New Britain herald., 1924-09-19

districts in which these new build ings are to be built. There still remains unsolved, however the problem of relief for the Monroe school district. The considerable number of new dwellings erected within the past year in this district has created very pressing need for action in providing additional school room.
 Attention should also be given as soon as possible to the problem of additional school rooms for the Lin coln district by the erection of a new building upon the Steele street plot recently purchased.
 ''The district in which the Bart lett and Washington schools are located would doubtless be taken care Of much more satisfactorily if the Bartlett school building were to be abandoned so far as further use for school purposes is con- cerned, and new building were erected upon the Viets plot on Clinton street. location much bet ter situated for the accommodation of the school population of that portion of the district.
 "A series of teachers conferences were held in the fall for the con- sideration of the most important problem of administration and in struction. In these conferences the courses of study for the yari- oua divisions of the schools were given special consideration, with a view to better understanding and possible improvement. The meth ods of teaching the different sub jects were carefully reviewed. and special attention was given to the problem of securing better and more effective modes of study by the pupils, particularly in the junior and senior high schools.
 Attention is called to the fact that these were teachers confer ences, not teachers meetings, and that they were led and conducted by the teachers themselves, with full opportunity for the full expres- sion of opinion and experience, as it has been developed through &C., tual class room work. For this reason, their value was many times greater than 1t could otherwise have been for both the teacher and the schools.
 Improvement At High Schools
 "The improvement of the work in senior and junior high schools Is 9 matter of great importance. There is serious need for its consideration and it is for this reason that the following extended statement Is presented.
 At the conferences before men, toned, and throughout the year, 1t has been gratifying to note a live ly interest on the part of the jun for and senior high school teach CTS in the problem of improved plans for organization of the currl- cula, better assignment of work, and more mature and effective modes of study on the part of the pupils.
 Tt is no doubt true that the traditional ways of handling sub iects in high schools can and ought to be improved. and that modes Of assignment of work by the teach CTS, and study by the pupils now in use in nearly all high schools should be so modified as CD to bet ter adjust the work to the abili- ties of pupils of varying degrees of ability CD to train in more ma ture habits of study and thought and (S) to secure more thorough and effective work by the pupil.
 "The usual curriculum and the procedure usually followed in as signing lessons in high schools has been and still is based upon the assumption, that there is in each subject medium or average amount of work which each pupil can or ought to accomplish in 8 gwen period of time, regardless Of the varying interests and abilities 0: different pupils,
 For the teacher, the work is laid out in the course of study in large units covering a year or term, but the pupil never sees this course of study.in completed form in any sub ject. He may be studying history, algebra or Latin, but the only oppor- tunity he has to view the subject as a whole is through the textbook which gives little or no information or help in determining as to the rel ative importance of different points or topics. The class receives from the teacher each day an assignment of work for the next day only, which all are expected to cover in their study and be able to recite upon. This assignment is entirely class affair, based upon the assumption that all are or ought to be able to do the work assigned for the next days lesson.
 | No Two Pupils Alike
 Each class, however, is made I'D of twenty or thirty pupils, no two of whom are exactly alike, all with differing backgrounds. differing abil- ities, differing interests, aims and purposes, differing temperaments, differing attitudes toward effort and work in general, and differing physi- cal and mental conditions, which vary even from day 10 day.
 No Two Pupils Alike
 Each class, however, is made Up of twenty or thirty pupils, no two