Excellence in Teaching With the Seven Laws: A Contemporary Abridgment of Gregory's Seven Laws of Teaching

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ! FOR INSTRUCTERS AND TEACHERS!OR ANYONE TEACHING
Review: If you teach anyone anything, you need this book. John Milton Gregory, Baptist minister, head of the Classical School in Detroit, former Superintendent of Public Instruction (!), president of Kalamazoo College and University of Illinois, wrote his classic work on education in 1884. The principles have been applicable to any field of teaching, whether Bible studies, Sunday school, homeschool, public/private school, business training, vocational work, etc. The author of our small abridgment was referred to this great work through a radio message from Charles Swindoll. Mr. Shafer worked through the original work and was so impressed by the need to get this out to the public, that he developed this easy-to-read condensation.
How many times educators have made "simple things complex" through wrong teaching. Right motives don't teach, right study and preparation do. But even more than that is how we respond to the student; how well we listen to them and respond to their needs rather than our own need to cram more information into their heads. How "burned-out" we become when all we need to do is change our mode of operation. So many times I have sensed this, but have never had a quick reference manual to help me when creativity takes a plunge.
Now, aside from the vitally important content of this little book, the format is something to talk about! Many teachers are very busy. Many are men who usually do not have many opportunities to begin a new book, especially if their teaching responsibilities are more hidden (such as in day-to-day fathering, or temporary training in the workplace, or leading an occasional Bible study, etc.). Homeschool parents are also weary of more and more books that tell you very narrow and specific philosophies of education. This book is refreshingly different. It is useful for everyone and is not doctrinally or theologically disputable. No guilt; just solid, practical help and admonition to do better! The format of this book coincides with its purpose by making picking it up and gleaning from it a very natural ongoing process. It is an undaunting 96 pages with wonderfully medium-sized print which makes it easy to read in a moment. The chapters are concise, formatted with boldface and italics. The practical tips and violations are numbered and the formatting of each chapter is consistent. This helps us to be able to refer to them again and again with relative ease and little time. There is plenty of margin space for your own notes (I had plenty of ah-ha!'s while reading), too.