SATURDAY INSTITUTES.-Professor Joynes, of Washington and Lee University was present at a meeting of the Richmond Institute, on the 18th of January, and delivered a highly useful lecture on the method of teaching reading. After the lecture, a number of educators present discussed the subject, and seemed to sympathize with the Professor's views, which suggest a revolution. The following Tuesday and Wednesday, Prof. Joynes spent in addressing the teachers and visiting the schools of Petersburg. He was assisted by Supt. Binford, of Richmond. The best possible evidence was afforded of the usefulness of the visit, in the immediate formation of a regular Saturday Institute similar to that in Rich; mond.

It is greatly to be desired that a regular system of teacher training should be adopted throughont the State, and this will be done as soon as the Legislature allows a portion of the school money to be used for this purpose.

GOING AHEAD IN ALEXANDRIA.-There are many indications of this; among others, the following which is taken from an Alexandria paper of late date:

The New School Office.-The offices of the City School Board and of the Superintendent of Schools will be removed, on the 1st of February, to the rooms in the new market building, which have been provided for them. These are the two next to the Masonic Hall, on the inner side, the entrance being the upper one on Cameron street, by the elegant staircase just finished.

The Board room, in which the clerk will transact his business, is about half as large again as the other rooms on the row, the Superintendent's office being proportionally smaller. Both are handsomely carpeted, and the former contains a long table, covered with green enamelled cloth, having a drawer in it for each member of the Board, and a sufficient number of cane seat office chairs, and is provided with a neat desk for the clerk. All the furniture is walnut.

The Superintendent's office, which opens into the Board room, has a series of shelved closets, for his blanks and papers, and for the school records, affording room enough, probably, for the accumulations of this and the next generation. A hand. some office desk and a chair or two complete the appointments. The Board room is lighted by a handsome reflector, with bracket lights for the desks, and warmed by a "morning glory." Warmer weather has not been forgotten either, for there is a nice, new cooler, suggestive of ice water ad libitum; we presume the members of the School Board never take anything stronger, as they are expected to set a good ex ample to their charge.

Altogether, the arrangements are creditable to our city, the office being finer than that in Richmond and fully equal, except as to the library, to that of the Washington Superintendent. Joseph Hopkins, Esq, chairman of the Committee on Schoolhouses and Furniture, deserves great credit for the taste with which he has arranged everything, and will, doubtless, receive the thanks of the Board for the care he has taken for its comfort.

The new rooms will be used for the first time to-morrow afternoon for the usual monthly meetings of public school teachers, white and colored, and the School Board will meet there next Friday night.

PAY OF DISTRICT CLERKS.-As heretofore said, clerks are not entitled to pay for their services as trustees. Therefore it is not proper for them to make a charge for the time spent in attending the meetings of trustee boards, but only for such time as they are doing strictly clerical service, whether that be during the meeting of the board or between meetings. This is again referred to, because there is abundant evidence showing that in many districts, clerks have charged and received excessive amounts for their services. The other two members of the trustee board should feel that a heavy responsibility devolves upon them in regard to this matter. Every account coming before them from any quarter should be scrutinized with the utmost care, and no account or item in the account be allowed which is not clearly just and lawful. This subject properly comes under the supervision of county superintendents.

THE NEW CENSUS.-Complete returns of the census of school population as taken by Assessors, have not reached this office. We earnestly desire all county superintendents-including those who have already reported-to send to this office, at the earliest day practicable, a report on this subject in the following form, and state how far they regard the new census as reliable:

Number of persons between 5 and 21 years of age in as taken by Assessors in 1872.

County,

BOTETOURT TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.-Supt. Gray gives the following account of his last institute:

"We held a pleasant and profitable meeting of the teachers of Botetourt county on the 12th, 13th and 14th of December last. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather and sickness amongst the horses, we had a good turn out. There were present 31 teachers and a large crowd of persons every day. We are now permanently organized, and meet three times a year-September, December and March. The meetings have increased in interest steadily."

GRADED SCHOOLS IN WYTHE.-Although the report from Wythe was a little slow in coming, it proved to be good. There are two graded schools in Wytheville; one white with an enrollment of 215, with an average attendance of 93 per cent; the other, colored, with an enrollment of 147 and an average attendance of 85 per cent. There is also a graded school at Mt. Airy with an enrollment of 131 and an average of 87 per cent. Supt. Thomas apologizes for the low average in the colored school, which was occasioned by the sickness of the Principal. But we have given the figures because of the general high average attendance.

In Wytheville the maximum tax was levied, and some $3,500 will be expended on the schools, from all sources. And the best of all is, that the people of Wytheville had the intelligence and public spirit to adopt our school system cordially from the beginning.

