Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-08-08
EDUCATIONAL.
o. D. DnLDnN. HDIToR.

W " O0AO1Ns ROx1VHs
The Austin city public schools open for
the fall term Monday, August ~.
Mrs. Alice Soule and Mrs. Cornelia L.
Soule have been selected teachers in the
Lansing village schools for the fall term
commencing September 8.
Mr.. Edward Plank who taught in Dis
trict 8. Nevada, was in the city last week.
He will teach near Osceola, Wisconsin.
during the next school year.
Mr.. James E. Flood has been retained
for the fall and winter terms as teacher
at Varco. He has proved himself care:
full, earnest and successful instructor.
District "a, Lyle, A. Hotson clerk, has
appropriated $40 for the beginning of a
State school library. The state adds az
equal amount of money. This district
has just punched Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary.
All teachers in the Austin city schools
whose certificates expire this summer,
will be required to take examination in
the following studies: photography,
Geography, U. s. History. Physical
Geography and Geometry. Those who
wish may substitute Mental Science for
Geometry. Examination will commence
Thursday afternoon, August %, in the
High School building.
The Recltation-How Should 1t be Con-
Quoted?
by FRIN. b. F. KNERB, MINNEAPOLIS.
Not by the Chinese or mechanical
method, in which the book is exclusively
followed and no attention paid to the
meaning of the words memorized; nor by
lectures, in which the pupil is merely the
recipient of oral instruction, and is
crammed with knowledge which Is often
not digested, and is therefore profitless.
But rather by such happy combination
of the two as shall secure proper study
of the text book by the student, the sup.
plementlng of necessary and interesting
information by the teacher; and last,
though not least, the training of the
pupils mind for original Investigations.
The following suggestions. it is hoped,
may help some young teachers to dis
covery of the best method.
Let me first call attention to some con
ditions, which, though necessary to sue
cessful recitation, are often disregarded
| PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS.
! I. The attention of every pupil should
be secured from the start. A large class
will require little time to he seated and
become quiet, but it will be saving of
time, IN the end, for the teacher to wait
until there is perfect order. Attention
and order must be maintained through,
out. This can be accomplished by various
means, and such as requiring an ina:ten-
tive scholar to repeat what was just re-
cited by another; by not following any
regular order of recitation; by separating
mischievous pupils; and most of all, by
the personality of an enthusiastic teacher.
2. No book should be brought to the
recitation bench, unless indispensable.
Readers, of course, they must have; but
grammars and arithmetics can often be
dispensed with, by writing upon the
blackboard the sentence to be parsed and
and the problems to be solved; and as for
the spelling books, biographies, histories
and the like, it is seldom that they can be
of any use there, except to keep the
teachers on the Qui viue to prevent the
scholars from peeping into them. Yet.
in how many schools are classes hindered
thus, ,dav by day. for want of a little
common sense.
3. Scholars should not be permitted to
assist each other during the recitation.
If allowed to do so, the lazy ones will
study very little, but depend upon their
neighbors to help them through. 1t IS an
evil patent to every one, which it would
seem superduous to mention were it not
deplorable fact that it is difficult to
correct, and therefore tolerated in too
many schools. The proper remedy would
be TO punish the prompter.
4. Not few teachers always begin al
a certain end of the class, and call on
each member in regular succession, OF
call out their names alphabetically. or fall
on some other equally plain plan, so that
the pupils, at length noticing it, will
count their chances of escaping the diff
cult parts Of the lesson, Many bows and
girls look upon the teacher as their ma
tural enemy, and hence suffer no qualms
of conscience if they can thus outwit
HIM. Sometimes I would have one reclte
the whole lesson, and put question OF
two to each of the others; at other times
I would divide 1t equally among all. The
safer plan would be to have each recitt
the whole lesson; but this is impracti
cable, except where the tasks are shor
and the class small. Every expedient
should be employed to make every one
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