Our guiding principle, therefore, is to _keep close to the mind, heart, and daily life of childhood._ Then _adapt the subject matter we teach to the mind, interests, and needs of those we teach._ Definitions, rules, abstract statements, general truths have little or no value with children. It is the story, the concrete incident, the direct application growing out of their own experiences that takes hold. PRESENTING THE LESSON--INSTRUCTION After the aim has been clearly conceived, and after the lesson material has been wisely chosen and properly organized, there still remains the most important part--that of "getting the lesson across" to the class. Many a valuable lesson, full of helpfulness, has been lost to the pupils because the teacher lacked the power to bring his class to the right pitch for receiving and retaining impressions. Many a class period has been wasted because the teacher failed to present the material of the lesson so that it gripped interest and compelled attention. Response a test of instruction.--The _first_ test of good instruction is the _response of the class_. Are the children alert? Are they keen for discussion, or for listening to stories told or applications made? Do they think? Do they enjoy the lesson hour, and give themselves happily and whole-heartedly to it? Is their conduct good, and their attitude serious, reverent, and attentive? Are they all "in the game," or are there laggards, inattentive ones, and mischief-makers? These questions are all crucial. For the first law of all learning is _self-activity_. There is no possibility of teaching a child who is not mentally awake. Only the active mind grasps, assimilates, remembers, applies. The birth of new ideas, the reaching of convictions, the arriving at decisions all come in moments of mental stress and tension. Lethargy of thought and feeling is fatal to all classroom achievement. Therefore, no matter how keenly alert the teacher's mind may be, no matter how skillful his analysis of an important truth may be if his class sit with flagging interest and lax attention. Results a test of instruction.--The _second_ test of good instruction is our skill in handling the material of the lesson, and _shaping the trend of thought and discussion_. Are the children interested in the right things? Are the central truths of the lesson being brought out and applied? Is the discussion centered on topics set for our consideration, or does it degenerate into aimless talk on matters of personal or local interest which have no relation to the lesson? In short, does the recitation period yield the _fruitful knowledge_ we had set as a goal for this lesson? Does it stimulate the _attitudes_ and motives we had meant to reach? Does it lead to the _applications_ in life and conduct which were intended? _Does it get results?_