letters to my class

Dear Learners,

As I was working in our classroom last Friday, I kept thinking about what a boring a place it is without you in it. While I was copying and planning and cutting things out and putting things together, I kept wishing each of you was here.

So I’m really excited for today. I’m excited for the books we’ll read, the songs we’ll sing, the games we’ll play, the problems we’ll solve, the mistakes we’ll make, and the conversations we’ll have.

I’m excited to learn more about each of you and give each of you the help and support you need to be the best you possible.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Rulemakers,

Thinkers observe, observe, observe and look for a pattern in all that data. Yesterday, when we were skip counting by 3/4ths, you should have seen a pattern that was easy for you to continue. Seeing and feeling these patterns is going to be the biggest help for you when it comes to understanding fractions (and all of math, for that matter, since math is the science of patterns).

And while it’s kind of important that you know how to multiply by 3/4ths, it’s really important that you know how to find a pattern in a collection of data. You will use that skill every time you pay bills, read the news, or make a big decision in your life.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

The truth is that people aren’t always going to notice when we do something. When we do something bad, there might be no one there to give us a consequence, and when we do something well there might be no one there to applaud us.

So it’s best to do things in life by your own standard. Have a code and hold yourself to it. Especially when no one is watching.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

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Dear Watchers,

To know something well, you have to give it a lot of attention. You have to watch to see how it changes over time. To know a thing well, you have to keep track of it.

If you want to know your life well, you keep a diary. If you want to know a football team well, you compile their statistics. And if you want to know the night sky well, you spend a few minutes each night looking at it and recording what you see.

We’re going to begin this last one today. Find a time each night when you can spend a few minutes observing the night sky. What can you see? And how does it change from night to night?

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Thinkers,

Today we fill our sixteenth cup to fill our fourth quart to fill our first gallon. What’s important to remember is that all of these measures–16 cups=4 quarts=1 gallon–are equivalent.

This is a big idea in fourth grade, and it’s not just one we talk about in math. How is a theme of this poem like this other poem? How are these two words related? How do these two events in Colorado history relate to each other and to the bigger story of our state’s past?

You could just memorize 16 cups=4 quarts=1 gallon, but I think it’s better to see it actually happen and “feel” the way they are equivalent. That feeling or idea will stay with you longer and you will find it useful throughout your life.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Writers,

A lawyer friend was at my house the other day, and he was typing up a document to sell his car. And I said to him, “That’s some serious magic!”

Magicians say abracadabra to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but my friend used his own incantations to turn his car into money. That’s far more impressive! The pen (or word processor) truly is more powerful than the sword.

Words mobilize armies, merge billion dollar companies, marry partners, and move believers. When you learn to write well, you gain the greatest power that humans have.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Explorers,

There’s a huge world out there beyond our own lives. We’re only one of the hundred billion (or so) humans who have existed on the world. It’s important that we try to see the world from some of these other perspectives.

Reading widely is one way we can do this. Not only can books expose us to different histories, cultures, and ways of life, but I think the act of reading–seeing the world from another’s point of view–builds empathy.

So look at your book stack. Are you reading widely? Are you exploring the wide world?

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Thinkers,

Poets tell us how different things are mostly the same. Robert Frost showed us how fireflies were like the stars (although they don’t shine for as long). Mathematicians show us how the same thing can be thought of in many different ways. Last week we saw that 3/4 could be 9 inches, $0.75, or 45 minutes.

The wide world is a messy and complex place that doesn’t seem to make much sense. But, if we learn to think metaphorically like poets and analytically like mathematicians, some sense of order is possible.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

I’m into baseball, so I have shelves full of baseball books. Many of those books tell the same stories, and I’ve read those same stories over and over and over. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve read the story of Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World?

To know a thing well, you have to learn it again and again. Learning isn’t about getting something one time and plopping it into the old brainpan. Learning is about having an ongoing conversation with ideas, and ideas grow out of knowing a thing inside and out.

And it takes time and it takes effort.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Essayists,

Writers—all writers—rely on structure. While it may seem that structure limits us, it actually frees us to focus on the most important parts of writing—our ideas and the refreshing ways that we present them.

As I told you yesterday, you’re lucky to learn about essay structure in fourth grade. This is the same structure you will use when you write essays in college, briefs in law school, or memos in the office. I wish I had learned this in 4th grade. Instead, I had to take a self-taught crash course when I was much older.

So pay attention to structure. It will make you a better writer, a better reader, and a better thinker. Once we figure out the structure of a thing, we figure out the thing itself.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck