If You Give Me Three Days of Light: The Best Collection of Helen Keller

Chapter 52 Teaching Report (2)
Although Helen's thinking is very jumpy and cannot form a complete system, this letter reveals her understanding of death from a certain angle.Helen is a child with a natural nature, she is very gregarious, and she especially likes to play and play with other children.Occasionally, a boy and a girl will learn sign language letters from her. At this time, you will see a moving scene: this is a patient and persistent Helen, who always spares no effort to correct the children's irregular finger shapes to the correct one. Location.In the process of playing, sometimes, even if the other party does not understand what she means, she will not blame her partner.

Some children didn't understand the words she spelled, but she still played with them for hours.It can be said that not being impatient or impatient is her state when playing.Whenever I see her desperately comparing pictures in order to express her ideas, I think that everyone who sees them will feel pity.

One day, Helen wore a small jacket quite proudly.Her mother said to her: "There is a poor little girl, she has no warm cloak, will you give her your clothes?" So Helen said while taking off the jacket: "I have to give it to you." For that poor little strange girl."

She was very fond of children younger than herself, and she was as gentle with babies as the most attentive nurse.Of course, a baby always seems to be able to invoke the maternal instinct in her nature.It is also a joy to be able to record Helen's thoughtfulness and accommodation for children.

She loves to read.She lay down on the book with great interest, drew lines of words with the index finger of her left hand, and then spelled out the words with her right hand.Her finger movements were so fast that even those accustomed to reading Helen's rapid sign language often overwhelmed them.

She was also a very easygoing child, and when she was alone, she would entertain herself and find something to do, like knitting or sewing.When she plays with her friends, she will happily form friendships with children who can understand her quick finger movements.

For the people she comes into contact with, she can only see their kindness and tenderness, and she never cares about other aspects.She never minded her difficult situation, nor did she think about the reasons for it.Her demeanor is free-spirited without sacrificing elegance.Every emotion can be expressed through Helen's action characteristics.She is frank and honest, and her heart is filled with so much selfless love that she cannot tolerate the existence of fear and indifference. She loves all the animals in the family and will never let them be abused.

One morning she was particularly distressed when she found a dog named Pearl with a collar around his neck.We had to tell her it was done to keep Pearl from running away.But this didn't make Helen's sympathy for Pearl lessened. On that day, whenever she had a chance, she would look for Pearl everywhere, thinking only about taking off Pearl's collar.When traveling by car, she will not allow the driver to use a whip.She would say, "Poor horses will cry."

Captain Keller had written her a letter during the summer.The letter said that bees and birds had eaten up all the grapes in the house.At first, she seemed annoyed, saying the little things were doing "horribly wrong".I explained to her that bees and birds don't know that stealing fruit is selfish and that they are too hungry.She became happy again after hearing this.In a subsequent letter, she wrote: "I am so sorry that the bumblebees and wasps and the little birds and big flying insects have eaten up all of papa's delicious grapes. They love the juicy fruit as much as people do." , and they're all starving. There's nothing wrong with them eating a lot of grapes, because they don't know it's wrong."

As she gained experience, she learned languages ​​faster and faster.Although this is only the initial stage of her learning, and her vocabulary is very limited, it is certain that she has learned more about herself and the world, and her ability to distinguish things has become more and more accurate. The reasoning ability also becomes stronger, more active, and more sensitive than before.Traveling is a great opportunity for her to learn languages ​​and absorb ideas.

On the train, I kept describing to her the scenery outside the window—cotton fields and gardens full of strawberries, peaches, pears, watermelons, and all kinds of vegetables.Mountains, valleys, rivers.Churches and schools in towns, inns and storehouses, and throngs of people busy and engaged in all kinds of trades.Cows and horses on the vast grasslands and sheep on the hillside.When I told these things, Helen showed great interest.It is precisely because of this that she has mastered a large number of language expressions without much effort.

From the day Helen first learned that everything has a name, I have used certain finger movements to communicate with her.I kept "talking" to her as if she could hear.The only difference is that I "speak" to her fingers instead of her ears.She was naughty at first.When making sentences, she only uses core words.For example, when pouring milk, she said: "Helen's milk." I told her not to let her drink milk unless I used the correct words to make a sentence. As a result, she corrected it and made a complete sentence: "To Helen Pour some milk to drink."

In these early lessons, I encouraged her to say the same idea in different ways.If she is eating candy, I say to her, "The teacher likes Helen's candy too." or "Can I have some candy for the teacher?".She was very clever, and she soon discovered that the same idea can be expressed in many ways.After teaching her this way for two or three months, she would say, "Helen is sleepy, Helen is going to bed," or "Helen wants to go to bed."

