fully and then to
execute skilfully is the prime test of teaching. This plan must
include a study of each pupil as well as a study of each lesson. It is
at this point that so many teachers go wrong. They seem to think that
a knowledge of the lesson is the only preparation required. They
overlook the fact that it is vastly more important _to know the pupil
than it is to know the lesson_. Those that know the subject-matter
only are scholars, not teachers. Those that add to their knowledge of
the subject-matter a clear insight into the operations of their
pupils' minds and also comprehend the fine art of fitting knowledge to
the capacity of the learner, are the only real teachers.

#20.# The teacher must be #ready to change his plan# if it does not
meet the conditions that arise in the class; but this is a critical
procedure, and only the wise teacher may follow it with success. The
teacher must not allow pupils to lead him into by-paths. Here tact and
skill are of use in leading the class to the teacher's will and to the
teacher's plan. The teacher's will must be supreme in it all. I have
seen great opportunities lost absolutely because a weak teacher
allowed the lesson to drift at the caprice of a pupil instead of
following a well-conceived plan. A group of boys once told me that
they did not need to prepare the Sunday-school lesson because they
always asked the teacher some questions at the opening of the
recitation, and the teacher took the entire time to discuss the
questions. The pupils, the while, sat in their places smiling at the
weakness of a teacher who lacked the discernment necessary to be
master of the situation. The time given to the legitimate work of
instruction is all too brief to be wasted in any such senseless ways.

#21.# The teacher must be alert and #lead the recitation#. This
quality of leadership challenges interest and carries the pupil with a
sweep of enthusiasm to the end. To lead most wisely is so to direct
the current of thought as if it were not directed. The highest art in
teaching is to conceal that art, to guide by suggestion and not by
command.

#22.# The teacher will strive to secure a major part of the
#discussion from the pupil#. He will know when not to talk. It must
not be forgotten that it is the thing the teacher causes the pupil to
do, not the thing the teacher does in the presence of the pupil, that
is most significant. Many a class is talked into mental stupor and
spiritual