The Teacher

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 12, 1908

A Method of Reviews

The review is not a pet hobby with me. It is a real, living, frantic actuality; something not to be led, but to drive rather than lead,—drive constantly, drive regularly, drive systematically, drive with a determination of winning the coveted goal. It is not for me, at this time, to discuss the subject; therefore I will present the plan only.

Your work for the first two or three weeks should be well planned. Care should be taken as to the amount of work done and the manner of doing it. After you have covered twenty or thirty pages of geography, history, physiology, etc., have each pupil of the class provide himself with a suitable book, say a composition-book. Then have him head each subject studied, and list one question under each subject each school-day. At the recitation the pupil reads the question selected, the answer to be given by some pupil of the class selected by the teacher. This may be changed, and the class as a whole be given the opportunity to answer as each question is read. No question is to be asked by any pupil who is not fully prepared to answer his own questions.

On Friday, instead of having the regular lesson assigned from the book, the teacher appoints one or two pupils of the class, we see that as a daily review from each pupil in that class, and then write them on the blackboard, using them for the recitation, by having the writer to read the list, and having the questions answered in the same manner as the daily questions are. This makes a counter-review.

For example, Mary Jones has geography, history, physiology, etc.; each of these subjects should have five questions. No question is to be asked by any pupil that can not be answered by him. All questions are to be of the pupil’s own grammatical construction. Each question is to be asked by the pupil writing it, and answered by the class as a whole or by some individual pupil, just as the teacher sees fit.

Miss Jones has five questions each from geography, history, and physiology. Should there be five or more pupils in the class, we see that as a daily review we get five or more research questions; as a weekly review on each subject, we get twenty-five or more questions covering the entire work that had been previously covered in the recitation, as a Friday review.

The value of reviews can not be overestimated. They should be carefully planned, carefully tested, and carefully presented.

The plan trains the pupils in the framing of questions, tests them as to the relative importance of subjects, provides a diversified list of test questions, furnishes a language lesson, incites interest, thoroughly reviews the subjects of study, and greatly helps in the mastery of the same.—Selected.