Encouragement

Roughly a third of the essays the substitute handed me back were good. I taught problem solution essays on Monday. Then, I had them go out on their own yesterday. Here are my two favorite. The prompt was "Santa has lost his reindeer. Come up with a solution for him to be able to deliver all the gifts and write him a letter."

Dear Santa,

I heard you lost all of the reindeer. That takes a lot of talent. Anyway, I’m guessing you want help? Okay, I have a plan: look into the last place you saw them. Then, look for signs as to where they went like hoof prints. But, if you still can’t find them, then there’s only one way to solve your problem: fly in a plane or helicopter.

I know it’s not the usual but it’s faster, and it isn’t as if you have a choice. Besides it’s better than having to stop every few hours or so to feed the reindeer. Also, it wouldn’t be as noticeable. For example, if a person looked up at the sky Christmas Eve and saw a plane, she would think, “Hey, that’s not crazy or anything; it’s just a plane.” But, if a person looked up and saw eight flying reindeer they would be like: “Oh my Gosh! I’ve gone mad!” So, flying in a plane or helicopter has its advantages.

Alright, I admit the change in transportation may have some drawbacks as well. How would you land a plane on top of a house? Well, you could land at an airport, get in a car and go to every house. But, I suggest you use a helicopter. It’s a bit smaller, but still has room for all those presents. And you can land on a small building, maybe, such as an apartment building.

Good luck, Santa! And, I hope my solution helps. If not, I hope you find your reindeer in time for next year!

Cordially,
The Pragmatist


Dear Santa,

I heard about the shortage of reindeer and all this happened because you need to be more careful! You lost your reindeer—not me or anybody else. YOU lost them. That’s not the only reason I’m writing you. I also want to offer a solution that will help in several ways.

You know you’re supposed to be magical. Well, this is going to take a lot of magic. My solution is simple. All you have to do is freeze time and go find your reindeer. And, if you don’t find them, the world will never count on you again because you weren’t able to deliver presents to their homes.

The advantages of my solution are many. If you freeze time, nobody can see you looking for your reindeer so nobody would suspect anything. Another big advantage is that if you freeze time your reindeer can’t move or run away from where they are, which will make finding them much easier.

The only possible opposition is if your magic didn’t work on the reindeer and they ran away. Then, it would be really bad because they would probably be in shock or confused from the fall and wouldn’t recognize you and attack you. But, I doubt that will happen. If your magic is strong enough to make reindeer fly, then surely you can make time stand still.

In conclusion, you lost all your reindeer and are in a big predicament because the whole world is waiting on you to bring them gifts. The reason my solution is that it’s practically your only choice anyway. I wish you good luck this Christmas, and I hope you have a happy New Year!

Sincerely,
The Moralist