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diff --git a/old/67315-0.txt b/old/67315-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 74b4f24..0000000 --- a/old/67315-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5498 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Twenty Talks to Teachers, by Thomas E. -Sanders - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Twenty Talks to Teachers - -Author: Thomas E. Sanders - -Release Date: February 4, 2022 [eBook #67315] - -Language: English - -Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive/American - Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTY TALKS TO -TEACHERS *** - - - - - -This eBook was created in honour of Distributed Proofreaders 20th -Anniversary. - - - - - TWENTY TALKS - --TO-- - TEACHERS - - --BY-- - THOMAS E. SANDERS - - AUTHOR OF - - “Management and Methods,” “Opening Exercises for Schools,” - “An Outline Guide to Civil Government,” - “Outline of Arithmetic,” - “The Sanders Report Card” - - THE TEACHERS CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY - NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - - - - - COPYRIGHTED, 1908 - ----BY---- - THOMAS E. SANDERS - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Twenty Talks to Teachers is an epitome of some of the discussions used -by the author in teachers’ institutes. It is not a profound book. It -was not intended to be. Its object is to call the attention of young -teachers to some of the every day conditions and problems which they -must solve for themselves. The average term of service of teachers is -little over three years, hence the great mass of teachers are young in -service. A number of these have expressed themselves as being pleased -with the discussions in institutes, especially so because they were -plain homely talks rather than learned discussions. Perhaps these and -others may appreciate them as well in the printed form. - -No one is expected to agree with all that is said. If the topics are -suggestive to young teachers, if the book helps them over a few of the -hard places, if it sets them thinking on some topics, if the advice -that is given proves sound, and if it should encourage a few to deeper -study, better preparation and broader reading, it will have done well. -Trusting that it may form the basis of profitable discussions in -teachers’ institutes and meetings it is submitted to the great body of -young teachers whose zeal, enthusiasm and optimism, has done so much in -the past, is doing yet, and will continue to do so much for our schools -and out of whose work must grow in the future a worthy profession of -teaching. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - CHAPTER I. - AM I FIT TO TEACH? 7 - - CHAPTER II. - SHALL TEACHING BE MY LIFE WORK? 14 - - CHAPTER III. - SECURING A POSITION 21 - - CHAPTER IV. - PASSING THE EXAMINATION 31 - - CHAPTER V. - PROBLEMS OF THE YOUNG TEACHER 36 - - CHAPTER VI. - GRADING A SCHOOL 44 - - CHAPTER VII. - OPENING EXERCISES 55 - - CHAPTER VIII. - THE SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER 63 - - CHAPTER IX. - THE TEACHER’S LIBRARY 70 - - CHAPTER X. - THE TEACHER OUTSIDE THE SCHOOLROOM 80 - - CHAPTER XI. - GOOD TEACHING CONDITIONS 90 - - CHAPTER XII. - KEEPING GOOD CONDITIONS 96 - - CHAPTER XIII. - WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL? 105 - - CHAPTER XIV. - TEN TIME KILLERS 116 - - CHAPTER XV. - THE VALUE OF A HIGH SCHOOL COURSE 125 - - CHAPTER XVI. - A TALK ABOUT SPELLING 132 - - CHAPTER XVII. - ARITHMETIC IN THE SCHOOL 142 - - CHAPTER XVIII. - TEACHING LITERATURE 153 - - CHAPTER XIX. - THE TEACHER’S VACATION 166 - - CHAPTER XX. - THE TEACHER’S VIEW OF LIFE 172 - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -AM I FIT TO TEACH? - - -The talks that follow are addressed to young teachers. They treat -everyday problems in a homely way. I have tried to be plain and -pointed. I have omitted long terms. I do not speak of correlation, -apperception, spontaneity, etc., and I omit long psychological terms. -You get enough of these in county institutes and educational journals. - -You are a school teacher. You have taught but a short time, and you -want to make a success of the work. You may not be even a professional -teacher. You hold neither a normal school diploma nor a life license. -Both of these are good, and a desire for one or both upon your part -would be commendable, but neither is all that is required to teach a -successful school. Some of the most impractical of visionary dreamers -I have ever known possessed the first, and the most tiresome of -moss-backs the second. Given a young man or a young woman of good -character and fair scholarship, desiring to teach school, with little -or no professional study or training, yet anxious to succeed, what may -I say to help them? What are the problems which they must face? What -advice and what cautions will they need, and how may I say this to be -most effective? This is my task. - -Perhaps a little self-catechising on your part will be helpful. In -the daily hour of self-communion--and each teacher should have such -an hour--when you turn your thoughts inward and analyse your own -motives and shortcomings, ask yourself in all seriousness: “Am I fit -to teach?” You may not be a “born teacher.” Very few persons are. Few -indeed have the inborn qualities so strong that teaching and teaching -alone will satisfy. Few are so heavenly inspired that they may teach -and succeed at it in defiance of all rules or regulations or accepted -laws of pedagogy. There are some qualities that will help you and some -qualities that you may cultivate--qualities that are essential to the -person who would aspire to be leaders and models for young people. What -are some of these? - -_1. Your character must be above reproach._--Whatever else you may -lack, your character must be above suspicion. Character, unquestioned -and unquestionable, first. Other things may be essential, but this is -the one first essential. If you are to be the model after which the -boys and the girls--the most priceless product of the state--will both -consciously and unconsciously fashion their lives, you must be in all -things a worthy model. Pure thoughts, pure words, sincerity, honesty, -earnest and deep convictions must be habitual with you. The purity of -your own thought, the sincerity of your own motives, flashing through -your eyes, the windows of your soul, must call out and strengthen the -purity and nobility of other minds. Your character and your reputation, -too, must stand the search light of the X-ray without showing flaw or -blemish. This, and this alone, is the character and reputation worthy -the teacher, the builder and architect of immortal minds. - -Character is what you are; reputation is what others think you are. -Character is essential to pure manhood and pure womanhood, but -reputation also is essential to the teacher. Reputation cannot exist -long without character, but if from any cause however unjust your -reputation is lost even though character remain, your best usefulness -in that immediate community is gone. Then guard well your life if you -are to teach. Avoid not only evil but the appearance of it. Be not -prudish, but keep your reputation unsullied or seek not to stand as -teacher to the young. - -_2. A thorough knowledge of the subject taught is essential to -success._--You cannot be a successful teacher of the things you do not -know. Clear-cut, definite, specific knowledge of a subject cannot be -obtained in the pupils when the teacher does not have it. You cannot -successfully teach up to the limit of your knowledge. There is a margin -between your teaching limit and your knowing limit. As you reach your -knowing limit in class, your questions become hazy, indefinite, crude. -You hesitate, you stammer, you repeat yourself, you thresh over and -over again the same thought. You lack proper perspective, and your -teaching becomes dry and tiresome. A thorough and systematic knowledge -of the subject you teach will give you teaching power. - -Then, too, your teacher’s knowledge of the subject must be broader -and deeper and better organized than the pupil’s. You must see each -subject in its proper relation to other subjects. Each chapter must -be seen in its relation to the chapters which precede and follow it -in the development of the subject. The pupil’s knowledge of a subject -may end with the gathering and the understanding of facts, but the -teacher’s knowledge must include this and add to it the knowledge of -its deeper relations to other subjects and to mind growth. To teach a -subject is to learn that subject anew, to see it in a new light, in a -deeper and richer significance. You cannot as teacher reach your own -highest success with but a student’s knowledge and view of the subject -you teach. You must have a connected and logical view of the subject as -a whole, and also an intimate and accurate knowledge of the relations -of the parts. This deeper and broader knowledge, properly focused and -presented to pupils gives you strength as a teacher. The deeper, the -broader, the more accurate the knowledge of the subject, the better the -teaching, provided the teacher has tact to present it properly. You -must focus your efforts and bring your teaching into the range of the -pupil’s mental capacity and in an organized form so that pupils may -grasp it. You must stick to the subject, remembering that the minimum -of your knowledge of the subject without review will probably be the -pupil’s maximum after study. - -_3. You must keep your knowledge fresh by study._--Growing minds alone -are fit to teach. Stale mental stock does not create fresh mental -appetites. Your attainments are of less importance than your mental -habits. To teach well you must keep growing. Scholarly habits are more -important than ripe scholarship with sluggish habits. Young teachers -often do the best work. They are thinking, investigating, growing. They -are full of life and enthusiasm, and the spirit is contagious with -their pupils. The teacher who is accurate in details without being -tiresome will train pupils to accuracy, unconsciously perhaps, but -successfully. The young teacher faces the future with faith, and hope -and enthusiasm. He is looking to the sunrise and not to the sunset. -He is winning laurels, not resting upon laurels already won. He is -losing his life in his work and will find it again in the lives of his -pupils. Should I choose an institution for myself or for others, I -should choose an institution in which a majority of the faculty were -yet young men, men making reputations rather than men who had made -reputations. The hope and faith, the fire and enthusiasm, the energy -and earnestness, which they bring to their work accomplishes more than -men resting on their accomplishments can possibly accomplish. - -You must carry on some line of study or investigation, or systematic -reading, or else you must fossilize fast. This, when dealing with -immature minds year after year, is your only hope. It may be -mathematics, it may be history, it may be science, sociology, political -economy, music or art, it matters very little what the subject -is, but it must be something, and it must be pursued _regularly_, -_systematically_ and _persistently_. In no other way can you keep -growing and not be lost in the educational ruts. When you cease to grow -you begin to decay. - -_4. You must love the work of teaching._--If after a fair trial you do -not love to teach and feel deep down in your own consciousness that -you cannot learn to love it, quit by all means and do it at once. No -one is fit to teach who finds the work thoroughly distasteful and who -does not have a genuine love for children and young people. No sadder -sight was ever seen than a long-faced pessimist in the school-room. It -is cruelty personified to keep children in the school-room under the -chilling, blighting influence of a sour-grained pessimistic teacher, -long since dead, else never alive to the beauty of nature and the -buoyancy of childhood--firmly convinced of the total depravity of all -children. Teachers should be full of health, beauty and good cheer. -They must be able to enlist the good-will, co-operation and sympathy of -young people. Children should not look to teachers as masters to drive -them to tasks and to exact penalties, but as friendly companions and -leaders, with strength of character, and force enough to inspire, to -guide, and to direct to higher and purer and nobler things. Teachers -must be able to see the beauties and harmonies of nature all about -them, and to lead pupils to feel and to appreciate the higher things -of life, ever looking upward, lifting upward and pointing upward. - -_5. You must be sincere._--You must love your work and believe in it. -You must have a burning desire to help young people, and faith in your -ability to do so. Gushing and lip service will not suffice. The sincere -teacher is always ready to serve. Your actions will speak louder -than words. You will as a rule be in no hurry to leave the building -after school in the evening, but ready and willing and anxious to -consult, to help, to advise, to be of service. The primary teacher’s -success may be judged by the group of children that circle about her -at recess, or that wait to go home as she goes. The sincere teacher -is found at teachers’ meetings and associations, ready to help and on -time. If you are genuinely sincere in your profession you will own a -few professional books and add to them yearly. You will take and read -educational journals and periodicals, and find pleasure in the reading. -You will be found in the summer schools and colleges gaining help and -inspiration for your work. You will have faith in the profession of -teaching, and faith in yourself, and in your ability and worthiness to -be one of the leaders of the youth of our land. - -_6. You must possess a worthy ambition._--You are a poor teacher -if you have reached the height of your ambition, intellectually, -professionally or successfully. If you are content or satisfied with -your work, you will let things drag. You should be ambitious to do the -best work of any teacher in your community. You ought to be ambitious -enough also to desire better facilities for teaching and broader -opportunities. We regret the itineracy and lack of stability in the -teaching profession. It is one of the problems of the day. But all this -is better than a body of teachers thoroughly content with conditions -as they are. The teacher content to adjust himself to the conditions of -a certain community and cloister himself there for life at a minimum -salary is lacking in the ambition to do the best work for himself or -others. The teacher who has ambition enough to improve and who seeks -to do his best because it is right and because he desires to advance -in his profession will kindle higher ambitions in his pupils and build -higher types of men and women. A worthy ambition, a proper rating of -your worth, pluck and stamina to stand for your rights, but to do it -decorously and properly, is essential to your best work as a teacher. - -Ask yourself, seriously and earnestly, “Am I fit to teach?” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -SHALL TEACHING BE MY LIFE WORK? - - -Shall teaching be my life work? This question stares the sincere young -teacher squarely in the face. He must answer it sooner or later. -His answer means much to himself as well as to others. We speak of -the profession of teaching, but in the truer sense we have none at -present. Teaching may be “the noblest of professions and the sorriest -of trades,” but as long as our standards of entrance are so low and the -number of exits so many, teaching cannot be in its strictest sense a -profession. It is far behind medicine or law, and to a large number of -persons it is only a trade or a temporary occupation. - -There are professional teachers. There are persons who have spent time -and money and mental energy studying the problems of the school and -of education. There are persons who seek earnestly to formulate the -truths and to reduce teaching to a science. Many of these truths are -as clearly worked out, as reliable and as completely accepted as are -many of the principles of law and medicine. The work is yet incomplete. -Shall I make it a life work and give to it my life and the best that is -in me? This is the question. - -No man can answer this question for you. It is personal. The best that -can be done, and this is worth while, is to weigh the good and the bad -features and leave you to choose for yourself. So much depends upon the -individual. Let me say also that it is never too late to mend. I am one -who believes that there are thousands of good teachers, persons who are -teaching and doing it well, persons who are leaving their impress for -good upon boys and girls, and young men and young women, and who will -not make teaching their life-work, and have never intended to do so. -They are teaching now, and they are, for the time being, putting their -best self into the work. So long as they live in the work and get life -out of it nothing is lost. When they begin to slight it, turning their -energy to law or medicine or business, when their best self goes to -something else while they become “school keepers” instead of teachers, -it is time for them to quit. - -And what about the lady teachers? Are they to make it a life work too? -That is also a question for the individual. To this large and growing -class of zealous, capable and untiring teachers the present and the -future owes a debt which the world can scarcely pay. There is but one -more sacred place--the wife and mother’s. The woman who quits teaching -to become the center of the home--the purest, the noblest, the most -sacred--she does not leave the profession. She is only promoted. - -Let us look at the ugly side of the profession first. - -_1. It is itinerate._--The best teacher in the best school in the -best county in the best state can hardly hope to live and die in the -same position. He cannot depend entirely upon teaching and plan and -build a home, plant his trees and feel confident he will rest beneath -their shade and eat their fruit in years to come. He may be ever so -conscientious, he may be ever so capable, and in time he must change. -The position will outgrow him or he will outgrow the position. He will -spank the wrong boy or refuse to spank him--it matters not--sooner or -later he will do what the powers that be at the time think is the wrong -thing, and then he must go. To the real lover of the settled home, -this is a serious drawback. Professionally it may not be so serious -as it seems. If you expect to teach as a life work you must expect to -change every few years either because you choose to change or because -you must. From the standpoint of your own professional advancement I -should advise you to move just awhile before it becomes necessary. -There are always places open, and they are often more easily secured -while things are pleasant in your present position. - -_2. The money returns from teaching is less than in law, medicine, or -business._--The same amount of energy and ability used in teaching -would frequently bring many times its money returns in other things. -The successful lawyer or physician often makes several times the amount -in a year that the superintendent of his schools makes. So far as I -know the highest salaried educational position in the United States is -only ten thousand a year. It is a very common thing to find a physician -whose income is more than that. Hundreds of attorneys may be found -receiving many times this amount as salary, and ten thousand a year is -not now considered a large salary for the heads of business firms. - -_3. The energy used is great._--Probably few other positions require -a greater amount of energy constantly. It is the little things which -sap the life of the teacher--the constant strain, the nervous tension, -the magnetism going out continuously, the half fear it may be that -something will go wrong. - -_4. It is narrowing mentally._--Except in the highest college or -university positions the teacher is dealing with persons less mature, -less intellectual, and in one sense inferior. This is apt to cause him -to grow dictatorial, pedantic and conceited. It is often an excellent -thing for the teacher to come in contact with superiors, to run against -business men in a business manner, and learn other people’s estimate -of himself. To have some minor occupation--something besides teaching, -interesting but not all-absorbing, is often a boon to the teacher. It -keeps him from ruts and grooves and from fossilizing professionally. -The lawyer, the business man and the physician are often rubbing -against their equals and superiors, and this is a thought-awakener to -them which the teacher often misses. - -_5. Teaching is for the young._--Teaching is a young man’s profession. -With a number of notable exceptions, the great mass of teachers are -under fifty. The teacher who has not made more than a local reputation -before he is fifty years old will find it hard to advance if he must -change. Hard as it may be upon the earnest, conscientious, hard-working -teacher, most of us if compelled to choose between a man of fifty and -a man of thirty would, if other things were equal, choose the man of -thirty. The successful physician at fifty may have shorter office -hours, charge larger fees and have cases coming to him for consultation -because of his age and experience. The lawyer at fifty is in his prime. -To him his clients come to consult upon important cases. Minor and -unimportant cases he turns over “to the boys.” But it is different with -the teacher at fifty. Every one is then trying to put him on the shelf, -and the chances are they will succeed. - -These are the things which make against teaching as a life work, but -the picture has a brighter side--a side too often overlooked in this -day of dollar chasing. - -_1. Teaching pays at least a comfortable living from the very -first._--Hundreds of persons enter it because of this fact, and many -remain for life because of their love for the work. The doctor and -the lawyer must go through a starvation period, and many of them do -not survive it. The lawyer that pays his necessary expenses and lives -comfortably from his fees during the first five years is on the high -road to success. The same is equally true of the physician. To tide -over this starvation period many take up side lines which prove fatal -to their real success, while others find subordinate salaried places in -firms and incorporations. The salary in teaching may be low, but it is -specific and certain, and meets present needs. - -_2. Teaching keeps you in close touch with the best people._--Nothing -is more conducive to pure thoughts and upright conduct--not even the -ministry. To be looked at as a model and as a guide by the boys and -girls of a community day after day--if that does not inspire to noble -thoughts and actions, what will? A father and mother can see their son -or daughter leave home to teach with every assurance that no other -occupation will be a higher incentive to pure thinking and perfect -living. The best people of the community welcome them to their home, -the churches invite them to take part, and simple, trusting childhood -in its purity, looks to them for guidance. If this does not keep them -in paths of virtue they must show signs of total depravity. Do not -overlook the fact when choosing a life work, that for personal purity, -high ideals and constant inspiration to the highest, the purest and the -best of our natures, teaching is unsurpassed. - -_3. Hours are shorter than in many occupations._--While the nerve strain -is great and worry and fear often intrude, the teacher has more time -than many other occupations. Exercise and recreation in the open air -an hour a day or more is always possible. If one likes to garden, to -raise chickens, or to tend flowers, they can find the time, and the -recreation will be beneficial. Teachers complain of the long hours -and hard work partly from habit and partly because they do not know -the long hours and real hardships of other occupations. To the person -who is prepared to teach and who has the gift or power to govern and -control without worrying about it, or having to continually fight for -it, teaching is not exhaustive drudgery. It is true, lessons must be -looked over and work planned outside of school, but even then there is -some time for relaxation and recreation. - -_4. The rewards are many._--In a sense, most teachers teach for the -money--that is, if they were not paid for it very few could afford to -give their time to the work. The laborer is worthy of his hire, and yet -may the Lord pity the person and his pupils if he teaches for money -alone. The money will enable him to continue the work, and it should be -ample enough to give a comfortable living with all of the necessaries -of life and a few of the luxuries. It should be ample also to provide -for improvement and for necessary accessories to carry on the work and -to lay by enough for old age or a rainy day. But the money received -from teaching sinks into insignificance with the real teacher when -compared with the real pleasure one can get from his work, the good -he can do, the love and trust and confidence of his pupils. These, -with the uplift and noble aspirations which he can inspire with its -volumes of sunshine and gladness and progress which his teaching may -bring about are infinite. To have pupils group about you, to see them -cross the street sheepishly it may be but for no other purpose than to -speak to “teacher,” to share their troubles, to increase their joys, -to lead them to see more of the beauty and the harmony all about them -and to receive their letters in later life confessing their faults, -begging pardon for offenses you have long since forgotten, telling you -of successes, sharing little secrets and asking your advice--all these -are the rewards of every true teacher beside which the money received -is insignificantly mean. - -_5. The work is intellectual._--It keeps you in contact with books and -the best minds of all ages. The greatest men of all time come and -converse with you. A pity it is if you see nothing but drudgery and -dull pupils and hard lessons and unruly boys and petty mischiefs and -little annoyances in teaching. If this is all you see, quit--never -teach again. - -Teaching, if your heart is in the work, will keep you young. It will -bring you into contact with the best in life. It will be a constant -inspiration to pure thought and right conduct. It will give you the -love and respect of young people whose future joys and sorrows will be -your joys and sorrows, and whose successes will bring you pleasure. -Last and least, but nevertheless essential, it will remunerate -you until by thrift and economy you may lay up enough to live a -comfortable, even though it be a simple, life. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -SECURING A POSITION. - - -The problem of securing a position concerns not only the young teacher, -but often the experienced teacher as well. Thousands of young persons -begin the work of teaching for the first time each year. The securing -of the first school is usually a red-letter day for most persons who -are really anxious to teach. Most boards of education and school -officials hesitate to employ a teacher who has had no experience. -It is one of the conditions to be met in all occupations. Often -principals and older teachers are loudest in their demands that only -the experienced be employed, forgetting that there was a time when they -themselves were without experience. For a subordinate place where there -is not too much executive work, I should prefer the young person well -prepared to the teacher who has so much experience that they feel that -they know all that is needed to be known. - -Most young persons, unless they have a good professional course to -begin with, teach first near their home. The time is coming, and let us -hope coming rapidly, when one or two years of professional study must -precede any attempt at teaching. It will be well for the pupils, well -for the schools and, in the long run, well for the teachers themselves. -Natural ability being equal, the young teacher who has a year or more -of professional study has a decided advantage. This professional -study gives clearer ideas of school and higher ideals of what should -be accomplished. When school officials and communities insist on -professional preparation and pay salaries sufficient to justify them -in demanding professional preparation, they have taken a long step -in advance toward a profession of teaching. Communities will then be -less dependent upon local teachers--the sons and daughters and nieces -and nephews of local politicians and relatives of prominent families. -Between these on the one hand and the indigent never-do-wells who -have a half charitable claim on the community and are pensioned with -a position in the schools there are many communities in which there -is little incentive for young persons to prepare for teaching. When a -professional preparation is required from all applicants things will be -different. Then those who look to teaching as a serious occupation will -have the advantage. - -It is an unfortunate thing for the schools that so few teachers can -be progressive, up-to-date, and thoroughly alive to their own welfare -and continue to teach for a life time in their own locality. There -are a few examples of such teachers and such teaching. The person and -the opportunity met, but in many, many cases, in fact, very few cases -has the worthy person and the worthy position for such person come -together. President John W. Cook, in an address a few years ago, in -commenting upon this lack of opportunity, thought it the duty of the -community to increase the salary until we could have the best teachers -remaining continually at the same school or neighborhood. This sounds -plausible at first. It would seem strange, however, to see a man of -President Cook’s caliber content to continue to teach in the same -district school where he began. We may well wonder if it would have -been the same President Cook of national fame as an educator if he had -done so, or whether he had been dwarfed in the staying into a very -ordinary person--perhaps a cook without the capital letter. - -The worthy, ambitious, successful teacher will in more than nine cases -out of ten sooner or later desire a position away from home. Then the -problem of how to secure a position becomes a live one to them. The -first thing, of course, is to find a vacancy, a place where a teacher -is wanted, and the second thing is to make the school officials believe -you are just the person for the position. - -A good teachers’ agency can be of much service to you in finding the -vacancy. They serve the same purpose in locating teachers--and a -legitimate purpose it is, that a real estate agent does in buying or -selling real estate. The dealer in real estate brings the buyer and the -seller together. He serves both, and if a man of honesty and principle, -may be of service to both and his business in every way a creditable -one. The real estate man usually knows who wants to sell property, -knows something of the value of property, looks up the title and -records, and then brings the buyer and seller together, or takes charge -of the details entirely. To the person who has ever been served by a -good real estate agency no justification of the business is needed. The -same is true of a good teachers’ agency. A good agency spends hundreds -of dollars each year seeking information of where there are to be -vacancies and changes. School officials learn to depend upon many of -the reliable agencies to aid them in the selection of their teachers. -Agencies also often have some weight in the matter of recommending -teachers. This is especially true late in the season when unexpected -vacancies occur. Agencies are then often asked to select teachers for -the positions and school boards take them upon the recommendation of -the agency. - -The greatest value of the teachers’ agency to you in the early -part of the season is in giving you reliable information in -regard to vacancies. They often know where vacancies are to occur -and the particulars of them. You would find it hard to collect -this information--the places where there are vacancies, salary, -qualifications desired, nature of work, etc. The information is -valuable and is worth to you the cost of