The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-10-02
SCHOOL MELANGE.

SCHOOL MELANGE.
Some one in writing on the subject.
has said something like the following:
That the true test Of teacher was hor
ability to get her pupils to do their best
work an the time. At frst. though this
may seem somewhat preposterous, and
that It would seem a great hardship to
Judge teacher In this way, but do not
Judge hastily; think the matter over
carefully and you Will come to the
conclusion that there is more truth than
poetry In the saying. Our boys and girls
develop into men and women through
the work they do, and they generally
become just such men and women as
the work they do would naturally make
Of them. or rather the way they do the
work win develop or show itself in the
characters formed, for all are supposed
TO do practically the same work, and n
done the very best Il can be done by all
would naturally develop the same char
acter IN all, everything else being equal.
| But how different the characters Of
those coming from our schools! While
other things may have much to do with
It the habits formed the work Of our
lives after leaving school. It win be
well for US as teachers 10 think on
these things. This leads to the absolute
necessity Of the teacher knowing all she
can concerning the child. especially It's
home environments, in order that the
school training may overcome or coun-
| teract that which Is wrong IN the home
| life, or supplement that which ID good.
When the teacher and the parent fully
realize the proper relations existing be-
| tween the home and the school and act
accordingly there will be given an Inn
petus to our schools that no other one
force can give. Teachers should try to
know the pupils In their homes when It
| Is possible to do so. This will be q
great help in the matter Of discipline.
Prof. A. L. Wade, one Of the Oldest
and also one OF the very best Of West
VlrglnIa's educators, used to say he
judged the teachers work by his abiI-
ity to secure high average per cent OF
attendance. This at first sight may
not seem proper criterion by which to
Judge, but 1t Is true one In nearly ev-
| cry case, Nearly all cases of nOn-nt-
tendance, except those on account Of
sickness, could be avoided II the pupil
is properly interested In the work Of
the school. Some teachers make the
school room such pleasant place that
| none wish to stay away. Even In our
own city schools some teachers always
report a high average attendance. while
In other rooms the average 10 nearly al
ways low. Why is this? Is there moth
ing In the teacher that compels attend
ance on the one hand and repels It on
the other. The matter is worth think
ing over and the more we think OF It
the more are we inclined to the opinion
that Prof. Wade's plan OF judging the
worth Of a teacher was good one. Let
1t be the aim OF every teacher to mako
her school-room so attractive that the
boys and girls will not wish to stay
away from II. knowing II they do they
will miss something that ought not to
be missed. The pupils cnn be made to
love the school-room and until they do
love 1t but little solid Advancement Will
be made.
The public schools of wellsburg were
suspended last week on account CT the
prevalence of diphtherla. superintend-
ent Citizens taking advantage of the
situation, visited quite number Of the
Wheeling schools. The professor Is
wide awake educator, and is doing
good work in the Wellsburg schools. 1t
will be well for our state II such men
can be kept within our borders, because
we need all such men.
DR.. Gilbert during his stay at the in
stttute, is reported to have said that our
schools escaped calamity in the board
of education refusing to adopt the Pol
lard system Of reading In our schools,
while Superintendent Citizens, Of
weiisburg. where the system has been
tried for seven years, says the board
made great mistake in not adopting
It. He says that It Is the way to teach
reading. They have the FIRST book and
first and second readers OF the Pollard
system, while they use the higher read
ers Of another system. How are we TO
Judge as to which system Is the better
when the opinions OF eminent educators
are so dramatically opposed to each
other? The Pollard system begins with
the sound. The child Is taught all the
sounds OF the different letters and from
these sounds the proper pronunciation
OF all words are seen at once. The sys-
tenn claims to make natural readers
The system which Dr. Gilbert seemed
to favor Is the sentence method. This
begins with the sentence and to follow
It perfectly the child must see the SEN
tence as whole before It attempts to
read. The word is next considered, then
sounds. and finally the letters. Both
systems have their exccllencles and de-
fects, but either In hands Of q good
teacher can be made success without
any special injury to the child. The
good teacher generally makes any sys-
TEN a success, for the good teacher is
not biindiy tied to method, but uses
good common sense In al her teaching
The true teacher. with a good knowl-
edge Of the system being taught, Is
away above any method ever Invented
or thought OF, though a method Is all
right in itself and II left alone even a
bad method will hurt no one.
In nearly every school perhaps in oil
schools are found pupils who are not In
cllned to sing. II asked why this dlalu-
cllnatIon. they are able to give no good |
reason. In some 1t may arise from the
fact that they cannot sing as well as
others. Some even claim they cannot |
sing at all. and hence It Is useless to
try. But aside from all these are some
who either do not want TO sling or will |
not sing. Parents should see that such
pupils are supplied with the necessary
books. for no one Gun learn to sing
properly unless he Is supplied with
books. When this is done, then the