Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-11-13

iustitutc ~ NV ESes
house ct ~ A. n. today. The members
we're not as punctual in getting together
a. is desirable among model people, and
some are certainly csnsurabls for their
hardness.
The representative Of the NEws. whose
morning duties are various. did not get
there in time to hear the discussion on
Methods Of Teaching" by Professors
Young. Willis. Davis. Baker. and Mrs.
Swift, Of the Virginia High School.
Miss Jennie L. Hodsins. Of the lever
Fiowsry school. read the following
essay on takers vs. doors, or
PRACTICE WHAT rou PREACH"
An old and homsly adass, heard fire.
qusutly. but forgotten - soon a. heard.
Familiar a. household words to oil Of rs,
how many pause to think Of the lesson
II conveys? Few. I fear. for 1t requires
SO little thinking that. like all other
simple things, va consider IL worth non
The words certainly are short and plain
enough taken individually. yet grouped
10 . sentence they are, IL seems to me.
worth bordering. Speech 10 . natural
Gift; few people think 1t any trouble to
make use Of II. and the majority OF man
kind not only We bat abuse II. They talk
too much.
1 heard 1t remarked some time ago
that Q young lady graduate who has
charge Of her FIRST school talks. under
the impression that she Is teaching,
until her hearers wonder that her vocal
mechanism does not wear out. or. at
n rate, become impaired. Young
ladies', whether teachers or not, do talk
. great deal. certainly, and not always
do they praeties nhat they preach but
they are not the only ones. Company
liRhtens misfortune" 10 another adsge.
10 you will allow me to make use OF 30
many. and in this instance young ladies
have plenty Of company. When We
look around this vast world Of ours.
think OF the professions that are mouop-
oliz-d almost entirely by men. hear them
discuss, read their lectures, and then
remember how few We can name, how
very few We know who apply in their
daily life the principles on which they
discourse so el%oqusntly, We realize the
difference between theory and practice.
BY naming separately each walk in
life we might extend indefinitely the list
of persons who act On the "do - / say,
not as I do " principle. but one illustra-
ton will suffice. Takers flourish in
every profession. bat in none. I think.
DO we find more than in that OF teach
ing. The sehoolroom seems to DO their
vantage ground. whence they propagate
ideas and theories which they never carry
into practical use. and which no n else
can. They do not pause to think
whether their theories may be reduced
to practice by others or not. They are
quite confident that 10 they had time
they could apply them. but just at pres
eut they are very busy. A great amount
Of talking remains to be dsne ere the
mass OF teachers il converted to their
way OF thinking. aud that must DO seen
to before anything else. What matters
IL 10, before that 10 accomplished. some
other person demonstrates clearly that
they are merely talking 2 They take up.
then, another subject. that they know Ms
little about as the previous one, and talk
that t~hreadbsre.
For instance. q teacher thinks be knows
a great deal about teaching arithmetic.
He has o few pet ideas Of hih " on the
subject. He has never tested any OF
them in his sehool.room. bu, he has
thought OF them and talked Of them un-
III he Is almost persuaded that he has
appliod them. However. they sound
we'll. he supposes they msy be applied,
| and he proceeds upon every favorable
opportunity to infict them on others.
Some honest, hard. working teacher,
judging all men by himself, and deceived
BY the fus language and easy delivery
| of this preacher. thinks there may be
soma good common.seuss ideas con.
oealed beneath the dow Of words. and
goes at oncs TO work to ind them. Vain
labor; for. like the mirage in the desert,
the sense disappears just az be would
grasp II, and he discovers that the splen-
did ideas Of this woull.bs educator re-
solve themselves into mere empty
words.
Teaching in practice and teaching in
theory are two entirely different things.
A teacher may rise in Institutes, Teach
srs' meetings and gatherings Of that sort
and lay out In q hours discourse
more work than q practical teacher can
execute in O whole school term. 1t does
not seem to the talker that he has done
so-it 10 80 much easier to preach than
practice that probably he will never hnd
/, out, for he will p.rsevers in talking
without attempting to practice, but new.
srth.less 4, IL Q fact. He has enunciatsd
good theories possibly. although We may
not agree with all OF them. But let Us
enter his school room. examine his
classes, watch his mode Of teaching. and
we will find. in the majority OF cases.
that be does not sven attempt to reduce
theory to practice. He thinks IL no
trouble at oil to stand before an audience
of teachers, all Of whom are OF average
intelligence, and tell them hsw he would
conduct such and such IN exercise. how
be would meet and master this and that
imaginary difficulty. His vanity Is dat.
tered by his position and BY the evident
interest with which his remarks are
listened to. He would consider II
pleasant labor to spend . lifetime at II.
But the scene changes, he 10 no
longer the pleasing lecturer. talking to
AN interested and intelligent room.
full Of adults. He 10 district school
master. presiding in the old log school
house over fiiy. sixty or seventy pupils.
Of all ages, sizes and grades. alike, II
seems to him. in only two things-their
love OF mischief and dislike Of study.
Or he may be city professor. with not
one room full Of scholars under him. but
several. In either case his position 10
changed. His audience Is not now the
interested gathering Of teachers listening
with rapt attention to his every utter.