Michael Chenchard’s Reviews > How Children Fail > Status Update
Michael Chenchard
is 74% done
And it was not as an inventor of clever materials that I was of most
use to these children, but as a human being who had done a few interesting
things in his life, who had many interests, who loved books, reading,
writing, sports, and above all music, who was generally fairly kindly and
patient with them but who could now and then get very angry, who did not
pretend to be something other than what he was, ...
— Dec 27, 2025 01:51PM
use to these children, but as a human being who had done a few interesting
things in his life, who had many interests, who loved books, reading,
writing, sports, and above all music, who was generally fairly kindly and
patient with them but who could now and then get very angry, who did not
pretend to be something other than what he was, ...
Like flag
Michael’s Previous Updates
Michael Chenchard
is 99% done
...She was silent for
a minute or two, perhaps remembering her own generally unhappy
schooling. Then she said thoughtfully, "You know, kids really like to learn;
we just don't like being pushed around.
this just breaks my heart
— Dec 27, 2025 03:30PM
a minute or two, perhaps remembering her own generally unhappy
schooling. Then she said thoughtfully, "You know, kids really like to learn;
we just don't like being pushed around.
this just breaks my heart
Michael Chenchard
is 99% done
When Anna was in the
sixth grade, the year after she was in my class, I mentioned this idea to her.
After describing very sketchily how such a school might be run, and what
the children might do, I said, "Tell me, what do you think of it? Do you
think it would work? Do you think the kids would learn anything?" She said,
with utmost conviction, "Oh yes, it would be wonderful!" ...
— Dec 27, 2025 03:30PM
sixth grade, the year after she was in my class, I mentioned this idea to her.
After describing very sketchily how such a school might be run, and what
the children might do, I said, "Tell me, what do you think of it? Do you
think it would work? Do you think the kids would learn anything?" She said,
with utmost conviction, "Oh yes, it would be wonderful!" ...
Michael Chenchard
is 98% done
We always find out,
too late, that we don't have the experts we need, that in the past we studied
the wrong things; but this is bound to remain so.
— Dec 27, 2025 03:20PM
too late, that we don't have the experts we need, that in the past we studied
the wrong things; but this is bound to remain so.
Michael Chenchard
is 94% done
our education system was, and very probably is, fucked.
— Dec 27, 2025 03:09PM
Michael Chenchard
is 93% done
"For heaven's sake, stay out of
the classroom until you have got over some of your fear of the world. Do
something else first. Travel, live in different places, do different kinds of
work, have some interesting experiences, get to know and like yourselves a
little better, get that seated expression off your faces! Or your teaching will
be a disaster.
— Dec 27, 2025 03:06PM
the classroom until you have got over some of your fear of the world. Do
something else first. Travel, live in different places, do different kinds of
work, have some interesting experiences, get to know and like yourselves a
little better, get that seated expression off your faces! Or your teaching will
be a disaster.
Michael Chenchard
is 88% done
...
at something, as they once grasped at everything, with all their minds and
senses; they forget how to deal positively and aggressively with life and
experience, to think and say, "I see it! I get it! I can do it!"
— Dec 27, 2025 02:50PM
at something, as they once grasped at everything, with all their minds and
senses; they forget how to deal positively and aggressively with life and
experience, to think and say, "I see it! I get it! I can do it!"
Michael Chenchard
is 88% done
The case against
boredom in school is the same as the case against fear; it makes children
behave stupidly, some on purpose, most because they cannot help it. If this
goes on long enough, as it does in school, they forget what it is like to grasp...
— Dec 27, 2025 02:50PM
boredom in school is the same as the case against fear; it makes children
behave stupidly, some on purpose, most because they cannot help it. If this
goes on long enough, as it does in school, they forget what it is like to grasp...
Michael Chenchard
is 82% done
That reminds me. In a number of first-grade classes I have seen tacked up
on the wall a notice saying, "When two vowels go out walking, the first one
does the talking." Very nice. A little further inspection shows that in that
sentence there are two pairs of vowels, both of which violate the rule. Now
what are children expected to make of this?
— Dec 27, 2025 02:20PM
on the wall a notice saying, "When two vowels go out walking, the first one
does the talking." Very nice. A little further inspection shows that in that
sentence there are two pairs of vowels, both of which violate the rule. Now
what are children expected to make of this?
Michael Chenchard
is 81% done
The answer to that question was not hard to find. What the schools wanted
was good test takers. Nothing else was anywhere near as important.
I remember an old chief machinist on an obsolete training submarine in
Key West saying bitterly about his worn-out engines, which he had spent
many hours polishing up for an official inspection, "They shine, don't they?
Who the hell cares if they don't work?"
— Dec 27, 2025 02:15PM
was good test takers. Nothing else was anywhere near as important.
I remember an old chief machinist on an obsolete training submarine in
Key West saying bitterly about his worn-out engines, which he had spent
many hours polishing up for an official inspection, "They shine, don't they?
Who the hell cares if they don't work?"
