Thursday, May 10th
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Desert Springs Church

This chapter of _The Seven Laws of Teaching_ might just be my favorite. And that’s because it deals with language. While it might not seem to be a natural next step from the first two laws, Gregory points out that language is the thing that connects the teacher and the learner.

Law #3, The Law of the Language, states:
“The language used in teaching must be common to teacher and learner.”

In other words, the language we use to teach must be carefully selected, defined and clear or our students won’t be able to learn what we’re teaching.

So, what is language?

Gregory defines it first as a “vehicle of thought”. It’s not just a car that drives a bunch of ideas to another location and ‘dumps’ them there, rather Gregory likens language more to a system of telegrams and signals that are received and translated by another. The stronger the communicator grasps the ideas in his own mind, the greater potential he has to convey that truth to the receiver. And, of course, this is not just a one way street. Language relays back and forth between teacher and learner. And this back and forth language helps the teacher greatly by showing him or her where the student’s language is lacking, how to meet the student’s needs and what exactly the student needs to learn. With such an avenue, Gregory notes that the teacher “will teach most and best whose well-chosen words raise the most and clearest images, and excite the highest action, in the minds of his pupils” (53).

Next, Gregory defines language “the instrument of thought.” In other words, ideas take shape, become visible and ‘come alive’ in carefully expressed language. Gregory states that, “[Placing ideas] into correct words and sentences is to make the landscape familiar” (55). In so doing, the teacher can help the student “gain a full and clear expression of what it already knows imperfectly.” With clarity presented and the opportunity to talk himself, the student can find differences between his thought and the truth being taught and work to improve his language about that truth.

Gregory further defines language as a “storehouse of knowledge”. We ‘store’ everything we know by the language we use around it. In many ways, it is a measure of our knowledge. In teaching new ideas and words to our students, we must be careful to discuss the idea before the word so that the truth is foundational. Then we connect that truth, that idea to a word. If the idea and word are strongly connected in the child’s mind, then he or she can learn to use it in speech in a powerful way.

How can we as teachers practically implement this law?

Gregory lists of many useful rules for teachers, including (some paraphrasing mine):

1. Study and listen to the pupil’s language constantly. Find out what words he uses, how he uses those words and what meaning he places around them.

2. Express your thoughts as far as possible in the pupil’s words, carefully correcting any defect in the meaning he gives them.

3. Use the simplest and fewest words as possible to express an idea. Extra words can act like ‘baggage’ that may promote misunderstanding. (I was wisely encouraged once to regularly write Haiku poetry – which limits even the syllables used – to practice the art of being concise).

4. Use short sentences with the simplest construction. Long sentences can lose the student quickly; short sentences give the student more of a chance to really ‘hear’ what you’re saying.

5. Always help define new words by showing what you mean. Pictures, objects from nature, and even acting things out will greatly enhance the student’s ability to place meaning with an idea.

6. Don’t let a student ‘listen in silence’ during lessons. Make him talk. Make him express the level of knowledge he has. This is a vital part of the process of growing his language.

7. “Make haste slowly”. Don’t rush into teaching too much at once. Let the student master language before it gets displaced by too many other words and ideas.

May you be blessed in the challenge and growth of your teaching.

I Love eGrove! I trust that our child is getting a good education. Through the the choice of curriculum and the “Lesson Plans” I get online each week I can measure where our child should be on a weekly basis.

Oak Grove has really stepped up to the plate by creating Oak Grove Central; something new for someone who may not be quite able to keep up with the speed of the classroom setting or for someone who may not have finances for a full time private school. It is a blessing to be in a community I respect like Oak Grove Central. It helps me to not feel alone in the process of educating. If I have questions about something I can go online to Oak Grove Central and ask it.

I think the biggest blessing for us is that I get to be with our child and watch him grow in confidence and in knowledge with a curriculum that I trust. He has such an excitement to learn without the pressure.

Homeschooling alone, yet not alone.” - Lori Ann

Remembering that experience brings me to seeing the great, great value of Law #2 in John Milton Gregory’s _The Seven Laws of Teaching_: The Law of the Learner.

The law states:
“The learner must attend with interest to the fact or truth to be learned.”

In other words, you have to have the learner’s attention and they must pay attention.

