Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1915-02-05
METHODS
In TEACHING.
Principal Daley Is introducing Some
Time Saving Ideas in the
Public School.

schooi ually program was not over
crowded with subjects but that time
is past. The curriculum at present is
SO over crowded that the time element
has become an important considera-
ton in the plans Of the teacher. II
is not the purpose Of this article to
discuss the relative importance of the
subjects that we are asked to teach
but will just say in passing that this
Importance varies according to the
location and environment of the
school. Emphasis should be placed
upon the subjects that most vitality
concern the children and citizens of
their particular locality.
There are, however, may subjects
that children Of every locality must
pay good deal Of attention to and
every year or so new subjects are ad-
ded, which further complexities the
situation as far as time is concerned.
AS result, teachers in order to be-
come successful must be expert in both
method and matter. He must give
certain amount Of instruction or al.
least see that the children secure a
certain amount OF information in all
these lines and to do this properly
and equitably becomes serious mat
: ter with the teacher.
AS the writer has thought it out, in
his opinion there are three def
nate reasons why teachers sometimes
fail to cover the ground as outlined
by our educational leaders. First the
curriculum is too broad for any one
teacher to handle expertly. Just think
what fund of knowledge a teacher
must have in order to fill the bill
completely. Until quite recently the
teacher was unwilling to confess that
he or she did not know it all. Second,
the public at large has not gone as
fast as our curriculum and we find
some of the courses that are required
are unpopular. They receive little
encouragement from the parents and
the children because they are indiffer-
ent towards them. Third, the teach
er fails to make the very best use
of the time allotted for days pro-
gram. Not that the teacher is idle
by any means but that she fails to &C.
onomize properly.
II is with this last reason that the
present discussion is concerned and
to make the point clear few speci-
fic examples may be given. Let us
take reading. II is the writer's OPP
inion which is based on several years
of experience and a good deal of
thought and observation that more
time has been wasted for the pupil in
this subject than in any other. Meth
DDS in reading have changed but very
little since l first attended school.
There is scarcely person old or
young whom we might meet on the
street or any place else who could
not conduct reading class as we'll
as we teachers usually do. The meth
cd is simple and has never changed
since our Oldest citizens were pupils
in the public schools.
The lesson is assigned, the class is
called, the teacher stands or sits up
in front and calls each pupil to read
in his turn. Every other pupil in the
room is expected TO keep his eyes on
the book and know just exactly where
the reader leaves off, The teacher
calls for impronounced words and the
process is repeated until every child
has read. If the lesson is not very
long it is read and reread until the
class is through. Every child is sup
posed to sit still and be interested no
matter how uninteresting and poorly
read the piece might be. Can you
conceive. of more perfect way of
wasting time and energy.
Now let us figure little on the
time element, Suppose there are 40
pupils in the room and our reading
lesson lasts 30 minutes and it takes
each child one minute 10 read his
turn In all there are d0x30 min,
OF 20 hours spent for the whole class
and 30 children are really in action
one min. each. You may say that the
child at his seat gets the benefit of
hearing his class-mate recite and in
watching TIE words all this time. In
most cases ne would be better off if
he did not, because Incorrect express
ion and mispronounced words are as
likely to be retained as correct ones.
The child that is reading does very
little toward helping his classmate
who listens. If he learns how to read
he must read for himself. Then ac-
cording to my figuring we have spent
twenty hours of time and done 30
min. Of teaching. Each child has
worked min. and wasted 20 min.
What then must be done?
We have made an attempt this sea
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