The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1870-03-10
Educational.
pREtAuE.


In these "Notes,' i sliall attompt
to commend what sec that is wor-
thy, and poiLt out, that it may be
corrected, whatever find that is
not conducive to tho welfare of our
schools. shall soy What / do, with
out fear or favor, and l hopo that
teachers will receive it kindly. If l
mcntion things which cause any one
to teel bad, trust he will consider
that, though l cause him pain, do it
in tho same spirit that tho surgeon
does, who probes tho wound that it
may hoal. | shall point out errors,
that they may be corrected. ST.,
Wednesday, March 2.-Visited
school in I'd District of kirkville.-
Remained from 1890 to 400.
Found the teacher working worry
earnestly, but most too noisily. Tho
pupils, because of his example, were
quite noisy. Too noisy for good work.
Found q very interesting class in
First Lessons in Reading. The
teacher has adopted, in part, the
Word Method, and | found mono
Of that drawling SO common with
pupils Of that grade. They did not
say, "The.fy-lit.on a pane Of glass "
but, "the fly lit on pane Of glass
They could also spell the words very
readily.
wish to commend plan Of oral
spelling l noticed there. The teach
or pronounced tho words, and ap.
peared to take no notice of whether
they were spelled correctly or not.
After line had been spelled, he
called upon the class to point out the
errors. BY this means he secured
the attention of the entire class
Teachers who have oral spelling will
find this a pleasing and profitable
method.
There were no classes III Written
Arithmetic, consequently, much time
was lost in solving examples for indi-
vidual pupils.
Pupils in intellectual Arithmetic
wero sorely puzzled to give analyses
for very simple examples, though
thcy were half way through the
book. Not properly instructed in
the beginning. urge upon the
people Of Kirkville the necessity of
building a good school house. They
need not expect a first-class school,
with their present accommodations.
Thursday, March 3, 1870-Ifound
myself and q severe snow storm at
No. 3, Richland Up. We both stayed
all day.
The school is in excellent condi-
ton. | was pleased to observe a
spirit of kindness ON the part of the
pupils toward their teacher, II
speaks much Tor teacher, parents
and pupils. l wish / could find il
every where.
The teacher would accomplish
more, were he quicker both in speech
and action. have seen many
teachers too slow, but have never
seen one too prompt.
The bell tapped and two classes
started for the recitation seat. There
should be a programme, and it shoule
be strictly followed.
| l asked a boy to analyze an exam
pic, and he began: "Wcll, | set tn,
numbers down, &C." He gave fact,
but no philosophy.
The more | visit schools the nor,
strongly am | impressed with tn,
thought that teachers stand in grea
need ofNormal instruction. | trus
that our NornA..l Instis~to- will b,
largely attended.
Friday, March !, 1s7O.-l cam,
from the Walnut Grove school i,
Richland Tp., feeling bettor satisfied
with it, than | thought | shoul,
when / went in.
| One boy Was reading the New Yorl
Ledger, another was making u pin,
rd,-whittling in regular Virgini;
style-and there was much confusion
| accrcdit to the teachers quic
nerves.
| The instruction was better thar
the discipline. In spite of the noise
many of the pupils were doing OK
cellent work. Their solutions ant
analyses proved that they were work
ing understandingly. | wish al
teachers could feel the truth, that /:
fact without'its underlying principle
is of but little value. An isolated
fact may be forgotten principle
never. We may forget rules ant
formulas, but, from the principles W,
retain, we may reproduce them.
| 1 trust that teachers will help t,
make this column interesting.
| May every teacher profit by the er
rors l point out in the Notes; an,
may those teachers, whose schools
have briefly reviewed, not infer tina
their schools arc VIGOROUSLY bad
They compare very favorably will
the schools / have visited previously
| Labor so earnestly and Intelligent
| ly, that it will be necessary only II
con- mend. HENRY G. Cox.
County Supt