Gregory describes what this attention looks like as follows:
“It is an attitude, not of ease and repose, but of effort and exertion. It means not merely position and direction, but action. It is the will-power marshaling all the faculties of the mind for some expected onset, or holding them with steady front in the midst of conflict and activity . . . This aroused activity of the mind – this awakened attitude of mental power, poised and eager for its work – we call Attention.”

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait a second – the learner? I thought these were laws about teaching or me, the teacher. How can I keep a law when it involves another willful personality?” No doubt, this law is one of great challenge. But there is no teacher if there is no learner. The opposite is true, too. And without the learner’s attention, the teacher can expect no learning to occur.

Clearly, the major foes to attention, as Gregory points out, are apathy and distraction.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who can tell a story like I opened with. Have you ever been in the midst of teaching when you find that you’re missing that critical attention on the learner’s side? Because there are no ‘automatic switches’ to flip to make this happen, Gregory offers some great rules (among many many) that allow us as teachers to be proactive in our vital quest to help our learners pay attention (paraphrasing by me):

1. Don’t begin class or any activity until the class is focused and ready.
Beginning something in the midst of chaos will only bring more chaos (and frustration). Take a commanding moment to silently look at your students and make sure they are ready to go both mentally and physically.

2. If attention is lost, pause for as long as you need to regain it.
In my experience, “the silent pause” is a more powerful tool at times than verbal redirection.

3. Make sure the length of the lesson fits the age of your learner.
Older students should be expected to give attention to something for longer periods of time. A younger student should not be expected to pay full attention to something. Break up lessons with physical activity (do a few jumping jacks in transitions); change the location of the lesson (go from reading to the student on the floor to doing some hands-on work at a desk or table); always over plan, but be willing to end a lesson when the student appears to be age-appropriately weary. Gregory says, “Arouse, and when needful rest, the attention by a pleasing variety, but avoid distraction. Keep the real lesson in view.”

4. Make the lesson interesting.
Students are much more likely to respond to something that they find interesting (something they can relate to that they experienced in the past, something that they are passionate about, ideas that are completely new to them that you can ‘show’ them, questions that may seem a little ‘startling’). Look at the tastes and strengths your learners have and adapt the lesson (as far as you can) to those things. Gregory encourages teachers to find out the favorite songs, stories and subjects of every learner. In these things lie the ‘keys’ to unlocking the learners’ mental strengths and lead to securing their attention.

5. Welcome enthusiastic learning by showing your own enthusiasm about the lesson.
It seems funny to mention this one. Of course we want our students to love learning. But I know that we as teachers have the tendency to want to keep everyone ‘calm’ in the midst of learning. While it is absolutely necessary to keep things under control, I try to allow learners to get excited about what we’re doing. Allow them to say, “WOW!” when something strikes them. When I teach, I sometimes go so far as to ‘make a big deal’ about something by talking it up for the entire day. And it’s worth it. When the reveal comes, I have genuine and high-level interest and attention from my learners.

6. Involve the senses.
As often as you can, get the students involved in a lesson in more than one way. Let them listen to not just your voice, but also a song that relates to the lesson. Don’t simply read the poem, let the students hear the poem read by the original author if possible. Don’t simply read a story, act it out. Instead of simply discussing a culture, allow the students to taste or smell some spices from that land. Gregory points out that while including illustration is important, the teacher should be mindful that the illustration should not become ‘the’ focus but rather keep the subject as the main focus.

Finally,
7. Keep distractions as minimal as possible.
Sights and sounds are the main culprits. And, admittedly, they are often out of our control. But we can control teaching the students how to react to unexpected distraction. I like to use an ‘extreme’ example. I say, “What should we do if we’re in the middle of a math lesson and 1,000 monkeys come running down the hallway?” I always get a little giggle at first, but then they see I’m actually ‘serious’. They stop and think and they come up with ways that they can continue to pay attention to the lesson. It’s a win-win because the students mentally prepare themselves for something ‘crazy’ to distract them. And, believe it or not, a groundhog actually ran into my classroom one day. My students were of course as shocked as I was. But their attention was not lost. We used that experience many times to help them see how well they did.

I pray these ideas give you guidance and help in your teaching journey. Again, I can’t encourage you enough to consider purchasing Gregory’s book for your reading and re-reading.

