V

THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE LESSON


1. _The importance of proper assignment_

Upon the proper assignment of the lesson depends much of the success
of the recitation, and also much of the pupils' progress in learning
how to study. The assignment of the lesson thus becomes one of the
most important duties of the recitation period. Too many times this is
left until the very close of the class hour, when there is no time
left for proper assignment, and the teacher can only say, "Take the
next four pages," or "Work out the next twenty problems."


2. _Good assignment and teaching the art of study_

We forget that children do not understand how to go to work at the
lesson as we know how. The result is that they come back to the next
recitation listless and uninterested, with the lesson not prepared.
Or, it may happen that the less timid ones, when they come to study
the lesson, call upon the teacher to show them how to go to work. The
teacher has then to take time needed for other things to show
different individuals what should have been presented to the entire
class when the lesson was assigned. Such a method is comparable with
giving a set of tools into the hands of novices who do not know how to