The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-12-08
TEACHERS HOLD
GOOD MEETING
Methods of Teaching Discussed-Able
Paper on Primary Reading by
Miss Mary Mathews.

were presented by the teachers on tn,
program. J. S. Landers, city superin
tendent at The Dalles, man Of many
years experience in the school room
aided in the interest of the discussions
by his comments on the papers pre-.
sented.
w. A. Wiley, city superintendent o
the Hood River schools, spoke upon thu
work Of supervision, Professor Wiley
said in part: 80
1.-THE necessity and Importance Of
supervision in school work is just a
great as that in construction or buildn,
work, and it is provefbia1ly true tina
the architect and overseer of a building
must understand how all the work should
be done. He must be able to oversee
the excavation as well as the construc
ing and finishing of the building.
"This implies on his part a genera
knowledge of every kind of work to bt
done, but far better results are assured
if he knows in particular how to do eacl
class and kind of work.
II can conceive of a successful con
tractor who might not have complete
knowledge of every detail For instance
if the excavation required the use o
powder to remove some huge boulders
he need not necessarily know as well at
the foreman in charge of this work, just
the best method of drilling and the ex-
act amount of powder to be used. Nol
does he necessarily have to know the
exact proportions of the different brands
and grades OF cement and lime to use
to get the best results in floors or walls.
! He may be a success without the, spe-
cific knowledge of these details, but how
much better could he plan and super.
wise the work under the varying circum.
stances in which he labors in the con-
struction of different classes of buildings
using different brands and grades Of
material, if he possessed the specific
knowledge of details.
$50 with the supervisor in school
work. While he may not know
the very best methods TO use in
every particular throughout all the
various grades, he should know when
the work is being well done and should
be able to do the work Of every grade,
though it is hardly to be expected that
he be able to do the work equally well
as the teacher in charge,
"For my part | frequently find in
grades above the primary, boulder Of
stupidity or Indifference, or sometimes a
petrifled mass of natural-born meanness,
the proper quality and quantity of pow
der for whose handling is beyond my
limited knowledge and experience. And
again an igneous conglomeration of pa
rental prejudice and opinion makes a
formation very hard to break up and
remove.
"Then, too, time is an element to be
considered. Perhaps come of you prin.
cipals and supervisors, like myself, laid
your plans and confidently expected to
see great things accomplished. Perhaps
you congratulated yourself upon having
your work so arranged that you would
have ample time to do your teaching
work and devote satisfactory amount
of time to supervision work.
"But you didn't count on the condi-
tions that made 1T necessary to spend
so much time taking up and rearranging
the desks to accommodate your rooms
to new and enlarged work; putting in
new blackboards; changing windows,
stoves, etc, and doing the thousand and
one other things about the school rooms.
If you have had to meet these and SINH
lar conditions, you will understand how
difficult it is to carry outlyour plans 1t is
one thing to lay plans but quite another
to carry them out.
"SuperCision work may be reviewed
from so many standpoints and under
such varied conditions that | scarcely
know what to say to be helpful to any
one present know of nothing better
than to review few points that are
perhaps in no wise new to you, yet none
the less important.
ga supervisor must first be success
full teacher. He must have tact to use
existing conditions. II he has to teach
two or three grades, he must contrivein
some way to know what is being done in
the other rooms. Either by having a
trusty pupil in charge of a written reci-
tation, or exchanging work with the
teacher whose work he desires to in
spect. .... $780,
"He must have the power to take the
iniative lie must be leader; must
know what to do and how to do it i'm
mcdiately. This oftentimes requires
courage and keen judgement. He must
be just and honorable in all his actions.
He is a public servant and his actions
must stand:the gaze and criticism of the
people. He must have sympathy OF
personal magnetism in his dealings with
his teachers; pupils and patrons. II
he is lacking in this subtle power he is
greatly weakened in his work Not only
must he have sympathy for his assistant
teachers but he must know what they
are trying to do. In other words he
must know and follow the course o
study. Zach visit must be for dis
tinct purpose and if possible something
must be said or done to leave the room
in better condition than he found it.
1T should be his purpose to help by
commendation or kindly criticism. In
personal appearance, words, habits anC
actions he should be such an example tC
teachers and pupils that if initiated his
own reproof or rebuke will not be called
forth. These are some of my ideas o
what supervisor should be and not
what | in my work, am"
J. 7. Neff, county superintendent Of
public instruction, discussed in a gen.
efal way the methods of recitation.
Some of the points touched upon by
Superintendent Neff we're as follows;
l. Call upon pupils to recite in nc
regular order. .- Pie. ..,..
2. Indicate the point TO be recited
before calling upon any particular pupi
to recite it.
3. Hold every pupil in the class tC
have made the mistakes of'every other
unless he notices and corrects those
mistakes. s ....
4. If any pupil is detected failing II
attention, call upon him to reeite al
once.
5. Allow no books in the hands OF the
pupils, except in reading during thu
recitation, and use none yourself.
n Haua tho rofafatinp rnala - o,,,