the commission in that it -widens your field and chances. After you know these things, you must -then push your own claims to secure the place. - -A good agency looks up your record as a student, as a teacher, and as a -person of good character, and if your record is not good it refuses you -membership. There are, however, many agencies that are only leeches, -depending upon membership fees for existence and caring little or -nothing for the real business of locating teachers. In selecting an -agency as in other things, you must use good judgment. There are many -agencies that do good, honest work for its members. They usually charge -a membership fee of two dollars and five per cent of the first year’s -salary, but they work faithfully for their members, and will not admit -to membership a teacher whose record is not good. Beware of the agency -that guarantees you a position. It cannot do it and do a legitimate -business. - -After you know there is a vacancy, the next thing is to make the Board -of Education believe you are _the_ person for the place. You must -depend upon your own personality and ability in presenting your claims, -together with the aid of your friends. Applications are usually made in -writing, and often personal applications are called for before final -arrangements are made. Your letter of application should be brief, -specific, neatly written and well arranged. School boards are often -business men, busy with other duties besides school affairs. They want -the facts in the case--age, health, weight, education, experience, -success in teaching and governing, something of your personality, -etc. They will want personal references also that they may write and -get information about you direct, and very often ask very pointed -questions. They, in fact, want to know the very things which you would -probably want to know if you were employing a teacher. These facts -should be briefly told, but well. The better the language, the more -straightforward, the more forcible, the better it is arranged, the -stronger the impression, and the more attention it will receive. Into -your letter of application you must put your best self. - -Let me emphasize the matter of arrangement of the letter. It goes -without saying that the letter must be neatly and plainly written or -type-written, and free from misspelled words. To my personal knowledge -many teachers fail to arrange the form of the letter to appeal to the -eye, and this is essential. Paragraphing counts for much in a letter -of application. The long, loose, scrawly, disjointed letter, hard to -follow when reading it, with pages mixed until you must turn the sheet -once or twice to tell for sure where the sentence is continued--these -letters often cost the writer a position, and it is right that they -should. Use the standard business letter size of paper of good quality. -Make your left-hand margin uniform. Write a neat, plain hand. Punctuate -properly, and above all paragraph so that the eye catches at a glance -each topic treated. If you are a teacher and do not know the value of -the margin in placing emphasis and attention upon a topic you should -study it before writing letters of application. - -Do not ask a lot of questions in your letter of application--such as -size of place, cost of board, railroad facilities, etc. It is true -that these are important items to you. But the secretary of a school -board is too busy to answer all these points until you are seriously -considered for the position. You may be only one of fifty applicants. -With the help of a few members of the board he will in a few minutes -reduce them to probably half a dozen by eliminating those whose letters -do not appeal to them. If your letter of application has been neat -enough and strong enough to make a good impression it will be among -this half dozen. Now comes the actual consideration of the board. They -weigh and study this select half dozen. They may then eliminate two -or three of these and investigate and consider the remaining ones for -several days before coming to a conclusion. - -Keep your application before the board. If your first letter is strong -enough to place you among the few to be carefully considered, these -days of investigation are critical times. The skill with which you -keep yourself before them will count much. Manage to write one or two -members of the board every two or three days. Be brief and be business -like, but do not seem to be anxious. Personal letters from those who -know you will be worth much. Have them addressed to different members -of the board. This will impress your name and application upon each -member. Each member will have a vote, and you must reach a majority to -win. Be careful also in the persons who write in your interests. Many -good men cannot write letters of recommendation and do it gracefully. -They either overstate or scatter. The list of references you give will -mean much. - -If you are elected to the position then comes the time and opportunity -to make inquiry as to salary, work, expenses, etc., before accepting. -This can be done without giving offense or arousing the suspicion that -you will not accept. You may also accept only conditionally until you -know these points. After you have been offered a place, if you have -any doubts about the work, then ask your questions. Be pointed and -accurate, and expect a prompt and businesslike reply. If the conditions -are such that you cannot accept do not keep them waiting, but tell them -that you decline the place, and give them the reasons. - -With your letter of application should go copies of a few good -testimonials from persons who know you and your work. Send also a -good photograph, and a self-addressed, government stamped envelope -for reply. Get some good brief testimonials from those who know you -best--your teachers and one or two business men. If you have taught, -get testimonials from the school board and patrons testifying to the -success of your work. Keep these original testimonials. Have neat -type-written copies made and send a few of these with each letter of -application. Offer to send others, and in writing the board later it is -well to enclose one or two new testimonials with each letter. - -In addition to the testimonials, refer them to a few reliable persons -who know you and your worth. Ask the board to write these persons -asking about you. Many persons have little faith in a general -testimonial written to the public and for your own perusal. These -same persons often have much confidence in a personal, private letter -stating the same thing, or answering definite questions about you. For -reference it is best to give the names of persons who have not already -given you public testimonials. Select for such references persons who -know you, and persons who will answer promptly and specifically any -questions asked about you. Many good men who could and would give you a -good testimonial are so negligent and careless that they fail to answer -a letter of inquiry until it is too late. The busy business man who is -accustomed to attending to his mail promptly and on time often makes a -better reference than a man of more leisure. The first writes promptly, -while the second may carry the letter for a week or ten days before the -spirit moves him to reply. This delay is considered by the board making -the inquiry as a reluctance on his part to recommend you. - -A good small photograph should go with each application. Good copies of -large photographs are inexpensive and answer the purpose well. Often -these photographs are not returned, and if the copy is a good one it -answers the purpose as well as a more expensive one. The photograph -should be plain, but showing you at your best. A front view is usually -best. The eyes and expression should be good. It should show you -neatly dressed, but modestly and becomingly. Its purpose should be to -emphasize your personality and not to show how pretty you can look. -The low-necked, short-sleeved dramatic-posed photographs sent out by -some teachers will and should defeat the applicant for a position as -teacher. Such photographs might be all right in gay Newport or some -other fashionable resort. But fortunately, a majority of our school -boards are composed of business men of common sense, modesty, and good -judgment. They are not seeking vaudeville performers, nor stage poses, -but persons of modesty and good common sense to teach school. Your -photograph should show these qualities in you, else in most cases it -will serve to defeat rather than to help you to a school position. - -Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for reply. It will pay. This -will bring you more replies than a loose stamp enclosed. It is even -better if you use the government stamped envelope which may be had at -any postoffice. Applying for a school is a business matter, not social, -and business forms should be used. Use plain white paper, business -size, with envelopes to match, and write on one side of paper only, -numbering pages. - -If the position is a good one and the contest close, the board may -request a personal visit. If possible, it is best for you to go. Five -minutes conversation may clinch a position which otherwise you would -lose. Make it a business call, not a social. Dress for business, not -for society. Be well groomed, but seemingly indifferent to dress. Be -at your best. If the trip is a long one stop at a hotel and rest and -dust before calling on the board. Excuses for personal appearance -may be reasonable, but to “land the job” your chances are better if -no excuses are necessary. It is a difficult trial to appear before a -board of strange men, an applicant for a position from them, and yet be -quiet and composed. It is a test of your personality, and if you acquit -yourself well it shows strength and usually secures you the position. -To be composed you may have to use will power and mental effort. -It is possible to do this successfully. In fact much of experience -consists in nothing more than the ability to keep composed under trying -conditions. Neither your life, health, happiness nor future success -depends entirely upon the result of the interview. It may be hard to -believe this at the time, but if you can make yourself realize it you -have struck the keynote to success. The members of the board are only -men, plain, blunt men, not always the strongest men. They are human -like yourself. Be frank, be independent, be courteous, look them square -in the eye, talk to the point, but do not talk too much. The interview -is often a contest of personalities, your own personality, and that of -the board. You must show composure and courage. This will secure for -you the position often over the strongest of applicants. - -There is skill and art in one’s ability to secure a position. One -element of advancement and success will depend upon how you master -these. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -PASSING THE EXAMINATION. - - -The formal examination of teachers is a necessary evil. It is one of -the ways of eliminating the incompetent. Examinations are necessary. -On the other hand, they sometimes license those who are utterly -incompetent and cut out those who would teach good schools. Taking the -examination, all in all, it is helpful. By eliminating the bad features -and encouraging the good they may be made better still. - -Passing the examination is an ordeal that confronts most young teachers -and often older ones. We all feel better after it is over. Many of our -leaders in education, university professors, normal school teachers, -specialists and heads of departments along with many superintendents -would hesitate to stake their reputation as a teacher or educator upon -the answers to ten questions from each of ten subjects, these subjects -to be prepared and the answers graded by “the other fellow.” Yet this -is the ordeal to be passed by most young teachers. Is it any wonder -they dread it? - -Every thinking man will concede that the usual examination does not -test the applicant’s ability to teach. The answers to a series of -questions will not do this thoroughly. A better and more sensible test -would be to have the applicant prepare a list of questions to test a -class that has just completed a given division of a subject. If the -teaching ability of some superintendents and examining boards were to -be tested by the lists of questions sometimes asked of teachers they -would be refused a third-grade license. The lists show quite evidently -that they were hurriedly made with little thought of testing the -applicant’s teaching ability. It is also true that the examination is -not even a good test of the applicant’s knowledge of the subject. The -real intelligence shown in the answers, the arrangement and scholarship -and neatness and accuracy are the essential things. Nothing can be more -ridiculous than a little two-by-four examiner or superintendent making -a list of questions, many of them narrow and indefinite, and then that -these same questions must be answered in certain specific words to make -grades on them. One examiner recently asked: “What did Washington do -before he crossed the Delaware?” Well, he did many things. But if the -applicant did not state that “he divided his army into three divisions, -etc.,” he missed the question intended by the examiner, and lost ten -per cent on that question. Examinations based upon such questions -are as much a farce as the method of holding a two weeks’ institute -and follow it by an examination based upon the subjects discussed -during the time. The whole time and energy of the teachers is spent in -cramming for the examination. - -If an examination is to be a fair and reasonable one, the best -preparation for it is an intensive study of the subject upon which -you are to be examined. Do not study the subject with the thought of -examination uppermost in your mind. Study it with a view to mastering -and understanding it. Let the thought of what questions may be asked -on examination go. If you master the subject, all legitimate questions -asked on examination will be easily answered. The hard examination -to you is an examination in which you do not know how to answer the -questions. If you have mastered the subject you will very probably -know the answers to most of the reasonable questions asked. Cramming -for examination is usually time wasted. To study and cram on question -books and old lists of examination questions is time thrown away. Get -your text-book and try to master the principles and divisions of the -subjects, and your time is well spent. - -If possible, be in good physical condition on the day of examination. -This counts for much. Some teachers overwork themselves preparing for -examination. They become nervous and do not sleep well. This leaves -them without reserve force and in poor physical condition when the -time comes. Other teachers work late the night before examination -and sleep little, often getting up early to study just before going -to examination. I have seen them bring a book in one hand glancing -at it to refresh their mind in the hall as they were passing to the -examination room. This anxiety saps their nerve force and leaves -them in no mental state for a strenuous day’s work. If early in the -examination they find something difficult to them they go to pieces and -do not recover during the day. Leave off both study and review. Do this -for at least twenty-four hours before time for examination. Keep your -mind from dwelling upon the examination. Take plenty of exercise and if -you find time hanging heavy, read some good story. Retire at your usual -time the night before examination and sleep your usual number of hours. -Get to the place of examination in time to have a half hour or more to -get familiar with the strange surroundings and to talk with teachers -before the examination is called. Nothing relieves one’s anxiety more. -Practice writing a few minutes before the actual work begins. This -makes your hand steady, and you are pleased with your first work. It -always pays you to be on time or ahead of time on examination day. - -Go to the examination room prepared for work. Have either a good -fountain pen or a good easy penholder with some extra pens and a bottle -of ink. It may be your superintendent demands some special kind of -paper or manuscript book. Get this before going to the examination -unless the superintendent supplies them. Have also a blank book and -pencil and a sharp knife or a pencil sharpener. In other words, go to -the examination prepared for work just as you would expect your pupils -to come to school on examination day. - -Work carefully and persistently, and as rapidly as possible. Nothing -is more detrimental to good work than to feel that you are behind with -your subject. Do not rush, but try to complete each subject in time to -review your paper before time is called. Neatness, accurate spelling, -and careful, systematic arrangement of your work will make a good -impression always, and get the good will of the examiner. Slovenness -and careless arrangement will unconsciously prejudice the examiner -against you. Your thought and answers must be unusually strong if they -overcome the prejudice unconsciously caused by poor writing or poor -arrangement. - -Let me emphasize again the importance of systematic arrangement of -work. Poor penmanship, if it is uniform and legible, may be overlooked -if the work is properly arranged. Paragraphing, punctuation and general -arrangement count more than all else in making a neat manuscript. I -used to read the manuscript of an author frequently. His writing, -considered by itself, was poor--extremely poor. It required practice -to learn to read it, but it was uniform. It all looked alike. His -punctuation and paragraphing was almost perfect. The general impression -was good, and when you once mastered his particular letter formation -and learned to distinguish his a’s, his o’s and a few others, his -manuscript was easily read. The mechanical side of your examination -manuscript, will, if properly cared for, balance many little flaws in -the answers themselves. - -Read the questions carefully. Hasty reading of questions will account -for many mistakes. After having read the question take time to think -the answer. Then condense the answer as much as possible, and have -it complete and clear. Number your answers to correspond with the -questions, leaving one or two lines blank between the answers. If you -have doubts about the meaning of a question, express it in writing, and -answer it according to the interpretation you think most plausible. Do -not be long-winded or wordy in your answers. Be brief, be accurate, be -neat. - -Try to complete each subject in time to go over it carefully. Correct -any mistakes you may find before handing in your paper. It will be time -well spent. Many little mistakes, simply little slips of the hand, will -occur when your mind is centered upon the thought to be expressed. If -any work or calculations are transferred from your scratch book to your -manuscript be sure it is copied correctly. Frequently mistakes are made -in copying, but the examiner cannot know this, and must grade you in -what you place on your manuscript. He grades upon the accuracy of the -work as he finds it. - -Approached properly, the examination should lose many of its terrors -for young teachers. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -PROBLEMS OF THE YOUNG TEACHER. - - -Experience in the school-room counts for much. Teaching soon fastens -certain personal peculiarities upon the teacher which makes him -readily distinguished from other persons. Fifty teachers visiting -Chicago had agreed to be so discreet in their conduct that no one -would judge them to be teachers. Much to their surprise they had not -walked two blocks from the depot until a dirty-faced bootblack called -out in a drawling tone: “First class in geography, stan’ up.” Some -of these eccentricities may be detrimental. Others are worth much -professionally, as they give other people confidence in your ability to -teach. They are recognized as ear-marks of the teacher. - -Pupils and patrons are often more critical of young teachers than of -teachers who have had experience, and have established reputations -as being able to teach and to govern. They are looking for signs of -weakness. Fortunate is the young teacher who can stand this test. His -first and second schools will pretty well establish his standing in the -community. After that they will be less critical and more apt to take -things for granted. - -One of the hardest problems of the young teacher is to acquire the -feeling of familiarity or composure in the school-room. New clothes -sometimes do not set well and new positions are the same. He hesitates, -his voice does not sound familiar, he feels and looks awkward, he -lacks confidence in himself, and instead of children being considerate -of these things they notice them and are quick to take advantage of -them. The rougher element of boys and the more careless of the girls -may take pleasure in the teacher’s discomfort. Such things try the -mettle of the teacher. If he is made of the right material and has good -judgment, he will come out all right. If he is naturally a coward or if -he is full of egotism and conceit the pupils may soon lead him a merry -chase. The more clearly he has the work planned, the more definite -his ideas of what and how and why to do, the easier to gain composure -in the school-room. Then, too, many excellent teachers are sensitive. -They may soon grow easy and composed in the school-room with only their -pupils before them. A caller or a visit from the principal or a school -official completely unnerves them. They are ill at ease, they blush and -blunder, and are always at a disadvantage. Familiarity and composure -are the fruits of experience and study and practice in the school-room. - -Composure, a level head, a knowledge of what you want done, and why -you want it done and faith in your own ability to have it done gives -composure to the whole school. Restlessness, lack of faith in self, -fear of failure, these bring about the very conditions you are striving -to avoid, and the school becomes restless, noisy, hard to control. -The school takes its coloring from your own attitude, and when things -go wrong, begin to seek the cause in your own actions, disposition -and manners. Learn to study yourself without upbraiding, and yet with -determination to find the cause of your failure. Confidence in yourself -and courage backed by good judgment will make government easy. Remember -the government of a school is more a matter of mind than of physical -strength. The clearness of your mental vision, your insight into -motives, your ideals of school and of life and your knowledge of boy -and girl nature count infinitely more than your avoirdupois. In very -rare cases from home training or peculiar environment wrong motives of -true manhood may inspire a bully until force--mere physical force--is -the proper remedy, and a downright good threshing is the thing needed. -But such occasions are rare indeed, and the young teacher should feel -that there is something radically wrong in his own personality and -methods of government if he must resort to such measures often. - -A young teacher must guard his health. You can’t teach day and night. -The petty worries of the school-room must not be carried to your home -or boarding place. Shake them from yourself when you quit the building -and grounds. Lock them in the school-room when you leave it, and if -you sleep soundly they will have vanished into thin air before the -door is opened the next day. Your health will react upon your work in -the school-room. Not the work, but the worry kills. During my first -three terms I taught school all day and dreamed school all night. The -dreaming was harder than the teaching. My best pupils, the ones who -would not for the world do anything to cause me trouble, were always -in mischief in my dreams. From the first, force yourself to think of -the pleasant things of the day as much as possible, and forget the -unpleasant or shut them from your thoughts. Too often you find after -sleepless nights of worry about some frivolous little breach of conduct -by some thoughtless boy the whole thing glides by without a ripple, and -the problem solves itself. - -If you are blessed with a good digestion, the world ought to look -bright to you. No terrors in teaching are equal to those caused by -undigested beefsteak, and a dose of pepsin is often a far greater aid -in teaching than a six-foot switch. Eat plenty of nutritious food, -such as agrees with you, drink plenty of pure water, take plenty of -exercise in the open air, laugh when you can, meet and mingle with -people, think good thoughts, teach yourself to believe in your own -ability and success without growing egotistic, sleep not less than -eight hours in each twenty-four, and make it nine if you can sleep -soundly; keep clean, and the world and your school will move well with -you. - -The mind is self-creative. It can make a “heaven of hell or a hell -of heaven” Milton tell us, and it is true. But there is a close -relation between its activity and mental coloring, and the physical -condition of the body. Teachers especially should learn to keep the -body and the mind each at its best. Each reacts upon the other, and -your school as well as your own happiness depends upon keeping both -in the best condition. Avoid late study, irregular habits, and all -kinds of dissipation. Planning and preparation of work is necessary, -but it is not the number of hours you work, it is the intensity of the -application that counts most. Systematize your work and work regularly -and intensely, but do not encroach upon your hours of sleep unless you -want to pay the penalty with interest. Let me say here parenthetically -that if all teachers had a fair knowledge of shorthand, enough to -enable them to record their own thoughts and to read their own notes -readily what a saving of time it would mean in the preparation of their -daily work. Would not it be worth while for every teacher to know this -much stenography? - -Then, too, regular habits count for so much--regular eating, regular -sleeping, regular exercise. Teachers who board cannot always get -just what they want, but as a rule their accommodations are fairly -good--often as good as they would get at home. One can adjust -themselves to the conditions if these be regular. In most homes the -meals are served nearly on time, seldom varying more than half an -hour, but sleeping is often irregular. Regular sleep is perhaps the -most important item of all--a good bed, ventilation, comfort, quiet, -with little variation in retiring or rising--these are important to -the teacher who must meet with plenty of reserve and nerve force the -problems of the school-room next day. - -There are various forms of dissipation. In addition, however, to -intoxicants as a beverage, the habitual use of many patent medicines -may be almost as injurious. Then, too, there are lighter beverages very -injurious. The coca-cola habit is little better than the beer-drinking -habit, and the same is true of many other drinks so “refreshing to -tired nerves.” One of the worst forms of dissipation is day-dreaming, -or simply idling away the time. If you have time to idle or to -day-dream, do it in the open air and in the sunshine where the exercise -will do you good or go forth on a still, clear night and watch the -movements of the heavenly bodies, the star-decked sky, and drink in its -inspiration and beauty. Much of the light reading--newspaper, magazine, -and the rag-time fiction so current--is the worst form of mental -dissipation. - -The love-sick young man and the giddy girl are too often teachers, and -the time and energy in thinking and writing to one another is more than -is used in their teaching. I do not speak lightly of love or criticise -teachers for falling in love or in loving one another or in loving -some one who is not a teacher. Love in its highest form and love of -the individual as well as the love of humanity as a whole is essential -to the development of the person. Nothing creates higher ambition or -nobler impulses than love. To love a pure-minded woman--a teacher she -may be--is one of the greatest things that can happen to a young man. -It is equally valuable to a young woman. The young man or young woman -in love, with the hope that this love is or may be mutual, and when -this loved one is idolized as made up of all that is pure and worthy -and noble, is always safe. It gives new life and energy and ambition. -It can be seen in the flashing eye, the elastic step and the bodily -poise. No tonic is so life-giving, no beverage so invigorating, no view -of life so rich in its coloring. Health, hope, courage, ambition, all -good things follow in its wake. Such love as this is not dissipation. -But the love-sick young man who pines for his lady love--the last one -who smiled on him, it matters little who; the giddy girl who has two -strings to each of her half a dozen beaux and is too busy pulling these -strings to think of anything else--these are unfit to teach. - -Then, too, the young teacher must sacrifice something to public -opinion. Public opinion may be ever so narrow, so unreasonable, so -unjust, but if you are to establish your reputation in that community -as a reliable, trustworthy teacher, you cannot afford to be indifferent -to it. I am speaking especially of the town, the village, and the -country where all eyes are on the teacher, and where every man, woman -and child knows him. In the towns, villages and the country the -teacher is relatively of greater importance than in the city. Young -men teaching in these communities cannot afford to do much keeping -company or going to see the girls, and young women teachers cannot -afford to have many beaux or even one regular one whose attentions are -quite noticeable to the public. The highest motives may prevail, the -enjoyment and pleasure may be great, and even then the teacher, like -the minister, must forego many things which would be unnoticed in -others, or else pay the price which is often dear enough. Sniggering -school boys and giggling school girls for weeks will nudge one another -and make remarks at your expense, and not always complimentary. Rail -against it if you will, but it makes matters worse. Laugh about it and -it often compromises your dignity. Punish for it, and you stir up a -hornets’ nest in the neighborhood. You can soon kill your influence in -that neighborhood for good by a little harmless indiscretion. Beware! - -Just how to get the good will and respect of patrons and pupils no one -can tell you. It is a problem to be solved by your own good sense and -personality. It is easier to tell you what not to do than to tell you -what to do. The best advice is to be yourself, but to be your best -self. Do not try to show off. Do not try to advise on every topic that -comes up. Do not push yourself forward in outside matters. Listen -to those older than yourself. Weigh what they say, but in school -matters be your own boss. Talk little about your plans or your past -success. Keep your school room troubles strictly to yourself. Do not -criticise former teachers, and if teaching with other teachers beware -of criticising another teacher in the same school, however much you may -dislike their methods. The teacher may be ever so unpopular, and the -person may invite criticism ever so much, but it is your place to avoid -it. Then, too, do not criticise or praise one pupil before another -pupil or patron outside of school. It is dangerous, and a little tact -will enable you to avoid it. Your criticism will do no good, and your -praise may cause the bitterest of jealousy. “Miss Jones, don’t you -think Grace is smart?” said a little girl. “Yes, we have many smart -pupils in school,” replied Miss Jones, and the girl’s question was -answered and no jealousy created. - -Your success and power for good in the neighborhood will be determined -very largely by the esteem and confidence the pupils and the patrons -place in you. