Tommy describes the old kind of school as a special building where all the kids went to study together. The students learned the same things and helped one another with homework. There was a man teacher, a living human being, unlike their mechanical teachers. The old school had a lively environment where kids played, shouted, laughed, and studied together in an open yard. The teacher gave homework and asked questions, and the children had classmates to interact with, which contrasted sharply with Tommy's and Margie's mechanical, isolated schooling at home with no classmates.