2008 Woodie Awards
Schoolhouse provides students with chance to go back in teaching time
By Bridget Yodens
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: News
The close quarters shared by different age groups in the one-room schoolhouse is actually thought to have facilitated learning in some ways.
"We have special curricula today and many different programs, but it seems that students in the one-room schoolhouse learned more," Mraz said.
He also explained that the combination of different ages in the schoolhouse allowed for older students to help younger students.
Additionally, students would hear lessons repeated many times, which would have benefited the comprehension of material.
There could be as many as 60 students in a single one-room schoolhouse, or as few as six or seven. It was more common to have a greater number of students in attendance during the winter months than in the spring and fall, when children would be home helping their families with farming.
"Everything revolved around agriculture," said Mraz, "because that was what we relied on 100 years ago."
The influence of agriculture is evident from the donated historical memorabilia found in the Hickory Corners schoolhouse. In one corner, a cabinet houses object lesson kits. Inside each drawer-like box is a plant or mineral specimen, such as wheat or sandstone. Students would have learned what the plant or mineral was, where it was found, what it was used for and how it may have impacted the economy.
The lessons had elements of science, geography, social studies and history all rolled into one, Mraz said.
"These interdisciplinary lessons are another reason that they learned better," Mraz said. "They understood how everything came together."
Along with object lesson kits, the Hickory Corners houses such period items as reading primers, books of fairy tales, slates for writing and yellowed notebooks. Two glass cases that stand against opposite walls contain old prom tickets, graduation programs, Slippery Rock pennants and photos.
There are 18 desks facing a slate blackboard, with a teacher's desk right in front of it. A coal stove sits in the middle of the room, though it is no longer in working order. There's even a dunce cap sitting on a chair off to the corner, and an organ stands off to the front right.
"We have special curricula today and many different programs, but it seems that students in the one-room schoolhouse learned more," Mraz said.
He also explained that the combination of different ages in the schoolhouse allowed for older students to help younger students.
Additionally, students would hear lessons repeated many times, which would have benefited the comprehension of material.
There could be as many as 60 students in a single one-room schoolhouse, or as few as six or seven. It was more common to have a greater number of students in attendance during the winter months than in the spring and fall, when children would be home helping their families with farming.
"Everything revolved around agriculture," said Mraz, "because that was what we relied on 100 years ago."
The influence of agriculture is evident from the donated historical memorabilia found in the Hickory Corners schoolhouse. In one corner, a cabinet houses object lesson kits. Inside each drawer-like box is a plant or mineral specimen, such as wheat or sandstone. Students would have learned what the plant or mineral was, where it was found, what it was used for and how it may have impacted the economy.
The lessons had elements of science, geography, social studies and history all rolled into one, Mraz said.
"These interdisciplinary lessons are another reason that they learned better," Mraz said. "They understood how everything came together."
Along with object lesson kits, the Hickory Corners houses such period items as reading primers, books of fairy tales, slates for writing and yellowed notebooks. Two glass cases that stand against opposite walls contain old prom tickets, graduation programs, Slippery Rock pennants and photos.
There are 18 desks facing a slate blackboard, with a teacher's desk right in front of it. A coal stove sits in the middle of the room, though it is no longer in working order. There's even a dunce cap sitting on a chair off to the corner, and an organ stands off to the front right.
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