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -GRADING THE SCHOOL. - - -The planning and making of a course of study falls to the lot of few -teachers at present. Nearly every state has either a well-planned state -course or else the county is the unit, and the county superintendent or -the county board of education plan the course. While there is growth -along this line in many places, the organization of the schools is less -perfect, and the course of study is planned by the teacher in charge of -the school. - -A uniform course of study is a great strength to the school system. -By uniformity, I do not mean dead uniformity, but intelligent, -rational uniformity. Not the uniformity that takes all the life -and individuality out of the teacher, but the uniformity that sets -definite, rational ends, and makes a proper criterion of work and -attainment possible in the different schools. What is needed is a -course of study flexible enough to be adjusted to the varying classes -and schools and uniform enough that the pupil leaving one school may -be easily and properly classified when he enters another school. Many -of our city systems have more red tape and system than any thing else, -but our country schools in most states will be improved by more system -and organization. Many able persons and many teachers of experience -will cry out against better grading of the country schools and declare -it cannot be done. This was the cry twenty-five years ago when my -own state began in a crude way to grade the country schools. It will -continue in every onward step taken. - -Experienced teachers who have become used to the old way are often -the first to cry out against the change, and assert vehemently that -it will never work in the country school. Long after it has become an -accomplished fact there will be some who will refuse to see it. Like -the stubborn father whose son had told him he could show him snow in -June. Following the boy up a narrow little ravine, the boy pointed down -in the cavity of an old hollow stump and said, “Look there father, -there is the snow.” The father took care to close his eyes before -looking, and replied: “Son, I don’t see a bit of snow.” - -The very argument used to prove that the country school cannot be -graded and follow a uniform course of study is the best argument for -gradation and a uniform course of study. I believe that every one who -has ever studied the subject will agree that a rational uniform course -of study will do the following things: - -1. Secure better attendance. - -2. Secure more regular attendance. - -3. Keep pupils in school longer. Hundreds of pupils are kept in school -and do good work because of their desire and their parents’ desire that -they graduate. The desire for a diploma may not be the highest motive -for an education, but so far all of our best institutions have found it -necessary to hold to the custom. - -4. Secure better work on the part of both teachers and pupils. The -tread mill grind of going over and over the same work year after year -disgusts many pupils with school life. Unless there is specific things -set for the grade, or in other words, if there is not a course of -study, very few schools but will repeat the same work with the same -class. When a boy in the ungraded school we went over the identical -work five years in succession, the only variation was the natural -variation from having three different teachers in the five years. - -There is but one argument against the grading of the country schools. -That argument is that the pupils do not attend regularly. Grading is -one of the best promoters of regular attendance. If there is anything -that stirs parents and makes them alive to school matters and observant -of what is going on in school, it is for their boy or girl to fail to -be promoted. Irregular attendance is very apt to be remedied when they -find that it will endanger the promotion. This overcomes many a flimsy -excuse which would otherwise keep the child out of school near the -close of the year. It makes the work of school a reality, a business, -something to be rated along with any other kind of business instead of -an entertainment or place of amusement to be attended when there is -nothing else to do. - -In my own experience I have never been troubled much with attendance -running down near the end of the year, although I have taught in -different schools, different localities, and often as late as the -middle of June. Pupils and parents knew that those who missed the last -month or the last few weeks of the term must stand an examination at -the opening of the next term before being promoted. It may have been a -false motive, but I believe it was as good and as legitimate a motive -as many parents have for keeping children out of school the last -month or six weeks of the term as is often done. Pupils want to come -and parents usually arrange to let them come rather than to risk an -examination after the summer’s vacation of three months. - -While in common with all good teachers, I have put forth an extra -effort near the close of the school year to keep up school interest -and a good school spirit, I think the graded school course has helped -me much. As a boy, I attended the ungraded school where any pupil took -practically anything that suited him or his parents. I began teaching -in an ungraded school, and am glad that at the end of two years I left -it as well graded as many city schools. The schools of that county are -now well graded, much to the advantage of education in the country. -Two of my best teachers were bitterly opposed to the grading of the -country schools. They fought it in institutes, associations and at -every possible opportunity in conversation. One of them taught long -enough to be converted and see the error of his way, the other never -did surrender, quit teaching fifteen years ago, and thinks the world is -badly out of joint. The grading of country schools is coming, in fact, -is here in some form except in the most primitive communities. It is -the common sense plan, it is practical, it is efficient. It does not -have the hide-bound red tape of the city system, but it gives all the -interest of class stimulus and definite rational accomplishment as a -standard. - -If you want to find individualism gone to seed, if you want to find -hobbies ridden hard, and to the everlasting detriment of children, go -to the ungraded public or average private school. The teacher leads -off on his hobby, and he magnifies the hobby as he goes. If it is an -ungraded public school, they go to seed on arithmetic, or history or -map-drawing, or the particular line that offers least resistance or -that fits the teacher’s particular whims best. If it is the average -ungraded primary private school, filled with mammas’ little angel -darlings, too pretty and too petted to go to the public school, it -is even worse. The teacher masticates everything, and puts it into -the most charming fashion and makes believe they are really doing -something. She is also discovering latent geniuses every few days. -If the child likes to use water colors, she is an embryo artist, and -her mother must develop this unusual talent. If the child can sing -“Merry Greeting to You” she is a musician and the mother must from that -day plan to keep her very exclusive and later send her to Paris to -finish. A uniform course of study planned properly, representing the -accumulated experience and judgment of our best educators, may have -some flaws, but on the other hand it saves many of the gravest mistakes -with the great mass of teachers and persons unaccustomed to thinking on -educational subjects. - -The planning of a rational course of study is no small task. It will -vary with state and probably with the locality within the state. It -will vary much with the nation. The danger is that each small locality -may feel that their particular needs are different and must have -special attention. In making the course of study the knowledge of -the specialist is needed, toned down and corrected by the liberally -educated man with broader views. Conditions must be weighed and -due consideration for the worth of studies taken into account. The -scientist wants to magnify science, the historian history, the -mathematician mathematics, etc. It is in this particular that the -specialist in the high school or the grades must be held in check by -a liberal-minded superintendent or principal. Unless this is done, -each will overload the student with his specialty. I have had teachers -who if left to themselves would have monopolized the time of the high -school pupil with Latin. The student that did not know Latin was in the -estimation of that teacher a block-head, and should quit school and go -to work. - -Examine a course of study and you will find revealed much of the -judgment and mental caliber of the teachers of the school. It is -not uncommon to find high schools proper with university curricula. -High-sounding names, often, are an attempt to hide the fact that it is -an ordinary high school and many times very ordinary indeed. - -Before me is a recent catalogue of a collegiate institute--it would be -more appropriate to call it a village high school, that completes in -two years Latin, including Preparatory Latin, Cæsar, Cicero, Sallust, -Ovid and Virgil, and then devotes the last year to Greek. There must be -either intellectual giants in those parts or else some gigantic fools. -To the thinking man the course of study would be a signal to give the -school a wide berth. - -We must not forget that the course of study is made for the child and -not the child for the course of study. It must not be too hide-bound. -There may be once in a while an exception to it. There may be -extraordinary children that will not fit into the ordinary course. -These should be treated as exceptions, and considered by themselves. -Study the cause and figure the results of such changes and then be true -to the child rather than to the course of study. The ungraded school -goes to one extreme. Each child is changed and classified for any sort -of whim. If he does not get all of to-day’s lesson he goes it alone, -thereby losing the incentive that comes from class competition. On the -other hand, the course of study may become a fetich until the pupil -that cannot make the uniform course is ignored. The saner, safer middle -ground is best. - -Below is given a mere skeleton outline of a course of study. Roughly it -follows what is sometimes called the nationalized course. It would seem -that careful adjustment would adapt it to almost any kind of school. -The teacher or local board could follow its guidance as to subjects -and quickly allot the work in the different grades. The texts used, -the local conditions and the particular classes would thus be cared -for. One class perhaps could do more in arithmetic than the same grade -next year. Certain standards could be set. If the class could not -reach this standard they could come as near reaching it as possible, -and the remainder of the work could go over to the next year. The best -classes would set standards of attainment that succeeding classes -might be envious of equaling or surpassing. I have known teachers and -classes to snooze over simple interest for month after month while if -the teacher and the class had known that if they did not get a good -working knowledge of simple interest in one month that the class would -be considered slow or else the teaching poor, the work would have been -done and well done in one month. Teachers and classes accomplish most -when much is expected of them. That is one of the good things about -a uniform course of study. One school learns to compare itself with -another school, and both are benefited by it. - -Set certain definite accomplishments for the class and the grade, do -well what work you undertake, but keep moving. The outline may help you. - -I. Primary Grades. - - 1. First year. - 1. Reading. - 2. Writing - 3. Spelling. - 4. Language. - 5. Numbers. - 6. General lessons. - 1. Singing. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Care of the body. - 4. Calisthenics. - 5. Morals and manners. - - 2. Second year. - 1. Reading. - 2. Writing. - 3. Spelling. - 4. Language. - 5. Numbers. - 6. General lessons. - 1. Singing. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Care of the body. - 4. Calisthenics. - 5. Morals and manners. - - 3. Third year. - 1. Reading. - 2. Writing. - 3. Spelling. - 4. Language. - 5. Primary arithmetic. - 6. General lessons. - 1. Singing. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Care of the body. - 4. Calisthenics. - 5. Nature study. - 6. Morals and manners. - -II. Intermediate grades. - - 1. Fourth year. - 1. Reading. - 2. Writing. - 3. Spelling. - 4. Language. - 5. Arithmetic. - 6. Geography. - 7. General lessons. - 1. Singing. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Health lessons. - 4. Nature study. - 5. Calisthenics. - 6. Morals and manners. - - 2. Fifth year. - 1. Reading and literature. - 2. Writing. - 3. Spelling. - 4. Language. - 5. Arithmetic. - 6. Geography. - 7. General lessons. - 1. Music. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Hygiene. - 4. Nature or agriculture. - 5. Calisthenics. - 6. Morals and manners. - - 3. Sixth year. - 1. Literature. - 2. Writing. - 3. Spelling. - 4. Elementary grammar. - 5. Arithmetic. - 6. Geography. - 7. History. - 8. General lessons. - 1. Music. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Hygiene. - 4. Nature or agriculture. - 5. Calisthenics. - 6. Morals and manners. - 7. Sloyd. - -III. Advanced grades. - - 1. Seventh year. - 1. Literature. - 2. Orthography. - 3. Grammar. - 4. Arithmetic. - 5. Geography. - 6. History. - 7. Physiology. - 8. General exercises. - 1. Music. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Nature or agriculture. - 4. Sloyd. - - 2. Eighth year. - 1. Literature. - 2. Orthography. - 3. Grammar and composition. - 4. Arithmetic. - 5. Geography. - 6. History. - 7. Physiology. - 8. General exercises. - 1. Music. - 2. Drawing. - 3. Nature or agriculture. - 4. Sloyd or manual training. - 5. Literary exercises. - -No one would expect you to have a daily lesson in all the above -subjects. For example, in the first year reading, writing, spelling and -language would be combined. In the second year these subjects in the -main would be combined. The general lessons need not be daily lessons -and often two or more years could be combined in the same instruction. -Calisthenics could be general exercises for all the grades or the -two advanced grades might be excused from these if you thought best. -History and geography might come on alternate days, or history and -physiology. The course is to represent the lines of study that in a -well-graded school are kept abreast. The allotment of time and the work -is left to the adjustment of the teacher or school. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -OPENING EXERCISES. - - -No period of the day is so important in its influence on the day’s -work or so rich in opportunities for good in after life as the first -fifteen minutes after school is called in the morning. The teacher’s -task is not an easy one. Before her are as many dispositions as there -are pupils. Before her are the physical, mental and moral defects -of inheritance and the pernicious habits of home neglect and wrong -training. The rich and the poor, the high and the low, the proud -and the humble, the good and the bad, a heterogeneous group all are -there--and out of these the teacher is to construct the working unit, -the school. - -The spoiled babe, the father’s favorite, the mother’s pet, the orphan -and the outcast, all meet here on common ground. The hope of a -democracy is based upon this meeting and mingling. The perpetuity of -our institutions must stand or fall by the results of such meeting. -Each here learns to estimate the other and the estimate is usually -the par value of the pupil. The banker’s boy must measure brains -with the bootblack and often each gets the best lesson of life in -that measurement. The banker’s boy often finds a worthy rival in the -bootblack and unconsciously rates him higher than if they had never -met. The bootblack may have higher hopes and ambitions kindled, -together with a better estimate of his own innate worth and this is -uplifting. Blood tells, but it as often tells weakness as strength, -and often the best lesson of a wealthy boy’s life is when he is -wallowed--wallowed physically as well as mentally--by some poor, -humble widow’s son upon whom he had always looked with contempt. - -Out of this group of individuals, the teacher is each day to construct -the working unit, the school. They gather from various homes and -conditions, some gorged with indigestible dainties, others with -appetites hardly appeased with the plainest of food, some bubbling over -with fun and mischief, and others sour and sullen, all these are to -become a unit for the day’s work. To focus these minds, to draw them -from the petty home incidents of the morning, to put them into harmony -with the work of the day, the tuning of these minds is the one great -purpose of the daily opening exercises of the school. - -But in the very process of the exercise there comes numerous -opportunities for the richest lessons of the school course. It gives -the opportunity for teaching lessons of patience, patriotism, duty, -love, respect, obedience, gratitude and devotion. Kindness to animals, -appreciation of the beautiful in art and nature and literature, higher -ideals of life, faith and hope and charity, and greatest of all the -criterion of the really educated person, liberal-mindedness--all of -these should find food in the unifying process of the school, the -opening exercise. - -Perhaps, the one thing that will bear repetition oftenest and grow in -its good results by repetition in the opening exercise is singing. I -discriminate between singing and a lesson in music. A lesson in music -may not be one whit better for unifying the minds of the pupils than a -lesson in grammar or arithmetic. But singing is better. An angry pupil -cannot sing. In the singing he forgets his anger. Nothing so quickly -recalls the wandering minds of pupils and gets them into harmony -with the purpose of school, and makes them forget petty troubles, -as a good, soul-stirring song in which all unite. Patriotic songs, -devotional songs, folk songs, songs of the home and the heart, nature -songs--the list is long--all have their use in the opening exercise. -Glad or sad, as the teacher desires to stir the pupils, so let the -morning song be in opening exercise. - -Even if the teacher sings but little, there will be found always the -faithful half dozen who can and will sing. The others will follow. -Choose the songs that nearly all like and sing with enthusiasm. For -the opening exercises not many songs are needed. If music is taught, -new songs may be learned, and the favorite ones added to the list for -morning use. Let me emphasize the fact that it is not the new and the -difficult, but the old, the familiar, the soul-stirring song that is -most useful in opening exercise. Something that all like, something -that all can sing, something that appeals to the emotions--these are -the songs for the opening of school. - -It is well if the teacher is leader in music, it is well if you have an -organ or piano or other good instrument, it is well if you have song -books, but sing even if you have none of these. A few pupils will be -found who can lead, and many of the best music teachers advocate that -pupils should be taught to sing alone and not with the teacher. The -instrument is good, but not absolutely essential. Song books are very -valuable indeed, and most schools can obtain them, but if you do not -have them have each pupil make a copy of the words of a song in their -opening exercise note book and commit the words to memory. By all means -sing at the opening exercises of the day. Nothing will more quickly -drive out the peevishness, relieve the sullenness, and make glad the -whole school than the morning song well sung. - -The opening exercise requires study, planning, and skill on the part -of the teacher. No lesson needs more planning and in no lesson will -you get better results if you do plan wisely and well. You must -know in advance what you will present, not leave it to the impulse -of the moment. Then, too, there must be variety. Children tire of -sameness. If pupils know weeks in advance just what to expect at the -opening exercise they will care less to be on time, especially if -this particular exercise does not happen to appeal to them. If there -is variety, if they feel that something new and good may occur any -morning, they are more apt to be on time. Tardiness will decrease as -the opening exercise increases in interest and value. - -Make the opening exercise brief, interesting and pointed. I have -tried the various plans given below with success. The interest in -each particular exercise varied with the school, the class and the -conditions. If the pupils were particularly pleased I continued it -longer. If they showed that they were not especially pleased I left it -sooner and came back to it later, else omitted it in the future. These -suggestions worked out will I believe give you abundant material for a -year of school. - - 1. A cheerful song, or two or three cheerful songs with no - other exercise will often please the pupils. This is - especially true on days when pupils are in the mood to - sing. Choose songs that will suit the mood of the pupils at - the time. - - 2. A solo from some pupil or person or a duet from two pupils - makes a pleasing change. These will be all the more - pleasing if they come as a surprise to the school. - - 3. A humorous or pathetic story, either read or related, if - well done, is always interesting and instructive. Do not - spoil it by tacking a long moral to it. Pupils, most of - them, will get their own lesson. Neither grown people nor - children care to be preached to always. - - 4. Reading from the Scriptures, and without comment, may often - please and is always in place. This may be followed by a - brief prayer if it come from the heart. Religious service - in the public school must be free from sectarianism, and it - is well to guard such exercises carefully. - - 5. A cheerful devotional song followed by the Lord’s Prayer - given in concert by the school is good. Sincerity must - characterize all exercises of a devotional nature, else - they should be strictly avoided. - - 6. A brief summary of the world’s news of the week given by - some pupil may be made very interesting in many schools. - This is a splendid exercise for broadening the views and - life of the pupil. - - 7. Review the life of any great men dying. Prepare the leading - facts of their life carefully and pointedly so that pupils - will remember the facts and gain inspiration from the life. - - 8. Discuss in the same way the lives of great men yet living. - Avoid over praise and still better over-criticism. The - natural tendency to hero worship in children is an - uplifting force. Cultivate it. The past few years has seen - a tendency in muck-rake quarters to belittle men. There are - spots on the sun and perhaps faults in great men. Teach - pupils to enjoy the warmth and heat without worrying about - the spots. Teach them to look for the best in men rather - than the worst. - - 9. Discuss social questions such as strikes, elections, social - movements, etc. Be liberal in your views, avoid partisan - statements and bitter criticisms. The great purpose of - education is to make men think and to be charitable and - liberal in their thinking of others. - - 10. Place a maxim or motto on the board and discuss its meaning - and application with the school. This is very interesting - often and broadening to the views of the class. Many of - our maxims are rich with meaning, but pupils often fail to - grasp the meaning. - - 11. Perform or have some pupil perform an interesting - experiment in physics or chemistry, one that explains some - scientific fact or principle. This will prove intensely - interesting. It is no trouble to select several such, and - pupils are seldom tardy if they think they may miss such an - exercise. - - 12. Short queries are good if they are appropriate ones. - - 13. Information lessons on plants and animals, illustrated when - possible by objects or pictures, will be interesting and - profitable. - - 14. Discuss the manufacture of common articles, such as pens, - pencils, boots, shoes, buttons, cotton and woolen goods, - etc. If possible, have pupils visit such factories and - describe the processes. If you cannot take the pupils, - visit the factories yourself and observe the processes - carefully that you may describe them accurately and - interestingly. - - 15. Select famous historic quotations such as “Don’t give up - the ship,” “Millions for defense, but not a cent for - tribute,” and have pupils tell when, by whom and upon what - occasion they were uttered. - - 16. Give brief descriptions of historic places and things you - have seen. Be modest and be brief. - - 17. Describe the habits, manners, customs and life of strange - people. Material is easily found for this. Do not read it - to pupils, but prepare it and tell it to them. - - 18. Select some interesting book and read one or two chapters - each morning. Pupils will be anxious to follow the story - and will be greatly interested. - - 19. Have pupils give memory gems. This to me has been one of - the most uniformly successful opening exercises I have ever - tried. I have never had a class that tired of it. To have - the minds of pupils stored with beautiful gems of poetry - and prose, little life sermons, means much to the young - persons. One of my former pupils ten years later, himself - then a teacher, told me he valued that above everything - else I gave him. It had been a source of the greatest - pleasure to recall these and to add new ones at intervals. - - 20. Help pupils to better grasp facts by graphic illustrations - of them. Pupils have no conception of a billion. When we - read in our geography that the United States raised two and - a half billion bushels of corn a few years ago, it makes no - impression on the mind. Have pupils figure out how long a - procession of wagons would be required to haul it, counting - twenty bushels to the load and twenty feet of space for the - wagon and team. How many times would this procession reach - around the earth at the equator? The result may surprise - you unless you have figured on it, and I am sure it will - surprise your pupils. At least it will help them in some - little measure to grasp the enormity of the corn crop. - Then what becomes of all this corn? Another fact that can - be graphically illustrated is to have the class figure out - how many tons of water fell upon the school building last - year. You can find the average rainfall for your state or - locality. A cubic foot of water weighs about 62 1-2 pounds. - Then figure out the number of tons. Get your patrons to - figure on it before you tell them the amount or they may - doubt your veracity, or else your sanity. Dozens of such - topics may be used, and will make the most interesting of - opening exercises. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. - - -The more one studies the forces which combined make a successful -school, the more he sees that the teacher is the all-important -factor. Buildings, grounds, furniture, apparatus, books, all these -are important--and the material equipment of a school makes much -difference--but over and above these and vastly more important than -these, is the spirit of the teacher. From the contact of mind with -mind grows a quickened intellect. Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and -Garfield on the other, these, Garfield said, would make a university. -The teacher whose soul is on fire with her work, the pupil who is -willing to learn, these are the essentials of a good school. The -teacher, one whose heart is in the work, one who realizes the dignity -and the importance of teaching, one who not only knows the subject to -be taught and the laws of mental development, but has that innate tact -and worth and personal magnetism that draws young people to her, such a -teacher is a priceless gem. Such a teacher brings order out of chaos. -The pupils feel the magnetism of her presence. She enters into their -very lives, lifting them to higher things and leading the way. - -It is the spirit of a teacher that governs a school. In one room is -disorder, a spirit of idleness and sometimes defiance, carelessness and -contempt for all that is pure and good and noble in school life--loose -paper, marred desks, paper wads, marked walls--you know the signs. -The teacher among her personal friends and intimate acquaintances -speaks always in contempt of the pupils, calling them her “mean -kids,” “hateful little imps,” “despisable brats,” etc. She longs for -the monthly return of pay day and the end of the term. She scolds, -frets, punishes, threatens, bribes and coaxes by turns and in rapid -succession, and then expresses surprise that the pupils of her room -take little interest in their work and are so “torn down mean.” She is -lacking in natural dignity and seriousness, and wonders why her pupils -are frivolous. She makes no daily preparation of lessons and cannot -understand why the children do not study. She is the giddiest of the -giddy in talking about her beaux, and wonders why the school girls are -so rude as to speak about their “fellows.” - -The pupils of another room--and often the same pupils under another -teacher--are quiet, orderly, obedient, respectful and studious. She -does not gush. She is not petty and has no pets. She is quiet, bright, -cheerful, cheery, orderly, serious, natural, and has confidence in her -pupils. She speaks kindly and affectionately of her boys and girls, -neither thinking them faultless nor lauding them to the skies. Her -every act is an inspiration to her pupils. She plans her work, she -works to her plans, and the pupils both consciously and unconsciously -imitate her. She shapes the lives and destinies of her pupils for the -better. The work of such a teacher is above all money value. The former -is dear at any price. - -The spirit of the teacher shows itself in the intellectual attitude of -the pupils. The teacher should be a living fountain, not a stagnant -pool. The growing mind is alone fit to teach. The best, the life-giving -teaching, which makes the pupil’s soul thirst for more is not being -done by men and women who have long since _completed_ their education. -I pity the high school pupil whose teacher adds nothing to his -intellectual growth each year. Were I seeking an institution in which -to educate a boy of mine, I should care very little for the religious -creed of the faculty, but I should prefer that there was diversity -among them and I should want good morals. I should care little for -the political faith of his teachers, but I should want them honest in -their convictions. My first and deepest concern would be the spirit of -the teachers in charge of the school. I should want a faculty mature -enough to have lost much of its freshness, but fresh enough to be -growing still. The average age should not exceed forty, men growing in -knowledge day by day, each strong in his specialty but pushing forward -to new and better things, broad enough to grasp life and to see things -from more than one angle, men whose gaze and hope is turned to the -sunrise and not to the sunset, men who are winning laurels and making -a name in their profession rather than men who have won laurels and -made a name and are now resting. Such teachers and the spirit of such -teaching would show in the intellectual attitude of the boy. - -The spirit of the teacher will show itself in the pupil’s view of life. -I often think of one of my favorite teachers. I have forgotten most of -the lessons he taught me from books. Much of the algebra he taught me -has been relearned or else I do not know it. I violate daily many of -the rules of syntax he tried so hard to teach me, and yet he taught -me one of the greatest lessons of my life. He looked on life with a -broad perspective. He was liberal-minded. He taught us, unconsciously -perhaps, to be generous in our judgments of others. He opened our -minds and our lives to the beauties and harmonies of nature all about -us. The sunset took a brighter tint, the rainbow showed a deeper -color, the pansy gave a more delicate odor, life gleamed broader and -sweeter because of the unconscious inspiration of this man’s life. -Cheerfulness, hope, faith, trust in the eternal triumph of right -should be a part of every teacher’s faith. No carping, sour-grained, -narrow-minded teacher ever did much to develop healthy, hearty, liberal -views of life in the pupil. One of the greatest misfortunes of our -schools is the fact that occasionally such teachers are found in them. - -The spirit of the teacher is shown in the attitude of the pupil in his -daily work. She cheers or depresses. Constant nagging would drag down -angels. If there is anything that saps the mental life of pupils, dulls -their intellectual desires, disgusts them with school and all that -pertains to it, it is the spirit of the grumbling, growling, whining, -probing, complaining teacher. Occasionally we meet such a teacher in -the schools, and her work is followed by the wreck of childish hopes -and ambitions. Her very atmosphere is blighting and dwarfing. Have you -ever met such a teacher? I trust not, and yet I fear you have. Here is -a sample: - -“Now, George, you may tell us about Braddock’s defeat. Stand up and -tell us all about it. You remember you had that topic yesterday and did -not know it. I told you to take your book home with you last night and -to study all about this topic, you remember. You may stand up now and -try it again. Stand up straight. Get out from the desk. Now, that is -better. I have told you several times how I wanted you to stand when -you recite. Put down that rule and take your hand out of your pocket. -How often am I to tell you about that. - -“A little louder, I can’t hear you. I told you the other day to speak -loud enough that you could be heard by any one in any part of the -room. You must remember what I tell you. - -“Now, that is better. Stand up straight. Now, tell us all about -Braddock’s defeat. Begin over again. ‘Braddock was a British general -sent over to this country to help us,’ well that is all right so far. -Go on. Who was Braddock? Who was he and what had he done? Tell us all -about him.... Well, if the book does not say, you ought to have looked -it up in some other book. Didn’t I tell you I wanted you to read other -histories and not to depend on one text-book? - -“Now, stand up and tell us all you know about Braddock’s defeat. You’ve -had that topic two days, and surely you can tell us something. You have -got to study your history. Take your book home with you to-night and -study the lesson three or four times. A great big boy like you ought to -know history. You will want to vote sometime. I would be ashamed if I -were you. Study that topic so you can tell us all about it to-morrow. -Remember this class completes history this year. If you are to be -promoted you will have to work. We will have an examination on all of -these topics, and after we have had these lessons over and over again, -if you do not pass it is not my fault. You will have to work, young -man, or fail. That is all I have to say about it. - -“Remember, you have got to learn this lesson next time. If I were you, -I would try to use my brains, if I had any. It makes me tired when I -have to tell and tell you what to do and you do not care a cent. I am -just doing my best to help you, and you do not seem to appreciate it a -bit. I would be ashamed, and you would be if you had the least bit of -get up to you. - -“Now, we must close. For to-morrow we shall review to-day’s lesson and -take down to the bottom of page 105, down to where you see the big, -black-faced letters which say, ‘William Pitt is made Prime Minister.’ -I wonder what a Prime Minister is, anyhow. Well, you may think about -that. You may get down _to_ that topic for next time. Now, study this -lesson well, so that you can recite it right off to-morrow. Get a good -lesson next time. We did not get over the lesson to-day. Let’s do -better next time. Class excused.” - -Of course, George left the recitation with a burning desire to learn -all about Braddock’s defeat. The inspiration was sufficient to do him -for life. The inspiration from the recitation in other subjects being -of the same satisfying kind, he withdrew from school two months later. -The spirit of a teacher sometimes kills. - -The school, large or small, country or town, blest with a teacher of -broad mold, liberal-minded, active, studious, still learning, virtuous -and pure-minded, such a school is a dynamic force for good in the -neighborhood. Such a teacher is not worried by bad boys. Her energy -is not sapped by keeping order. She does not nervously pound the desk -or the call bell for quiet. Her very attitude begets quiet without -having to demand it. She may sit down and hear a recitation. Composure -on her part gets composure on the part of the pupils. If John forgets -himself and gets into mischief a look from her settles him. She does -not have to stop the recitation every few minutes to reprimand. She -does not nervously walk the aisle to keep order while she is hearing -a recitation. If a boy is devoid of principle and persists in doing -annoying things she lets him come to her instead of rushing back -after him. Her look of indignation and scorn makes him feel his -insignificance, and he does not try it often. She has learned the -lesson of letting the offender do the walking instead of the teacher. - -When patrons and officials learn that it is the personality and -individuality, or the spirit of the teacher that counts in teaching, -then will they discriminate between teachers and school keepers, and be -willing to pay the former living salaries and encourage the others to -try new fields of labor. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE TEACHER’S LIBRARY. - - -What do you read? A look at your library will reveal much of your -interest and professional zeal. Gypsies examine your hand or feel -of your head to tell your fortune and predict your future. If you -want revealed the future and the fortune of a teacher examine that -teacher’s library and see what books they read and have read. A glance -at the library will tell much of the teacher’s zeal, earnestness, and -enthusiasm in the profession. You can gauge them pretty accurately by -the books they read. One’s library, like one’s dress, oft proclaims -one’s character. - -Of course the teacher does not confine herself to professional books -and reading alone. No one would expect such a thing. It would make -you narrow. If this had been your entire line of reading you would be -narrow now. The question is, do you ever read professional books and -professional literature? What faith would you have in a physician who -had never read medical books, and who did not take and read the current -literature of his profession? Would you engage a lawyer to defend your -interests or to look after your business who had never read or heard of -the great treatises on law? Would you entrust the life of your child to -the former? Would you intrust your business to the latter? - -Would you then ask parents to entrust the education of their child to -you when you have never read nor heard of the literature that bears -upon teaching and education? If you neither read nor care for the -current literature of teaching, educational journals, and magazine -articles of merit bearing upon your work, do you think that you are -equipped properly for the best interest and education of the child? Can -you blame thinking men and women for criticising and often giving very -little deference to the teacher’s opinion of education? Is the mind so -much less important that good judgment would reject the physician and -the lawyer who have done no professional study, and accept the teacher, -ignorant of the literature of her line of work and who had never given -any study of why or how or what to teach in order to best develop the -child? Is the mind of less importance than the body? Is property dearer -to the parent than the child? - -If teaching is a profession, or is ever to become one, teachers must -read the literature of the profession. If you are a professional -teacher, or if you are ever to become one, you must read and enjoy the -reading of good books on teaching and education. It is not the reading -alone but the keen interest and love for the reading. Teaching can -never become a profession until teachers become acquainted with the -literature of the profession, and even before they enter the profession -must show that they have made the acquaintance of this literature. - -I have little faith in the teacher who does not care for good books, -and who does not own and read a few good books. The teacher who has -taught for a few terms and who has not at least the beginning of a -professional library ought to quit. It is an imposition upon the -public to continue year after year teaching when you do not have -interest enough in your work nor love enough for the profession to own -a few good books bearing upon your work. It is a sure sign that your -interest in teaching is a mere mercenary interest. You teach for the -dollars only. That is not so bad in itself if you want to give value -received for the dollars. Few of us could or would teach if there -were no salary attached, but there is a deeper and broader interest -that is above money value. This broader interest is lacking when the -teacher does not care to buy and read a few books each year upon her -professional work. - -It is not the size of the library that counts. It is the reading and -the study and the assimilation of the contents of the library that -is of value. Your library should not only be well read, but steadily -growing. New books should be added from year to year, educational -journals and magazine articles bearing upon the present trend of -teaching and education should be found. They should be read carefully -and critically. You need not swallow without mastication every -newly-hatched theory or educational cure-all that is advocated. It is -the reading teacher that has ballast and is not swept away with every -new-fangled notion that is sprung upon the public by the educational -demagogue and sensationalist. - -Your library need not be large, but it should be well-selected. It -should be bought for use and not for show. There is much difference -between the teacher’s working library and the teacher’s parlor show -library. It takes but a glance to recognize the difference. In the -working library there will be the regular text-books used in the -school course. These are for getting clear, systematic, fresh outlines -of the work from day to day. How often a five-minutes’ glance at the -author’s treatment of a subject at night will clear up two or three -days of work for the class. It lightens your work and it enables you -to organize what you give to the class. There should be a few other -late texts upon the subjects. From these you will get side lights and -little points of information to supplement the regular texts. There -should be a few more advanced texts upon several of the subjects from -which you may occasionally get view points to keep your own knowledge -from fossilizing. Advanced text-books and other good texts besides the -regular ones used by the pupils are the every day tools of the teacher. - -A good dictionary is very essential. This dictionary need not be the -largest nor latest complete dictionary. Such a dictionary is proper -equipment for the schools, but the best working dictionary for the -teacher is often an academic or a student’s dictionary. You will refer -to these oftener. I know from experience. On my study desk are three -dictionaries--one is a late edition of one of the very best, the others -are academic dictionaries, late and standard, but books of from five to -eight hundred pages. I use the smaller ten times to the larger once. -When you buy a dictionary get one with the index. If your time is worth -a cent an hour it will soon repay you the extra cost. Then you will use -it oftener because it is more quickly done. - -You need a good, authentic, up-to-date encyclopedia. This need not be -the largest, nor an expensive one. A two or a four-volumed encyclopedia -will often be of more use to you than a larger one. You will use -it oftener, just as in the case of the dictionary. In buying an -encyclopedia, do not be gulled by cheap reprints--something that treats -everything else in the world but the things you want, and treats these -at such length that you are lost in a mass of detail before you have -read half a page. The young teacher makes a mistake in buying a fifty -or seventy-five dollar encyclopedia when he has not twenty dollars -worth of other books in his library. Do not be so foolish as to think -an encyclopedia will give you all the knowledge that is ever wanted. -Thinking is what gives you power, not facts. Facts serve a useful -purpose in thinking, but unless they are organized you will get little -out of them. An encyclopedia can give you only general facts. Half a -hundred other books would be far more useful to you than a complete -encyclopedia. - -You should have a good, small atlas for ready reference. This should be -fairly authentic and up-to-date at the time you buy it. Look carefully -at reprints and unauthentic compilations. They are many and often -costly. You can get a very reliable small usable atlas for a dollar or -two. The world is changing fast. An atlas soon gets out of date. When -you buy one get one that gives the latest census. The present atlases -giving the census of 1900 will soon be laid on the shelf after the -census of 1910 becomes available. - -You should have a few good, authentic histories, histories of our own -country as well as general histories. Here, too, good text-books will -give you a bird’s-eye view and an understanding of things often better -than the larger histories. Get your general outline view first, and -then as time and opportunity offers get the deeper, more critical view -by the study of special events and topics. Teachers are lacking in -their knowledge of history. The teacher should have a well-organized -epitome of the world’s history clearly in mind. He should see the -nations come and go as he looks down the ages, and see the mile post -which each nation marked in the growth of civilization. Then he should -have a broader, closer knowledge of our own country, trying in every -case to see our national development and progress in the light of the -world’s progress rather than the events in themselves. - -Do not forget biography. It is rich in interest and inspiration, not -only for the teacher as a person and an individual, but it is even -richer still in food for the teacher as a teacher. The pupil is hard -to find who is not or cannot be interested in biography if the teacher -is full of it. His history is his knowledge of the individual. He is -hungering for this knowledge of the individual if only the teacher -will point the way and show an interest in it. I may be wrong, but I -fear we are going to seed on myths and gods and heroes of the remote -past. Fairy stories and myths have their place. To say the child is -interested in them is not always conclusive argument. If the teacher -would get out and help build it the child would be intensely interested -in making a snow man. The difference between a teacher and an ideal -teacher is often the difference between the teacher that can inspire an -interest in sane, sensible, intelligent lines and the teacher that can -interest along the useless, unimportant lines. At least the teacher’s -library should be rich in biography. No book ever read so thoroughly -interested me when I was a boy as Franklin’s Autobiography, and no book -I ever read had greater influence on my life. To this day I find his -common-sense maxims coming up before me with telling force. - -What fiction is more enjoyable than many of the biographies of our -great men? Read Grant’s Memoirs, read Phil Sheridan’s Life, read -the Autobiography of the teacher and diplomat, Andrew D. White. Can -you in fiction find anything more interesting? Then such books as -Blaine’s “Twenty Years in Congress,” Benton’s “Thirty Years,” Greeley’s -“American Conflict,” Davis’s “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy,” and -Nicolay and Hay’s “Life of Lincoln”--what teacher can begin one of -them and not become thoroughly absorbed in it, living over again the -scenes they describe. In mentioning the individual books, I do not -mean to imply there are not others just as interesting, but these are -types and valuable types, types with which teachers should be familiar. -Some of these should be found in the teacher’s library and the teacher -should know the contents. - -Then there is pure literature, the great poems and poets, the classics. -Read and own Lowell, Longfellow, Whittier, Emerson, and Holmes. Start -with Longfellow, and after you have read the others mentioned and have -them on your library shelves add others as you like. Read fiction of -course. Begin with the better class. Read Hawthorne, Scott, Dickens, -Eliot and others. Read some of the later fiction but do not waste time -on every piece of rag-time fiction that comes from the press. Teachers -do not have time to do it, and it would lead to intellectual imbecility -if they did. We are smothering in a deluge of light literature of the -rag-time class--literally smothering beneath it. Teachers at least -should be discriminating enough to select intelligently the things -worth reading, but are they? - -But what about professional reading? If you neglect professional -reading you ignore the profession that you are striving to build up. -Read psychology, methods, history of education, and educational views -and discussions, and keep up on what is going on in administration -of schools and changes in school laws. This concerns you and should -be of interest to you. The lives of the great educational reformers -of the world, the lives of a few of our own educators like Horace -Mann, David Page, and others, should be of intense interest to you. -Books on management, books on method, books on the science and art of -instruction, books giving in detail the plans, methods and devices -for teaching and handling a school, how can such things lack interest -for you? Many of these represent the best experience of intelligent -teachers for years. They have pointed out to you their faults and -mistakes. They have shown you the way. You are not to follow such -books blindly. But read discriminately they will become guides to -you. They will save you from the pitfalls of others. They will save -you nerve force and strength by giving you clearer notions of what to -expect and how to secure it. They will help you to govern bad boys and -naughty girls. Ignore them and you start in to re-discover all the -pitfalls of the teacher. Then read the plans and devices that add spice -and interest. They represent successful experience. Then the deeper -educational works, those which point out principles, the books that -are for laying the foundation for a real science of education and to -prepare the way for a profession of teaching, shall teachers neither -read, own, nor care for such books and yet call themselves teachers, -professional teachers? - -Before leaving the subject of the teacher’s library, I want to caution -against some mistakes. I have seen the libraries of many teachers. -I think I can make pretty accurate predictions from looking at the -library of the teacher’s judgment, standing, and teaching ability. It -is lamentable that so many young teachers are gulled into buying sets -of books--a set of Shakespeare, a set of Irving, a set of Dickens, a -set of Scott, a set of the library of history, or a set of the world’s -literature, etc. - -Mark you, I do not throw stones at any particular collection of books. -I have every respect for the agent and the publishers of such books. -In fact, I always feel like taking my hat off to the book agent when -I meet one. As an orphan boy I was reared in a home where there were -more than ten acres of land for each book in the home. The few that -were there had been sold by enterprising book agents, who made them -think their future prosperity and soul’s salvation depended very -largely upon whether they bought the book or not. If he succeeded in -making them believe this and would knock off fifty cents and board out -half the balance they would sometimes buy the book. One of these books -touched me and gave me some aspirations that have influenced my life. -Blessings be upon the agent that sold it, if he is living. If he is -dead, may his soul rest in peace and prosperity attend his posterity. - -It is not the particular set of books, nor the publisher, nor the -agent, but the foolish spending of money for what will not do the -good for you that half of it well spent would do. It is a reflection -upon a teacher’s judgment when he allows himself to be talked into -buying a large set of books, uniform in price and binding, and much -alike. What does the average young teacher want with a whole set of -Shakespeare, or a whole set of Scott, or of Dickens. Life is too short -to read all the works of very many authors. You want to be familiar, -genuinely familiar, with five or six of Shakespeare’s best plays. You -want to know well three or four of Scott’s best novels. You want to be -familiar--to have read, re-read and lived over again and again with the -author Dickens’ David Copperfield, his Tale of Two Cities, Little Nell, -and perhaps one or two others. But you do not have time to read all of -Dickens, and if you had the time you could better spend it in reading -one or two of the best of some other author rather than wading through -the worst of Dickens. No author, not even Shakespeare, can always be at -his best. The teacher who knows thoroughly the three or four best of -an author’s writings may well afford to be ignorant of the others, and -use the time in growing familiar with the best of some other author. - -Select your library. Put some good volumes of history, biography, -travel, fiction, and great poems in it. Do not neglect your -professional books. If you have taught ten years and do not have at -least twenty-five professional books, you have very little professional -spirit, and ought to quit teaching or begin reading. Let your library -be a working library. Do not get all your books the same size, shape -and binding. Nothing is a greater give away on one’s library. Working -libraries are not that way. Libraries bought in bulk, bought for show, -bought not because you need them or want them, but because some firm -or agent is pushing their sale, these are in large sets. Such is an -infallible sign that your library was not built up as a working, usable -library--a growth, and not a full-grown product at one time. - -Your library will be a fair index of your professional standing, and -the practiced eye can readily paint you after examining your library. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE TEACHER OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL-ROOM. - - -Teaching has two sides. There is the school-room side and the public -or community side. Each is important. You cannot be a successful -teacher without mastering the first. You can’t hold your job long -unless you have some skill in the second. Your success in a community -is often measured more by the second than the first. In fact, the good -you do, the influence you exert on the lives of the pupils, the net -results of your work, is often a reflex of your skill and ability to -get along with the people, to get their respect, good will and hearty -co-operation. - -You must know how to meet and mingle with people. You must understand -your patrons and many of their peculiar neighborhood whims. You must -know enough of human nature to get along with people, to be diplomatic -without being weak, and to get your way without stirring up determined -opposition. Confidence in yourself, freedom from excessive or offensive -egotism, a knowledge of the home life and surroundings of your patrons, -and that rarest of accomplishments, the ability to listen and say -little, these will help you. It will often happen also that you must -teach your patrons, and this requires more skill than to teach pupils. -You must teach them as if you taught them not. You must use diplomacy -without deceit or sham or show of weakness. - -There will be certain local standards that you should respect if -you can do so conscientiously. I have taught in neighborhoods where -dancing and card-playing were considered long steps toward everlasting -perdition. The teacher who had gone to a public ball or dared dance -at a private home in the community would have been met with a storm -of opposition. In fact, it would have been almost as bad as if she -had gotten drunk. In such communities a teacher would do well to -avoid such amusements, and if she is skillful she need not commit -herself upon the matter. Leave the people to guess her real sentiment -on these things. On the other hand, if the teacher has been taught -to regard dancing, card-playing and kindred amusements as wrong, and -then teaches in a community where such things are common she need not -indulge in them. With an ordinary share of discretion she need not -give offense in declining invitations to such amusements should they -come. She cannot as a stranger do much in one or two terms toward -changing the sentiment of the community either for or against such -things. After long acquaintance she can build up her circle of friends -where other amusements take the place of these that are under ban. -Even in time she might create a tolerance for such indulgences, but -it is likely to cost more than it will come to. More real good can be -done by looking pleasant, and taking no real active partisan part in -either way. For my own part I can see no sin in a quiet, civil game of -cards. But my mother’s puritanical views forbade such as if it were -satan’s certain snare. Out of respect to my mother’s memory I have -never learned the names of the different cards in a deck, and unless I -simply applied my own judgment of the meaning of words could not tell -one card from another. I lost pleasant evenings occasionally during -my university course because of this “narrowness” as many called it. -Occasionally now, I must decline an evening out or else be a drag to -the entertainment feature. I have never offended any one so far as I -know, nor lost their respect and good will by refusing to take part -in a game. The sacred memory of my angel mother who died when I was -a child has far more than compensated me for all the pleasure I have -lost. For the other person, I can see no harm in a quiet game of cards; -for me to break my boyhood promise and later resolution would not only -rob it of all pleasure but would be a positive personal loss. - -There are other indulgences also that the teacher must forego for -the sake of public opinion. Many a young man has lost a splendid -opportunity to make a reputation of being a good teacher in a community -by being indiscreet in keeping company. However unobjectionable the -girl, and however much he may be interested, he must remember that much -of the world dislikes a lover if that lover be the school teacher of -the neighborhood. People that think or care very little what the young -man in the store or the postoffice do, will resent too much company -keeping for the teacher. The young woman teaching should be even more -careful about keeping company. It is not good policy to do it, and it -will be more pleasure in the long run to be with young people, but do -very little keeping of young men’s company. - -With your patrons you may be more free. Strict etiquette might dictate -that you wait until they have called on you. If you wait you will -know few of them and meet these after trouble has come up and they -call on you to make complaint. The teacher, like the preacher, if -there is strong personality and good address, can ignore many little -formalities, and no one will question it. Make the acquaintance of -as many of your patrons early in the term as you can. Be cordial, be -pleasant, be brief. Do not fawn. Do not gush nor bubble over. Do not -find fault. Do not tell all your plans for the year or make glowing -promises. Be yourself, but be your best self. Do not talk shop all -the time. Do not talk Shakespeare, politics, religion or the higher -criticism. You might soon interest them in the second and third, but -a discussion would probably do you no good. The first and last they -probably know little about and care less. Your ability to make friends -and to mix with people is limited often by your ability to talk to the -other person about something in which he is interested. The hardest -clam will open if you know how and where to touch it. - -Learn how to shake hands. You are often judged by the handshake. The -hand, the eye, the voice--these if used properly quickly overcome -prejudice and barriers of opposition and build up forces in your favor. -If you can shake hands with a firm, hearty grasp, meet the eye with -frankness and composure, and speak in a pleasing, even, well-modulated, -quieting voice, you have the strength of Gibraltar at your back. If -you have knowledge and skill and personality and character to back the -first impression made by such a combination, you should be invincible. -If your handshake, however, is loose and passive, Uriah Heep-like, if -your eyes wander, and your voice is screechy or faltering, you should -begin at once to overcome these obstacles. They lie in your road to -success as a teacher, and you should lose no time in trying to overcome -them. - -Many teachers lack poise. If you prefer, you may think of it as -personality or force of character. Whatever term you may use to name -it, it remains true that many teachers lack the ability to command -attention and respect, and to mingle readily among the best business -and professional men of the community. It is sometimes want of -experience, it is sometimes want of knowledge, and breadth of vision. -Teachers are too often narrow. They do not have the world view of -things they should have. It is sometimes bookishness and lack of -contact with the practical business side of the world. I am sorry to -think that it is sometimes caused by the feeling that the fact you are -a teacher is something to be apologized for. Teachers are so often -inclined to whimper and whine, to seek to be pitied and petted. They -brood over their imaginary troubles. They conclude the world does -not properly appreciate their efforts. They want the public to grant -them special favors and attentions instead of commanding the respect -and attention of the community by weight of their own strength and -personality. - -The teacher should strive first to be a man or a woman in the best -sense of the term, strong mentally, morally and physically, with -personality and independence, but without rudeness. He should command -respect as a thinking person, avoid eccentricities and partisan -measures, have opinions of his own, but without flaunting them in the -face of others to provoke combat or opposition. Then to the respect -due him as a man will come, if his teaching justifies, the additional -respect due him as a teacher. - -The teacher should ever be the apostle of education and high thinking, -a living example of the best product of the school and its worth. To -be a consistent preacher of right living, high thinking, and the power -of education in the progress and development of the state, he himself -should be a worthy example. Of all persons the teacher should be the -champion and the defender of the school and the cause of education. -He should be a high example of the best product of the schools and -education. His power, his carriage, his character, his thrift, his -independence, his zeal in good works, should bear testimony and be -the strongest argument for the schools. A genuinely good teacher, -who has the intellectual and moral force to be a man among men, such -a teacher in a few years will create a public sentiment that will -demand good schools, buildings, equipment and teachers of the best, in -the community in which he teaches. His influence will bear fruit for -generations. - -As long as the teacher is a weakling, a figure-head, a crank, an -upstart, a person whose opinion--if he has one--on business or on -the questions of the day would be hooted or laughed at by every -level-headed business man of the community, there is little sentiment -for schools or education developed. If the whole energy of the teacher -is exhausted in keeping the problems solved in advance of his class, -if his personal appearance, his carriage, his address, his thrift, and -his thoughts are below the average business man of the community, many -of whom have little or no education or school training, it places the -school on the defensive. The hard-headed, but sober-minded, man of -affairs will look upon the teacher as a fair sample and typical product -of the schools, and will not regret that he lost such opportunities -when he was young, or perhaps he will thank his stars that he did not -have such things forced