I have been asking myself: "How can you teach her expressive words such as wisdom, emotion, and moral character?" Later, I found that the acquisition of this ability depends more on the association and experience of the client. Accumulation, which is better than my explanation.This is especially important in Helen's early education, because her knowledge of language is so limited that you cannot explain to her anything beyond her understanding.So it's very efficient to do that.

One day I asked her a number arrangement question, she got it wrong, I told her not to worry, tell me the answer later, I could see from the expression on her face that she was thinking hard.I touched her forehead and spelled "think" (think).In this way, the word is associated with her behavior at the time and will leave an impression on her mind, which is the same as putting her hand on an object and then spelling the name of the object. the same.Since then, she understands the meaning of "think" and uses it often in conversation.

I have also been using language that can express emotions to guide Helen, and I will combine activities involving thoughts and behaviors with the language environment at that time.Not long after I had just become Helen's teacher, she broke one of her new favorite dolls.She started crying, so I said to her, "Teacher is sad." After repeating it a few times, she connected the word "sad" with her own emotions.

In the same way, she learned the words "happy," "right," "wrong," "good," and "bad."Other Adjectives In the next stage, I began to intentionally use abstract words such as "maybe", "guess", "expect", "forget", "recall".Suppose Helen asked me, "Where is mother now?"

I'd say, "Maybe she's with Laila, I don't know."

Wherever we met a person, she wanted to know what he was doing, who he was, where he was going.So we used to have this kind of conversation a lot.

Helen: What's the name of the little boy?
Me: Because he's a stranger, so I don't know, maybe Jack.

Helen: Where is he going?

Teacher: I guess he is going to play ball.

Helen: What are the other boys doing?

Teacher: Maybe they are waiting for Jack.

When she is familiar with these languages, she will use them in her composition.

Here is what Helen wrote in her diary:

"April 1888, 9

It was raining very hard this morning. When I was sitting by the window with my teacher, I saw a little boy walking.He took a big umbrella so he wouldn't get wet.

Maybe his name is Joe.I don't know how old he is, I think he may be six years old.I don't know where he's going because he's a strange kid.Maybe his mother sent him to the store to buy some food.He holds a bag in his hand.I guess it was full of the things his mother told him to buy."

I will not stick to any teaching theory or system to teach Helen language learning.I will observe Helen's inherent thinking activities and teach according to her aptitude.It can be said that most of this year was spent on the road, and Helen's learning content also came from various natural scenery and her travel experience.As always, she maintains a strong thirst for knowledge, and you don't have to push her to learn at all.Therefore, in the teaching process, in view of the neurotic characteristics of Helen's character, I will pay special attention to avoid overstimulating her already very active brain.Sometimes, I often force her to temporarily put those exercises or composition aside.

I will help her expand her understanding of the things around her, let her establish a natural and relaxed relationship with people, and try to teach her the basic knowledge and skills in life. I often encourage her to keep a diary. The following text is Selected from her diary:
"April 1888, 3

On Monday, Mr. Ananos went to Louisville. He went to see the little blind children.On Thursday, Mr. Ananos came to see me.I happily hugged and kissed him.I love the sixty blind little girls and seventy blind little boys he looks after.The little blind girl gave me a beautiful sewing basket, which contained scissors, thread, pin pads with many needles, thimbles, boxes, crochet needles, sandpaper, yardsticks, and buttons.I'll use them to make clothes for Nancy, Adeline and Allie.I must write a letter to the little blind girls to express my gratitude to them.

In May, I'm going to Cincinnati and I'm going to buy another doll so I have four.I've already decided on a name for the new doll, and it's called Harry.Mama went to Huntsville, I slept with Papa, and Mildred slept with the teacher.On Sunday, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Mitchell came to see us.Uncle Murray gave me nice storybooks, and I read about the birds.A crane quail lays fifteen or twenty eggs, all of which are white.Quail build their nests in the ground.Blue-billed birds build their nests in empty trees, and their eggs are blue.Robin eggs are green.Now I know what 'calm' means, 'calm' means quiet and happy.

March, April, and May are spring, and I also learned a song about spring.

The ice and snow are melting,

warm wind blowing
Endless stream
Lovely robin,
Flying around
Spring has come.

