Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-03-03

- A100otef ~ N0eks i
MI. President and Teachers:-I
have hot designed this paper to give
m exhaustive treatment Of "How to
instruct . class" ~ it would require
moro time and labor than / have
had 70 spare from the work had in
hand. However, will try to give
you in general, the method l try to
use.
Il is possible there is more than
one right way Of doing a thing, but
no matter what method is used, the
same general result is aimed at.
Some, filed with the idea OF some par
ticular method lose sight often times,
of the end in the means and thus
defeat their own efforts and wishes.
Others, being over cautious Of be-
coming groove-runners, end by hav-
ing no fixed or definite idea Of what
they are about to do, and meet with
no better success than the former.
1t is my belief, and confirmed by,
| might say, all the leading educa-
tors Of our country that it is much
the better way to haye some definite
plan by which to work. A poor
plan well followed is better than q
good one not so we'll adhered to /;
and many fold superior to no out
line at all. But the teacher should
he master Of the plan, and not it's
servant, so when the time comes
that it 10 necessary for him to vary
it TO 6t the occasion, he may .be able
to do 40 without breaking the chain
or losing a link Of the instruction.
It has always been my practice,
no matter how crude may be the
means employed or how homely the
illustration used, SO the pupils grasp
the idea, to be satisfied with it; and
not attempt to follow, in every par
ticular, the ideal method that some
learned professor, who seated in his
study remote from the school-room
and circumstances may have placed
before me.
By instruction, / do not mean
~stuffing the minds of the pupils with
the rules and forms Of the text book
nor to hurry scholars through the
same with a total disregard for all
else rave the accomplishment of so
many pages Of arithmetic etc, nor to
make sober, stayed men, or sedate
ladies out Of boys and girls Of ten
years Of age by curling or entirely
checking the flow Of animals spirits
which should predominate in every
healthy boy OF girl Of that age: but
to put children in possession OF
things which will enable them to do
we'll the work expected of them, to
enable the pupils to exercise and
improve their judgment, to think
and act independently, and to have
q higher, grander, nobler idea Of the
life upon which they must, or have
already entered.
With this object in view ! ber
your indulgence while / present the
few ideas which I have jotted down.
It may be that l shall be SO un-
fortunate as to disagree with some.
However hoping to differ friendly,
l have decided to consider this sub
ject in its general meaning rather thar,
in it's special sense, as you have, no
doubt suspected before this.
The subject now including all the
work Of the class,I divide as follows:
l, instruction, 2,Study. 8, and last,
REGULATIONS. / think this to be the
proper order. Before the pupils
can study, he must be put in pos
session Of that which will enable
him to understand all the points
which arises in the lesson he is about
to consider. And it would he the
height Of folly to attempt the re-
citation before its being understood
by q thorough consideration prior
to comming to the class.
In instruction, the first thing
necessary is interest, and more i'm
portant in the teacher than in the
class. Should tho teacher be ~listless
and careless the best pupils soon be-
come dull and have that dreamy
faraway look in their eyes. There
mustbe Tristan energetic teacher: Sec
ond, Pupils whose eyes twinkle and
shine like stars with the intensity Of
their thought. When this is obtain
ed, the work Of instruction consists
almost entirely in assigning the
lesson.
l have written upon this subject
in other places 50 will mention it
briefly. The teacher before ASSUMING
it should prepare the lesson care
fully. Though he may be well ac-
quainted With all tao subject matter
Of the textbook, there may be more
difficult points than he il aware
contained in lesson As Of 50, pages
20 to Is etc. Every lesson should
contain q point, and the teacher
should look for this point, bring it
into prominence, and Iced the pupils
to understand it il by use of the in
ductiye method. Always beginning
with the known and proceeding to
the unknown, from the concrete to
the abstract, and from the general
to the particular, leaving out some
OF the minor points, if necessary,
that the more important may be
better understood. The teacher
should, in all his methods. be &C
urate, and give his slow pupils time
to think. Quick thinkers are gen.
orally, not deep reasoners. Great
thought travel slowly, and for a time
n~oislcssly, like the gods who's feet is
shod with WOOL"
When a teacher assigns a lesson