\nOne time in grade five, the teacher told us to write a story about someone in the class, with one catch: it was meant to be about someone you didn’t know very well<\/em>. I think her reasoning was that, writing about someone we didn’t know, we’d use more imagination.<\/p>\n \nA kid lived a few houses down from me who’d lived in that town his whole life. (In fact, many of them had.) I’ll call him Carl – of course, that wasn’t his name. He normally acted pretty normal, but sometimes he’d surprise you: he did so that day.<\/p>\n Carl didn’t write his story about anyone in the class; rather, he invented a character and wrote a story about him. The character’s name was Jimbo.<\/p>\n According to Carl’s story, Jimbo didn’t know his parents: he’d always lived on his own. He went to school like a kid his age would; however, no-one at his school knew he lived on his own. His dwelling was “a run-down shack.”<\/p>\n \nJimbo made his money various ways, including “repurposing” many items. He also fought in prize fights.<\/p>\n Jimbo couldn’t see a point to school, but was very good at sports. His plan was to attend school until adulthood, when he could become a professional soccer player or boxer (or both).<\/p>\n The class listened, engrossed, as Carl read out his story. Everyone wanted to hear more about Jimbo.<\/p>\n The next day, kids were talking about Jimbo. By week’s end, kids in the other classes were also mentioning Jimbo – you’d hear them say the name at recess or lunch.<\/p>\n Jimbo became an authority and folk-hero. People wondered what Jimbo would do in a given situation. Some slick soccer plays were “Jimbo moves.” Jimbo had been invented in the October of grade five; by May, Jimbo was the most talked-about person among fifth-graders at the school.<\/p>\n Curiously, I never heard “Jimbo” after grade five ended. That’s kids for you, though: they grow out of things suddenly, and just forget about them. I’ll never forget “Jimbo”, his inventor, or how the two gave fifth grade a whole extra dimension:)<\/p>\nJack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane,<\/a> Campbell River, BC.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Self-tutoring about people and events from the past: the tutor reflects. One time in grade five, the teacher told us to write a story about someone in the class, with one catch: it was meant to be about someone you …<\/p>\n