Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-07-06
Director OF Physical Training, Public
Schools, New York City.

Il recently visited public school 3,
Brooklyn. and with the principal
walked rapidly through almost every
primary classroom IN the building.
My presence had not been announced
To the teachers 80 far as | know. The
object OF the visitation was To observe
the carriage Of the pupils at the desk.
and the way In which they walked and
stood, ] also saw the pupils come In
and out Of the assembly. have seen
many schools In which great atten-
tion was paid To posture, My visit to
this school was unique, because
failed 10 observe single child sitting
or standing In u distinctly bad posi-,
tion. did not observe single child
reading with the book flat on the desk
and the head bowed over II. The
books were held up. the necks were
straight, the carriage Of the bodies
was erect and manly, distinctly mill.
tary In Its character. The carriage
OF the girls was graceful and gracious
This shows that the physical effects
OF the school desk can be successfully
fought, even under the trying condi.
tions Of large city schools. without
further teaching OF physical training
than that which can be given by the
regular grade teachers, and even with.
out an adequate gymnasium. II Is ac-
complished In this school through the
intelligent and constant activity Of
the principal and the heads of the de-
partments, who recognize the fact
| 4 hut h., ,ht q h.. ,,...
period In life, that the roundness of
the chest and the erectness of the
spine maintained during school life
will be carried throughout life; who
understand that boys and girls will
not only be healthier and more effec-
tive all through life II the effects of
the school desk are counteracted than
II they are not, and who intelligently
apply their physical training to this
end.
Mere physical exercise will not
secure good carriage. Constant and
intelligent watchfulness, plus physi-
cal exercise, will alone accomplish the
result School gymnastics must be
aimed at this one thing--the school
| desk
"ln fighting the school desk two
things are to be kept in mind; the sit
| ting stlll. aud the tendency 10 bad po.
sition. The other general results In
| physical training ought 10 be largely
secured through plays and games.
IF the physical training in the
schools should so result that large
| fraction of all the boys graduating and
becoming men shall be strong in body.
erect and vigorous in carriage; and
all the girls shall be vigorous, grace
full and gracious, II will be a great SER
vice in solving one of the most diff
cult problems Of our age. namely the
adjustment OF city conditions so that
they shall be favorable to child life"
SUBJEcT-"The Direct Method Of
Teaching"
AUTHoR--Erpst Wolf, instructor
Of German. Yeatman High School, ST.
Louis, Mo.
"The question of method becomes
of gravest Importance II experience
shows that by the method in vogue
unsatisfactory results are attained
Assuming this to be the case, the
reformers' for the last thirty years
have tried to find the reasons for the
meagre harvest that sprang forth from
the golden seed that had been sown,
and to point out ways which would
assure better results. They argued
that the secret of success depended
upon the intensity Of the Impressions
and called attention to the fact that
the use Of the mother tongue In the
teaching OF foreign languages pre-
vented the impressions from
becoming intense They at
tackled the claim, presented by the
advocates Of the old method, that 1t
gives an unparalleled mental discip-
line A chaotic muddle Of contra.
dictory views is still prevailing in re.
gard to this question, and the idea
that the process Is presumably differ
ent In every individual is probably the
correct one. The translatiOnists also
claim that the exercise in translating
improves the students English, while
on the other hand, this argument is
met by the claim that no phenomenal
lingufst has ever produced real litera.
,ture.'
Languages are learned by forming
associations. In learning to speak his
mother tongue, the child associates
words with objects, actions, events
and, finally. sentences with thoughts
To overcome this habit and to replace
1t by the habit of associating direct
ly' the words OF the foreign language
with the corresponding objects and
ideas, Is the task of the language
teacher. A difficult task It Is, indeed
but not impossible. In acquiring ar
elementary vocabulary, the use of OBJ
jects and pictures suffices. In the
study Of literary texts, the vocabular,
thus acquired constitutes the basis ol
instruction. The meaning of unfa
miliar words Is made clear mainly b,
definition, by analogy. but above all
by context. To guess as II were
the correct meaning OF an unfamiliar
word from its associations, means q
mental activity OF the highest educa
tional value, real logical reasoning
not inferior to the solving Of an alge
braic equation with an unknown guam
tity"
SU6JEcT--"secret Societies /,
Secondary Schools"
AUTHoR-Gilbert 3. Morrison
Principal William Mckinley Hios
OIL