Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-06-04
NUMBER 40.
t u '7'E T ~ T ~ ''117' -7'1-"+
A Visit to the New YORK Normal College.

which l shall long remember.
1t is noble looking building in collegiate
gothic standing high, and open on all sides
to the air and sun. You enter corridor
reaching through the middle of the building,
seeming low because it is so long, dimly
lighted, airy, and cool, opening on either side
to various large apartments.
After few moments in the inviting par
lors of the president, we were taken to the
chapel. This is very large room almost
square, with high and decorated ceiling. 1t
is provided with a piano below. and Il good
organ in the gallery. Punctually at the
stroke of nine six doors were opened.
and to the music of the piano, six long
lines of younq girls came uiietly in and
filled the galleries and the body of
the house, while the the teachers occu-
pied the stage. There were thirteen hundred
pupils and in two and half minutes each
was standing in her place Then the organ
sounded and they sang, from memory, a
somewhat elaborate anthem in ,,tl.Tec parts,
given with very sweet and rich body of
tone. "A chapter from the Gospels was then
read by the president without comment ex-
cept such as was rivcn by his fine and sug-
gestive emphasis The pupils then sang,
without rising, a simple hymn in unison,
which ended the religious exercises y
record of the attendance of the day before
was read, showing but fifty absent out of the
thirteen hundred. One of the young ladies
was then called to The stage and requested to
read composition. \ day or two before,
we were told, the president had summoned
the two upper classes to the chapel, assigned
them familiar subject, and directed them
to write upon it for an hour. They had no
access to books and no preparation. out oil
their projections he had selected forty oil
marked excellence, one OF which was that
read tins morning. 1t was SIMPLE ami easy
IN style, well thought ont, anu pleasant to
hear saw one or two OF the manuscripts
which were without mistakes or erasures-
lae next exercise was the reciting oi
quotations We were tod that each pu-
pi was expected always 10 nave three
Oh these III hef memory anu 'hat NO one
ever knew when she would DC calico on IL
was treat to listen to those tins morning,
they were so pithy, various, well chosen and
o,aar,,. ,,,oI.a, Co,.-;1, Sho,1o,- r,,a-
''s'
son anu Lonsiellow were represented Win
many others If, as is likely, the pupils take
nr;de in ovoid;nr roratit;o, rolrmes of wit
anu WISDOM must DC uttered mere III the
course of the year. The whole of these
varied exercises occupied half an hour.
IT,, ,ha ohono, ,-o ,ror, ,o,.o, >, tho
N. ''' '"'ie'
gymnasium on the ground lioor, where the
pupils, 200 or 800 at once, are put daily
,brourb a sar;es os cracofnI coI;stbcn;cs with
-,
inc ruDoer straps techhicaily hho"n' thih"'
as the pocket gymnasium. fancy they re-
,rord :. os so,o,h;rr Of a horo Inn, they
stie'ehcu "nu sta'i'Peu ai" siiueu WIN pa
tient decorum. Meantime the older classes
wero singing in the chapel with Professor
No,,r,d ,,-,,, ,,..., ,,,, d,, dr,,;r,- ,h,,,, NJ,
"'o was ,,'.. "'' '''N'''
the -h'SefeFe from IL 4Foe"'"'e-
Next We went to some Of the class-rooms
which are broadly and amnIv Tnbted ALWAYS
-. - -, -,
from 'ne iei' is ''ie '''sNS S'ii'' anu "ie "eii
ventilated, cheerful rooms, in perfect order.
On the backboards were many excellent
drawings of flowers and animals in cnlnred
crayons, very correctly tinted. There was
one in particular of a duck So well
drawn and cOloTcd, that we stopped to ad-
mire it. There were also otf-hand outline
drawings in white chalk, firm and good. |
inquired if the Nv alter Smith system was
! in use, but was informed with slight en-
phasis, that they worked upon n system of
their own.
But by far the most novel and interesting
thing was yet to come. We were taken 10
the Training School for teachers. This is a
large building distinct from but annexed to
the Normal College. and is in fact one Of
the public schools of the city, in which the
instruction is partly given by the pupils of
the two upper classes of the College under
the constant supervision of trained and ex-
pcrienced teachers experts in the art. y
year has been added to the College course in
order 10 enable the girls to spend one week
/ out of each month in the training school.
We we're shown into room in which was
large class Of pupil-teachcrs each busy
with pencil AMI paper. In the middle OF the
room was seated class OF very bright, at
tractive-loOkiEg children. to whom one "f
the Young ladies' was giving lesson IN natur-
al history. Neither she nor they had any
textbook ; she had been describing To them
a well-known animal and questioning ;hem
about it. y brief summary of her instruc-
| tion was written up on the blackboard i'll a
bold, beautiful hand. Soon after we came
in, the lesson ended. the children were dis
missed and the young teacher took her seat
with the others. We learned that it was
only by chance that she Ind taken that tlay
; So cunspic LouS position. The subject had
been assigned over night to the whole class
( of nearly a hundred girls. any one of whom
was liable to be called this morning to act as
| teacher, when it would he equally the duty
! of the rest to critciSe her performance. Ii
was for this that they were 50 busy with
/ their pencils AMI paper. 1t seemed certain
/ " a trying ordeal, but the young lady was
( no doubt sustained by the thought that the
next ,lly it would be her turn To cut some
7 ones else work to pieces. At all events, she
( was admirably serene and collected
( The children gone. the fun began. Keencr.
more mcrcileSs or more intelligent criticism
! il would he hard to imoginc for not only tb,
pupil- teachers took part in il. but the real
/ teacher. who WAS thorough mistress of her
art assisted and the president also
added his uuota. Every part of the
lesson the statement of the subject
its development, the words employed,
success or the lack of il in tiyinr The aiten-
tion of the children. the illustrations used
the foreign subjects touched upon. the sum
mary written on the blackboard. the general
manner of the teacher above nil the sty;e of
her questions. were challenged. inspected.
praised or blamed with edual good temper
and Justice. Occasion was taken to bring
forward and excmpIify some of the broad
general principles of all good teaching
stress was laid on the faults To be avoided in
fore nrrscntinr il 10 Tho class
( I, -, , 80. ,,,.rs,;,,.r ~ ,,,-,:,;or
- 80 ''
+ tAercl>c anu we were sorry Wnth thc scSsipn
ended The pupil-teachcrs scattered among
tho cl,ss rnnns nj tho I,r,ra ,,nhIir school an
:,