A printed form on white paper is marked original and a duplicate is on yellow paper. Insertion of carbon paper between the white and yellow sheets results in making two copies of the notes at one writing. This saves time and labor.

COMMON-SENSE SUPERVISION

Original

(ANY) SCHOOL DISTRICT

Superintendent's Notes of Visits

(Numbers refer to list on the back of the sheet)

No......

(Printed in duplicate sets on white and yellow paper.)

The following information is found on the reverse side of observation sheet:

EXCELLENCES OF TEACHING

Note: Numbers of this list will be used in the Notes of Visits.

Some principals and supervisors, upon their return to the office, follow the procedure of dictating or writing reports summarizing the recitations observed. A number of examples of this type of record will be found in the Twelfth Yearbook, Part I, National Society for the Study of Education. Several of these are given below:

I visited the room several times, and saw parts of spelling, history, and arithmetic. In every case the teacher was hearing recitations, and it seemed that all the preparation necessary for such work as he was doing could have been made in half an hour. The spirit of the class was pretty good and they had the attitude of attention. There was, however, no genuine interest or anything to be interested in.

In the spelling, rules and book statements concerning prefixes and suffixes were given by the class when called for, but there was left on the board without criticism or discussion the following list of words written by one girl: "sensor, migrator, interior, anchor."

In discussion later with Mr. R., I pointed out to him that a wise discussion of those four words would have been more valu

'J. W. Hall, "Supervision of Beginning Teachers in Cincinnati,'” Twelfth Yearbook, Part I, National Society for the Study of Education, pp. 102-104.

able than anything he did in the class. The first word was misspelled; three of them, although they ended in or, did not show the use of that suffix; and the fourth, migrator, is not a word in common use. In making sentences using the suffix ness, the sentence "The sweetness of the apple is great" was not quite satisfactory to the teacher, but "The sweetness of the apple is good" was acceptable showing how formal their thinking was. The history lesson was based on some papers which the children had prepared. It was a review-six weeks before the end of the year. The children had made lists of American and British victories and of American and British generals. All they did practically was to read from their papers—not even a discussion of relative values.

In the arithmetic, before they took up their problems on the board, the teacher said, "We will take up again our development of the subject of customs and duties." This consisted of the following questions: "What do you understand by customs and duties?" "Why only on imported goods?" "What kinds of duties are there?" "What do you understand by specific duties?" "What do you understand by ad valorem duty?" In each case the children seemed to be trying to remember the definitions from the book, and the teacher was satisfied with that result.

I spent an hour talking over this work with Mr. R. I pointed out to him that it was bare hearing of recitations, without interest or genuine content, and then I took up each lesson in detail and showed him one way in which it might be presented so that it would be of interest and value. I told him that I thought the children's time was largely wasted, and that they must have been more or less bored by the work, and I tried throughout our discussion to make him see that good work requires time and mental effort in preparation. A large growth and improvement are necessary before Mr. R. is a satisfactory teacher.

SEPTEMBER 26, 1912

Grade 8

Mr. R. (same as previous one)

Arithmetic-The idea of percentage was well developed by the use of fractions. The lesson was well planned and the steps logically presented. Class were all thinking and in good working order.

Mr. W.

Grade 8

I think Mr. W. is improving in his relationship to the children, and slightly in the quality of his teaching. He still shows irritation, however, and a tendency to lose his temper in situations where he is largely to blame himself. I have pointed out to him that almost every loss of temper is a backward step, and makes it likely that he will say things to the children that approach the character of an insult, at least it would be so considered by him if I should say such things to him as he says to the children, or if I indicated such an attitude toward him.

I saw him teach a grammar lesson and a history lesson. So far as the quality of the teaching in the grammar lesson was concerned, it seemed to me that there was little to commend. It was purely formal and had no relation that I could see to any feeling of need on the part of children for the grammatical notion presented. I pointed out ways in which I thought that relationship might be made, and pointed out to him also the bearing that such work would have upon his problems of discipline. I suggested dramatization and other interesting composition work which might be made the starting point for a good deal of his grammar work, especially by way of application. In his history work he seemed to me to raise a few genuinely vital questions.

Miss G.

MAY 25, 1910
Grade 5

My impression of Miss G. as a teacher is that she is generally weak, indecisive, and uncertain. Her preparation is not strong, nor is her organization, or questions, or ability in handling the answers of the children. I nevertheless think that in the first or second grade she may do work that would prove fairly satisfactory.

APRIL 25, 1912

Grade 3

Miss G. (same as one before)

I rarely have greater pleasure in a visit. When I first went in, Miss G. had about fifteen of her children; the rest had gone