Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-05-01
NORMAL SCHOOL TRAINING.
GLASS OF 1EAcHERs IN FEE
oOLD HILL ul0H SCHOOL

0OkU ZM41 ~
rhe rrai.ing They Usderxe ssa
some ImpoFsass Facts Dsvsi'
oped NJ Is.
The representatives Of the Gold Hu
public schools were not long since sub
jected to . great deal Of unoallsd.for
abuse because in an endsavor to secure
an assistant for the High School they
saw ct 10 invite competition for the
position from persons outside Of the
Comstock. The crucial prayer Of the
humble Nszarine IL applicable to those
who inflicted that abuse.
Gold Hill IL engaged In . lsudsbls
sndssvor to supply from Ito homo talent
the want Of competent teachers which
exists here and elsewhere. Instead OF
being regardless OF the interests OF those
who are the smbodimsnts Of that talent,
its school officials are trying to prepare
those persons to take front rank among
the teachers Of the coast. Schoolmasters
and schoolma'ams are abundant. There
IL no lack Of those who have the requisite
amount Of book learning; OF those who,
in q competitive examination conducted
from text books, a. 10 usually the case.
are able to answer correctly the standard
p-sroentaoe Of questions; Of those who.
In fact, pack whole libraries OF srudiion
around daily, and who are ready to define
and demonstrate according to rule; but
of those who understand fundamental
principles clearly and have the ability to
apply and elucidats them who are IA
miiisr with the philosophy Of mind do
yelopmsnt and its uses In the public
schools, who never forget that they were
once young and sat on hard benches IN
der harder tsskmasters, nor the diffieul.
ties which then surrounded them and
hundred their Advancement; in short Of
school TEACHERS who are familiar with and
can apply the latest and most approved
methods Of imparting instruction, there
is NO superabundancs anywhere on the
coast. II 10 to provide . supply OF such
persons that the Gold Hill Board Of
Trustees and its corps OF educators are
now at work.
There are ten pupils In the senior
class Of the Gold Hill High School.
Some Of these are preparing to become
teachers In public schools. There are
those among them Who could have grad.
uated last year with honor. and who
would have been able to have stood the
ordinary tests applied to applicants for
nrst grade certificates. These pupils.
With others OF their class. are receiving
at the hands Of Professor Young q nor
NAL school training in all the require
ments OF the art OF teaching. The train.
ing is twofold; first. In fundamental
principles; second. in practice.
Yesterday . representative OF the
NEws sat for two hours and listened to
the drilling Of this class on the funda'
mental principles Of arithmetic. To say
that the drill was thorough does not halt
express its quality. II was more, 1t
was exhaustive. The scuteness Of q
trained and practoed mind was brought
to bear ON the class and every ingenuity
exercised in asking all kinds Of ques
tons and in criticising every answer that
bore O fault. either in clearness, con-
ciseness, order, method. arrangement
or pronunciation OF the words used. 1t
furnished q discipline to which few
grown people would willingly have sub
i.cted themselves. Each member OF the
class was required to show how he
would slucidats and bring the science oil
numbers and the art OF computation
down to the comprehension Of the fee
blest intellect. The result was . most
gratifying success.
Besides the course OF training thus
briefly outlined, those preparing for the
public school rooms are given practice
calculated to help them in the work.
Each, ct an appointed time. goes into
some Of the lower rooms and. under the
supervision Of Professor Young and the
regular teacher Of the class, takes charge
of the scholars for an hour. Here the
candidate for ~pedagogic honors puts In
practice. under the watchful eyes and
open ears Of two competent teachers,
what has been taught him above. That
he sometimes partially fails In some
points Is true; but he advances with
every trial, till finally his manned and
method arc approved and he has gained
one step on the road to the goal OF his
ambition. Mistakes are In this way cor
rected before they have become chronic
and fIed. Everybody knows 1t is harder
TO unlearn what has been learned amiss
aud practicsd than to acquire correctly
at first.
The practice thus given the scholars
Of the senior class Of the High School
has demonstrated one most important
fact: Those OF the class who stand
highest in scholarship do mol succeed
best when brought TO tho practical test
OF the schoolroom. This shows the
folly Of attempting. by competitive ex-
aminations alone. to arrive at the true
ntness Of q candidate for . position as
teaehsr In the public schools. 1t de-
mons,ratss clearly that something more
than book learning 10 required to ut Q
person for teaching. and the absolute
necessity that examining boards should
include in their examinations an elucida-
ton OF the applicants manner and
method Of impartipg instruction. such
AZ can only be given BY an hour at the
blackboard with the members Of the Ex.
aiming Board as auditors and ques
TONERS. The results Of an hour e1pend.
ed in this manner should weigh more
than all the written answers 10 the ques'
tons proposed.
From the foregoing IL viii be seen that
Gold Hill, instead Of ignoring home
talent, 10 trying in the best way possible
to foster. cherish and develop 1t. BY
the theoretical and practical tests ap-
piled every qualification OF each pupil IL
exactly known and his availability cor.
rsctly estimated; and when . person Who
has been thus tried takes to a Board OF
Trustees q recommendation for an sp-
pointmsnt to . place in . school room.
II will be worth more to that Board than