Illinois State Normal University - Index Yearbook (Normal, IL)

Page 15 text:

Ubc ll nbcg I I to suit the varying needs of all grades of stndents that seek the Xormal School. lYhile it is expected that all will reach substantially the same level of academic and profes- sional knowledge. so far as the school can bring' it to pass, from six to twelve terms may be spent in reaching this level. More classes. smaller classes. and a closer gradation according to ability and preparation will enable all our students to worlc to the best advantage. In the course itself are some sweeping' changes. Natural science at last is treated as a common school study and given a prominent place in the tirst year. Economics and social science receive due recognition. The time devoted to general psychology and pedagogy is reduced one-third. The pedagogy of the branches of study will be taught in the 1'egular classes pursuing' those subjects. It is recognized that the method of a subject is the organization of that subject. It is wasteful and confusing' to attempt one organization in the history class. and another in the class in method. One or the other must dominate and control the thinking and teaching of the young' teacher. In the practice school the environment is to be made more natural. that is. more like the conditions prevailing' in ordinary schools where children study and recite alter- nately in the same room. At least three additional critic teachers will be provided, so that the student-teacher may be almost constantly under the eye of a competent super- visor. The summer school has come. and it has come this time to stay. This great plant worth more than a quarter million of dollars will no longer stand idle in the very months when its services are most imperatively needed by the schools. A term of six weeks with two daily recitations in all the major studies places the opportunities of the Xormal School within the reach of every teacher. It is planned that in ltloj and thereafter two such six-weeks terms shall be offered. The past year has seen a good deal of improvement in our physical conditions. The interior of the practice school has been retinishedz the great hall has been provided

Page 14 text:

,gx THE PRACTICE SCHOOL

Page 16 text:

I 2 the llnbeg with a new platform, a sloping floor, and opera chairs: the literary societies have spent about six hundred dollars each in flooring and frescoing their spacious halls, in stage decorations and new furnishings. The campus is more beautiful than ever. Many of the disiiguring paths are closed. Flower beds and areas of green have displaced the stretches of cinder next the buildings. Ivies are reaching to drape the bare walls of gymnasium and practice school. The systematic planting of trees and shrubbery has begun to restore these features wherever the original plantings have disappeared. We might promise more good things that are hoped for in the near future. The many un- realized promises of last year's INDEX bid us beware. Yes, the old school will continue to flourish. Its central position in the garden of Illinois, its accessibility, the intellectual community that has grown up all around it to afford comfortable homes for its students and to support and sustain its life, its beautiful surroundings, its stately buildings, its devoted faculty, its host of distinguished alumni, and above all the hundreds of teachers that go forth every year carrying live coals from the altars and daily demonstrating the nobility of the service to which they are called these are the sure guaranties of its perpetuity and renown. 1- -Er-im-Bio-45 'QPLB ' ni? ui '61 NO' Xf ' -3 I Qj! 'ir,tui:'! 4- g Ti-W e,fgA4l-'tt O 9-. '1v r1f 11' ,..' -av 7 -. , -f , 'fr m ' - nfl if X . yy, .in sy 9 -l :E ' ' N311 Ps- X ' if ' ,