CHRISTMAS LETTERS.-In addition to those reported in last Journal, the following counties have been heard from in response to the call for a Christmas letter: Accomac, Alexandria, Botetourt, Cumberland, Henry, Patrick, Scott, Smyth and Wythe. Like the rest, these make favorable reports, the most of them representing a decided improvement in the condition of the schools. In one or two sickness has prevented a full average.

INDUCEMENT TO SUBSCRIBE.-The liberality of Prof. Harris in offering premiums to subscribers is more than could have reasonably been expected. If a man is willing to work in the cause of general education almost without pay, as he is doing, surely the friends of the cause throughout the State should co-operate. The number of teachers and school officers who take the Journal, should be largely increased.

Better Late THAN NEVER.-On the 30th of January we received a report concerning private schools in the Clarksville district, Mecklenburg Co., which should have been sent in time for the Annual Report. The only private school reported was known as Sunnyside, kept by the Misses Carrington, High, organized 1870, 2 female teachers, 20 pupils (female), continued 10 months, tuition per month, $3, board per month, $15. This is inserted to supplement the report for private schools in Mecklenburg county.

REPORT OF STANDING.-The following plan was submitted at the last Rockbridge Institute, by the Rev. A. P. Boude, and is taken from a Lexington paper:

LEXINGTON, VA., Nov. 25, 1872.

MESSRS. EDITORS:-I have been requested to furnish for your paper an explanation of the system of School Discipline, which I presented at the recent session of the Teachers' Institute in this town.

The system has been thoroughly tested, and found to be very well adapted to common schools. The advantages of it over the marking system are: 1st. It requires less amount of labor upon the part of the teacher. 2d. The child keeps its standing in its own hands 3rd. It is a daily settlement between teacher and pupil. 4th. It calls the attention of the parents, daily, to the standing of the child, and secures the co-operation of the parents in the discipline of the school.

The following are the requisites of the system:

A sett of cards or tickets, of eight varieties, marked respectively: GG G M L T I B T BB T 10 20 The size of the ticket about inch by 14 inches. A convenient box is necessary to contain these tickets, and a small circular to explain the system to the patrons of the school. The whole arrangement can be procured at a cost not exceeding three dollars.

GG means very good, or perfect, and is the highest grade; G is good; M is moderate; L, late; B, bad; and BB very bad. 10 and 20 are used to call in the GG tickets, to avoid getting too many

out.

The roll of the school is called every evening, and the pupils present themselves at the teacher's desk, and each receives a ticket indicating its standing for that day. The M and L tickets have

the same exchange value, and may be exchanged at the rate of five M and L tickets for one G, or five G tickets for one GG. B or BB tickets are demerits of different grades, and may be canceled by the pupils giving five G's to get one B off their hands, or or five GG's to get off one BB. Parents may be notified that pupils receiving two or more BB's are deserving of a flogging. At the close of the session the tickets are called in, and the honors of the school based upon the number of GG tickets held by the pupils for the time they attended school. A. P. BOUde.

TEACHING READING.

The experience of all thoughtful teachers is that a majority of pupils read in a dull and listless monotone, without emphasis or inflection, excepting on the last word of a sentence, which invariably receives its peculiarly accented, downward inflection. The tone of the voice, in all sentences, could be perfectly represented by a straight line with a "jump down" at its end.

The cause of this monotone is mainly that practice of schools which requires children to read what they can not (even if they would) understand. What sense, judgment or feeling is exhibited in having pupils of fourteen or fifteen years read Milton's "Apostrophe to Light," for instance; and worse, of having them read it all at one lesson? Such things are done continually. Teachers dare not stop to drill their pupils on passages, because patrons, pupils, and the teachers as well, will complain that the book is not being read through fast enough.

We desire to offer a few helpful suggestions to teachers of reading:

First.-Have sense enough not to assign a reading lesson which you yourself cannot fully understand and appreciate.

Second. Remember that, in reading, the pupil is to endeavor to express the thought of the writer intelligibly to you and his other hearers.

Third. To do this, he must, while reading, give his eyes to the audience almost all of the time.

Fourth. This will cause him to read slowly, to grasp the whole thought of a sentence before taking his eye from the book, and help him to feel he is making a personal communication to those around him.

Fifth. It he simply reads the words, and does not express the thought, tell him you do not understand him, and ask him to say it again.

Sixth.-Repeatedly tell him you do not get the idea until he forgets to read, and assumes his natural conversational tones to express his thought to a very stupid teacher.

Seventh. If there is emotion to be expressed, let many pupils read the same passage, encouraging each one to take a higher, more excited plane of self-abandonment.