Part 17 (1/2)
Again, the compet.i.tive impulse can often be used to motivate drill. The child is ambitious to stand at the head of his cla.s.s, or to beat his own record of performance, or to win the appreciation or praise of teacher or parents, or he has a pride in personal achievement--these are all worthy motives, and can be made of great service in conducting cla.s.sroom or individual drills. The posting of a piece of good work done by a pupil, or calling attention to the good performance of a member of the cla.s.s can often be made an incentive to the whole number.
Drill, in order to be effective, must not stop short of thorough mastery. The matter which is barely learned, or the verse which can be but doubtfully repeated is sure to escape if not fixed by further drill.
It is probable, as suggested in an earlier chapter, that we attempt to have our children memorize too much Bible material which is beyond their understanding and too difficult for them. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that we fail to teach them sufficiently well the smaller amount of beautiful sentiments, verses, poems, songs, and prayers which should be a part of the mental and spiritual possession of every child.
Our weekly lessons provide for the memorizing of Bible matter week by week, yet surprisingly few children can repeat any sensible amount of such material. Better results would follow if we should require less material, select it more wisely, and then _drill upon it until it is firmly fixed in the mind as a permanent and familiar possession_.
THE APPRECIATION LESSON
It is quite as essential that the child shall come to enjoy and admire right things as that he shall know right things. To cultivate appreciation for the beautiful, the good, the fine, and the true is one of the great aims of our teaching. One who is able to a.n.a.lyze a flower and technically describe its botanical parts, but who fails to respond to its beauty has still much to learn about flowers. One who learns the facts about the life of Paul, Elijah, or Jesus but who does not feel and admire the strength, gentleness, and goodness of their characters has missed one of the essential points in his study. One who masters the details about a poem or a picture but who misses the thrill of enjoyment and appreciation which it holds for him has gathered but the husks and misses the right kernel of meaning.
How to teach appreciation.--Appreciation can never be taught directly.
The best we can do is to bring to the child the thing of beauty or goodness which we desire him to enjoy and admire, making sure that he comprehends its meaning as fully as may be, and then leave it to exert its own appeal. We may by ill-advised comment or insistence even hinder appreciation. The teacher who constantly asks the children, ”Do you not think the poem is beautiful?” or, ”Is not this a lovely song?” not only fails to help toward appreciation, but is in danger of creating a false att.i.tude in the child by causing him to express admiration where none is felt.
There is also grave doubt whether it is not a mistake to urge too much on the child that he ”ought” to love G.o.d, or that it is his ”duty” to love the church. The fact is that love, admiration and appreciation _cannot be compelled_ by any act of the will or sense of duty. They must arise spontaneously from a realization of some lovable or beautiful quality which exerts an appeal that will not be denied.
The part of the teacher at this point, therefore, is to act as interpreter, to help the learner to grasp the meaning of the poem, the picture, the song, or the character he is studying. The admirable qualities are to be brought out, the beautiful aspects set forth, and the lovable traits placed in high light. The teacher may even express his own admiration and appreciation, though without sentimentality or effusiveness. Nor is it likely that a teacher will be able to excite admiration in his cla.s.s for any object of study which he does not himself admire. If his own soul does not rise to the beauty of the twenty-third psalm or to the inimitable grandeur and strength of the Christ-life, he is hardly the one to hold these subjects of study before children.
THE REVIEW LESSON
Reviews and tests fulfill a double purpose for the learner: they help to organize and make more usable the matter that has been learned, and they reveal success or failure in mastery. They also serve the teacher as a measure of his success in teaching. The review lesson should not be, as it often is, a mere repet.i.tion of as many facts from, previous lessons as time will permit to be covered. It should present a _new view_ of the subject. It should deal with the great essential points, and so relate and organize them that the threefold aim of _fruitful knowledge_, _right att.i.tudes_, and _practical applications_ shall be stressed and made secure.