My teacher and I were in a boat on the Tennessee River, and Mr. Wilson and Mr. James were paddling.The boat was going fast and I put my hands in the water and I felt the water move and I caught fish with the hook and line and long rod.We climbed up a high hill, and the teacher fell and knocked his head.James shot some snipe for breakfast.Many chicks froze to death.I am very depressed.For dinner, I ate a lot of small fish.I read the story of the calf and the cow.The calf would run and jump in the fields, and he loved to play while jumping, and he was very happy when the sun was bright and warm.The little boy loves his calf.He will say, I want to kiss you, Mavericks.Then he put his arms around the calf's neck and kissed it.The calf also licked the little boy's face with its long, rough tongue.A calf can kiss without opening its mouth.Cows love grass as girls love bread, butter and milk.I'm tired, and the teacher won't let me write any more. "

I took Helen to visit a circus in autumn.When we got to the cage, the lion roared, and she felt it, because she really felt the vibrations of the air and the noise around her.

Because camels are not allowed to be touched in the circus, I tried to describe to her the appearance of a camel, and even though I tried to describe it, I still worried that she would not understand the exact shape of the camel.But surprisingly, just a few days later, I heard a commotion in the classroom.When I walked into the classroom, I found that Helen was on her hands and feet, and a pillow was tightly tied to her back. The middle of the pillow had been sunken by the rope, so that the two sides of the pillow formed drums.Helen put her doll between the two drum mounds, and crawled around the house.When I asked her what she was doing, she replied: "I'm a very funny camel. The doll is sitting on my back".

Teaching Report Three

In the following two years, neither Miss Sullivan nor Mr. Anagonos published any articles about Helen. In 1892, the Perkins Institute for the Blind published the teaching report of 1891. In this report, the part written by Miss Sullivan is very precious, including a complete record of Helen Keller's studies and Helen's Lots of homework exercises and letters.Since some letters and the story of "The Ice and Snow King" are already well known to readers, I won't repeat them here. What we mainly extract here is Helen's study status in the first two years.

One day, Helen's colt and donkey stood side by side.Helen walked from side to side, examining them carefully.Finally, she put her hand on the little donkey's head, and "said" to the little donkey, "Listen, dear Neddie (the donkey's name), you really don't look like Black Beauty (the little horse's)." Your name) is so pretty, there is no pride in your face, your neck is not bent, and your figure is not so handsome. Also, your long ears make you look a little funny. Of course, you yourself I can't change all this, but I will still regard you as the most beautiful animal in the world, and I will love you forever."

Helen has always had a strong interest in the story of "Black Beauty".

To give here an example of how sharp her understanding and imagination were, I read to Helen the following passage:
"It was an old horse. Her bones were clearly visible, her joints were rattling, and her front legs were trembling. Her sorrel fur was worn and mottled. I had eaten some grass, and the wind blowing aside a wisp of hay. The poor old horse stretched her long, thin neck to feed, then turned around to find more hay. Her glazed eyes There was a hopeless look in her eyes, which made my heart move, and I thought, where have I seen this horse before? At this time, she was looking me up and down, and she said to me: 'Black beauty, is that you?'"

At this time, Helen held my hand and stopped me from continuing."Poor Ginger [the old horse's name]," she sobbed. Later, when we talked about the story, she said, "Poor Ginger! She was poor all her life, and her There is so little sunshine in life, but so much sadness! These words left a clear picture in my mind. I saw what Ginger looked like, she lost all her beauty, her curves Her graceful neck had drooped, her mischievous joy was no more to be seen, and all enthusiasm had vanished from her eyes. Oh, what a dreadful thing! I never knew before that everything had to be After such a change."

After a while, though, she added sadly: "I'm afraid people's lives are going to be like Ginger's."

Helen read Bryant's poetry for the first time this morning.Bryant has a poem called "The Battlefield," and I asked her which passage was her favorite.She replied: "I think this passage is the most beautiful:
Truth that has returned to dust will be born again,

To her are the eternal days of the gods,
Lost and wounded like a dull pain in the ileum,
It is gradually dying out among the worshipers of the gods.

Another line from Bryant's poem reads: "O mother of a mighty nation!"

I asked her, "When you finish reading this poem, who do you think is the mother in it?"

She first touched the poem "Freedom rests outside your gate."She exclaimed, "It's America! I guess the gates are New York City, and Liberty is that great statue."

She often loses herself in the storyline.When virtue falls, she is sad and speechless.She beams with joy when justice prevails.Her face glows with admiration and reverence when the hero's deeds are widely reported.She even realized the spiritual essence of war. She once said: "I think human beings should fight against evil and tyrants."

Helen's language learning speed has improved by leaps and bounds in the past three years.Nothing can distract her from the learning process.Her concentration and carefulness are advantages that ordinary children do not have.But along with this advantage comes a worrying flaw. Her mind is very bright, so she is always in a state of great excitement.Such an overload of intellectual investment would put her in danger.

(End of this chapter)