West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-04-12

who are unwilling 10 take that view OF the
matter. The student who makes a pretense
at study and the man who neglects his bust
ness do not succeed. In either case, the do
ing Of things distasteful cannot always be
avoided. Enrolment in tins school is con
sttued rs pledge To abide by its rules, one
Of which is that the student let tobacco and
liquor severely alone. The proof is over
whelming that the tobacco habit is preju.
dlcial to success in study. We are by no means
the only school that refuses to tolerate the
nuisance. l, is depressing to the honest
teacher to deal with young people Who inn
pair their native ability by needless habits .
"what about discipIine1"
"We apply the maxim that the sooner
you can get boy to he law in himself, the
sooner you can make man of him. We have
little use for the student who canno. b.
trusted when put on his honor"
ii infer that the relations between teacher
and SUDDEN, are somewhat informal"
'Such is the case. Good teaching partly
depends ON good fellowship. Conventionalily
and social reserve tend to create a barrier
between instructor and student, In a large
sense, the teacher should be a comrade
rather than an intellectual autocrat."
Now as to the question of exercse2"
I'VE wish all our students to take a liber-
al amount of proper exercise, especially
when they have no home labor to perform.
We think this result can he gained without
resoriing to the un-American idea OF putting
a uniform on the boys back and giving a
shooting iron into his hand"
''Do you use the marking system7"
"Only in a moderate degree. Marks do
not possess mathematical exactness They
divert attention from scholarship to the
marks themselves and they lead toward jeal-
ousies and encouragement Yet we have a
standard, and our students know whether
their work is good, faIr, OF inferior. They
are also aware that inferior work will not
go, save in excusable instances"
''Do all students take the same studies ?"
"All who enter the same fall take the
same course. An individual may be excused
from taking the full number of studies, but
as rule we discourage special branches"
"What is your method of inst uction1'
"We find that topic gains interest and
freshness when it is brough, close to the
student. A slavish dependence On some
particular text book is bad for student as
well as teacher. II is like leaning on a
crutch or viewing an object through colored
| Glasses Ia does make TO-
or for independence and fertility of thought.
| So we dispense with the class text book, to a
| greater or less extent, according 10 the
nature of the SUBJECT More work is thus
imposed on the teacher, but the learner be-
comes more reflective and original. We aim
to weaken this textbook slavery and to
exalt the prestige of the teacher. You have
noticed that the average mind is prone 10
regard the printed word as infall,ble and the
word of mouth as of indifferent authority.
Thus the learner accepts the book as law
aud gospel, yet IS slow to trust to his teach.
er's ability, and then the textbook is often
verbose. II then surfeits the pupil and
renders his study of il a bore. The teacher
PEELED to break away from the lhralldom of
the book aud follows path he knows TO be
better. mot every teacher can be In har-
mony with given text book"
"liow do you group the subj cts in your
course Of study"
"We make fourfold DIVISION; language,
scie' &c. history, and mathematics
''liow do you stand as to the religious,
phase of education1
"We consider i, no less a part of
symmetrical education than is The training of
the hand. To ignore the Bible aud the in
fluence it has exerted foe nineteen centuries
is to present a mutilated view Of he worlr
The Book of Books should he studied, even
| IT only from the point of view OF general
literature. Hence we give it definite aud
essential plan in our course of study. To
spend few moments each morning in read
ing selection from the instructors chair
| looks too one-sided, formal, and perfunctory.
II goes without saying that our mode of
Bible study is from a non-sectaran view
point We read the New Testament in
modern English version. The influence Ut
the book is impaired by reading il chopped
into verses and in style of English that
has been out of common use for three cen
tures. When presented in the best English
of our own time. its message gathers new
force and comes much closer to US. Blu, as
the Old Teslement is no, yet available in
modern English, we use it in little volumes
which present its books arranged in modern
literary form"
'What work do you give in mathematical"
1--WE FIRST review the fundamental processes
of arithmetic. Our idea is to find out and
strengthen the weak places in the students
familiarity with the branch. Algebra is
then taken up, followed by plane geometry.
We confne ourselves to their essentials and
spend no time on those subtleties which
interest only the professional mathematician.
Next comes thorough study Of applied
| arithmetic with lessons in elementry book.
keeping and commercial laws and practice
as business course thrs is suficien, Tor all
ordinary purposes"
"Do you teach penmanship?"
'OnlY IN the way Of criticism. The hand
writing Of a person is part Of his individu.
atty All people discard the copy book
hand at an early day, With pupils Of some
maturity the teacher should do little more
than caution against slovenly writing. To
some extent we teach gsomelrical and free
hand drawing
"What have you in the study Of EngIish2"
owe make This branch a specially There
Is need enough Of doing so, when you notice