Questions from my students: Into the Mind of an 11 Year Old

Routine is what keeps kids sane… and teachers for that matter.  Kids don’t handle change well, and any teacher can attest to the insanity that follows a change in schedule.  As wonderful as it is to not have the stress of a curriculum to keep pace with, the end of the year can be a struggle because every day brings a different schedule.  Couple this with the excitement of the upcoming summer and a potential mini-Armageddon is brewing during the last week at your local elementary school.  Freedom is so close it is palatable… what kinds of creative activities could I, a notoriously uncreative person, come up with to ensure my students and I all get to the summer break unscathed?

Like any other teacher, all year my students have bombarded me with questions.  Don’t get me wrong; questions are great.  However, many questions are completely off topic and we would never get through everything we need to learn if I answered them all.  Plus, kids are naturally curious creatures and I’d prefer to keep the details of my usually boring life to myself.  Therefore, one of the activities I gave my students during the last week of school was the following prompt:

What questions do you have for Mr. Lin?  I will write you a letter over the summer and answer them for you.

I told them I would write them each a letter over the summer and try to answer their questions.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share with you their questions. Then, I’ll share with you my letters as I do my best to answer their questions.  It should no doubt be a fascinating look into the mind of a child.  Today’s questions come from a student we’ll call Nicolas:

Mr. Lin, who is the fastest in your class?  Obviously it’s me, but still…

Who is your best student?

Don’t I look good in black and red?

Would I look good bald?

Would I be a good king for France?

Can you beat up Jackie Chan?

Wow, what an assortment of questions.  I didn't think the first question was actually a question, so I'm going to skip that one.  But let's see if I can answer the rest...

Dear Nicolas,

I hope you are having a great summer!  I really enjoyed having you in my class this past year.  At times, you were my best student.  I especially liked how you always had a great attitude, and one of your greatest characteristics is that you are your own person.  Not only did it not bother you when people laughed at anything you did or wore, but you relished it!  Your style is definitely one-of-a-kind, and anything you wore – whether black and red or not – was definitely ‘cool’.  Therefore, I’m sure that you’d look great bald!  Perhaps you should wait on that hair cut though; if  you’re still interested in joining the Marine Corps years from now, you’ll get a first hand look at what you’d look like since they shave the heads of every recruit in boot camp. 

Your last two questions reminded me of another reason I loved having you in my class – I never knew what kind of things would be running through your head!  While you do need to work on staying focused, your inquisitive nature is something that will serve to benefit you because I’ve always felt that great minds are always asking questions.  Since it takes great minds to lead countries, you can be a great leader if you work hard.  Unfortunately, I don’t think you can be the king of France because they no longer have a monarchy – which means France doesn’t have kings anymore.  As for whether or not I can beat up Jackie Chan, he seems like a pretty nice guy so I think I’d let him be.  Remember, fighting is a last resort – it takes more courage to talk things out than to fight.  

Thanks for the great questions, and I hope you’ll write me or drop in and let me know how you’re doing next year.  Best wishes next year in middle school!

                                                                                              Love,

                                                                                             Mr. Lin

Stay tuned for more letters. 1 down, 23 to go!