The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

STRENGTHEN THY STAKES
(Continued from Page 15)
—
and cooperate. The pupil should know
his own strength, his weaknesses,
where he is going and how far and
fast he is progressing. The teacher
should be the helper and guide. Both
should be ever aware of one of the
b i g objectives of self-realization,
namely, "the educated person writes
his mother tongue effectively."
.
1
Orientation Period
In Binghamton we have no writing
in the
during
Kindergarten and no
the first ten weeks
writing
of the
first grade. Instead, this period is
thought of as an orientation period
a writing readiness development, the
main objectives being:
I two
I 1.
I
I 2.
I
To make writing meaningful to
pupils.
To develop a desire to give expression
through written symbols.
To achieve these objectives, there
are many cooperative writing experiences
such as:
»1.
The teacher writing simple directions
on the blackboard for
the pupils to follow. These are
concrete, simple actions within
the vocabulary of the pupils:
"Rub to the door," "Hop to
Mary."
2. The teacher writing experience
charts the content of which is
given by the pupils.
3. The teacher labeling pictures
and objects.
4. The teacher writing notices or
invitations to be sent to parents
or to other grades.
Teachers have suggested many such
activities through which not only the
main objectives are realized, but also
the pupils become conscious of necessary
fundamentals for later writing
habits, such as neatness, writing from
left to right, rhythm, and ease in
execution.
The Blackboard
During the last half of this first
term all writing done by pupils is on
the blackboard, the only exception
being for those who show sufficient
writing ability to make the use of
newsprint paper and crayons profitable.
The first learnings require time
and the value of practice lies partly
in the fact that it is spi'ead over time.
Handwriting Part of Language
In the intermediate grades, there is
no separate outline for penmanship.
Instead, it is taught as a part of the
language arts in the integrated program.
Grouping of pupils according
to penmanship ability is arranged
early in the term and daily penmanship
drill is given where needed.
Pupils submit papers for penmanship
approval twice each year, and diplomas
may be earned by the end of
the sixth grade.
Fifteen years ago each director was
a law unto herself, jealous of her
The Educator 23
own subject and caring only about
results in that field.
All Directors Cooperated
Our first progressive step came
when all directors met around a common
table and produced an integrated
curriculum. Later each director was
made chairman of a grade group of
teachers who constructed one new
unit for their grade around a social
studies theme. For instance, the Art
Director was chairman of the 4B
group; the Music Director of 4A
group and the English Director of
the 6B teachers. The third step was
one year later when Directors were
consultants and teachers independently
produced the new units asking
aid of directors freely when needed.
Our elementary integrated course
of study contains 22 units—all of
which have been recently reconstructed
and made up-to-date.
Last fall, all directors spent much
of their time following pupils' programs.
For example, I followed a
7B pupil's card for Wednesday, and
visited all his classes. The next week
I followed a 7A pupil's program for
Monday. Later the 8B for Tuesday,
the 9B for Friday and so on until all
grades through the twelve had been
visited, and teaching in all subjects
had been observed.
Weekly Reports of Directors
Each week all directors met and
discussed the observations made during
the preceding week on the
strengths and weaknesses in organization,
in administration, in teaching
techniques, in allocation of subject
matter and in pupil response.
When our visitation period was over
these observations were summarized
and presented to the principals by
our Assistant Supt. of Schools, Mr.
Lee McEwan.
Among the points discussed during
the study of secondary visits was the
status of wi-itten work in our city
and the following are excerpts from
directors' discussions:
1. Too much written work is demanded
and too little time is
given pupils to accomplish an
assigned task.
2. Posture and writing have greatly
deteriorated since daily penmanship
instruction has been eliminated
from J.H.S. grades.
3. Teachers who had not had training
in penmanship had lower
standards for written activities.
4. Pupils lacked pride in accomplishment.
The net result for directors is an
each-for-all-and-all-for-each philosophy;
a sympathetic understanding of
our local educational issues; cognizance
of possibilities for greater correlation
and elimination of duplicate
efforts; and a definition of specific
objectives in the light of the needs
of individuals in our rapidly changing
society. We spare not, we have
lengthened oui- ropes, and we have
strengthened our stakes until we say
with Ruskin: "Education does not
mean teaching people what they do
not know. It means teaching them
to behave as they do not behave. It
is not teaching the youth the shades
of letters and the tricks of numbers,
and then leaving them to turn their
arithmetic to roguery, and their literature
to lust. It means, on the
contrary, training them into the perfect
exercise and kingly continence of
their bodies and souls. It is a painful,
continual and difficult work to be
done by kindness, by watching, by
warning, by precept, and by praise,
but above all—by example."
A WARNING
Through the new program of education
many teachers merely expose
children to handwriting. Growth will
not develop by this method. Handwriting
is a small manual art and a
difficult one. Time must be provided
for repetitive drill on various drill
units. It requires many repetitive
processes before progress is visible.
The children may be socially minded,
the subject matter socially centered,
and drill socially administered.
THE PEN,
Published by Handwriting Dept. New
Jersey Education Ass'n.
AN INTERESTING MAGAZINE
The Teaching Biologist has been received.
It is published monthly by
the New York Association of Biology
Teachers. Barnet S. Minters, Editor.
Contents of February 1940 Issue
Science and the Consumer, William
M. Malisoff.
Four Current Concepts of Consumer
Education, Frances La Belle Hall.
Business and the Consumer, Roger
Wolcott.
Consumer Education in 7th, 8th and
9th Year Science, Joseph Heymont.
A Consumer Education Unit for Use
in Biology Courses, Jerome W.
Hamburger.
Two Lessons, Laurence Posner.
Testing for Outcomes, Irving Shaw.
Sources of Teaching Materials, Phyllis
B. Busch.
Pupils Write Better with
STEEL PENS
ns that require less inking and flow
easier mean better penmanship. That's
why GJUott's are the standard in so many
schools. They assure neatness, accuracy and
better hand-writing.
Specify Gillotfs Pens for your classes. Send
10c for a sample set of 8 pens. Try them
and note the improvement.
ALFRED FIELD & CO., Inc.
93 Chambers St New York, N. Y.