Guiding principles.--If the section of matter under review deals with a series of events, such as the story of the migration of the Israelites from Egypt or the account of the ministry of Jesus, then the review lesson must pick out and emphasize those incidents and applications which should become a part of the permanent possession of the child's mind from the study of this material. These related points should be so linked together and so reimpressed that they will form a continuous view of the period or topic studied. There is no place for the incidental nor for minute and unrelated detail in the review.
The teacher will need most careful preparation and planning to conduct a review. He must have the entire field to be reviewed fully mastered and in his own mind as a unit, else he cannot lead the child back over it successfully. He must work out a lesson plan which will secure interest and response on the part of his pupils. Many review lessons drag, and are but endured by the cla.s.s. This may be accounted for by the fact that the review recitation often fails to do more than repeat old material.
It may also come from the fact that the children are asked details which they have forgotten or never knew, so that they are unable to take their part. It may in some cases arise from the fact that the teacher is himself not ready for the review, and does not like review days.
Whatever may be the cause, the review that fails to catch interest or call forth enthusiasm has in so far failed of its purpose. The minds of teacher and pupils should be at their best and concentration at its keenest for the review lesson.
a.s.sIGNMENT OF LESSON
No small part of the success of instruction depends on faithfulness and skill in a.s.signing lessons. Too often this is left for the very last moment of the cla.s.s hour, when there is no time left for proper a.s.signment and the teacher can give only the most hurried and incomplete directions. Or, it may be that the only direction that is given is the exhortation to ”be sure to prepare the lesson for next week.” But this will not suffice. We must not forget that children, especially the younger children, may not know just how to go to work upon the lesson, nor what to do in getting it. It is hard for any young child to gather thought from the printed page, even after he has attained fair skill in reading; and it is doubly hard if the matter is difficult or unfamiliar, as is much of the material found in the church-school lessons.
How to make the a.s.signment.--In order to a.s.sign the lesson properly the teacher must, of course, be perfectly familiar with the coming lesson. This means that he must keep a week ahead in his preparation, which is in the end no loss, but even a gain. The teacher must also have the plan of the lesson sufficiently in mind that he knows just what points are to be stressed, what will present the most difficulty to the cla.s.s, what will most appeal to their interest, and what will need to be especially a.s.signed for study or investigation. In lessons which children are to prepare at home it is usually well to go over the material briefly with the cla.s.s in making the a.s.signment, giving hints for study, calling attention to interesting points, and stating very definitely just what the cla.s.s is expected to do.
If there is to be written work, this should be fully understood: if handwork or drawing or coloring, it should be made perfectly clear what is required; if memory material is asked for, it should be gone over, the meaning made clear to every child, and directions given as to how best to commit the matter. If outside references are a.s.signed in books or magazines, the reference should be written down in the notebook or given the child on a slip of paper so that no mistake may be made. The purpose and requirement in all these matters is to be as definite and clear as would be required in any business concern, leaving no chance for failure or mistake because of lack of understanding. Less than this is an evidence of carelessness or incompetence in the teacher.
1. In order better to understand and to review the several types of lessons listed in the chapter it will be well for you to look through the lessons for the current quarter or year and determine to which type each separate lesson belongs. How many do you find of each type? Are there many lessons that will involve several of the types?
2. Which type of these lessons do you best like to teach? Is there any particular type that you have been neglecting? Any in which you feel that you are not very successful? What will you need to do to increase your efficiency on this type of lesson?
3. Do you feel that you are reasonably skillful in leading children to discover truths for themselves through the use of questions? If you find when questioning that the children lack the information necessary to arriving at the truth desired, what must you then do?
What do you consider your greatest weakness in conducting the developmental lesson?
4. Does your cla.s.s like review lessons? If not, can you discover the reason? Have your reviews been largely repet.i.tions of matter already covered, or have they used such devices as to bring the matter up in new guise? Do you believe that review day can be made the most interesting of the lessons? Some teachers say it can, How will you go at it to make it so?