The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 42 The Educational Screen The Opaque Projector Applied to Written Composition Work THANKS to the versatility of the opaque pro- jector, "theme day" has been made pleasantly profitable to my English classes and genu- inely gratifying to me. It is no longer simply the day before I have to face the chore of checking the papers. Any teacher who has ever dedicated the better part of a week-end to checking written composi- tions knows the futility of the effort. He will have sought other ways of securing for his students the possible benefits of written work, and he will have considered these other ways effective to the degree in which they make the work of checking the pa- pers a class-shared, class-time activity. Exchang- ing papers in class, reading them in class, and hav- ing some put on the board are standard practices, but they are slow and relatively ineffective. The ideal method, it is easy to imagine, would be to use some magic device which could instantly reproduce all the themes of the class and provide each member with a copy of the collection. The class could then proceed to criticize, and they could do so with a thoroughness permitted by their all having written copies to follow. Such a device would afford the stimulus to invention and accuracy that accompanies the knowledge that one is writing for publication. Such a device would afford each student the collective benefit of participating in the correction of the collective errors of the class. And, most happily, it would relieve the teacher of the col- lective burden of that most dreaded of chores, theme correcting, — an exercise he presumably does not need. Possibly some photostatic process of duplication will be perfected some day which will be cheap enough, quick enough, and simple enough to be used in the classroom. At present there is no such apparatus, and it appears that there will be none for some time. In the meantime, however, I find an opaque projector to possess most of the desired magic qualities. The procedure for its use is simple. On the day of assignment, the students are instructed to write carefully in ink and to leave a margin wide enough so that the written area will be not more than six inches wide. No limits as to length need be im- posed for the theme can be projected a section at a time as read. The name of the writer may be written in an upper corner or some place where it By DONALD R. BOSLEY Teacher of English and Journalism High School. Havre, Monf. need not show in the projected image. Discussion will naturally be freer if the themes appear anony- mously, though the writers of superior papers should be named and publicly credited. On theme day the room is darkened, the projec- tor is brought into place, and one by one the themes are thrown upon the screen. The procedure that follows may be varied. One student may be called upon to criticize from his seat or he may be asked to go to the screen and point out the errors he can recognize. This may be followed by general class discussion and perhaps by some brief comment by the teacher. Again, the themes may be exchanged and checked by the students before the room is darkened. The errors may simply be underlined and corrected. In the latter case both errors and corrections can be discussed. When the paper has been examined as thorough- ly as need be the teacher can place a grade upon it before passing on to the next. As a result, in from twenty to thirty minutes of class time, fifteen to twenty papers can be analyzed and graded. At least one half the teacher's work is done. Each stu- dent knows exactly why his paper has been given its particular evaluation, he has had the satisfaction of having his work publicly presented, and he has profited by the comments of the class. The entire class, too, has gained by participating in the criti- cism. In actual practice it will be found that class in- terest never lags and that criticism will be volun- teered by the most reticent. Moreover, so challeng- ing is the promise of public scrutiny, that students are moved to extreme care in preparing their themes. Frequently, during entire periods, little or nothing of a technical nature deserving censure will appear. There remains only to enjoy the con- tent and to congratulate the writer upon his achievement. There is truly much of magic in the practice, yet some few faults must be conceded. Chief of these is the strain put upon the eyes if the reading is continued for too long a time. In a well dark- ened room, careful handwriting in ink can be made clearly legible—it shows up even better than av- erage print—but the clearest image will, against the bright light of the screen, tire the eyes in from twenty to thirty minutes. Because of this time limit, not all of the themes