Thinking Like Turtle

by David Benson, Educational Technology Consultant ()

I was out on the Internet recently looking for tall tales and Native American lore again when I came across one of my old favorite stories: "Bear's Race With Turtle." As I read the story I found myself reminiscing about a favorite high school creative writing teacher. The story is an amusing tale and one that has been remade many times in many different forms. The first time I heard the story was in an old Bugs Bunny remake of the tortoise and the hare. Sure, they called it "Tortoise Beats Hare," but it really was a reincarnation of "Bear's Race With Turtle."

The story is about Turtle challenging Bear to a race around a frozen lake in January. Bear has been bragging about how he is the biggest, the strongest and the fastest, but Turtle has a plan to put Bear in his place. Turtle says he will swim the lake and pop his head out of holes in the ice every several feet for Bear to see him. Well, as you can guess, Bear finds himself falling farther and farther behind as Turtle keeps popping out hole after hole in the ice and calling for Bear to catch up. Bear loses and retreats to his cave where he sleeps for the rest of the winter. The truth is, Turtle used his brain — and all of his relatives — and tricked Bear into thinking Turtle did it all on his own.

So why did this particular story remind me of my teacher? I've always liked the story because, like my teacher, it teaches that imaginative thinking, cunning and wit are valuable assets, and I, suffering from many shortcomings as I grew up, always relied a great deal upon my cunning and wit — although I suppose if you went back to talk to friends and teachers from that period (and even friends and teachers now), they might laugh at the thought that I ever exhibited any of those traits.

In any case, Miss D. inspired all of us in her classes to think just a little differently — it's now sometimes called "thinking outside the box," but back then it was creative thinking and I appreciated that inspiration.

So as the January cold sets in, remember, you have the ability to inspire the next great thinker of our lifetime. If nothing else, you might just inspire them to get up every morning and beat Bear around the lake.

To read the story, go to Stonee's Lore, Legend and Teachings at: .