upon him. - -My contention is that the teacher should be a man or woman of strong -personality, a worthy product of the school, a person whose judgment -and opinion of schools, of business, of the questions and the issues of -the day would be such that it would be respected by the best people of -the community. His opinions should have weight. He should have all the -elements that go to make up a successful business career. He should be -a man of force and character, whose influence would be felt in any line -he should take up. With such teachers the schools will become what they -should be. Such teachers will get results--results of the teaching act -and results in the material equipment of the schools. Buildings will -improve, conditions will improve, furniture and proper apparatus will -be forthcoming. The community will soon begin to look upon the schools -as safe investments, every dollar of which yields golden dividends; -then the community will be generous. - -When teachers possess the strength, the force, the poise, the diplomacy -they should, good things will follow. Some of the criticism and carping -about the schools will be changed. It makes my Scotch-Irish blood to -tingle when I hear a few of these questions discussed. If it is not the -teacher’s business to defend the school whose is it? - -One of these things that should arouse a teacher is the insinuation -still met in a few localities and among a few people--the would-be -blue-bloods, with more inheritance of money than brains--that the -public schools are pauper schools; or at least schools for poor people -only. Such sentiment in free America seems to me born of ignorance or -treason. I first heard it advocated by a physician, a native of New -York, a graduate of a church endowed school and a product of it. His -alma mater was supported by the contribution box passed at regular -intervals in his church to which many a poor washerwoman contributed -a far greater percentage of her earnings each time than the same -physician did in a twelve months. Yet this good hypocritically pious, -but deluded man, ridiculed the thought of the state supporting a -university at public expense. He kept private tutors to teach his -children that they might not have to attend the public school to mix -with all “the rabble,” as he declared. There could not be a better -indictment of his own education. He had failed to grasp the spirit of -American liberty and American institutions. His ideas were those of -effete aristocracy and wealth. The best lesson his boy may ever learn -will be when some son of a washerwoman, or some poor paper boy or -news seller meets him in competition in after life, and he goes down -ignominiously in the contest. The chances are if the contest comes, and -it will come in the present generation or in a near generation, the -sturdy bootblack will win. This same physician did not think himself a -partaker of charity by getting his mail at a government postoffice, by -drinking from a public fountain or having his house and lot protected -from the lake by Uncle Sam’s break water. - -It is the duty of the state to educate. This is not the rich nor -the poor, but all. The state’s schools are maintained as a public -necessity, and for the whole people. The patron whose child attends -the public school is no more an object of charity or a pauper for that -reason than he is for patronizing the postoffice, using the city paved -streets or using the street lamps at night. There are many things -the public can do and do much more efficiently than they can be done -otherwise. Education is one of these things. Every man, woman and child -is benefited by good public schools, the bachelor and the childless -family as well as the family of a dozen children. - -Another fallacy often advocated is that the people are not able to -support good schools. Nothing can have a less foundation in fact. Let -us think about it. It is a principle that is almost axiomatic that no -people can be pauperized by local taxes applied to local purposes. -Now, very little of the school taxes ever leaves the immediate -community. The teacher is often one of the community, and many times -of the immediate neighborhood. If the teacher is from a distance he -usually boards in the neighborhood and spends much of his earnings -in the neighborhood. The percentage of his salary that leaves the -community is not large. The expense of wood, repairs, and supplies -are usually spent in the immediate community. The money that leaves -the community is, as a rule, not as much as the state pays toward the -maintenance of the school. No people can be pauperized by the money -properly spent on their schools. It is only a short time until the -increased earning capacity of the more intelligent citizenship soon -begins to pay good dividends on the investment, even though part of the -money should find its way out of the community. - -When the cry came to us from Cuba in 1898, no one claimed that we -were too poor to help. When later disturbances occurred, we sent our -soldiers to maintain peace, and our secretary of war and assistant -secretary of state were sent to restore order. No one said it cost too -much. Count the cost of our war with Spain and place against it the -money spent in the same time for schools and in fighting ignorance and -then say if we are able to have good schools. Spend the money to train -our young people to future usefulness which is spent in defense against -imaginary foreign enemies and the _world_ could not stand against us in -a generation. - -Few Americans but point with pride to our growing navy, now world -famous and we hope effective. The launching of each new war ship is a -thrilling event to the nation. The daily papers for weeks tell of its -progress and every trifling event is carefully chronicled. Count how -long the cost of one of these vessels would support one of our state -universities. The mission of the university is to build up, to increase -human intelligence and happiness. The mission of the war vessel is to -destroy life and property and to make desolate. - -Figure on these things, and then say whether or not we are too poor to -have the best of schools. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -GOOD TEACHING CONDITIONS. - - -The life of the school is the teacher. There is less difference in -pupils than in teachers. Under a weak teacher pupils will take every -advantage they can. Under a strong teacher the pupils will behave as -well as they can. The difference in rooms is usually a difference in -teachers. If the equipment of rooms are the same or practically the -same, and the teacher is not over burdened with pupils, the spirit and -condition of the room will be determined by: - -1. The teacher’s ideal of what constitutes good conditions. - -2. The teacher’s strength and personality in getting results in conduct -and work. - -3. The former training and efficiency of the class. This will be seen -more in the matter of attainment than in conduct. I have seen the worst -of classes in conduct transformed into a class of good behaviour in -three months by a change of teachers. - -The teacher’s ideal of what constitutes good conditions counts for -much. This ideal is a composite product, a result of all the former -experiences of the teacher with her natural gifts. Training in good -schools, teaching under good conditions, professional study, and -natural high ideals in life count in one’s ideal of school. If the -teacher is satisfied with dirty desks and scraps of paper on the floor -she will get these conditions. If sloven, half-executed work suits her -she will get it. If disrespect, sullenness and angry retorts will pass -with her she will get them. If she is willing for the boys to whittle -on the desks, they will whittle. To the practiced eye a five-minutes’ -glance at a school-room will show pretty well the spirit of the teacher -and her ability to get results. - -High ideals of school work coupled with common sense and executive -ability will get results. High ideals will prevent you from being -satisfied with low standards in conduct or work. Common sense will -guide you over rough places, and executive ability will have nerve -force. - -Common sense will keep you from attempting the impossible and then -worrying because you cannot accomplish it. It will keep you out of -difficulties in the school-room and in the community. So many teachers -are lacking in this great characteristic of the plain, honest, thinking -citizen. In a fit of anger they set a punishment impossible to be -inflicted and then compromise themselves by withdrawing it. Arbitrary -rules with no reason behind them often get teachers into trouble. -Sensible rules, common sense rules, rules that would stand the test -of good judgment, judiciously applied, bring good fruit. Setting a -specific punishment for _all_ pupils who for any cause go outside the -school ground, locking the doors at a certain time regardless of the -weather, forbidding any pupil from leaving the room, etc., the list -of arbitrary, unreasonable rules are many. Now we shall agree that a -healthy pupil should not have to leave the room once in three months. -Restrict it, be positive in the matter, but do not forbid it, and then -be compelled to vary the rule or do worse. - -Most of the trouble in the school-room comes either from lack of action -on the teacher’s part or action that is hasty and hence injudicious. -The teacher of experience and one who has profited by experience could -give numerous cautions to young teachers, all of which summed up might -be the advice to use common sense. Among these cautions and suggestions -those of most importance might be named as follows: - -_1. Remember that order in the school-room does not mean deathlike -stillness._--There is the noise of work--a noise pleasing to the ear of -the successful teacher, and the noise of idleness and confusion. The -first is as inspiring to a good teacher as the second is discouraging. -The stillness that comes through fear of punishment may be the worst -of conditions. Under routine drill to quietness under the eagle eye of -a so-called disciplinarian, the pupils are often on the borderland of -anarchy. They have never learned the lesson of self-control nor the -reasons for good behaviour. - -Order means opportunity for effective work. The mind of the pupil and -the mind of the teacher in perfect contact; this is order. When a pupil -is preparing his lesson the author or text becomes the teacher, and -there must be perfect unity between his mind and the thought of the -text. Order, good order, permits this. Anything that disturbs this -contact is detrimental to the school and is that far poor order. The -criterion, then, for the teacher as to what constitutes good order is -how nearly are conditions perfect for proper contact of the minds of -the pupil and the teacher. - -_2. Do not lose your head._--Composure counts for more perhaps in the -school-room than elsewhere. A nervous teacher makes a nervous school. -Teachers sometimes pace the floor like a wild animal in a cage. Learn -the art of sitting to hear a recitation without becoming lazy. Stand -with composure when you stand. If you cannot govern yourself you will -find it hard to govern others. Too many teachers are afraid there will -be disorder. They can neither sit nor stand with composure during a -recitation. They fidget and make the pupils fidgety. They watch the -bad boy suspiciously. They walk back to his desk repeatedly to see if -he is in mischief instead of waiting with composure, and if he does get -into mischief punishing him for it. If you show that you expect a boy -to be bad he will seldom disappoint you. - - “Look for goodness, look for gladness, - You will find them all the while.” - -Many, many times have I heard teachers say to pupils, “Sit down and be -still,” when I wanted to say to them, “Go and do the same thing.” - -_3. In the long run pupils will give you the respect you deserve._--If -you think you have the meanest pupils in the world they will not -disappoint you. If you treat the pupils with firmness, and courtesy and -respect they usually return to you in kind. When after a few months -the majority of your pupils do not respect you, and have confidence in -you, begin to examine yourself. In changing teachers, especially if -your predecessor has been popular, you may for a few weeks feel that -the pupils are not in sympathy with you. Tact and good judgment will -win them if you have wearing qualities. Do not resent their feeling of -respect for the former teacher. Try to be worthy their respect, and -when you leave they will regret your leaving just as much. - -_4. The teacher who has ceased to learn becomes a phonograph, and can -do nothing but repeat._--When you have something fresh, something new -to you, something worth while to bring to the recitation, do you know -how anxious you are for the time to come. The very gleam of the eye -tells to pupils that you have a message for them. You cannot have the -enthusiasm that appeals to childhood and continue to depend upon an old -stock of goods. - -_5. You will find the school-room a good barometer._--When I began -teaching, bad days came and I worried about it. Things went wrong, -lessons were not well prepared, boys got into trouble on the -playground, and girls were idle. I was often in despair. But perhaps -the very next day was a delightful one. Everything went so well that -I disliked for night to come. It took me several terms before I found -out the relation of the weather to conduct, but it exists. The weather -barometer that hangs on your wall is little better in its predictions -of change than are the careful observations of the conduct of the -pupils. Ask a dozen teachers at night how the day passed, and see what -a majority will vote the same way. A bright morning, clouds gather and -thicken--a bad day. Clearing weather--good work in the school-room. -Observe if it is true. - -_6. A pleasing voice, freshness and vivacity in the teacher, quickens -and inspires the class._--Her questions come as if she were really -seeking information. They are crisp and to the point. The answers are -cheery as if they were meant to impart information and not simply to -tell something already known. Her face beams at a good answer, making -the pupil believe he has done his teacher a favor by imparting the -information. A cheery smile and a quick question that in its answer -shows the error in the first follows a wrong reply. Discussions are -bright and animated, and full of life, but always respectful and -courteous. She is in strong contrast to the teacher that talks and -talks in a monotonous tone until half the class are sleepy and the -others thinking about everything else save the subject she is trying to -explain. One draws out information and stimulates thought. The other -pours in second-hand information and deadens thought. One sharpens -intellect. The other dulls it. - -_7. Proper seating and grouping pupils, the calling of classes, the -distribution of wraps, the collection of papers, the passing of -classes, the dismission of school at recess and at night, the answering -of questions, the passing of pupils from the room or across the -floor--all these do much to make or mar the school._--A well-arranged -program that indicates not only the time and order of the recitation -but of the study period as well will help. Teachers make woeful -failures often from no other cause but that they fail to plan carefully -in advance just what to do, how to do it and when to do it. - -_8. The afternoon dismission to the careful observer is a fair index -not only of the day but the teacher’s grasp of her school._--Teachers -often hurry to dismiss the children, anxious to be rid of the -responsibility. The pupils rush from the door with a jump and a shout -as boisterous as a wild group of Comanche Indians. Of all the periods -of the day, the one just before dismission is the one when the teacher -should show most composure and deliberation. Of all the periods of the -day, the pupils are most at the teacher’s mercy. Let them understand -that quiet and decorum precede dismission. If it requires one minute, -ten minutes or half an hour, let them know that no lines pass until all -is quiet and orderly. Then at the customary signals, the lines pass -quietly, orderly, respectfully. - -_9. Running, jumping, or boisterous conduct in the school-room is -never in place._--The school-room should be looked upon as a pleasant -workshop, not a skating rink or vaudeville theater. Best results -always come where pupils are decorous in the room at all times. Quiet, -homelike conversation is in place, but no rude or boisterous conduct at -any time unless you expect to pay the penalty with interest in days to -come. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -KEEPING GOOD CONDITIONS. - - -Your school began in September. Your pupils returned to school, most -of them glad vacation was over. They entered with high resolves to -make this year of work the best they had ever done. If you made a good -beginning, the first few weeks of school strengthened these resolutions -in many of your pupils. If you planned your work well each week, -if your program was thoughtfully prepared, if you assigned lessons -carefully, and if by your every act you showed without stating it that -you were master of the situation and that you knew what you wanted to -do, how you wanted it done, and why you wanted it done, the first few -weeks of the term passed pleasantly, and well begun may not be half -done, as the adage goes, but it counts for much. - -October’s frost has now painted the landscape a myriad hue, and -November’s hazy days are fast approaching. The novelty of school is -beginning to dull. Pupils have grown used to the new teacher and stand -no longer in such awe. The truth is that for both teacher and pupils, -school has settled down to the real thing. Some of the high resolves -of the opening of the term are beginning to weaken under the regular -routine of school work. Dropping nuts have overcome the good resolution -of a few, and they have missed a day or two to lay up the winter’s -stock. Missing will be much easier now for these pupils the rest of the -year. Some of the larger boys who remained at home to sow the wheat -and help gather the corn are now entering. In the main they are good -boys, worthy boys, boys whose greatest ambition is to work faithfully -in school as well as on the farm, but their entrance has broken into -the class organization and unity. The teacher and the pupils from -now on recognize the school as a genuine business. The real problem -of government begins to face the teacher. Then, too, school interest -must not begin to drag, or else the holiday spirit will overbalance -school spirit. Unless there is genuine interest some, often many, may -become so infatuated with Santa Claus that they cannot study, and begin -holiday vacation early. Lost time is hard to recover, and lost interest -at the middle of a term is seldom completely restored. - -Let us trust that your beginning was good. It is far easier to _form_ -than to _reform_. Definite standards of conduct, order and system, good -common sense rules and regulations, good judgment, a knowledge of boys -and girls, insight into the spirit and motives that prompt actions in -young people, frankness and honesty with pupils, and above all the -saving grace in the teacher of a sense of humor and the knowledge -of the purifying and vivifying power of a hearty laugh--if you have -understood these and exercised them from the first day, reforms will -not be necessary. Still followed faithfully, they serve as correctives -and prevent the necessity of reforms later. - -How then may the teacher keep conditions good? What are the things -to guard against in order to keep the school atmosphere wholesome, -the interest good, and the conduct up to the standard? There are a -few cautions which every teacher of experience would give the young -teacher. These watched well and the teacher will grow in the power to -govern and instruct. They will be found the key to a good school. While -they do not cover all points, no teacher ever succeeded thoroughly -and yet neglected many of them, and no teacher is a complete failure -if many of them are in every way successful. Perhaps in naming some -of these I may restate a few things mentioned in the chapter just -preceding. - -_1. You must have good order._--Not simply quiet but intelligent -quietness. Children are controlled by internal and external motives. -Appeal to the former always, but be ready to use the latter should the -former fail. You must govern your pupils else they will run away with -you. If you are weak they will take every advantage of you they think -they dare to take. Do not blame the children if your room is littered, -desks marked and marred and scratched--they will soon learn to do it -if you are a negative quantity. They will never do it if you are the -positive force you should be. - -Can you leave your room for ten minutes or half an hour and return to -find things moving on with proper decorum and orderly manner? If you -cannot do this, why not? The best teachers can do it. A class whose -former record had been bad, in two weeks’ time under another teacher -were entirely trustworthy, and during a ten months’ term were never -known to do a disorderly act, though the teacher was frequently out -of the room. Where the power? Where the fault? It can be done. Good -order implies that each pupil is able to do his best work at any or -all times without annoyance or external disturbance from others. Some -pupils may be idle, but their idleness must not be catching. It must -not disturb those who want to work. This is to be your criterion. Make -it a constant study how this and the other may affect the proper work -of your pupils. This will answer as well as it can be answered what you -may permit and what you cannot permit in your school. - -Good order in the recitation demands that the mind of the teacher -and the pupils’ minds must focus upon the same thought. This is the -basis of all school rules. How does it affect the unity of mind of -the teacher and the class? If it tends to unity it is good. If it -tends to destroy unity, it is bad, and should not be allowed. If it is -incompatible with unity it should at once be forbidden. Let the young -teacher learn to measure conduct by this standard, and she will soon -solve the various perplexing questions, little in themselves but big -to her. “Shall I permit whispering?” “Shall I permit a child to get a -drink during school hours?” “Shall I stop a recitation to reprimand a -bad boy?” The best answer is found in the criterion--do that which will -result in the closest possible contact between the mind of the teacher -and the mind of the pupils in class. - -Of course, in the application of the above principle we must often -choose between two evils. But the criterion is a good guide. If the -conduct of the pupil will disturb the mental unity of the class and -teacher more during the recitation than the reprimand, by all means -stop the recitation and give the reprimand. Be sure, however, that you -give the reprimand so effectively that it will seldom or never have to -be repeated while the pupil comes to school to you. - -_2. Guard well your recess._--It is a critical time for the teacher. -Often it may be even detrimental to the school. It is in many ways -the test of the teacher’s power to govern. If she has quick insight -into child nature she may get some of the deepest glances at the real -nature of the pupils--the best and the worst traits of character--at -this period. Much of the disorder of the school-room has its origin at -recess. The playground and the open-air are the places for games and -sports. The school-room may be a place for relaxation and reasonable -conversation and jest, but if you value peace of mind and good -conditions for school work, never, never let it become a place for -games, boisterous conduct, or running and jumping at recess. - -Pupils should from the first day enter the school room as though it -were sacred ground, dedicated to cheerful, pleasant, profitable work. I -do not mean that there should be a long face and a woebegone expression -upon entering the school-room, but the feeling of frivolity and -boisterousness must be laid aside. Running and jumping and boisterous -conduct in the room at recess makes the pupils familiar with such -conduct until it is no longer shocking to them when repeated after -recess. There should be a feeling of impressiveness but cheerfulness -upon entering the school-room which is conducive to study and right -conduct. Much of the sacredness, the calm, restful sweetness which -comes to us upon entering the church would be lost if all kinds of -noisy games and boisterous carousals were indulged in before the -opening of the church service. - -The teachers should be at school at least half an hour before the time -for opening school. If the teacher is habitually late she should reform -or resign. The noisy disorder and pandemonium that so often reigns -in the school-room when the teacher is late is detrimental to school -during the day and often for days. Some of the worst disturbances of -the school will be prevented if the teacher is first to reach the -building in the morning. If pupils bring lunch and remain at school -during the noon hour the teacher should remain also. One teacher at -least should remain during the noon hour. The extra work and tax on the -teacher during this time is far less than the nerve force required to -set things right that will happen during the year if she is absent. - -Proper decorum must be insisted upon when pupils enter the room after -intermissions. All racing and shouting and games should stop at the -first tap of the bell. The pupils then prepare to enter the room. This -will depend upon the size, location and entrance of the building. In -cities and larger towns where hundreds of pupils must be handled, the -regular march may be necessary. In smaller schools, falling into line -without regard to grade may be all that is necessary. In schools of -middle size pupils may fall into line by grades. At a second signal, -after all is quiet, the lines pass to the rooms in good order, the boys -removing their hats at the door as if they were entering the home or -a church. No pushing, shoving or racing is permitted. The teacher who -tries and is persistent and uniform about it, can by her kindness and -conduct, readily secure this order and decorum without seeming to force -it. - -_3. Be systematic and orderly in calling and dismissing classes._--No -teacher can long maintain order and decorum in the school-room without -some system in calling and dismissing classes. One of the most -signal failures I ever knew--a normal school and university graduate -too--could be traced largely to his lack of system in calling and -dismissing classes. As one class was dismissed the next started to -the recitation seat and without signal. They raced, and scrambled -and rushed for certain favorite positions. They came pell-mell, -hurry-scurry, each trying to get there first, and it never seemed to -dawn upon the teacher that there was a better way or that the disorder -bred here hung about the work of the school like a millstone. - -Each pupil should have a definite position for the recitation. If the -room is arranged so that there are separate recitation seats the -pupil’s position in class will be determined by: - - 1. The location of the pupil’s desk and his natural place in - the line as the class passes to recitation. - - 2. The kind of classmate with which he will be thrown at - recitation. Some pupils are so congenial that if thrown - near each other in the recitation, neither seem to be - able to behave. Two boys, reasonably good when separated, - may not be able to sit near one another without kicking, - pinching and whispering. Be sure that they are separated in - recitation. - -Good order in the recitation, like good order in the study period, is -often influenced by the teacher’s good judgment in seating pupils. - -There should be a definite signal for calling classes. It may be a -gentle tap of the bell, a rap of the pencil, or by calling “One” by -the teacher. I have always preferred the latter. The teacher may then -call the class from any position in the room. At the signal the pupils -begin to get ready to rise, if the class is to pass to the recitation -seat. If the recitation is to be in the study seat, all books, papers, -pencils, etc., not needed in the recitation are laid aside at this -signal. The second signal, “Two” is given, and each pupil stands -quietly by his desk, each knowing in which aisle he is to stand. After -all have risen, a third signal, “Three” is given, and each passes -quietly to his place in class, and at a gentle nod of the head of the -teacher or a fourth signal all are quietly seated. - -If the recitation is to be at the study desks all books, pencils and -papers not needed in the recitation must be laid aside. These are -always disorder breeders, and serve only to distract attention. Flowers -in the springtime may often become a nuisance, as they come too often -between the pupil’s mind and the lesson. The same is true of perfumed -cards and numerous other innocent looking little things. - -The same plan of calling a class may be used in dismissing it. After -the class is seated, give ample time for them to get all necessary -books and papers for preparing the next lesson before calling the next -class. Never seem to be in a hurry. Have your classes follow directions -promptly, but haste is waste of time. - -_4. Train yourself to pleasant tones of voice and composure._--Perhaps -the teacher’s voice is one of the strongest elements that go to make up -that which we call personality. Even tones quiet and soothe. Guttural -tones, harsh, rasping, high-keyed tones grate upon the ear and get -disorder. Your command should be gentle, but none the less firm. -Believe in your own ability to govern. Unless you can do this you are -apt to fail. Give every command in pleasing tones, courteously, firmly, -never letting the voice show doubt or fear that it will not be obeyed. -A sharp, rasping command with the faintest lack of self-confidence -breeds contempt and leads to a trial of strength. If teachers could -hear themselves for a day, repeated with the exact inflection by the -phonograph, many of them would cease to wonder why their rooms are -noisy. - -Composure in actions, along with firmness of voice, gentle tones and -decision of character makes the teacher master of the situation. -They make or mar the teacher’s record. Given these with enthusiasm -and you should have no serious trouble in keeping conditions good in -your school after you have made a good start. Your term is usually -pretty well established by the time it is half over. Your success -is determined by that time. The first good resolutions have been -strengthened and become well fixed. You have shown your ability or lack -of it in keeping conditions good, and the rest of the year should, if -this is good, pass without much to discourage. