letters to my class

19 February 2015

February 19th, 2015

Dear Theory Makers,

The world bombards our human senses with stimulation–birds chirping, sun rising, shadows stretching, stars a-twinkling. Luckily, we humans are pretty good at finding patterns in these experiences. If we’re smart, we track these patterns, combine them with our human reason, and turn them into theories about how the natural world works.

This reminds me of an argument I often have with myself: can humans know all of nature’s secrets? Sometimes, when I think of how much humans already know about the universe (especially the ideas about how it began billions of years ago) I think we can. Other times, I think nature’s just too complex for the feeble human mind to really understand.

But there’s one thing I know for sure: It’s always worth trying.

Sincerely,

Mr. H
18 February 2015

February 18th, 2015

Dear Probabalistic Thinkers,

There are very few certainties in life. Everything else is based on probability. Even some things that seem like certainties are really only probabalities that are extremely likely.

Every choice you make in your life will be based on probability. What should I wear today? Is it going to rain? Will it snow? Will the sun come out behind those clouds? What kind of car should I buy? Which classes should I take in high school and in college? Who should I become friends with?

Learning to think probabalistically is difficult. Our brains weren’t designed that way. But like almost everything, it’s something we can learn to do. But it isn’t easy.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
17 February 2015

February 17th, 2015

Dear Book Readers,

There are many ways to find things out about the world. I like to do it by reading books.

I don’t think there’s a better way to explore an idea than by reading a book (or a bunch of books). What’s more, books help us leave the everyday world and learn about a time or place that we can’t visit any other way. Most importantly, books can explore a future that’s not yet been imagined.

I have a slew of books I’ve checked out from the library that I think you’ll enjoy. They’re new, they’re spectacular, and they’ll remind you why reading is such a worthwhile pursuit.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
11 February 2015

February 11th, 2015

Dear Seekers of Justice,

Doing the right thing is not always the easy thing. Sometimes doing the right thing can make you feel uncomfortable or threaten your safety. When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom, she risked capture by patrollers and severe punishment. The many thousand slaves who risked passage on the Underground Railroad could have been forced back into the cruelties of slavery or worse. When Martin Luther King Jr. marched for an end to Jim Crow laws in the South, he ended up in a Birmingham jail cell.

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
10 February 2015

February 10th, 2015

Dear Pattern Makers,

Humans are always looking for patterns. We take our raw experience and weave it into patterns. If it were only us, we might not come up with much. We look at the nightsky and see only countless pinpricks of light. Fortunately, humans have figured out ways to share our observations across time and space. Over thousands of years and at the hands of tens of billions of people, we have discovered deep truths about the universe.

Today, we’ll learn about the patterns that govern our little corner of that universe, and we’ll talk about how those patterns affect our human lives.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
9 February 2015

February 8th, 2015

Dear Optimists,

This weekend I received a baseball book in the mail. It’s an annual preview of the upcoming season, and I’ve gotten a new edition of the book every year since 2003. That was before any of you were born.

I always look forward to reading this book because it gets me excited for the upcoming baseball season. I mean really excited. I mean more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve. Even if my team is out of contention by the beginning of summer (which they will be if the recent past is any predictor), Opening Day brings hope to all teams. Maybe this year is the year.

It’s good to look forward to things. Even things as unimportant to “real life” as the upcoming baseball season are what give life its flavor and make it worth living.

My hope for you is that you find things to look forward to, no matter how foolish or unimportant they may seem to others.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
3 February 2015

February 3rd, 2015

Dear Historians,

I’ve long thought history is the story of how we got to where we are now. While I still think that’s true, I also think we study history to find out the things that have been true throughout the years. In looking at Colorado history, we see a few ideas keep cropping up in all time periods:

1. People live in the balance between their environment and the ways they try to shape their environment.
2. People are always bumping into “outsiders” and trying to figure out ways to live with them.
3. People move around chasing opportunity.

Think about how these ideas are true for Zebulon Pike, Kit Carson, William Green Russell, Chief Ouray, Horace Tabor, and Dust Bowl farmers. History is not just the story of individuals in specific places at specific times. It’s mostly the story of the ideas that make these times and places look the same.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
2 February 2015

February 2nd, 2015

Dear Tool Users,

Today we’ll measure angles. Anytime we measure, we must be accurate and precise, but we must always keep in mind that measuring is always an approximation. The most difficult thing about measuring is deciding what unit to use and how to report your measurement. How precise do you need to be? A lot of that depends on what you’re doing with your measurement.

Tools are important. Civilization is the story of humans using tools to change their environment and make it more liveable. The history of science is the story of humans combining ideas about the world with the tools they’ve created to test those ideas.

“In every human culture, the hand and the brain work together to create the style that makes a civilization.”–Freeman Dyson

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
30 January 2015

January 30th, 2015

Dear Empathizers,

“Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.”–Terence

That means “I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.” Terence was a Roman playwright over 2000 years ago, but I think this thought still holds true today. To empathize means to see a bit of others in ourselves and a bit of ourselves in others. It’s often hard to do, but like anything, empathizing is a skill that we can get better at.

People make decisions for a variety of reasons. We’re best not to judge them too harshly if they’re decisions we disagree with or think we wouldn’t make for ourselves. No matter what someone does, we must always treat them as human beings deserve to be treated.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck
29 January 2015

January 29th, 2015

Dear Readers,

I don’t know about you, but I’ve loved reading The One and Only Ivan. Not only is it a good story told with wonderful writing, but it also does what literature should do: ask questions about how humans act in the world.

What questions do you think The One and Only Ivan raises? What does that book make you wonder? We’ll talk about some of these questions today. But we won’t answer them. Good books raise questions that can’t be easily answered. Usually they only lead to more questions.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck