Notes from public school - day 57

At lunch today, three students asked if they could sit around me.

“Sure,” I said. “I’d like that.”

As we settled in, they immediately started asking questions.

“How do we know how long the sun has left before it implodes?”

“Is there any way to stop a hurricane before it hits land?”

“Do you have to wear gloves when you milk a cow?”

“What do you think it’s like in the center of a tornado?”

“How long does a woman have to stay in the hospital after she has a baby.”

Whew, my head was spinning.

But I loved it.

“Why do you want to know the answers to all of these questions?” I asked.

“Hmmm,” said Jeremiah, “My parents ask me the same thing. Don’t you see, I just want my knowledge to grow?”

What a great question.

It’s the work of a writer and a teacher to ask questions rather than give answers.

The questions help move the world forward.

I’m thankful my little 4th graders are questioners and movers.

Here is part of a story I’m working on that shines a light on this theme -

“You always ‘a askin’ questions,” said my Poppa to me early one morning as I walked my shoeless feet behind him through the freshly turned soil. His hands were on the plow and he was following our old mule Charlie.

“That’s a good thing, askin’ questions,” he went on. “Did you know questions drive the world forward, like I’m drivin’ ol’ Charlie down the row? Did you know questions can turn the world upside down, like the plow turns the hard, rocky ground into soft, helpful soil? Did you know questions are like the seeds we’re gonna plant in these rows?”

“Nope,” I answered. “Thanks for tellin’ me, though.”

“Well, it takes a long time to get from seeds to vegetables that can make a good supper, and it takes a long time to get from questions to answers that can make a difference in the world. But seeds change to food that feeds people and questions change to answers that can make the world a better place. You keep ‘a askin’ questions always, Carter. Always keep ‘a askin’ questions.”

I’ve always tried to do just that, to ask as many questions as I can ask.