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL? - - -In an institute of something over a hundred teachers, nearly all of -them comparatively young in the work, I was once asked to give a -ten-minutes’ talk on what makes a good school. I am glad that I was, -not because anything which I said was so helpful to the young teachers, -but because it set me thinking by what things I judge teachers and the -school. My notes show the following points, although I am not sure of -the exact wording of the talk: - -_1. The teachers and the pupils of a good school should be happy._--A -good digestion, a clear conscience, and reasonable success are three -things that should make any man or woman happy. A healthy child has -the first and second, and their ideas and hopes and ambitions of -success are and should be at school age very largely wrapped up in -the successes of the school and the home. If the teacher is unhappy -the school becomes unhappy. A low nervous state, indigestion, worry -either about school or other things, trouble in the home, sorrow over -friends or family, uneasiness about financial matters or anything that -saps the energy or spoils the sleep of the teacher, is detrimental to -the school. Anything that disturbs the majority or even a considerable -minority of pupils interferes with the school. If the teacher is -thoroughly discouraged over school work or if a very large percentage -of the pupils are displeased with the teacher after the first month, -there can be no whole-souled, happy work and conditions in the school. -If you or any considerable number of your pupils are unhappy, try -if possible to remove the cause. Your results in teaching will be -infinitely better, the work will be less taxing to you, you and the -pupils will get more out of life at the time and more out of life -in the future if all are happy in the school-room. To the practiced -eye five minutes will tell whether the work is a work of pleasure to -teacher and pupils or whether it is a task to both. - -_2. The whole atmosphere of the school must be conducive to good -work._--While the teacher and the pupils are happy it should be that -quiet happiness that makes for good work. Children may be boisterously -happy. The idea of a good time with many boys is the loudest noise -they can make. It is the quiet, composed happiness springing from -interesting work well done that gives the best atmosphere of the -school. It is the spirit, the atmosphere, the social or psychological -conditions growing out of the relations existing in the school that -gives life to the school and that educates in the broadest sense. This -is intangible and invisible, but it is easily discerned, and to the -discriminating principal or superintendent it will form very largely -his basis for judging the teacher and the school. In associations with -visiting principals in my own school and in visiting other principals, -a frank estimate has often been given of the relative success of -teachers. It is surprising often how the visiting principal can in five -minutes rate a teacher, and this rating will in the main agree with the -regular principal. The practiced eye of the principal should, like the -practiced eye of the physician, see more in a minute than the unskilled -would in a month. For my own part I trust very largely to the spirit -and atmosphere existing in a room, the social echo of the school, and -it is only occasionally that I am far wrong. - -_3. The personality of the teacher and its influence on the -school._--Does she know what to do, does she know how to do it, does -she have the dignity to get this done promptly and well without it -ever entering the mind of a pupil to question its propriety or her -ability to get it done? Your personality should be strong enough -that it is rare indeed that any pupil dare to dispute your authority -and then you should have weight of character enough to prevent open -rebellion. The personality of the teacher, like the atmosphere of the -school, is intangible. Someone has said that personality is “cultured -individuality.” It is individuality with the corners ground off and -polished. It is the individuality that gets results without fighting -for it. It does not offend in taste, in physique, or personal bearing. -It is the personality that pleases and yet makes the pupil, the parent, -or the public to hesitate before it dares express a criticism. - -The personality of the teacher reaches the outward as well as the -inward. It is read in the teacher’s dress and bearing. No teacher can -afford to neglect her dress and personal appearance. Dress need not -be costly, but it should be in taste. To the lady teacher, a becoming -dress, a spotless collar, an appropriate ribbon, hair neatly brushed, -teeth white as pearl, nails immaculate as ivory--these are potent -influences and will win over thoughtless boys and careless girls when -all the switches in a mile square, and other means of punishment known -to the modern school, would fail. Spotless attire is essential to the -lady teacher, but a man will find it of scarcely less importance. There -must be no suggestion of the dude and the dandy, but clean linen, well -kept hands and nails, clean teeth, uncontaminated breath, clothing that -fits and is free from dandruff and dust--everything of the gentleman -but nothing of the dude--these will count in your personality and go -to determine the worth of your school. - -_4. The good school has interest and enthusiasm, but it must not be of -the soap-bubble variety._--If you have the first insight into human -nature, if you know the first thing about swaying pupils in mass, you -know that it is easy to waste energy, get up steam and chase fleeting -phantoms in school, make a tempest in a teapot, and be no farther along -at the end of the year educationally than at the beginning. The faddist -in the school-room, the teacher that periodically discovers the coveted -panacea that will relieve the pupils from all good, old-fashioned, -hard work, is as dangerous as the demagogue in politics. Interest and -enthusiasm should be well directed. Sanity should guide it. It should -drive toward a worthy goal, it should be tempered by rationality and -common sense. The interest should as soon as possible be transferred to -self interest. One of the most enthusiastic teachers I ever knew was -of the hypnotic, spellbinding kind. Pupils waved their hands, snapped -their fingers, and jumped up and down in their eagerness to tell what -they knew of a topic. Strange to many--not strange to the man who -knew something of good teaching--very, very few of the pupils of this -teacher either continued school after the graded school course or took -much interest in self-directed study or reading in after life. - -_5. In a good school the teacher loves the work._--We have much unrest -in teaching. For years teachers have been inviting dissatisfaction. -They have brooded over fancied evils, poor salaries, and lack of tenure -of position, until the great mass of them have become infected. In -teaching as in other things, if you look up the stars will guide you, -if you look down the sewer may beckon. The young teacher often does -the best work because she is happy and contented with her lot in the -first school. When she begins to tire with teaching, when she begins -to look forward to the time when she can get more congenial work--in -the store, in the office, or possibly in the home--she grows more and -more dissatisfied with school, she grumbles more and more about low -salaries, an unappreciative public and bad children. In a good school -the teacher is in love with her work and feels that for the time being -nothing would tempt her to leave it. - -_6. A good school will have a well-arranged program giving not only the -recitation periods but the study periods as well._--Systematic study -is essential. As a university student I found my time planned until -at certain times each day I found myself wanting to take up certain -studies. Just as one may become hungry at their usual time of eating, -so should one come to desire to do work at certain times. Too much -variation of a program weakens it in the minds of the children. This -program should be prepared with thought and care. There should be a -proper balance of study. Here is where good judgment in the relative -value of studies is shown. I visited a sixth grade once where as much -time was used each day on spelling as upon any other study. Now I -believe in spelling. I believe we are neglecting spelling, but I cannot -think it is worth as much and is justified in having as much time in -the sixth year as any other study of the school course, surely not if -the proper amount of attention to spelling has been given in the first -five years. - -_7. In a good school the modern studies--music, drawing, manual -training and domestic science--will be recognized._--The two last will -be needed worse in some schools than others. The old-fashioned home -life is fast disappearing. Whether this is better or worse is not ours -to discuss. The fact is that under the modern trend pupils are not -taught to do the homely and valuable tasks that was so common forty -years ago. Then the boy made his sled, his wagon, his hobby horse, and -his ball bat. Now he buys them and loses the greatest good of all, the -skill and the development in making them. He got his manual training -then in his home life, now, except on the farm, he gets scarcely any of -such training, and must depend upon the initiative of the school, else -go forever without it. The girl then was busy with helping her mother -in the house work. She learned to cook, to sew, to make quilts, to -wash, iron, and scrub. In other words, she got a complete and efficient -training in domestic science in her own home, and often had not only -the practice in doing it but had an intense liking for it. Much is -changed now. The school must come to the demands and needs of the time -and give the girl some touch with, respect for, and knowledge of this -essential work or she never gets it. - -Music is more an intellectual and cultural subject. It needs no -defense. The time is coming, and let us hope before many generations, -when as nearly all the people can sing ordinary music as can read the -ordinary book. Drawing, not necessarily the decorative art which so -often is called drawing, needs no justification. It leads to closer -observation, it is needed in the practical affairs of life, it develops -so many of the powers of the mind that as a cultural study it needs -no defense. A good school will recognize these modern studies. In the -country, the manual training may go more to the farmer’s needs, it -may be more closely allied to agriculture than in the cities. School -gardening is far more essential to the city child, however, than to -the country. In the crowded districts of the city, it is a rest and -recreation together with intense interest in a new and valuable line -of thought to tend the small school vegetable garden. In the country, -or in the city district, where each pupil has a vegetable garden at -home, and where the father often is skilled in the work of furnishing -vegetables for the market, the school garden is not worth the time and -energy put upon it. Like fashions in hats and dress the teacher who -feels that she must be up-to-date, must follow the fads and fashions -of New York, Chicago, Washington and other places regardless of the -difference in conditions, will have pupils spend an hour a day in -tending a vegetable garden when they had better be sent home to help -their parents to tend the family garden. - -The modern studies, however, must be kept in their legitimate place. -When manual training has for its avowed purpose the making of a -carpenter or a mechanic, when the study becomes strictly practical -instead of educational, it is out of the proper province of the common -school. Even the high school is not to make doctors, lawyers, clerks, -mechanics, but to make thinking men and women, who then can with time -and direction soon develop into these others. The very purpose of -the school is to give in a large measure those things that have very -little connection with the later life of the individual. The increased -power to think, to analyze, to understand, the higher ideals of life, -the hopes, the aspirations, the ability to see the world in a broader -light and from a wider horizon--these are the essential things after -all. To save the boy from his dwarfing environment, to kindle in him -ambitions and desires, to give him broader views of life without making -him unreasonably discontent with his own lot is the great purpose of -the school. His life will be narrow enough in his little niche without -making his school training narrow him still more. The most impractical -of the so-called practical men often want every lesson in school to -be a lesson to save the time of apprenticeship instead of a lesson to -develop higher thinking power. - -_8. In a good school the teacher or teachers will be -professional._--They will have studied the problems of the school and -have high ideas and ideals of what it should be and of its place in the -development of the life of the child. They will look on the purpose of -the school, and hold to these essentials even at risk of the criticism -of faddists. A thorough educator refused a principalship at a better -salary. When asked why, he replied that the qualities the board were -looking for must be found in a carpenter, a football coach, and a -peanut vender, and as he did not desire a position along either of -these lines, it would not be worth while to accept a position requiring -special qualifications along all of these lines. Eight hours a week was -to be devoted to manual training. He could use say a plane and a hammer -very well, but he had never had any desire to become a carpenter, -else he would have taken it up. He was expected to take charge of the -boys’ athletics, having daily drills and preparing them for the annual -festivities. He cared little for sport, and believed the playground -should be distinctly the place for self-initiative of pupils, feeling -that the greatest lessons of school life came from the fact that pupils -here were left free from the direction of teachers so that they might -have some chance at self-direction. The third requirement was that he -should be able to drill vaudeville school plays, sell popcorn, peanuts, -lemonade and other similar things to procure funds for decorating the -school, improving the grounds and furnishing money for athletic sports. -If he was to take up commercial life as a serious matter, he preferred -to go into business. These three lines absorbing most of his time and -sapping his energies made him prefer to remain where the thought and -energy of the principal was directed to the development of mind and -character. - -In many schools the demand is for the carpenter, the football coach, -and the peanut vender combined for principal rather than the man who -sees the deeper problems of mental development. - -_9. The teacher or teachers should be loyal to their school._--The -teacher who teaches in a district or school where she from any cause -dislikes the place, will not teach her best school. In cities some -teachers teach in certain districts only under protest, and never do -their best work. I should not seek to hold a teacher in my school when -I knew she was deeply dissatisfied with me or the school. Her work -would be forced, and she would unconsciously put less enthusiasm into -it. Just as the pupils should love their school and their teacher and -feel that they would not exchange it for any other school, so should -the teacher feel that her lot is well cast. The patrons should be as -loyal to the school and the teacher as the teacher is to the school. -Loyalty of teacher, pupils and patrons, will make a prosperous and -successful school. - -_10. A good school is properly heated, lighted, ventilated and -carefully looked after by a trusty janitor._--Thousands of eyes are -ruined yearly by poor light, pupils are injured in health by poor -heating and ventilation. The care of the building counts for so much. -Proper janitor work is as necessary as any other work. It is hard -to keep clean and live in a hog pen. It is hard to think elevating -thoughts and live in dirt and dust and cobwebs. The schools, the -churches and the hotels are the best advertising agents of any -neighborhood. A good school near by often increases the market value -of a farm from ten to twenty dollars an acre. The same is true of a -church. The best class of emigrants, the best citizens who want to buy -a farm to live on and to cultivate do not care to go to localities -where there is not a majority, a strong, working, active majority of -the people interested, vitally interested, in such things. Environment -makes the price of property. The neighborhood of good schools and good -churches is worth more per square rod than the neighborhood which is -content to let its children be educated in a building fit only for a -sheep shed or to attend a dilapidated church. - -_11. The good school has decorations for its walls._--These silent -but effective teachers grow into the lives of the pupils. Simplicity, -plainness, but good taste should be the test of the school decorations. -Get good pictures--not necessarily costly ones--get good, plain, but -artistic frames, select pictures that appeal to children, and yet -are artistic, and let them be hung in good taste on the wall. Do -not overcrowd, study the simple and the artistic in arrangement. In -selecting, do not forget the value of the portrait as a school picture. -Washington, the father of his country; Lincoln, true and noble, a man -of the common people; Longfellow, poet beloved by all; the list is a -long one--these features looking down daily grow into the lives of the -pupils. Then landscape views, Landseer’s animals, pictures of homes and -famous paintings, the list is almost endless. To these may be added a -few good statues. Good taste in the selection and the funds to buy -with will make any school-room what it should be as to decorations. - -These are some of the first things that I should look for in judging -a school. Buildings and grounds and numerous other things cannot be -touched upon. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -TEN TIME KILLERS. - - -School time is precious. Each minute should count. The formation of -correct habits is the greatest end of school work. Surely then the -proper use of time is essential to a successful school. We lose time -in so many ways. It often looks as if teachers tried to waste time -purposely. We cultivate lazy habits in pupils by letting things drag. -They learn to snooze over their lessons, to grope about mentally, to -allow their minds to wander to irrelevant things, to put off until the -last minute what should be done promptly and well. - -The teacher should not seem to hurry. The intense nervous tension -sometimes found is detrimental. But the school-room should be a -workshop in which pupils are intelligently and profitably busy. They -should be happy in their work, but they should be working. The work -should be done well, this brings even to little children the feeling -of satisfaction, the feeling that it is worth while in school. The -work should be intelligent, educative work. In the modern school -the strength and worth of the teacher and the principal is shown in -the intelligence and breadth of view with which the school work is -selected. We are going wild on busy work. Interest is an essential to -profitable work, but all work in which the teacher may get up interest -and enthusiasm may not be profitable work. To say that because pupils -are easily interested in raffia weaving, sewing, manual training, -etc., does not necessarily prove that these subjects are essential to -the best development. The child’s interest is usually a _borrowed_ -interest, at least is _often_ a borrowed interest. You could get up -just as much interest in building a snow man, in jumping the rope, in -rolling rocks down a hill or splashing water in the brook as in the -raffia work or domestic science. It requires more than the fact that -children may be made to like a subject to justify its use in school. -The pupils should be busy and busy at intelligent, educative work. They -should be happy in that work. Happiness usually comes from the feeling -of doing something, and doing this thing well. - -But let us notice some of the time killers. They are numerous. The ten -mentioned below are probably the most common among young teachers, -although it is not assumed that the list is complete. - -_1. Lack of definite plans for the day._--For the teacher who has -never made definite plans for her daily work, it is hard for her to -understand the loss of time and energy--time and energy on the part -of the pupils and even more so, time and energy on the part of the -teacher. You should, from the course of study, know what is expected -of the grade in a term. Divide this by the number of months you have -to teach. Look over the work carefully, examine the text-book, note -what supplementary work you think the text will need. Then at the -beginning of each month write out briefly, but specifically, what you -want the class to do each week of the month. With this general outline -before you, work out in advance each day’s program for the first week. -At the end of the week prepare in the same way each day’s program for -the second week, etc. It will take but a few minutes, and it will be -profitable minutes to you and to the class. - -If you find that you cannot do the work planned for the month, do not -worry about it, but do well as much of it as you can and pass the -rest over to the next month. If you find you can complete the work -of the month well, and have extra time, do not by any means keep the -class marking time and waiting. Take up the work of the next month. -The important thing is that you set yourself and your class a certain -task--I do not mean to imply that it is an unpleasant task--for each -month, each week and each day of the week. This lesson plan made at -times of leisure or when the mind is free to consider the work as a -unit will be a criterion for judging your own progress with the class -and will be a valuable guide in planning how best to present the -subjects to the class. It will save you much time and energy and worry -at the recitation periods when everything must be centered on the work -before you. - -_2. By allowing slovenly work._--I believe that from one to two hours -a week are lost in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth years, in the -subject of arithmetic alone, because the pupils in the first four years -are not properly drilled in the four fundamental processes of addition, -subtraction, multiplication and division. There should be snap and vim -and hustle in the early number work. The tables should be learned and -learned thoroughly. Pupils should be drilled in rapid combinations. -It may be well to know how to develop the multiplication table, but -knowing how to develop it will never take the place of knowing it. Time -is wasted in developing in early number work when it should be used in -knowing, in thorough committing to memory. When asked how many seven -times seven, the child should answer forty-nine as quickly and with -as little hesitation as if asked his own name. The drill should be so -perfect the mental response is instantaneous. - -_3. By rusty machinery._--There are many things about the school that -must be looked upon as the machinery of the school. Order and decorum -are great time savers, but red-tape for its own sake is to be avoided. -Keep your thoughts centered on what you want done and how this can be -done with least loss of time. I was at the opening of a famous normal -school a few years ago. The freshman class was to be divided into -three sections. Two teachers, normal teachers too--teachers whose very -methods are supposed to be worthy models--spent over forty minutes in -making the division. It was tiresome to the class and tiresome to me to -observe. In less than ten minutes I should have passed about pointing -to each student numbering as I pointed, “first,” “second,” “third,” -“first,” “second,” “third,” etc. Then I should have asked all those -numbered “first” to take one part of the assembly room. All numbered -“second” to take another. All those numbered “third” to take another. -Then in ten minutes more by passing slips of paper I should have had -the names and addresses of each and the class could have been dismissed. - -Time is wasted in the passing of classes, the distribution of wraps, -collecting of papers and necessary school movements. Teachers often -lose from two to five minutes by a clumsy method of collecting or -distributing papers. I saw a good part of a recitation period lost -recently by a teacher in a city school where I was visiting. She wanted -the composition papers collected and redistributed. There seemed to -be no system or forethought either in collecting or redistributing, -several pupils getting their own papers back for correction. Some such -plan as follows would have saved time, energy and discipline: - -“Time.” All pupils stop work and sit in easy, graceful positions. - -“Papers to the right.” Each places the paper to the right side of the -desk where the monitors can reach it easily. - -“Collect.” Pupils in back row of seats acting as monitors quickly and -quietly collect the papers in regular order to the front. - -“Exchange.” Monitors exchange papers in some regular order. - -“Redistribute.” Monitors pass back to their seat, placing a paper on -each pupil’s desk as they pass. - -With these five simple directions the compositions could have been -collected and redistributed for correction. No time is lost. There is -no noise or confusion. The very matter of collecting helps in order and -decorum. - -Oil up the machinery of your school-room and see if you cannot gain -from ten to twenty minutes each day and at the same time get better -results. - -_4. Lack of scholarship._--If a teacher has ballast and good judgment, -no amount of well-organized knowledge will hurt her. Narrow vision, -poor judgment as to what is essential and what is not, gets clouded -explanations. This leads to lack of interest and loss of time. -Clear-cut, definite knowledge on the part of the teacher will put life -and vim in the teaching. - -_5. Grinding over and over again things already known well._--Nothing -is more detrimental to mental growth. Teachers too often fail to -discriminate between thoroughness and mere mechanical repetition. Be -thorough, but be alive. There is much drill work to be done. There is -no substitute for it. We fail often in the newer education because we -neglect drill and review, but there should be life in the work, not -mere marking of time and perfunctory repetition. Nowhere is drill -more necessary than in number work, and yet this drill need never drag -or become uninteresting. One of my fourth grade teachers had done -good work in the mechanical part of number work. Her class had been -accurate and rapid, and I had allowed them upon several occasions to -challenge other rooms. In fact they had done well the foundation work -in numbers so essential to good work in arithmetic in the upper grades. -To test them I asked the class to vote upon which they would prefer, -a fourth of a day picnic out on the lake front or to spend the same -time ciphering against some other room. They voted almost as a unit -to cipher against the other room. They had been doing the grinding -process, it is true, but do you think it had been marking time with -them? Every minute had been a pleasure to them because each had been -pitted against some other. This had made the work a contest and a -pleasure instead of a grind. It is the grind without the pleasure and -over something well known that kills. - -_6. Assigning lessons without any thought on the teacher’s part of -their contents._--Many teachers would find it hard to solve the -problems which they assign to the class in the same time the class has -for preparation. The result is that they do not get over the lesson -next day. This leaving off part of the lesson day after day soon gets -a habit in the class to prepare only the first of the lesson, feeling -confident that they will never get down to the last of it. Teachers -should know the contents of the lesson they ask the class to prepare. -They should assign only what the class can do well in the time. Then -each member should feel that he is held strictly accountable for an -honest effort to get the whole lesson. - -_7. Not teaching pupils how to prepare lessons._--The greatest service -a teacher can do for a class is to teach them how to study. Pupils -waste hour after hour in honest effort with little accomplished and -much discouragement by not knowing how to apply themselves to the -work before them. One of my boyhood spelling books has marks to show -that I had studied the lesson more than sixty times. I wanted to be -faithful, I thought I was doing the right thing. But I was not. I -should have learned the lesson by heart so that I could have spelled it -from beginning to end in less than sixty times study if I had really -studied. What a saving of time if my teacher had taught me how to study -my spelling, to think each word over slowly and carefully as I spelled -it to myself, to center my best efforts on the words in the list which -I was not sure of knowing, instead of studying all alike. Then if I had -been taught to study I should never have kept careful account as to how -many times I studied the lesson. My thought was to satisfy myself and -my teacher that I had tried, instead of getting the lesson. Frequently -spend a recitation with pupils until you feel sure they know how to -study and apply themselves. One of the greatest compliments a former -pupil ever paid me was when he said that I taught him how to apply -himself and how to study. - -_8. Talking too much._--The greatest fault of all, the greatest loss -of time perhaps, when teachers as a body are considered, is the fault -of constant and often useless talking. Teachers repeat over and over -again. They scold and keep it up and keep it up. They explain and -explain and keep it up and keep it up. - - “Full many a teacher you may know, - Along life’s slippery pathway walking, - Who left off thinking years ago, - But kept on talking.” - -To spend time in further explanation and elucidation of any point -after it has dawned clearly on the pupil’s consciousness is a waste -of time to the pupil and has a tendency to destroy interest in the -subject. To explain a thing to them and then to explain it “in other -words” and “in other words” and then again “in other words,” as many -teachers do, is deadening to mental growth. I am not speaking of -repetition of knowledge in review to deepen and impress it firmly -on the mind. I am speaking of new knowledge. When the teacher has -explained a point briefly, definitely, understandingly, he catches the -gleam of recognition in the pupil’s eye, showing that the explanation -is understood. Further talk and explanation is useless and even -detrimental. - -_9. Answering useless questions._--If the teacher is weak, there will -be a growing habit in many pupils to ask useless questions as well as -to ask over and over again for repetitions. I have known pupils who -would, unless restrained, ask for the repetition of half the words -in a spelling lesson. Speak distinctly, and teach pupils to listen -attentively. It is the part of the pupil’s duty to listen attentively -to every word of the teacher that is addressed to him or his class. -Another habit of many teachers is after a question has been properly -answered by some pupil, to again state the answer herself. Nothing is -more deadening either to the pupil who first gave the answer or to the -interest of the class. If a pupil answers a question accurately, no -further comment is necessary. For the teacher to repeat the answer is -worse than a waste of time. - -Then there is the telltale pupil, who is always ready to run to the -teacher with little troubles, always being imposed upon by others. -Every teacher of experience knows such pupils. Discourage tattling, -but make sure the child is not being imposed upon. A little Italian -girl kept coming to me and to her teacher with all sorts of imaginary -grievances, until she came in one day with her tale of woe when I had -weightier matters to attend to. Rather more vigorous than polite, I -told her if she came to me with such hatched-up troubles again I should -punish her. It had the desired effect. Show pupils who have all kinds -of imaginary troubles how it becomes a duty for them to put themselves -in harmony with other pupils and to live agreeably with the school -family. Then with a careful lookout that they are not being imposed -upon deny them the right of coming to you with tales of woe, else you -may use much time every day chasing phantoms. - -_10. Failing to keep the room ventilated._--No one can work vigorously -in contaminated air. It will be a great day when every school-room -will have proper heating and ventilation. For some years I have worked -where there were adequate provision for forcing pure, warm, filtered -air into every room in abundance, while the foul, impure, dusty air was -being constantly forced out. The value of pure air and ventilation can -readily be seen when one compares such conditions and contrasts them -with many school-rooms. No school can do proper work without proper -ventilation and heating. Do not neglect this important matter in your -school. