Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-07-19
SPECIAL TRAINING NECESSARY
FOR THE TEACHERS SUCCESS


that the art of teaching consists OF
transferring knowledge from where
it is Tin the book to where 1t ought
to be Tin the pupils head.) To bring
about this transfer she assigns les
son TO the children and after giving
them time to learn it, she questions
to discover how much they have
transferred to their memories and
how we'll This kind of teaching is the
commonest kind, here as elsewhere,
but it is not the best kind.
The sort of teaching that is of the
greatest value is the sort that teaches
children to think.
THE kind of teaching prevalent in
this system is no more prevalent here
than in many other cities. 1t is not,
however, the best kind of teaching. =
(Springfield. Illinois. Survey
For example, one important factor,
that stood out prominently in our
schools was the method used in teach
ing reading to the first three grades.
The slow progress in the primary
classes, shown in the age-grade dis
tribution, and the poor quality of the
reading in the primary grades, were
unmistakable evidence of poor meth
DDS. Slow progress, lack of interest
and poor expression are the natural
outgrowth of wrong methods.
/ In our schools a whole year was
spent in the primer class. whole
year in the first grade. and like
period of time in the second grade,
at the end of which time the children
had not learned to read as well as an
average two-year pupil should read.
Thus the whole year was lost at the
very beginning of the child's school
life. There is absolutely no necessity
for this loss if right methods are used
To teach a primary lesson we must
do more than hear the child read. We
must do more than tell him the words
he does not know and correct the mis-
takes that he makes. We must teach
reading. The following necessary
steps are given as an outline of meth
DDS in teaching primary reading:
TELLING the story.
decentralization.
3-Blackboard work.
Analysts into thought groups,
sentences, words groups, sight
words and phonics.
5-Reading from the book.
You will notice that there is consid-
cradle work for the teacher before the
children are asked to read from the
! book. Through the story she must APP
peal to the imagination of the children
and arouse keen interest and emotion !;
she must give the story living express
sion by dramatization; she must use
the blackboard again and again to fix
thought groups. By PERCEPTION cards
and other similar device she must
prepare the child for new words,
and by the use of phonics she
must help the child to recognize new
words himself. Daily drills and re-
view drills are necessary in order that
children may acquire this power. The
reading of the story as a whole from
the book is the final step.
Ten minutes spent in preparation is
far better than twice that amount OF
time spent in correcting the child as
he reads. The one promotes interest
and confidence and the other destroys
both.
A teacher who can skilfully use
these five steps in teaching reading
has no trouble to create interest and
incidentally promote progress.
During the first two or three years
of a child's school life proficiency in
reading is the main requisite for pro-
motion from grade to grade, and a
pupils progress throughout the school
course is influenced largely by his
power to read and interpret the books
to which he has access, hence, the inn
portance of the primary teacher using
every means available to center atten-
ton upon the meaning of what is read.
Lack of motivation has also played
an important part. A skillful teacher
will provide artificial motives or by
suggestions help pupils discover real
motives for nearly every lesson.
ITO learn to spell a word, to know
multiplication table, or to command
German or Latin verb, may be a long
drawn out process against which the
pupil rebels, or, by virtue of the skill
of the teacher the accomplishment OF
the desired end may carry only pleas
ant association, and the time be
greatly shortened. In drill, the motive
or incentive for dong the work is of
primary Importance. The teacher who
is able to make her pupils want to
learn the tables in order that they
may excel in an arithmetic game
which they play, will secure the result
which she desires with greater ease
and in a shorter time than is neces-
sary for another teacher, who is in
terested only in compelling the chill
dren to acquire the habits involved be-
cause they are a part of the course of
study which she has to teach Skillful
teachers are always seeking to vary
the method which they employ and to
find new devices which introduce the