The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-07-08

q and pupil. 1t is most aptly illustrated,
as differently conducted, b. Page in his
" Theory ami Practice Of Teaching" in
what he calls pouring in-drawiug ont
and medium process; (every teacher is fl-
niiiar with his writings, alI on account
Of its constant use in schools there is d
system Of questions and answers iatroduc-
el into thousands of articles by cur best
writer's to illustrate points III teaching.)
\ teacher, to question class well. must
nave a store-house and a mine Of knowi-
edge How l.tttle do those men under
stand their true interest WHO say they are
employing cheap teacher" =" he will
10 we'll enough for our school, he is in
advance of the scholars, our school is back
ward, and. | an sure they cannot catch up
with HIN IL one term any way, 50 where
is the use in our paying ST. per month
when We can yet teacher t,,Il Is good
enough ior5S." Indeed, the teacatrsiouli
be III advance Of t3e scholars, AMI u i0nL
way in advance, he should Comprehend
not only the subject, but also the scholar,
mind. Surprising, torinStance, the minds
Of the members OF class are involved in
mystery respecting a mathematical priu-
ciple, the teacher who Is JUST in alyancce
Of the pupils, would say why tuat is
easy enough, that IS plain, | am sure you
can understand that And p.rnap,
would venture an attempt to express his
own contracted dea,-JuJ we could hope
for but little benefit from tli5-.tni would
pass on whi.e the teacher wIo had a full
large view Of the subject, w,lJ understood
t in al its parts and bearings, would pro-
pound question which would turn the
channel .. the scholars thou GAS eiatt y
10 tue dark point in the lesson, an1 c.gI,
would soon be the result.
And 50 ia any science; whoever attempts
20 Ill the station of questione. or teacher.
must have at his command store o.
&no Wedge, 50 that trom the Thousand
POI ITS winch present themselves 70 nj.
mind he can select tIc most appropriate.
Again, the teacher saoa!d BE- gralu-
ate in intellectual Philosophy, as learned
rom books, o. b. ob.e.vaiea and expert
9nce. For, how shall he ftly JOIN and
frame these clements 50 as to form the
true man, unless he understands The a
lapta'ions and strength Of each? Ii
would certainly be considered piece ol
;oily to place the materials and tools in
the hands Of an inexperienced workman.
and expect him to produce 4 nice piece oi
mechanism upon the first trial. The loss
oteyerything with which he worked would
most surely be the result. How mucl
more, then, must be fail vino without pre-
paration, attempts to deal with mind ANA
part of man which is most
known and yet least known-that which
is constantly displaying itself, and yet is
Just finding out and how much more
to be lamented is his failure. Indeed,
after knowing all that We can know oa
this subject, We are but poorly prepared
Tor the duty Of guiding others
Again, We should endaavor to avoid
certain faults in conducting recitations.
Manner of questionings should be 4 con-
stant theme of study. y teacher may
err by asking too many, or too few ques-
tlons; and it IS quite possible to err b.
asking the wrong question. Tne tone Of
Voice in which teacher asks questions
has the greatest influence on the minl o.
the paPl, whether it Be ch-couaging or
III -:ouragng-joyial or or s--t1inateI
or dr0wsy, the scholars mind VIII ever
correspond with it, The number OF quas-
lions 10 be asked at a recitation must be
left discretionary with the teacher-ony
bear in mind that one thing must be
thoroughly learned before another is in
troiuccd. The regular questions given
for Il recitation should be asked and a full
and correct answer required, and it should
b. with great caution that scholars are
allowed u Introduce their own language
IN preference to the lan4ulga Of authors
This caution, however, need not b. that
tire scholar follow the author yerbyttm It
itteratHm, but only that they do not, by
their ingenuity, manage to keep up the
show OF good lesson when in fact they
-lSh = Dht ~ u Osic. NlctG dibI lilLStii-
gent language which actually expresses
the idea Is all that is necessary. and in
this there is one advantage. the teacher
is sure that the scholar has TIE idsp and
Is not repeating words by rote. Bat in
to this the teacaer should have
an arranged and we'll digested plan Of
questioning to be suited to the age and
capacity OF students. Never b, satisfied
to ask only the questions which you find
ia the book. No person can know what
question to ask next unless they have
heard the last answer, and no two schol-
ars need exactly the same teaching. Tie
great difference in the temperament and
advancement of pupils makes an infnity
of varieties which no author can reach
Books are nat teQchers. bat are guides u
teachers. The general plan of book may
be strictly followed, ifyou please, yet this is
not CONCENTRATIONS cannot b. teachers
Alnoa Ticlnor, author OF the Youths
4 f,I, n