12.  Remember that the teacher will ask constantly what was done,
        when was it done, and, most important of all, why it was
        done.  Make a list of the questions which you think most likely
        to be asked on the lesson and ascertain whether you can answer
        them without the use of your notes or text.

    13.  If possible practice your answers aloud.  It will make you the
        more ready when called on in class.

    14.  Keep a list of things which are not clear to you and about
        which you wish to ask questions.

    15.  Before completing your preparation, read over these instructions
        and be sure that you have complied with them.

It may be claimed that no high school student can be expected to follow such instructions and that to secure such a daily preparation is impossible; in answer to which it must be admitted that merely a perfunctory talk on methods of preparation will accomplish little.  If the instruction just suggested is to bear fruit, the teacher must take pains to see that it is followed.  Carefully to prepare his lesson according to a definite plan must become a habit with the student.  Facility, accuracy, and thoroughness are impossible otherwise.  Haphazard methods are wasteful of time and unproductive of results.  The teacher can afford to emphasize method during the first few weeks of the course.  The time thus spent in assisting the pupil to develop definite habits of study will pay rich dividends for the remainder of the student’s life.  Daily inquiry as to the method of study pursued, frequent examination of the student’s notes, questions on the important dates selected, the books used for preparation, new words discovered, and so on, will keep the importance of the plan before the class and do much to foster the habit of systematic preparation.

The question of note-taking

On the question of notebook work, there will always be a considerable difference of opinion.  It is much easier to state what notebook work should not be than to outline precisely how it should be conducted.  Certainly it should not be overdone.  It should not be an exercise usurping time disproportionate to its value.  It should not be required primarily for exhibition purposes, although such notes as are kept should be kept neatly and spelled correctly.

Students should be encouraged to keep their envelope of note paper always at hand during recitation and while reading.  The habit of jotting down facts, opinions, statistics, comparisons, and contradictions while they are being read is most desirable and worthy of cultivation.  The student should be taught the wisdom of keeping his notes in a neat, legible, and easily available form.  Shorthand methods should be discouraged.  With a little tactful direction early in the year, the student may be led to form a most useful habit.  The greater