letters to my class

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

Dear Empathizers,

Everyone has stuff going on in their lives. Everyone has problems and worries. So let’s make sure we’re gentle with one another, not thinking we know everything there is to know about each other, but just being available to help if someone needs help.

We can’t fix all of each other’s problems, but usually just being a friend is fix enough.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Readers,

You’ll always have questions. You can either accept the answers that others give you, or you can do some research and come up with your own conclusions. To answer your questions you’ll read. And that will lead to more questions.

Sometimes the questions will be easy–“How do I change the batteries in this thing?”–and sometimes they will be more complex–“What is justice?” Either way, you’ll read to find your answers and your next questions.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Experts,

Have you seen the commercial with the joggler? Joggling is juggling while jogging, and the guy in the commercial set the world record for the fastest half-marathon while juggling three items.

It doesn’t matter what you do. Just try to be the best at it. If you make yourself great at something, you’ll find a niche in the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Earthlings,

Earth not only has many places, earth has many types of places. The extremes on Earth are amazing, and much exists between the extremes. This allows for there to be a lot of diversity in Earth’s plants and animals.

Diversity shows us that many ways of life are possible, and diversity is an opportunity for change and evolution. As we look at the huge variety of lifeforms on Earth, always ask this question: what makes survival possible?

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Citizens,

It’s election season.

Many people try to avoid politics because it’s scary or boring or dispiriting. It’s easy to keep to ourselves and only do our voting on The Voice. But politics is about how we want to live together. What’s more important than that?

My hope for you is that you fully engage in self-government throughout your lives. That means more than just voting. It means learning about the issues, being a good citizen, and running for office.

Abraham Lincoln best summed up what the great experiment of American democracy should look like when he called it a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”