letters to my class

Dear Fans,

The Rockies have played 162 baseball games, but their season comes down to one game tonight. If they win, they get another chance to win the World Series. If they lose, they go home.

The Rockies have traveled over 30,000 miles this season. But their season hinges on one final trip to Arizona. They’ve hit 192 home runs, but one more might be enough to extend their season. They’ve thrown over 20,000 pitches this season, but it all might come down to just one pitch tonight.

Baseball can be a cruel game. Despite all that we know, we can’t predict the future. So tonight, I know I’ll be watching.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Goal Setters,

One thing I like to write in my writer’s notebook is a list of books I plan to read during the month. I don’t usually read all of the books on my list and I sometimes read books that aren’t on the list, but I like to create a reading plan for myself.

Readers are goal setters. Readers always know what book they want to read next and probably the book they want to read after that. Most importantly, readers know the type of reader they want to be. We know that the books we read are important to who we are and we’re really mindful of what we put in our to-read stack.

What’s the next book you’re going to read?

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Peacemakers,

We can’t make people,do what we want. We often can even make ourselves do what we want. But people do tend to respond to their environments. So if we do what we can to make our environment peaceful, caring, and calm, people will act in peaceful and caring ways. 

So today, let’s focus on making sure our classroom is one of peace, where everyone feels safe and included and everyone feels like their voice is heard.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Attention Givers,

What we learn in school is so rich, so important, and so life changing that it requires your full attention.

We string letters into sounds into words into sentences into paragraphs that create meaningful stories about our human lives in the world, and then we try to create our own. We use shapes and numbers to create order out of the unordered world of nature. We find and name patterns in the language that we use and learn how to use it in new and challenging ways.

This is not easy stuff. This is not something that you can just easily pick up. It requires your full attention, your full effort, and a lot of thought. Be sure to give it your all today.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Risk Takers,

Some people are afraid of spiders, some of clowns, and some of heights. But what all people are afraid of is looking foolish in front of other people. So school, a place where you’re in front of your peers all day everyday, can be a very scary place.

But we know that mistakes are the best way to learn and you make mistakes when you try something new.

So it’s super important that we create a community that allows everyone to try new things, make mistakes, and learn from them. Because we know that we’re all going to need that grace ourselves.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Problem Solvers,

Writing a story, poem, or essay is like solving a problem. If you have some strategies, solving problems is a lot of fun. But if you don’t, then it’s just frustrating. 

So my job is to show you some strategies that work for writers. Then you practice using them and I give you feedback on how you’re doing. And then you practice some more and more and more….

Soon, you’ll get so good at using these strategies that you’ll start coming up with some of your own. And then I’ll teach these strategies to the next batch of writers. This is the Big Wheel that keeps turning through the years.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

I’m happiest when I’m just chopping onions. It makes me cry, my face gets all scrunched up and weird looking, and I often slice into my fingers, but I love getting lost in the world of chopping onions. Everything else disappears and I’m totally focused on one thing.

The most important thing I can teach you is how to focus on one thing at a time. I believe there is great power in single-minded focus and I also believe it’s the only way you can ever learn anything really well. That’s why we read intensely. That’s why we are so focused when we write. You have to get lost in the “flow” of these activities.

So today I want you to check your focus throughout the day. Are you just chopping onions? Or is your mind distracted and scattered?

Sincerely, 

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Doers,

Doing the right thing is never easy. If you ever have feelings of certainty about the rightness of what you’re doing, you should spend a little more time thinking about it. And if what you believe feels right in your gut, then you might want to spend a little more time with it in your head.

Because doing the right thing usually means standing up for people who are different than you, have less than you, and who you might not even like or agree with. There aren’t prizes for doing the right thing and many times doing the right thing will make you unpopular or even hated.

But we must continue to do it, hopeful for a better world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Thinkers,

It’s really important that you spend a lot of time thinking about your thinking. It’s not enough to simply know something. You’ve got to know how you know it, how you came to know it, and how knowing it can lead you to knowing more. It’s like a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

That seems like a lot for 4th graders, but I know you all can do it. I know this because I’ve seen 4th graders do it, and I know that thinking about your thinking will lead to the ultimate goal of thinking: deep understanding.

So when we’re talking about a story, poem or math problem, don’t just talk about the answer. Tell us the story of your thinking.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Thinkers,

Your goal as human beings is to think as many thoughts as possible. Some of those thoughts will be silly–How would a dog wear pants if dogs wore pants?– but some of them will change the world–What is justice? How can I make it happen?

But with only two eyes and two ears, it’s impossible to take in as much of the world as we need to grow these thoughts. So we turn to books to borrow others’ experiences. And we use books to get new thoughts, extend our thoughts, and challenge our thoughts.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck