you is that you gain the tools to explore that invisible world of ideas.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

It’s really hard to change people’s minds. Just telling someone to do something doesn’t usually work.

But humans do respond to their environment. And we tend to do what the people around us do.

So, if you want the students in your school to be kind, you need to do all you can to create a kind environment in your school. If you want your classroom to be peaceful and inclusive, you need to do all you can to create that kind of place.

It’s difficult to make change in the world, but none of us are powerless.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Listeners,

We each have a story to tell. As classmates, our job is to listen to one another’s stories and help one another tell those stories. Today we’ll start with an important one: the story of our names.

Listen closely to your classmates’ stories. They deserve to be heard. If we do not tell our own stories, then someone else will tell them for us. And they will get to decide what is important in our lives.

We all deserve to tell our own stories, and we all deserve to have them heard.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck