Suppose the teachers to be free after one o’clock, an hour may be given in the afternoon to correcting, and one in the evening. Language teachers, whose preparation is light, might do more, those who give lectures less; the work of correction must be fairly distributed, and a junior teacher trained to correct, by taking books first, and having these revised and given out in class, in her presence by a senior teacher.
Giving up books.Very strict rules must be made regarding the giving up of books at the right time by the pupils, and their being returned punctually in class by the teacher with explanations and comments. The books should always be in uniform, and some rules, e.g., respecting French being red, German, blue, etc., are very useful. Outside should be a label with the name of the pupil, the class and the boarding-house. This is important in the case of derelicts. All corrections should be made in red ink, and the exercise signed with the initials of the corrector.
Giving out books.Suppose we have a foreign language exercise to be given out. The teacher should come into class with memoranda of faults which have commonly occurred, and mention these to the class generally. Faults of mere carelessness should have a special indication in the book of the offender, and need not be spoken of further to the class. Each pupil should, before writing the next exercise, divide the page, write on one side correctly the sentence in which the fault occurred, underlining the words that were wrong, but on no account writing the mistakes again, and on the other explain why it was wrong.
When an arithmetic paper has been set the teacher may read out the answer, and each girl write W or R. The papers may be then collected, and it will only remain for the teacher to see whether the method was good. If not, she can write L W for “long way,” give explanations at the next lesson, and have the sum done again. Slates should not be used, nor loose papers, for such exercises.
If the paper is an essay, or answers to questions, the teacher should make notes of the subjects in which the class generally has gone wrong, and explain these. She may select specimens of broken figures, bad grammar, etc., but it is very profitable to read out good specimens; it is a great help to us to see others succeed, when we have tried and failed, and there is nothing that many need more than a word of encouragement to make them feel able to try. One who has done well may be requested to enter good paragraphs in a book (what I think Dr. Kennedy called a “Golden Book”) for the benefit of the class, and the worst writers desired to copy it; this would have done them no good, had they not tried and failed, but afterwards it helps us much to see how well another can express what we could not. The teacher may herself write in the book of the most painstaking pupil, things which she has failed to make clear, and ask her to copy that into the aforesaid book; it will do her good and help others. Certain conventional marks may be agreed on, e.g., L would stand for wordiness, C P for commonplace, S for satisfactory, G for good, Fig. for broken metaphors, etc.
Apparatus.Diagrams and apparatus may be reckoned amongst time-saving things, but like ready-made toys these may be less profitable to children than very simple things, which they put together themselves, and the more they make for themselves, the more they appreciate and profit by the labours of others. Fergusson, lying on his back with a brown paper roll for a telescope, and watching the movement of the stars, learned more than many who are provided with an elaborate orery, and the Edgworths learned more about the reason of a rainbow from their glass of water, than many from the lens. As Miss Leonard has said in her [paper], many things are not necessary in teaching elementary science, and it is a great pleasure to children to make anything for themselves. Here the kindergarten training will tell. For higher work well-equipped laboratories are good, but these are an expensive luxury, especially as new things are being constantly invented.
Physiological models are almost indispensable for class teaching, and excellent botanical ones are obtainable. A museum in which lessons can be given, and specimens referred to, is very desirable for natural science, but children should have their own private ones. Maps of physical geography should be constantly before the eye, but wall maps of political and historical geography cannot be so well seen; the teacher should be able to draw on the board or on paper, maps bringing out the special features of the lesson. It is understood that no class on history or geography is given without large maps both of space and time.[5]
[5] And here let me protest against the mischievous practice of having a round roller at the bottom, but a flat piece of wood at the top of maps. They are sure to be rolled on the latter and the map cut to pieces.
Working models of pumps, archimedean screws, mechanical powers, and steam engines are within the reach of most, and some simple forms of orery. There is an inexpensive one with the world inside a glass globe, on which are engraved a few circles, and this removes the difficulty which most children feel on seeing a pair of globes.
Marks, reports, prizes, place-taking.In former times when lessons were made less interesting, many ways were employed to keep up attention. Place-taking, by which each child took down all above her who failed to answer a particular question. This was most distracting; and so much depended on accident, that it was impossible by means of it to arrive at any trustworthy conclusions. Except for small children it has wholly gone out. The giving of counters has found more favour on the Continent, but this lends itself to barter, and anything which fosters the habit of considering what we can get by knowledge, is destructive of that calmness, that “wise passiveness” which is as necessary for mental, as for physical assimilation; it is equivalent to playing games, or running about during dinner-time. Some record there should be of each exercise, some “stock-taking” at intervals, and these intervals should for little ones be short, for time passes more slowly with them. If the head mistress each week looks over the mark-book in the presence of the class and the teacher, she is kept in touch with all, comes to know if there are girls who are wasting their time, and is able to give encouragement or reproof, and strengthen the hands of teachers. If there are a great number of lessons returned, she may find that a specialist is making unreasonable demands; she sees if corrections have been omitted by the teacher—in fact, notices things which, if left to the end of the term, might have resulted in considerable mischief. It is undesirable, however, to take up much of the teacher’s time in adding up marks, and placing pupils in order of merit; it may be left to individual class teachers to do as they think best; there is no need in this for uniformity of practice, and it is always well to give every teacher as much liberty in following her own methods, as is consistent with the general management.