The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-08-11
Normal Teaching.

~ a"S @'ssS ~ s.o
Every well taught school, from the
earliest ages To the present, has been
conducted upon normal principles and
methods, otherwise the teaching was
by no means good. Whenever n
teacher develops the rudiments Of any
subject in such way, and by such
methods, as makes the easiest,
forcible and most lasting impression on
the taught, his work Is good normal
teaching, whether such ever saw the
inside of a normal school or not. All
well educated teachers can, by due
preparation, do just such work in the
schools of the country. Many of our
very finest educators have done, and
are still doing, such work in all grades
of school work. Such are endowed
with much mental strength, fine edu-
cation, and are full Of ambition and
industry. Their education is broad
and critical, their experience wide and
equal to every demand. They are full
Of cultivated brain power and magnet
ism. Normal teaching requires a good
education and much experience, indus
try in reading, and close study.
All teachers must have at their
boarding places a good room, a good
teachers library, with good normal
works, such as Wickersham, two vol
umes, Raub, two volumes, etc. These
and like works must be much and
frequently studied, and also good
works of Psychology, Physiology and
Hygiene. No ID who neglects the
constant and frequent study Of these,
and all other subjects, is at all fit for a
teacher in any grade of school. Such
as these fully deserve to be signal
failures.
Our adjective .'normal" springs from
the Latin one ssnormalis," and this
from the noun .'nOrma," . rule or
square. Hence, q normal teacher
presents his subject with a perfect
understanding of all the proper rela-
tons Of its different divisions and
parts by the best methods. No one
younger than twenty-three or twenty
four years old should ever be elected
to take charge of a school. Such
would then he far better qualified, by
education and experience, to do good
teaching. Every text book used in
such work must and can soon be
mastered in order to do such work as
is expected of the teacher. Habits OF
dissipation and rambling and incOher.
ent thought must be abandoned, and
the mind must be steadily concentrated.
Out of about tw~enty-six grammars,
closely and critically examined, Murray,
X. C.. Smith, Kirkham, Longman, q
new work, Butler, both the new and
old books, Green's Common School
and his Analytical Grammar; also
Reed and Kellogg, are found the best
for constant use In the school room.
The latter abounds IN much fine
analysis and synthetical exercise. Any
one of the above grammars, well and
carefully studied, will always produce
first-class knowledge upon this inter
esting and useful subject.
OF course there must be frequent
exercise in English composition. There
should also be much practice in study.
ing synonyms and the grounds OF fig
urative language. No one ever see:
the beauties and power of any Language
without a good knowledge of metaphor
and synonyms. These must be very
carefully studied from suitable exer
cises, CLEANED from standard authors
such as Topper, Shakespeare, thu
Bible, English prose and poetry. Nc
one eve makes a good English scholar
without studying much and often along
these lines. A good Latin and Greel
education is a very great help.
A.. nj.