letters to my class

Dear Humans,

All that we learn in school was discovered by humans. Even when we study the natural world we do so through human senses and understanding. We study texts that other humans have created.

So it is all available to you. No matter your gender or skin color or where your family came from, it all belongs to you. We’re all human and we’re all capable of understanding and knowing the world. Don’t be afraid to dive into it and make it your own.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Prophets,

We often go on with our lives like they’re the only possible normal for us. We often lack the imagination to see that different lives are possible. That a different world is possible.

What we need is people like you to show us that a different reality is possible. You can accept the notion that only certain people can get ahead, that there’s not enough for everybody, and that no one can be trusted, or you can use your imagination to create a different way of life.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Students,

I know what I’m going to do today: I’m going to teach so hard that you might see smoke coming out of my ears. And I know what I’m going to  today and tomorrow and everyday into the future: I’m going to read and learn about the world more intensely than I ever have before.

Because I want to use my words to fight for what I believe is good, true, and beautiful.

And I expect each one of you to do the exact same thing.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Difference Makers,

You’ve probably always thought of subtraction as taking away. I know I have. But we can also think of subtraction as finding the difference between two numbers. Of course, we always end up with the same answer, but there are different ways of getting there and different ways of understanding what it means.

That’s true in life, too. There’s always another way to understand something. The more ways you have of understanding, the better your understanding will be. The world is too complex and dynamic to have only one meaning.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear World Movers,

One day I was looking at the dioramas at the Museum of Nature and Science and I had a revelation about the nature of knowledge: knowledge is all about taking experience from one place and trying to make it real again in another. In other words, knowledge is taking the world of Antarctica, turning it into words, pictures, or taxidermied animals, and making someone in Denver, CO feel like they’re there.

Knowledge is a magic trick. Knowledge is powerful and transformational. As you read and write today, think about the power you have to move the world around.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Mathematicians,

Anytime you see or hear something beautiful, it’s probably because there’s a pattern behind it. And since math is nothing more than the science of patterns, you could say that math is responsible for all of the beauty in the world!

Seriously–music, dancing, constellations, poetry, art–the greatest human accomplishments have math behind them. We might not think of them as math, but we most definitely could.

Today we’ll dive deep into the patterns of something you probably draw all of the time.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Empathizers,

The real question for us is “How do we treat those who have less than us?” The real test is “What do we give to people who can’t give us anything in return?”

In school that means including those who are often excluded. It means sitting next to the person who often sits alone. I believe that all we learn in school and life leads us to a state of wonder and teaches us that we should always treat others with compassion.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Learners,

I’m a big believer in succeeding through failure. Some people call it “fake it til you make it.” What they mean is pay attention, act like the kind of person who knows what they’re doing, and pick it up as you go along. That’s what we’re doing in school. We act like readers, writers, and thinkers, do the types of things they do, keep at it (even when we’re not real sure what we’re doing), and soon it just starts to make sense.

But you have to show up and you have to pay attention.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Readers,

Structure is its own content. If you understand the how then you’ll understand the what. Today, we’ll talk about structure of how writers write and learn some tricks for using that structure to really, really understand the texts.

Understanding structures is kind of like having a bag of tools. You won’t know how to build one thing exactly, but you’ll have a rough idea of how to build nearly everything.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Guisers,

What’s more fun than dressing up? Kids love Halloween because it’s a time you’re encouraged to do what you already do everyday: put on a “costume”, pretend you’re something else, and try to figure out what you want to be. And you even get candy.

Now you probably won’t grow up to be a pirate (or a zombie or a witch), but Halloween is a time to think about all the roles that are possible.

Have fun today. And be safe. There has never been a documented case of a child dying from Halloween candy a stranger poisoned, but be smart.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck