The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-07-23

if taught to do much thought work even IN
first and second grades. If the supervisor
and teachers would make special drive upon
the question of teaching silent, thought
reading for years study, it would be a very
valuable thing for the system of schools.
The general work in English, both oral and
written, indicates that too much time and eff
fort were spent upon the mechanics of Eng
lish and formal grammer For example, pu-
pills in the fourth grade studying phases
of grammer difficult enough for the high school
pupils. Pupils of the colored school of the
sixth grade were spending time in parsing
propositions and conjunctions. To counterfeit
this, of study in English should be
in accordance with the State monograph.
Oral and Written Composition should be given
the major part of the emphasis throughout all
the grades.
Throughout the system it was evident that
a sufficient drive had not been made upon the
use of the State Monographs as courses of
study to follow. These monographs should
be on the teachers desks and they should be
used as courses of study throughout all classes.
If given teacher varies greatly from such
monographs she should be called upon to
show reason why she had departed from them I
For any school system to be successful it /
must teach its pupils to be resourceful, to
be full of initiative and to be willing to as
sumo responsibility In the upper grades of
| this system there is not enough evidence that
| these guiding principles in education have been
adhered to policies The pupils of the
schools have average ability and more. Their
| training has been such, however, that they
| nave not neen Inlow ~ UPON men oMn
| sources sufficiently. These pupils ought to
be able to do original thinking in classroom
work. to debate with each other in free man
i ner on any subject in school work, to assist
| the teacher in keeping the room in a neat and
/ tidy condition, and to be the chief factors
| in the discipline of the They should
| also assist the teacher in the upkeep of the
| halls and the Fairgrounds. Such good results
of education will never obtain to a marked
degree unless supervisors and teachers work at
these things consciously. Therefore. the school
| program should be more consciously built
| around these controlling factors.
The fact that the fifth and sixth grades
| ara on interfereS
with resourcefulness and keenness to take re-
sponsbility the part of the pupils These
pupils are of an age where experienced
teacher with leadership qualities, one who
has love for children, should have direct
charge of them through the entire day. 1t is
more important for these pupils to come in
contact with such teachers and to learn how
to study, than it is for them to get any amount
of information from textbooks. We believe.
therefore, that it is very necessary that these
classes be assigned regular rooms and that
the teachers for these rooms be selected large
ly on basis of their ability as leaders and
community workers.
In the main written recitations were too
much in evidence. 1t seems the common prae-
tce to give much work in the form of written
lessons. This again is both expensive of time
| and effort. The teacher is at a disadvantage
because she can not use her personality. nei-
ther she develop initiative in her pupils
the pupils at disadvantage because they
lose all enthusiasm and pleasure in the work.
The pupils who are enjoying their school life
most, the ones who are getting most out of
it, are those who called upon to do
sponsible deeds of either competition or Co
operation. Where much written work is
attempted a regular practice this means
that not enough pupils get this opportunity.
Some written work should be given, it is true,
but the main emphasis should be placed upon
teaching which would cause pupils to do
| structive thinking
|, Provision should be made through the super
/. visor and principals where appointed by which
different classes of the given schools would
have opportunities to conduct special exer-
J eises. opening exercises, and programs of some
, length for the entertainment of the rest of
, | the pupils and the citizens of the community.
| Each elementary school should give at least
! one such public program a month. Each in
| lividual class should be responsible for giving
! | 4 similar program for the teachers and pupils
| Of the building, once or twice month. This
| work will do more to buoy up the Mount Holly
{ pirit than any other work in the school In
he high school department it is our judgment
that the supervising principal is losing a
valuable opportunity for impressing school and
social ideals upon the pupils through failure
to give frequent talks at the opening exer-
cses. These exercises also serve to give tone
| and character to the entire day.
The exercise phase of the physical training
+ aw is being enforced in a very good spirit
and with good results in the elementary and
high schools. Teachers attacking the work
/ with vigor and valuable results already
/ showing. These good results will be improved
if during each recess the pupils who on
the playground will be supervised by either
teacher pupil leaders. Such plan makes
i the playground period important factor
in training, as any other period of the day.
e
S HIGH SCHOOL.
Among the points noted in visiting the Diff
| ferent classes with view to passing judgment
upon class activity were the following:
The extent to which teacher exercised econ
omy in class management.
The teachers power to excite and hold pu-
pills interest.
The teachers ability to stimulate initiative.
: Skill in leading pupils to think.
Ability to recognize the essential parts of the
subject for emphasis in the recitation.
l aT1nO ftn fxrfaec of
learning involved in particular subject or
3 phases of subjects, and of adapting teaching
method according to the response expected
III of pupils.
j The teachers knowledge of the subject and
its place in a given curriculum.
! The social character of the recitation
II Because of the great diversity of subject
! matter in the High school program of study,
not all these criteria We're considered with
equal emphasis in the discussions which fol-
. low. Most of the work observed was of su-
s perior to excellent quality, when considered
as isolated exercise. The greatest defect
was lack of coordination among the various
n subjects due to the fact that no clearly defined
. objective in the minds Of the teachers as
n 20 the function of secondary education, or
the particular contribution that his subject
{ had to make in its program. More systema-
r tic supervision of instruction will correct this
e condition
PHYSICAL TRAINING.
d In general the exercise phase of this work
: was being well done. The teachers assisted
: the physical training teacher in substantial
way The discipline was good and the work
done with snap and energy We were especi-
: ally pleased to note that these pupils were
s taken out of doors whenever the weather per-
4 mitted.
AL The international work relating to instruc-
ton in the responsibilities of patriotic citi-
+ zenship not well done as it should be.
: There close adherence to the prescribed
: course, and the work had not apparently been
taken with sufficient appreciation of its worth.
!, The material was at hand but it had not been
/ put into full use. Some improvement was
tod
= the school. This work is prescribed by law
and has the right of way in school programs
and it is hoped that next fall will see it in
+ full swing.
I FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
q Latin, French and German classes were
| visited and good work was being done. Pupils
were alert and responsive and interest was
that all but the beginning class were doing
+ work of approximately standard quality.
SOCIAL STUDIES INCLUDING HISTORY.
Some excellent rscitations were observed
IN this department The lessons we're well
of careful planning. The problem solving
o attitude on the part of the recitation was APP
J. parent with result that pupils were getting
J. practice in real thinking.
SCIENCE.
+ The class in botany was handicapped by
n lack of sufficient teaching material including
exits A subsequent visit showed that books
d had in the meantime been obtained The gen.
III Two classes were visited in general science
g where the quality of work was somewhat in
/ ferior- The discipline was lax and the re-
g citation work lacked point and snap. Genuine
4 interest appeared to be lacking, due to the
f ooseness of class control
v The work in Chemistry was very good. The
+ note books were well kept. The greatest hand
: leap was the smallness of the laboratory and
n its insufficient equipment
a MATHEMATICS.
5 Glasses in Algebra and Geometry were visit
cd WA N ART rio Hare ~
y work appeared of standard quality especi-
a any IN the formal processes. The results of
= tests in problem solving are given in another
part of this report.
I'll ENGLISH.
The tendency in English appeared to be
d too great stress upon the literature and tech
: nical English, and not enough on practical
English both oral and written. 1t is ques-
u ton of the time element applied to these
e phases of instruction rather than the quality.
S In literature the pupils showed apprecia-
o ton. and understanding of the classics read,
: and were evidently interested The work was
from good to excellent in quality.
In connection with the work in this subject
Is recommended that the Literary Society
!, now meeting every two weeks in school time
be made voluntary society and meet outside
5 OF school hours. 1t is believed that this will
t lead to more interest and initiative than at
present. This comment is based not what
Z was observed, but upon reports of the work
Certain minor recommendations regarding
the subject in the various curriculum have
e been made to the supervising principal and
are not repeated here since they will come
to the Board through that officer. In general
this was a reduction of the subjects offered
5 whereby classes could be more economically
administered
SPECIAL STUDIES.
Promotion and Failure Table-AU school
systems should provide as flexible a classifi-