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE VALUE OF A HIGH SCHOOL COURSE. - - -These talks are directed especially to young teachers. It is presumed -that most of these are teachers in the grades or elementary schools. -Your highest success and greatest usefulness must be measured by -the lasting impressions you leave on your pupils. The worthy pupil -who catches fire and ambition from you to be something and to do -something, who years after can truthfully say it was from you that -he got his aspiration for a high-school course, these pupils are to -be the reward to you that is above all money value. I feel that I am -justly proud of the percentage of my grade pupils who have gone to high -school, and of my high school graduates that have taken a college or -university course. Yale, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Purdue, Chicago -University, four State Universities, a number of normal schools and -smaller colleges have had my high school students later in life. Most -of them have made good. Many of them have done well, and in life are -doing something for themselves. Whether I have contributed anything to -these young men and women can hardly be told. But I rejoice in their -success. Occasional letters from many of them, and greetings I get when -we meet by accident, are some of the rewards which come to the earnest -teacher--rewards above any money value. - -I believe in education. I believe that right education will increase -the value of the man. It will not make him do less work, but more. It -may change his line of work, but if the necessity comes he can with all -the energy and good cheer of the ignorant man do work no matter how -humble and often more of it for his education. Not only that, but the -boy of courage, and with a desire strong enough, if he have health, and -no one depending upon him for support, can earn his way through the -best high school or college. It is the measure of the grit of the boy. -The world turns aside to let the man pass that knows where he is going. -To kindle the fire of ambition in a capable boy, to call out the latent -force and set it in the right direction, that is the highest office of -the teacher. - -Twenty-five years ago, when a boy of fourteen, in a country school, I -had as teacher a young man to whom I owe much. It was his first term -of school. Some patrons, in fact many, would not have voted the term a -success, but he reached many of the boys, and myself among them. From -him I received my first desire to be a teacher. From him dates my first -desire for an education, and the faith in myself that I could secure -it. Measured by the world’s standards he has not been a great success, -but to me his teaching was of the inspirational kind. It helped me to -get my bearings, it created worthy desires and ambitions. Later, I have -told him of the results of his teaching upon my own life and ambitions. -With a modesty that is unassumed he begs me not to mention it, and -thinks that it was simply a matter of chance. - -A few years ago a father wrote asking me why he should send his son to -high school. I wrote him my reasons for doing so. Perhaps these reasons -may serve some young teacher for urging some other boy to go. They were -at the time the best I could summon, and are yet as good as I could -state in the limits of a personal letter. - -_1. If your boy is worth a bag of shucks, it will make a far more able -man of him, mentally, morally and physically._--There are exceptions, -it is true, but the exceptions only prove the rule. - -_2. High school teachers should be, and, if the high school is a good -one, are, broad gauge, scholarly men and women, educated in our best -colleges, normal schools and universities._--For a boy to come in close -contact with such manly men and womanly women as should and do form the -faculty of good high schools is above all money value to the boy. The -magic mental touch that comes to the boy in contact with scholarly men -and women of character, lifts him out of the hum-drum of life and makes -a thinking man of him. - -_3. It will increase your boy’s money-making capacity._--The best -statistics available show that the illiterate man in the United States -earns less than $300 a year. The man with a common school education -earns $400 a year. The graduate of the high school earns over $600 a -year. Suppose your boy works from the time he is twenty until he is -sixty years old--an earning period of forty years--figure the increased -earning capacity the high school education will give him, and then -answer if you think it will pay. There are some exceptions, of course. -I take it that your boy is an average boy, as bright or brighter than -his father was at his age. If he is an average boy, this will represent -his chances. Fools and dudes are exceptions to all rules. - -_4. A good high school course will give a broader field of activity to -your boy._--In every walk of life the demands are more and more for men -and women with more than a common school education. Firm after firm -announces that their employees must have at least a good high school -education. The mental discipline and self-control given by a good high -school course will give self-direction and grasp of conditions to your -boy long after the Latin endings and algebraic formulae which gave the -discipline have been forgotten. It is discipline for life’s duties that -is the real worth of the high school to the boy. - -_5. The more thorough the education of your boy the larger will be -his adaptability to different kinds of work._--Blessed is the man -whose resources and intelligence are such that he can readily--if -circumstances demand it--find a dozen ways to make an honest living -for himself and family. Here it is that the great superiority of the -culture-giving, broad-gauge high school course is shown over the -trade-fitting, quick-time, short-cut, get-ready-in-a-hurry trade or -business school. - -_6. The high school course will prepare your boy for the deeper and -broader training of the university._--If he is made of the right -material he will get the university training for himself, or urge you -to help him to secure it. If he does not go to the university the high -school course will fit him to become a successful leader in business or -lay the foundation for a professional course or career. - -_7. The discipline and training of a high school course will not only -increase the earning capacity of your boy, but it will increase his -living capacity._--He will see more beauty in the evening sunset, -God’s wonderful watch care in the stars overhead, and more and sweeter -fragrance in the pansy at his feet. It will develop character and -manhood, give him thoughts and ideas of his own, make him broader in -his views of life, and raise him to a higher standard of manhood. - -_8. The high school course should, and the chances are that it will, -discover the boy to himself._--This is the greatest discovery -any man can make--his own dignity, and worth, and capacity, and -inclination--these things discovered and the man has a stronger power -of his own to make life a success. If the high school discovers the boy -to himself it has been of infinite value to him. - -_9. The high school course will increase your boy’s chances for -distinction in his life work._--A high authority, after much study of -census returns and biographical dictionaries, reaches the following -conclusions: - - (1) That an uneducated child has but one chance out of 150,000 - to gain distinction as a factor in the progress of the age. - - (2) That a common school education increases his chances four - times. - - (3) That a high school education will increase the chances over - the common school twenty-three times, or make his chances - for distinction eighty-seven times as great as if he were - without education. - -_10. A high school education will make your boy a more positive force -in his community, his state, and the nation, socially, economically, -and politically._--With many noted exceptions, in the future as in the -past, our real constructive men, men whose monuments are their work, -will be men trained and disciplined in the best schools of the country. - -If your boy will work in school, if he has any desire whatever to -continue in school, if he has the requisite amount of gray matter, -or if he has the capacity of the average American boy, give him the -advantage of a high school course. It will pay you and it will pay him. -Make some sacrifice on your part if necessary to do it. Do not spoil -him by giving him too much money. Teach him the worth of a dollar and -how to earn one honestly. Hold him to strict account of every cent -he spends, the day and date and for what spent. Teach him from the -very first to handle your money as he should handle the money of an -employer, accounting for his allowance each month without quaking, -quibbling or miscellaneous accounts, and he will handle his own money -better later in life. - -Keep in close touch with his teachers, give them your loyal support, -see them frequently and make inquiries about the boy and his work. For -the boy’s sake do not take his part against the teachers if he should -be reprimanded by them for any cause. Do not tell his teachers too much -about his excellent qualities at home, and how smart he is. They may -soon know him as well as you do and maybe better. If they point out -some of his faults, listen to them and do not fly off the handle--the -chances are that they can see scores of faults that you have never -discovered. Show your genuine interest in the boy, their work and -the school. Take at least as much interest in the trainers of your -boy as you do in the trainer of that young horse of yours which you -confidently hope will take first prize next fall at the county fair. -Show your interest in the boy as much as the horse and the chances are -the results will be as good. - -Understand your boy, and expect much from him. Let him know you expect -much from him and that you shall keep close track of his work and his -conduct. Study his report each month. If his grades are low, question -him about it, and question to the point. Know the subjects he studies -and who teaches each subject. Perhaps you know nothing in the world -about the subject yourself, but question him and let him justify the -study and what he is getting out of it. It will help you and do him -much good. It is this daily co-operation and sympathy, this close -oversight, the constant keeping in touch with the boy and his work, -and your loyalty to the teachers and the school that will determine -largely your boy’s success. - -Yes, send your boy to high school, and these are my reasons for you -doing so. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -A TALK ABOUT SPELLING. - - -Most of the talks in this book are on the questions of school -management. Perhaps it would not be out of place to speak of the -teaching of a few subjects. This and the two following chapters are -devoted to the teaching side of the work. Spelling and arithmetic, the -teaching of these concern every teacher whatever her grade of work. -Literature is a neglected study in many of our schools, and yet a -life-giving subject. That is my reason for including that important -subject. - -The suggestions given below on spelling may help young teachers. I have -used them at times in my own teaching and found them useful. No attempt -is made to be profound. If the hints are helpful, that is enough. - - -TWO GENERAL PLANS OF THE RECITATION. - -I. _The Oral Method._--This is the method by which most of us learned -to spell twenty-five years ago. We memorized the letters of the word in -correct order, associating the sounds to some extent with the letters -themselves. There was a time when the method was almost universal in -the schools. It has some evident advantages: - - 1. Pupils are taught to pronounce words as they learn to spell - them. - - 2. Pupils acquire facility and readiness in dividing words - into syllables. - - 3. It is often a saving of time. - -The method has some disadvantages also. Among these may be mentioned -the following: - - 1. Often pupils who spell well orally are poor spellers when - writing, and writing is the primary test of the speller. - - 2. The principal use of spelling is in writing. To spell - correctly in writing, the muscles of the hand and arm must - be trained to execute quickly and accurately the thought of - the mind. - - 3. The number of words spelled by each pupil in oral spelling - is less than in the written lesson. - -No teacher ever accomplishes much in any subject without the hearty -interest and co-operation of the class. Any little device or method -that gives you an increased and deeper interest in the subject on the -part of your pupils is helpful. Variations in the recitation often adds -spice and interest to what otherwise might be dull routine. In oral -spelling I have found the following variations to be good: - - _1. The position of the class._--As a rule, I prefer the class - to stand in straight line, with arms gently folded, while - the teacher stands quietly where she can have the eye of - each member of the class. When a word is missed, the pupil - spelling it correctly “passes up,” always as a mark of - courtesy going _behind_ the pupil “turned down.” I have - found, however, that occasionally for a few days to let - pupils be seated during the recitation period while the - teacher seated quietly before them pronounces the words, - gets interest and attention that the usual standing order - does not get. - - _2. Never pronounce the words in regular order._--You may - pronounce up the columns, down the columns, or across the - columns, but never let the pupils know in what order the - words may be given to them. They will not then be tempted - to pick out and study the words which are likely to come to - them. - - _3. It is sometimes a good drill in self-confidence and - attention to ignore all mistakes in spelling at the - time._--Any pupil below, noticing the mistake, may, when - his turn comes to spell, spell the word which was missed, - going above all who failed to note the mistake. This device - gets good results. Try it. - - _4. Closely related to the above is the plan of passing a word - correctly spelled just as if it were misspelled._--See if - the next pupil will change the spelling with the hope of - getting it right or spell it the same way with confidence. - This is a splendid drill in self-reliance. - - _5. Spelling matches._--These will never regain their former - interest in school and it is well that they do not, but - they often serve a good purpose and are interesting. There - are many varieties. Let us mention five kinds. - - (_1_) _The method of choosing sides and spelling for - captain._--Two pupils “choose up.” These make some - guess for first choice of spellers. The one beating - in the guess--as for example at what page I have - opened this book or similar guess--gets first choice. - Then each chooses alternately, dividing the school - into two sides. Those who “choose up” spell first. - As fast as a pupil is “turned down” the next choice - on that side takes his place. When one side is down - it is best to spell through next time beginning with - last to be chosen on each side. - - (_2_) _The one objection to the plan above is that the best - spellers do most of the spelling._--This may be - overcome by spelling by “tally.” The plan is to - let the captains who “choose up,” as in the first - method, stand in opposite corners of the room. Let - one stand in the northeast corner of the room while - the other stands in the southwest corner. As each - pupil is chosen he takes his place _on the left of - his captain_. When the choosing is over the pupils - will stand in two opposing bodies on opposite sides - of the room. Let all pupils on one side be called - “_Number One_” and all on the other side be called - “_Number Two_.” Each pupil is to keep this number no - matter where or in what position he may be while the - spelling is going on. Then two reliable pupils, one - from each side, are chosen to keep “tally.” You are - now ready to begin the spelling. Suppose you begin - with the captain on side “Number One.” He spells - the word correctly and crosses the room and takes - his place at the _foot_ of side “Number Two.” As he - crosses the floor he calls out in distinct tones - “_Number One_.” The pupils who are keeping “tally” - give side “Number One” one credit or “tally” by - placing a straight line in the column headed “Number - One.” The spelling then continues down side “Number - One.” If a word is missed the next below spells it - and passes up the same as in the ordinary oral - spelling class. When the last in side “Number One” - has spelled you pronounce the next word to the first - or captain of side “Number Two.” He spells the word - and crosses the room, calling out distinctly as he - crosses, “Number Two,” and side “Number Two” gets a - “tally.” By missing words you will notice that soon - the pupils from the different sides are all mixed - up. You see also that the best spellers will gain as - they pass above those who miss. The _best_ spellers - will then cross the room oftenest, thus calling their - number and giving the most credits to their side. - - It takes but a moment to get the sides started to - spelling when you have studied the plan. The spelling - can be continued indefinitely. The side that gets - the most “tallies” is winner. Pupils will take great - interest in it. The poorest spellers get as much - practice in spelling as the best ones. You will find - it in every way practical just as soon as you and the - pupils understand the plan well. Another advantage - is that if you desire two persons may pronounce at - the same time without confusion, and thus double the - amount of practice in spelling in the same time. - - (_3_) _Let the class stand._--Pronounce a word to the first - pupil, and let the second spell a word beginning with - the last letter of the word spelled by the first - pupil. Let the third pupil spell a word beginning - with the last letter of the word spelled by the - second pupil, etc. If a pupil misspells a word, - fails to think of a word or spells a word previously - spelled, he must be seated. This is a good drill not - only in spelling but in thinking of new words and for - increasing the pupil’s vocabulary. - - (_4_) _Let each pupil name and spell a word of one - syllable._--A word of two syllables. A word of three - syllables, etc. - - (_5_) _Let the class stand while the teacher gives the - first pupil one of a class of words._--The pupil - spells the word, and then pronounces another word of - the same class of words to the second and so on. If - the pupil misses the word, or fails to name another - word of the same class, he is seated. Numerous - classes of words may be given, suited to the grade, - the pupils or to the time. Here are a few suggestive - lists. The teacher can readily plan others: 1. - Domestic animals. 2. Fruits. 3. Trees. 4. Flowers. 5. - Birds. 6. Minerals. 7. Furniture. 8. Articles made of - iron. 9. Articles made of wood. 10. Names of cities. - 11. Names of countries. 12. Names of persons. - -II. _The Written Method._--The written method of teaching spelling is -now very largely used. It has the following advantages: - - 1. Pupils learn to spell more rapidly by sight than by sound. - - 2. In after life we use spelling only when writing. - - 3. Each pupil gets to spell more words in a written recitation - than in an oral recitation in spelling. - - 4. All pupils are kept busy during the recitation period. - - 5. Pupils may examine their mistakes and correct them. This - impresses the correct form more clearly upon their minds - than to simply correct them orally. - - 6. Written spelling is a more accurate test of scholarship - than oral spelling. - -The principal objection made to the written method of the recitation -in spelling is that it requires more time than the oral. This can be -obviated by selecting only the more difficult words for spelling in the -recitation. Much time is wasted in the study of the spelling lesson. -Unless taught otherwise, pupils will spend just as much time “studying” -the easy, familiar words in the lesson as the more difficult ones. No -greater good can be done than to teach pupils how to study the lesson. -As soon as the pupil knows how to spell a word, and knows that he knows -how to spell it, he should eliminate it from the lesson and center his -attention upon those of which he is not sure. If the teacher remembers -that it is not always necessary to spell all the words in the lesson -the written method will appear more rational. - -The written method also admits of less variation in the recitation -than the oral method. The two methods usually used are the blackboard -and the blank book method. Let the class pass to the blackboard. When -the board is clear, the class faces the teacher, who quickly divides -them into two or more sections by pointing to the pupils rapidly and -numbering, first, second; first, second; first, second; etc. This -separates the sections and lessens the probability of copying. He then -pronounces the words, naming the section and following by the word for -that section at once. Pronounce as rapidly as the pupils can spell -the words. Never let pupils get into the habit of snoozing over the -spelling lesson either in recitation or in study. He should write the -word correctly the first trial. No communication should be permitted. -When the words are spelled, the pupils may move one space either to the -right or the left and correct the work of another pupil, marking the -grade. - -When pupils use blank books, the words may be written in vertical -columns, and each word numbered. If no special book is used it will be -well to use paper just large enough to spell one lesson on a page. No -communication is allowed, and when the pupil is done writing the word -he quietly raises his right hand to indicate to the teacher that he is -ready for the next word. The teacher can then judge when to pronounce -the next word from the number of hands raised. Unless the class is very -large it is best for the teacher to do the correcting. If the class -is large, the papers may be collected and redistributed. Wrong words -are checked and grades marked. Keep a list of the words misspelled and -drill on them from time to time. Have each pupil correct his mistakes -daily and keep a list of the words which he has missed during the term, -neatly and correctly written. - -One device I have found very successful is to select lists of common -words often misspelled and words that pupils use and should by all -means know how to spell. Place ten of these words on the board daily, -and have pupils study them carefully for a few minutes. When the -recitation time comes erase the words from the board and pronounce -them to the class, having pupils write them. Then call upon pupils -separately, having them to pass quickly and write the word on the board -as he _has it written on paper_. At the end of the recitation the list -of words will be written on the board again correctly. The teacher can -keep marked on his original list the number of pupils who missed each -word. This will serve a valuable purpose in review and drill. Ten words -are few, and yet if each pupil learned the spelling of ten words each -school day, think what an increase in vocabulary it would mean in a few -years. - -Any word having been used before may be given to the class at any -subsequent lesson. The class is to be held responsible for knowing -thoroughly all words of former lessons. - -A few cautions may not be out of place either in written or oral -spelling. - - 1. As a rule give one trial in spelling a word, and never more - than two. The problem is to have the word so well known - that the first trial is all that is needed. - - 2. Pronounce distinctly, but do not, as a rule, pronounce the - word but once. There may be exceptions, but they should be - few. - - 3. Do not mispronounce a word in order that the pupil may - spell it correctly. Do not say sep-a-rate to make sure the - pupil gets an a in the second syllable. - - 4. Have pupils spell in natural tones. If teachers could hear - themselves pronounce a spelling lesson and hear their - pupils spell it--if they could hear this as the outsider - and disinterested person often hears it--they would soon - reform and reform the pupils. - - 5. Do not pronounce words to the class in the same order the - class has used in studying them. - - 6. It is a good rule to have each pupil pronounce the word - distinctly before he tries to spell it. It insures you that - the word is correctly understood and it serves to call - the pupil’s attention to the word, emphasizing it. If the - pupil does not understand the word then is the time for the - teacher to repronounce it. - - 7. In oral spelling the plan of having pupils pronounce each - syllable correctly as it is spelled is a good one. I would - not, however, urge that he should go back and pronounce all - the syllables each time he adds a new one. There is some - argument for it and some advantage in it, but the plan is - rather cumbersome. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -ARITHMETIC IN THE SCHOOL. - - -For generations arithmetic has held a prominent place in the school -curriculum. Should you teach any one or all of the first eight years of -school work the teaching of arithmetic will be of practical interest -to you. Even the most modern of school courses has not eliminated -arithmetic nor curtailed to any great extent the proportionate share -of attention given to it. Most teachers will admit that the subject -has been over-estimated, and that it is not of the great practical -value popularly attributed to it. The man in business does not use -the principles of arithmetic half so often as many believe. Outside -of the four fundamental processes and the principles of percentage, -the average merchant and trades people generally do not use much -arithmetic. The use of mechanical means of adding, subtracting, -multiplying, and dividing has become widespread. Few business men now -depend upon adding long columns of figures mentally. The adding machine -is quicker and absolutely correct. - -Arithmetic has a practical value, but it is not its so-called practical -value that is its greatest worth. Few subjects in our school course -develop the mind in so many ways. Unless many of our newer subjects -prove their worth even beyond the fondest hopes of many of their -advocates, arithmetic must yet hold a prominent place in the school. It -is the teacher’s duty to teach it so as to make the best out of it for -the child. - -I believe most teachers will agree that at present and in the past -much time has been wasted in arithmetic. The results achieved do not -justify the time spent. Whether these teachers will agree with me as -to the reasons for this I am doubtful. To get teachers to question -themselves on this point, and if possible to gain some time in this -subject, else get better results for the time spent, is the purpose of -this little talk. - -_1. Our pupils lack intensity in the study._--I believe this is one of -our greatest faults. We allow the pupils to get into bad mental habits. -They snooze over the work. They put in too much time. Their thoughts -are allowed to go wool-gathering. They grow into time-killers instead -of learning clear, sharp business methods. - -_2. Much time is lost in dry formalism._--We hold to the form and -neglect the content. We seek the husks rather than the ear. Some -formalism may be helpful, but to hold to it in all things is not only -a waste of time but it weakens the thought power. I knew a graduate of -a township high school, a bright boy and a boy in no way slow to grasp -things, that had been so thoroughly drilled in the formal analyses of -problems, following the dictum, “always teach your pupils to reason -from many to one, and then from one to many,” that after more than a -year in a store he told me he was never certain of an account until he -had written it out in formal fashion: - -1. If twelve eggs are worth 18 cents. - -2. One egg is worth 1-12 of 18 cents, which is 18-12, or 1 1-2 cent. - -3. And 16 eggs is worth 16 times as much as one egg or 16 times 1 1-2 -cents, which is 24 cents. - -4. If eggs are 18 cents a dozen, 16 eggs are worth 24 cents. - -It may have been logical reasoning, some of it may have been useful, -but to grind formalism into a boy for a twelve year’s course of study, -by never allowing anything to pass that was not “analyzed” was a loss -of time and mental discipline. - -_3. Pupils are not trained to read and grasp the conditions of -problems._--Fifteen years’ experience with high school pupils leads -me to believe that their ability to understand English causes a loss -of time and results in arithmetic. Practice your pupils on problems -without figures until they look for conditions rather than figures. -Make numerous problems and let pupils tell you how to solve them. For -example, “If you have the length and the breadth of a rectangular -field stated in yards, how will you find the number of acres it will -contain?” If teachers would give all through the grades more attention -to problems without figures, pupils would accomplish more when they -come to using problems with figures because they could grasp the -conditions better. - -_4. Teachers neglect the four fundamental processes._--It is not an -uncommon thing for pupils in the advance grades or even in high school -to be unable to add, subtract, multiply or divide with anything like -rapidity and accuracy. I am told the superiority of the German schools -in arithmetic comes very largely in the thorough and accurate manner in -which pupils are held to a mastery of the four fundamental operations -in the first four years. When the advanced work is reached pupils are -not handicapped by inaccurate results. - -_5. Pupils are not taught to grasp each new subject and its purpose, -how it is like and how it differs from the subject that precedes -it._--Before beginning the new subject they should take an inventory of -what they already know of the new subject and then the teacher can make -clear to them the new things to learn. When the subject is complete -they have a grasp of it as a whole. Many of our newer and most popular -text-books in arithmetic are weak--unpardonably weak--because of too -close a devotion to the spiral and other methods that try to teach -each process and division of the subject just so far and then return -to it on the next trip around the auger in just such a time. The best -results more frequently come from the teachers and the texts that teach -one thing at a time. Then if the problems are well graded there is a -growing power on the part of the pupil to master the text for himself. -When a boy in my ’teens, I bought a book and solved the problems in -an advanced arithmetic, getting from the effort more growth than any -teacher could have gotten by using a text where the child must be led -all the way or else is lost in a maze of uncertainties. Do not teach -arithmetic in scraps and fragments if you want the pupils to understand -it. Connect each new subject with those that precede, and give them the -feeling of unity of the subject. - -_6. Teachers neglect mental arithmetic._--There was once a special time, -set aside in the program for such study, now there is a tendency to -neglect it even in connection with the written work in arithmetic. -Nothing paves the way better for good work in written arithmetic than -mental arithmetic. The teacher states the problem orally, the pupil -states the conditions carefully, gives a good logical solution, and -the result or conclusion. The long problems solved without the use -of figures is not so important as the clear statement of conditions. -To multiply 746234 by 278 without making any figures is not half so -valuable in mental arithmetic as to tell how to solve a problem, giving -the reason for each step, without giving the numerical result. - -These, it seems to me, are the chief reasons why our results in the -study of arithmetic are not richer. Now there should be three chief -aims in teaching arithmetic. If these are accomplished, the pupil has -not only the highest practical value of arithmetic, but the best and -richest of the cultural value also. - -_The first aim should be accuracy._--This accuracy should include not -only accuracy in result, numerical result, but accuracy in reasoning -process, and accuracy in expression also. Mathematics is an exact -science. Its great cultural value lies in its training in exact -reasoning. The arithmetic that does not give exact numerical results is -poor--extremely poor. In fact, much of our work in arithmetic drills -to poor standards. The boy who gets nine problems out of ten--even -in routine drill work--is graded high. Suppose the boy goes into the -store or the bank and makes one mistake in ten