Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1869-08-26

In the third place, the teacher must
have his knowledge perfectly at command.
1t must be on the tip Of his tongue. If
he hesltates, and stops to think, or to look
IN his book for the purpose of hunting up
what he has to tell them, he will be very
apt to lose his chance. Teaching chill
dren, particularly young children, is like
shooting birds on the wing. The moment
your bird is in sight, you must fire. The
moment you have the child's eye, be rea-
dy to speak. This readiness of utterance
IS a matter to be cultivated. The ripest
scholars are often sadly deficient in it :
the very habit of profound study being apt
to induce slowness. a teacher who is con-
sclous of this defect must resolutely set
himself to resist it and overcome it. He
can do 50 if he will; but it requires reso-
luton and effort.
In the fourth place, the teacher should
place himself so that every pupil in the
class Is III sight. 1t is not to
see a teacher pressing close up to the CEN
tire OF the class, so that, if he turns his face
to those On one side, he must at the same
time turn his back to those on the other.
Always sit or stand where you can see the
face of every pupil. | have seen the whole
character of the instruction and discipline
of a class changed by the observance of
this simple rule.
Another rule is to use your eyes quite
as much as your tongue. If you want your
class to look at you, you must look at
them. The eye has a magic power. 1t
wins, it guides, it rewards, it Furnishes, it
controls. You must learn to see every
child at the time. Some teachers seem to
be able to see only one pupil at a time
This will never do. While you are Civ
ing this absorbed attention to one, all the
rest are running wild. Neither will it do
for the teacher to be looking about much
to see what is going on among the other
classes in the room. Your scholars eyes
will follow yours. You are the engineer,
they are the passengers. If you run off
the track, they wild likewise. Nor must
your eye be occupied with the book,
hunting up questions and nswer nor drop
ped to the floor in excessive modesty.-
All the power of seeing that you have
is needed for looking earnestly, lovingly.
without interruption, into the faces and
and eyes of your pupils.
But for the observance of this rule an
other is indispensable. You must learn
to teach without a book. Perhaps you can
not do this absolutely but the nearer you
can approach to it the better. Thorough
preparation, of course, is the secret of this
power. Some teachers think they have
prepared a lesson when they have gone
over it once, and studied out all the an
swers. There could not be a greater mis-
take. This is only the first step in the pre-
paration, You might as we'll think that
you have learned the Multiplication Table,
and are prepared to teach it, when you
have gone over it once, and seen by actual
count that the figures are all right, and
you know where to put your finger on
them when required. You are prepared
to teach Il lesson when you have all that
is in it at your tongues end. Any pre-
paration short of this will not do. Once
prepare Il lesson in this way, and it will
give you such freedom in the art of teach
ing, and you will experience such a plea
sure in it, that you will never want to re-
lapse into the old indolent habit-N. Y.
IcacAcy and American Ed. MOnthly.