The Fun They Had
I wanted to take a minute to share a quick lesson that went really well in my classroom. Every year I tend to do the same thing on the first day of school—go over the syllabus and play a game based on my classroom rules. This year, however, I decided to add another element to the first day of my sophomore English course.
Several months ago, I was flipping through an old textbook, and I discovered a short story I had never read before. (By the way, old textbooks are a treasure trove of teaching ideas, and you can pick them up used for a few dollars online.) The story was “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov. If you want to read the story for yourself, skip right to the link at the bottom of the post.
The gist of the story is this: Two kids in the year 2155 discover an old paper book that describes how school used to be in the “old days.” In the future, children learn individually at home with humanoid robotic teachers, so the main character, a girl named Margie, is mystified when she reads about how in the past human teachers taught groups of students at a school. The story ends with her imagining these children and all the “fun they had.”
What struck me about the story was that in spite of being written in 1951, it was surprisingly prescient. Our world seems on the verge of individualized, robotic learning. How did Isaac Asimov foresee that 75 years ago? And unlike many futurists, he was wise enough to see how advanced technology could harm education.
So on the first day of school, after we had quickly covered the syllabus, I pulled out this story. It truly lives up to the moniker “short” (barely two and a half pages), but the conversation we had afterward was what really impressed me. First, we discussed the irony of the story’s title. The girl of the future imagines how much fun school used to be when the truth is, most students do not like school. Then we talked about the benefits of human interaction at school. Although there can be negatives—bullying, peer pressure, “drama”—there are actually a lot of positives, too. We discussed about how a human teacher teaches you more than just what’s on the page: They teach social skills; they make personal connections; they serve as role models. And when I asked my students to identify the lesson of the story, they recognized it right away: “We should appreciate what we have.”
So if you need a twenty minute lesson that will get your students thinking about the future of education and the benefits of in-person, human-led education, I highly recommend “The Fun They Had.” You can find the story using the link below, and the download includes my own discussion questions.
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it went. Or in other words, I’d love to hear about the fun you had.
P.S. “The Fun They Had” is a very popular Asimov story, which has been read by many students since 1951, but I would have never known about it if I hadn’t been flipping through an old textbook. Say what you want about textbooks, but they are often filled with time-tested stories that address timeless themes. I recommend using them for inspiration and to broaden your horizons!