What other ways can we work to instill interest and gain the attention of our learners? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When it comes to teaching, unfortunately, being prepared to teach a lesson is an often overlooked importance. Considering the precious time we have with our precious audience (the students), the law I’ll be discussing today from John Milton Gregory’s The Seven Laws of Teaching merits the first rank for obvious reasons. The first law of teaching is the Law of the Teacher which states:

“The teacher must know that which he would teach.”

In other words, the teacher must know his stuff.

Gregory muses that it seems to go without saying that the teacher must, of course, know what he’s talking about. But his larger point is that there are degrees of knowledge, and, depending on the degree of knowledge a teacher has in a truth/lesson/area, the degree of learning he or she can expect from the students. Or, as Gregory states, “Imperfect knowing must make imperfect teaching” and “the unknowing teacher is the blind trying to lead the blind with only an empty lamp to light the way” (Gregory 18, 19).

On the other hand, a knowledgeable teacher who has intently looked into the lesson and material she is going to teach can see “common truths become transformed and grand in the mind and heart. History turns into a living panorama; geography swells out into great continental stretches of people kingdoms; astronomy becomes the marshaled march of shining worlds and world-systems; and Bible truths grow sublime as with the felt presence of Diety” (Gregory 21).

Thus, a knowing teacher is not just aware of the material, she is in command of that material in such a way that can powerfully affect the mind of the students and inspire their own confidence in knowing.

Daunting? Yes. The only perfect Teacher is Christ Himself. Yet Gregory urges this standard is one that all teachers “must more or less nearly approach” (23). That’s because all of the remaining laws of teaching rest on the successful integration of this first one.

Before you start to feel too overwhelmed, be encouraged to know that Gregory gives some great tips or ‘rules’ that are very practical and easy to implement. I have pulled a few that I think are the most useful. Perhaps considering these things as you approach new lessons will bless you.

1. “Prepare each lesson by fresh study.” Even if it’s something you’ve taught before or could teach in your sleep, take the time to give it a ‘new’ look. This freshness of knowledge will most certainly transfer to the students and, as Gregory points out, inspire them.
2. “Ask for all of the facts and views of a subject, but be sure to master some.” Gregory goes on to say, “Better to keep one truth well than to know a hundred imperfectly.”
3. Look for some sort of natural order, progression, or connection of thought in the lesson. Instead of trying to cram in 100 disconnected facts from one lesson, focus carefully on a few facts that connect with each other naturally. Go from simple to complex, for example, when describing concepts. Give your student a solid and sensible set of information as opposed to a lot of shaky and disjointed ideas that may or may not strike any commonality in the student mind.
4. Finally, never neglect the opportunity to get your hands on good books on the subjects of your lessons. Don’t let them ‘teach for you’, but rather, absorb the jewels from them and create your original thoughts. Borrow books, borrow minds as you strive to have a greater understanding or command of the truth.

Gregory has many other helpful tips in this chapter. I hope you consider picking up a copy yourself!

What are the seven laws? They are:

1. The Law of the Teacher: “The teacher must know that which he should teach.”
2. The Law of the Learner: “The learner must attend with interest to the fact or truth to be learned.”
3. The Law of Language: “The language in teaching must be common to teacher and learner.”
4. The Law of the Lesson: “The truth to be taught must be learned through truth already known.”
5. The Law of the Teaching Process: “Excite and direct the self-activities of the learner, and tell him nothing that he can learn himself.”
6. The Law of the Learning Process: “The learner must reproduce in his own mind the truth to be acquired.”
7. The Law of Review: “The completion, test, and confirmation of teaching must be made by reviews.”

Over the next few weeks I will discuss the ‘philosophy’ behind one of the 7 laws while focusing on the applications and the potential errors that come with each law.

While I plan to fashion each post so that you can easily enjoy them without reading the book, I can’t help but strongly recommend the book to you. It has been integral in our ongoing teacher training and it has certainly played a big role in driving us towards classical. I personally wish I had the opportunity to study this book long before I stepped into a classroom of my own. My hope is that the reading and discussion of the book will be of great use to you in your home classroom.

Tune in next week for the first law: The Law of the Teacher.

Click the play button under the picture to listen.