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TEACHING FRENCH TO THE STUDENTS
How can we improve the children's spelling?
Generally, for spelling, one must take the help of the eyes. Each word should have its own form, which the eye remembers. Visual memory is more useful than mental memory. One should read a lot – see, see, see, on the blackboard, in books, on pictures. And as for style, gender, and grammar too, the best thing is to read, to read a great deal. In this way all this goes into the subconscient. It is the best way to learn. January 1962 Page - 326 ABOUT TESTS
Tests may be useful in giving you the academic worth of a child, but not his real worth. As for the real worth of a child, something else is to be found, but that will be for later on, and will be of a different nature. I am not opposing real worth to academic worth; they can coexist in the same individual, but it is a rather rare phenomenon which produces exceptional types of people. 1962 (Mother's comments in the margin of a letter from a teacher about French in the school. The students were using work-sheets.)
One of the reasons why the children do not make any progress in French is that the teachers do not correct them.
Very true.
Working with the work-sheets will be effective only if corrections are strict.
Very true.
I have begun to prepare corrected versions of all the exercises for the benefit of the teachers and the students.
Very good.
The teachers should read these corrected versions at least once… Page – 327 Certainly more than once.
so that they can become aware of their own mistakes.
Yes, they need that very much.
It would be good for the child to have this corrected version in hand so that he can compare it with his own work.
Yes, that is very useful.
Merely to underline the mistakes teaches the children nothing.
True.
I am afraid that the corrected versions I am making for the teachers may remain piously in a drawer.
Heaven forbid!
If so, by the end of the year the children will have done a considerable amount of work to no purpose.
You are right. It is the teachers, almost all of them, with only a few exceptions, who are lazy – more than the students.
I think I am bothering you with this French.
No, you are not bothering me, you are quite right.
It seems to me that so much goodwill is wasted. The goodwill of the children is wasted because, although the atmosphere in the classes is good, the work is in- Page – 228 effective and the work that is needed is not done.
Yes. 25 December 1962 Page – 329 |