592. No, Virginia

One of Caleb Gattegno’s favorite statements was, “Memory is weak.” Another was, “The only thing educable in human beings is awareness.” Teachers try hard to get pupils to understand things. We try to increase children’s awareness. But we also want them to memorize several things, and we have all sorts of ways to try to…

When I first started teaching elementary school, two children in my class were quite sure that they wanted to be paleontologists when they grew up. They’re grown up now, and I doubt whether either one of them is a paleontologist. Maybe, but probably not. People tend to change their minds a lot. When I was…

Children have a variety of ways to tell us that they don’t think they’re able to do what we think they’re able to do. Some come right out and tell us. That makes our job easier. But some pout, and obsess on issues that may have nothing to do with the real problem. Some get…

I’ve never understood football, and I’ve never really wanted to. Seeing people play it, and seeing people watch people play it, live or on television, I got the distinct impression that it was not my kind of game. It seemed to be a game in which knocking people down was supposed to be a good…

A friend of mine, who does workshops for teachers and other human services workers around this country, likes to tell about a woman who decided to see a career counselor. As the two were discussing her various career options, she told the counselor, “What I really want to do is be a veterinarian, but that…

We ask children to read the directions at the top of a worksheet before doing the worksheet. We stress how important it is to read those directions. I remember teachers telling us again and again about a worksheet that didn’t even have to be done if you followed directions closely; the beginning said, “Read this…