computations--how long -would he hold his job? He would pass, but it would be off the pay roll. -Do we not make a mistake unless we hold up to pupils in all drill -work a standard of absolute accuracy? After the pupil has mastered -the mechanical processes until he is accurate, make sure that he is -accurate in reasoning process. Teachers often err here by confusing -numerical results with proper thought results. If a field is 40 rods -wide and 80 rods long, how many acres does it contain? After the pupil -is accurate in the fundamental processes, the real food in this problem -for the pupil is what is given, what is required, and how the results -required may be obtained from what is given. It is the steps in the -process, why and how they may be obtained--and not the numerical result -that is wanted. After these steps are fully in mind, as a drill in the -fundamental processes he may solve the problems and give you the answer -in figures. - -_The second aim of arithmetic is rapidity._--This is the age of -electricity. Speed counts. Time is money. We have no time for frills. -The clearest, quickest, most direct processes are the best. Get the -correct results and get them quickly. The person who can do this is at -a premium, the person who cannot do it is at a discount. Teach pupils -to concentrate the attention upon the problem, shutting out all thought -of irrelevant things. This is discipline as well as training for good -results. Strive to keep your pupils from slothful habits in written -or mental arithmetic. The habit grows and lessens results as well as -wastes time. - -_The third aim of arithmetic is neatness._--This is less important than -the other two, but it is important and should not be neglected. It -was made a shibboleth by teachers in the past. The form and neatness -counted for more than the thought. Manuscripts were carefully bound to -show the beauty and neatness of the work. Not long ago in a private -school I saw exhibited with pride the work of pupils in the class in -arithmetic, the chief merit of which was the faultless neatness of -which it was placed on the paper. Ignorant people and those who are -untrained in judging good work in school give credit for the form. -Those who judge intelligently look for the content as well as the -form. Teach pupils to orderly arrangement of work. The visitor in the -school-room, if familiar with the processes of arithmetic, should have -no trouble in following a solution on the blackboard or paper. - -I cannot in the limits of this chapter go into detail of how particular -subjects are taught. Your teaching should center about these three -aims. Any method or device that helps any one of these is helpful. -Center your energies upon the essential things. Train pupils to -careful, accurate, rapid work. See that principles and processes are -made clear, but do not waste time trying to develop the processes down -in the grades where the children are and should be interested in the -memory work. Do not fool away time on the process of developing the -multiplication table and let pupils leave the subject without being -able to give the multiplication table. It may be useful to the child to -know how to find how many six times seven are by using chalk marks or -counters. The one thing that must not be neglected is to make sure that -the child knows that six times seven are forty-two. The results are the -practical things. - -The first four years in school should make the pupils able to add, -subtract, multiply and divide, _and it should enable them to do this -quickly and accurately_. If I could get a class proficient in these--up -to my standard of proficiency--at the end of the fourth year, I should -give them a thorough knowledge of the practical arithmetic by the end -of the seventh year and they would have the eighth year for algebra or -commercial arithmetic. - -A principal of one of the most thorough and reliable business colleges -of which I know told me that his greatest trouble in a commercial -course was to hold the students down to a regular systematic drill in -the fundamental processes of arithmetic. The trouble was that they -could not add accurately and quickly. Their results could not be relied -upon. Many of them he kept two periods of thirty minutes each daily on -rapid calculations in fundamental processes. - -See that your pupils get correct ideas of number. Children think -figures instead of number. Two dollars to many is a figure two with -a dollar mark to the left. Two feet is a figure two with ft. to the -right. See that they think number rather than figure. This comes often -by having them make figures before they can use numbers. - -Teach ideas instead of words. One-half does not mean a fraction to -many pupils--it means the figure one above the figure two with a -line between. Do not confuse a fraction with the manner in which a -fraction is expressed. Principles should precede rules and pupils -should comprehend these principles. I am even old-fashioned enough to -believe that often, very often, pupils should be asked to commit the -definitions and principles and rules as given in the book, but the -language and purpose of these same definitions, principles and rules -should be understood. The fault of the old plan was not that pupils -were to commit definitions but that the pupils failed to comprehend the -language and meaning of the definitions. - -See that each new subject is properly related in the child’s mind with -the subject that preceded it. It will then become one step of the -ladder, something specific and definite in the child’s mind. When they -study decimals they should be able to recall and use any principles -learned when studying common fractions. When they learn percentage -there is little new to learn if they apply their knowledge of decimals. -If percentage is well learned there is little else to learn in interest. - -These principles applied carefully will make your teaching of -arithmetic more fruitful. It will save you time to do the more -important work. Many teachers tell me it is hard for them to keep -children interested in the drill and abstract work. They find it hard -to keep pupils interested in addition until they become accurate and -rapid in results. I have never found it so. In fact, I have always -found the abstract drill problems to be the most fascinating work. -The only thing necessary is to call into play the spirit of contest -or rivalry. Take an excellent test for reviewing and drilling on the -tables. - -Suppose pupils have learned all the combinations up to 100. Suppose -they have been drilled on adding by endings and the thing the class -needs is practice. Some such device as this will make splendid -practice. Draw a circle on the blackboard. On the circumference of -the circle write the numbers 6, 9, 5, 7, 8, 11, 9, 4, 5. Then in the -center of the circle write some number, let us say 7. To show what is -to be done with the numbers write a plus mark before the seven. That -will show that seven is to be added to each of the numbers on the -circumference in rapid succession, the pupil calling the result. John -is given a pointer to pass to the board and call the result. He will -point to each of the numbers written above calling the result after -adding 7 to it, as 13, 16, 12, 14, 15, 18, 16, 11, 12. Time John in -giving the answers. Then send Mary to the board and see if she cannot -beat him. The rivalry will be intense. Interest will be at fever -heat and drill will become a game and a pleasure. Place a sign of -multiplication before the seven and you have the whole drill changed -in a moment from addition to multiplication. In the same way it can be -changed to subtraction or to division. Change your numbers as soon as -the pupils begin to repeat the results from memory of position. - -Baseball terms and other things may add spice and awaken some of the -sleepy boys that have never taken an interest. If he makes a mistake it -may be called a foul, if he does not get far without a mistake he is -out on first, etc. In the same way you may have an automobile race. The -circles may well be thought of as the automobile and try which can beat -giving the results. Should some one fail to give the correct results -his automobile breaks down. A little ingenuity of the teacher will keep -the drill work on abstract number and the learning of the tables a -fascinating game instead of a continuous grind. - -The spirit of the contest can be profitably used in all subjects of -arithmetic by means of the ciphering match. Perhaps all teachers have -used the ciphering match as a stimulus to two of the great aims in -teaching arithmetic, accuracy and rapidity. Nothing will excel it in -this. To those who have not tried a ciphering match the following -directions will make it clear as to method. The more you use it and -study the results on the arithmetic work of your school the more you -will come to value it. - -The ciphering match may be between members of the same class or -between different classes, or the whole school may be divided into -two classes by choosing up, or the teacher may call on pupils on any -order he chooses. You may state in advance what subjects may be used -in the match at a given time. To begin with it is well to limit to -addition. Later it may be any one of the four fundamental processes. -Then it makes a splendid review test when the class has completed any -particular subject or group of subjects. Then to encourage them to keep -well up on all subjects completed it is a good plan to allow them to -choose from any subject over which the class have passed during the -year. Short problems make the best drill for the ciphering match. - -Send the two “captains,” if the school has chosen up, to the board. -Read them a problem. The first to _call_ the answer turns the other -one down. Make calling of the answer the test, as it relieves you of -watching them so closely. It is best to have another arithmetic or a -list of problems so that you will not lack for problems. As the next -pupil passes to the board he has the right of choice of subject and -calls this as he passes to the board. He may choose a subject in which -the first pupil is known to be weak or one perhaps in which he himself -is considered strong. The choosing of subjects is a fine stimulus to -keeping up in review all subjects previously gone over. - -Do not give long, involved, complex problems. The purpose of the -ciphering match is drill on fundamentals and accuracy and quickness in -getting results. Long problems kill interest. If one class is pitted -against another or if the school is divided into two parts it is easy -to determine the victor. The individual who turns the most down is the -victor in one sense and then keeping a score of which side turns the -most down is often a good plan. - -The best results of the ciphering match is the voluntary work and drill -you get from the pupils in preparation. They will time themselves. -They will practice to see who can solve the most problems in a given -time, they will solve problems at home or meet other pupils at a -neighbor’s house and get as much enjoyment out of it as they would at -card-playing and more profit. I have seen scores of boys quickened and -interested permanently in arithmetic from the ciphering match. Pupils -quit snoozing over their work and try to go direct for results. Try a -ciphering match a few times this year--often enough to get the pupils -thoroughly acquainted with the plan and see if you and they do not both -feel that it is profitable. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -TEACHING LITERATURE. - - -Literature, History, Algebra, Civil Government--these have been -favorite subjects of mine. The teaching of each has brought me -pleasure. Perhaps literature in many schools is most neglected. I wish -that I might say something which would call the attention of teachers -to this subject. Let us discuss briefly the principles that should be -made clear to the class and then apply these to that beautiful poem of -Lowell’s: “The Vision of Sir Launfal.” This poem has been reprinted -in numerous cheap editions, and no teacher but can afford a copy and -secure a copy for each of his class. - -The successful teacher of literature must believe in his subject. He -must believe with his whole heart that to lead a pupil to the proper -appreciation of a piece of pure literature is to place that pupil on a -higher spiritual plane; that it will lift that pupil above much that is -low and groveling and vicious, and give to him a constant companion and -monitor, which, like Copperfield’s Agnes, always points upward. - -The teacher of literature must have read critically much of the -best literature. He must be especially familiar with the particular -selections he is to teach. He must know the selection in its bearings. -He must have studied it earnestly and critically, and in addition he -must have planned how he can best present it to his class so that they -may get most out of it. Less than this is apt to make the study of -literature in the school a mere farce. - -But what is pure literature? By what criterion do we draw the line -between literature and other forms of writing? What distinguishes pure -literature from the news article? What distinguishes literature from -the statements of history or of scientific truths? I should reply -that the constructive energy of pure literature is “universal, ideal, -emotional life.” - -_Pure literature must be universal._--Lowell tells us that a literary -man cannot air his private liver complaint to the public. He also -gives us his conception of literature in another place. “Literature -that loses its meaning, or the best part of it, when it gets beyond -the parish steeple, is not what I understand by literature. To tell -you when you cannot fully taste a book that it is because it is too -thoroughly national, is to condemn the book. To say it of a poem is -even worse, for it is to say that what should be true of the whole -compass of human nature is true only to some north-and-by-half-east -point of it. I can understand the nationality of Firdusa when, looking -sadly back to the former glories of his country, he tells us that ‘the -nightingale still sings old Persian.’ I can understand the nationality -of Burns when he turns his plow aside to spare the rough burr thistle, -and hopes he may sing a song or two for dear old Scotie’s sake. -That sort of nationality belongs to a country of which we are all -citizens--that country of the heart that has no boundaries laid down on -the map.” - -_Literature must be ideal._--The lessons it brings are the ideals -of the soul’s possibilities. It quickens in the individual soul the -inspirations that are universal. The beautiful friendship of Damon and -Pythias is above our selfishness--an ideal lifting us above ourselves, -creating in us higher aspirations and showing us our own possibilities. -There are, it is true, various degrees of idealizations. Heroism may -be idealized and uplifting and yet not be to the degree of idealization -in Enoch Arden. The strength and beauty of women’s devotion may be -worthy of emulation and yet not reach the standard of Evangeline. - -_Literature must be emotional._--It deals more with the heart than with -the head. The emotions of literature are of various kinds, but these -may be all summed up in the emotions of spiritual freedom. The soul is -constantly struggling to free itself from bondage, and every time a -limitation is removed the soul leaps with joy. In this lies much of the -educative power of literature. The all-inclusive pleasure of literature -is the soul’s joy in its hopes and its possibilities of freedom. The -reader, if he really reads, is forced to live for the time being at -least the ideal life pictured in the literature, and thus from day to -day his soul attains to higher levels. - - -THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL. - -Let us now discuss “The Vision of Sir Launfal.” This is a work of -literary art, a gem from a master, beautiful in conception, beautiful -in execution, and beautiful in its inspiration to higher life. The -teacher who secures the proper conception of this poem by the pupil -rings a rising bell in the dormitory of that child’s soul. Methods of -teaching may vary with the personality of the teacher. The best method -of one teacher may or may not be the best method of another. It is -hoped the following suggestions may be helpful to some, and if so, they -were not written in vain. - -The following general suggestions may pave the way for a closer study: - - 1. Study the legend of the “Holy Grail” carefully. - - 2. In connection with the study of “The Vision of Sir Launfal” - read Tennyson’s “Holy Grail” and “Idylls of the King,” - noting likeness and difference. - - 3. Have pupils read through the poem carefully until they - catch the movement and the rhythm. It is as great a - mistake to set a class to criticising a poem or picking to - pieces and analyzing the first paragraph of a selection of - literature before they have read it as a whole as it would - be to have them criticise a monument by having them examine - one or two of the blocks of granite at the quarry. - - 4. Keep closely before the student the standard and tests of - pure literature. - -The first step then in the study of “The Vision of Sir Launfal”--and -the same would be true of any selection of literature--is to find the -author’s theme. The second step is to test this theme by the questions: - - 1. Is it universal? - 2. Is it ideal? - 3. Is it emotional? - -These tests will determine the class of literature to which it belongs. - -The theme of literature is its soul or purpose, but this soul must -have a body. The writer of literature does not speak in abstract -terms. He embodies the forms in concrete, visible forms. The ideal -image is presented in the real, the universal in the individual, and -these objective or concrete particulars become types or symbols of the -abstract or universal. Thus Hester in “The Scarlet Letter” and Jean -Valjean in “Les Misérables” are realizations of universal principles -in human nature. The building and the launching of the ship with -Longfellow is typical of national life. He who reads Evangeline and -sees but Evangeline the individual loses most of the poem. Evangeline -is the concrete individual form or embodiment of the abstract and the -universal--woman’s devotion. To see the universal symbolized by the -particular, to see Evangeline no longer as an individual, but as a -type--an ideal to which our souls may aspire--gives life to the study -of literature and makes it a monitor to our own soul. - -Language is the medium which carries the theme through the embodiment -to the reader. In other forms of art, as in sculpture and painting, -the embodiment stands alone and the reader must make out of it what -he can. Literature, however, is more plastic. It may represent the -change, the rate of progress or development. Language brings a vivid -image before the mind, and may give the meaning of the image in terms -of life. Literary language must be beautiful. Its interpretation must -yield aesthetic pleasure; not only aesthetic pleasure, but sensuous -pleasure also. It must caress the ear. These pleasing qualities give -rise to euphony, harmony, rhythm, and rhyme in all its pleasing forms. -It includes also alliteration and the balanced sentence. Language has -both a form side and a sense side. It is the incarnation of thought, -and the soul is indispensable to the body. Language also awakens -sensuous pleasure by stimulating the imagination and the judgment. The -connotation of language is often of more importance than the denotation. - -Now let us apply these principles more in detail to “The Vision of Sir -Launfal.” - - -THE THEME. - -The theme of the poem is charity. The foundation of charity is our -feeling of kinship. Blood kinship is a strong bond and has been in all -of man’s history. The recognition of spiritual kinship has grown out -of blood kinship. The prejudice of the Greeks against the barbarian -came from the denial of blood kinship, while they failed to recognize -the higher spiritual kinship. For the same reason the Gentile and the -Jew were enemies. Monotheism--one God, one Father of all--lies at the -foundation of all true charity. No wonder the greatest of virtues is -charity. It is - - “That thread of the all-sustaining beauty, - Which runs through all and doth all unite.” - -The theme of the poem is not apparent at first. The poet, like the -organist, begins “doubtfully and far away.” This stanza is typical of -the universal method of thought. We approach the definite through the -vague and the indefinite. The stanza has no connection with the theme -of the poem. It is simply a prelude, and serves to prepare the mood of -the reader for what follows. - -In the second stanza the theme is the unconscious rising to higher life -through the uplifting influences of nature about us--the winds, the -mountains, the woods, and the sea. - -The theme of the third stanza is the cost of earthly things contrasted -with God’s gifts. Earth gets its price; it is only heaven can be had -for the asking. The theme of the next stanza is the power of a June day -unto righteousness. The general purpose of this beautiful description -of a June day is to bring the reader to a realization of the uplifting -influences about him. The particular purpose is to furnish the -immediate connection with Sir Launfal, in whom from this time the theme -is to be embodied. Mark the highly idealized upward impulse of a June -day. Even the clod climbs upward to a soul in the grass and flowers. - -The theme in Part I., except the last stanza, is selfishness--unconscious -selfishness under the guise of a noble deed. The theme of the preceding -is continued, and shows strongly by contrast the uncharitable element -in Sir Launfal’s character. His own life was so bright his heart could -not be opened to the leper. Sorrow and reverses must touch him and -melt his selfishness. Unlike the bird, there is no song of sympathy in -the heart of Launfal, and like the castle he rebuffed the sunshine and -gloomed apart. Everything up to this point is unified in the one idea -of selfishness. The leper states this definitely. Heaven may be had -for the asking, but we rebuff the gifts of heaven as the castle does -the sunshine. Sir Launfal gives alms only; the gifts of true charity -must come from the heart. The knight rode to do a noble deed, but he -could have found the Holy Grail at his own castle gate had his heart -gone with his gift. He was seeking the husk instead of the grain. The -crusaders sought Christ by going to Jerusalem, and many yet seek Him -in the mere external ceremonies of the church. Notice how the leper -contrasts this false charity with the real: - - “But he who gives but a slender mite, - And gives to that which is out of sight, - That thread of the all-sustaining beauty, - Which runs through all and doth all unite, - The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms, - The heart outstretches its eager palms, - For a god goes with it and makes it store - To the soul that was starving in darkness before.” - -Sir Launfal has realized the false charity; he is now to grow into the -true; and that is the problem to be worked out in the life of each -individual. It is the unceasing conflict between egoism and altruism, -between the individual and the universal self. In this conflict there -is a failure to recognize the self where the true self is found. -Failing to see the divinity in things we fail to see ourselves in them. - -In the prelude to Part II. we have the inner beauty of life set over -against the external form. It requires the chilling influences of -winter to awaken the soul of Sir Launfal to the realities of life, to -enable him to recognize his kinship to the leper. His act was a small -one; little in the eyes of the world. He gave but a mouldy crust and a -drink of water, but - - “The Holy Supper is kept indeed - In whatso we share with another’s need; - Not what we give but what we share, - For the gift without the giver is bare; - Who gives himself with his alms feeds three-- - Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me.” - -If the pupils do not realize the theme, if they do not see it as -universal in time and place--as good to-day as in time of knighthood, -and as applicable to one individual as another--they have lost the -best, in fact all, of the good of the poem. If they really read the -poem they must live for the time being decidedly above the ordinary -level of charitable feeling. - - -THE EMBODIMENT. - -The theme is embodied in a person. Sir Launfal is not simply Sir -Launfal the individual, but Sir Launfal the universal. He is the -potential of what you and I may become. We know nothing and care -nothing about the ordinary events of his life. Even the most -matter-of-fact person cares nothing about when or where he was born. -Age and clime do not concern us. We are interested only in his growth -in charity. The embodiment is not Sir Launfal only, but Sir Launfal -with all his accessories, the castle, the leper, summer, winter, etc. -Sir Launfal before the castle gate, confronted by the leper, stands -boldly out in the foreground of the picture in the beginning, and -the scene must be shifted until he stands confronted by the leper -again--from June to December of life--and Sir Launfal, and not the -leper, must change. - -The heavenly influences must bring knight and leper together so that -each shall recognize their spiritual kinship, and in the beginning they -are the extremes of human life. The only ideal charity is the kind -which has power to bring together the extremes of life, to show how the -kinship in a person in the most abject and offensive condition of life. -Sir Launfal is a knight, and the sworn duty of a knight is to do good -to others and to protect and defend the weak. Here is the opportunity -to do good to one who needs help, but he fails utterly. He makes no -sacrifice in giving gold; he does not share his life; he gives the gold -in scorn. - -Sir Launfal, the proud, selfish knight, can never realize his kinship -to the leper until his selfishness is overcome, until his heart is -changed. He is uncharitable to an ideal degree, and this is still more -idealized when we consider that the June day which inspired Launfal to -the keeping of his vow was a free gift. The poet describes the June -day until the reader feels its power unto higher living. The physical -and the spiritual are blended, and to such a degree is the spiritual -idealized that the reader consciously feels the uplifting impulse. The -class that does not feel this uplifting impulse does not really read -the poem. - -The June day is called a perfect day. It is a time when earth is in -tune with higher life. Every clod feels a stir of might, and such an -idealized effect on the clod makes the reader reach and tower to a -higher life. But Sir Launfal’s selfishness makes him out of harmony -with nature all about him. The little bird, deluged with summer, sings -to the world: - - “His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, - And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings,” - -but Sir Launfal’s heart sings only to the wide world, if it sings at -all. He does not respond to the quiet duty before him. Everything -but Sir Launfal is upward striving; selfishness like a lodestone, is -holding him down. At first it seems the poem lacks unity, but a careful -study shows that the preludes have the closest relation to the theme. -The uplifting influences of the free June day makes the selfishness of -Sir Launfal all the greater. - -The castle is the embodiment of Launfal and selfishness. It, too, -was besieged by the summer, but “lay like an outpost of winter, dull -and gray.” The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang as the knight -dashed forth, but the sunshine went out of his soul with a thrill as -he beheld the leper. This picture is the embodiment of the emptiness -of the outward forms of charity--the mere almsgiving. The picture of -true charity is quite different. Sir Launfal and the leper meet again -before the same castle wall and again the leper begs an alms. The -chilling influences of life and the reverses of fortune have wrought -a change in Sir Launfal, and he now listens to the “grewsome thing.” -He recognizes in him not only a kinship, but sees in him the image -of Christ--the real Christ--while his life has been spent in seeking -only the shadow of Christ. The external contrast is as great as the -spiritual contrast. Sir Launfal is now an old, bent man. There is no -sign of Knighthood--he is “shelterless, shelterless, shelterless.” - -The description of the little brook is, if possible, more delightful -than that of the June day, and is the embodiment of Sir Launfal’s -present life. The reader feels the joy of the fullness of inner -life independent of external circumstances. The warmth and comfort -inside the castle is a striking contrast with the cold outside, and -this expresses the condition of Sir Launfal. The inner life is now -triumphant over the outer. Contrast the picture of Sir Launfal leaving -the castle, and Sir Launfal returning to the castle. In the first the -outward life is triumphant over the inner. The external world is light -with warmth and cheer. In the second it is cold and bleak and gloomy, -while the ruddy glow comes from within. This growth is typical of -the progress of the soul from the pride of youth and inexperience to -the joy of the inner spiritual life of old age. It suggests also the -historical movement from external splendor of chivalrous deeds to inner -Christlike charity; the growth from symbolism to the thing symbolized. - -The class should study the embodiment until they feel: - -1. That the picture is accurate, vivid and full. - -2. That it makes its appeal to the inner life of sympathy and love. - -3. That there is perfect harmony between the real as presented in the -picture and the ideal as potential in human nature. - - -THE LANGUAGE. - -The pupils should scan the poem to catch the music of the verse. Notice -the external mechanism, the language and its power to awaken aesthetic -pleasure. Note the freedom and variety of the structure. There is no -monotonous jingle. Rhythm is the primary element in poetic form, and -a return to it. There must be no fixed regularity in the departure -and the return. Notice the flexibility in the rhyme, as “knowing” -“growing,” “ear” “near,” “flowing,” “sky” “by,” “back” “lack,” -“chanticleer” “year,” “crowing.” - -The measure is as free and as playful as the rhyme. The iambic is the -characteristic foot, but there is frequently variations by the use of -the anapest. The trochaic foot is used occasionally at the beginning -of the line. Notice the variations running through the poem and the -variations in the length and structure of the stanzas. The more complex -the movement of a poem, provided there is unity in it, the more music -there is in it. Stanzas cut by the same form and pattern are artificial -and mechanical. - -The form of poetry, however, cannot be considered separate from the -thought and sentiment expressed. Alliteration, unless it fit the form -to the idea, is mere affectation. When the sentiment rises and falls -or moves with varying rapidity, the form of the stanza must vary. The -class should study the poem to see: - -1. If there is any conflict between the form and meaning. - -2. If the variation in form comes naturally with the variation of the -sentiment expressed. - -Suggestion and allusion are well employed in the selections. The -author utilizes the reader’s knowledge of Wordsworth’s “Intimations -of Immortality,” the Bible story of Moses and Sinai, Druid religion, -and Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King,” and he does it skillfully. He does -not thrust it at the reader, but assumes the reader’s intelligence, -and the compliment is pleasing. The poems are few where we find the -objects presented so completely and transformed into spiritual types -so perfectly. Even the clod climbs to a soul. Note the suggestiveness, -the connotation, in “reaches” and “towers,” “groping blindly” and -“climbing.” All of them suggestive of the human soul’s ascent to higher -things. - -The poem is a unit. It is “universal, ideal, emotional.” There is -complete fusion of form and content, a rounded fullness, completeness -and beauty which makes it a work of fine art. Do not let your -class leave it until they have stored their minds with beautiful -quotations--gems of thought and sentiment, jewels of expression--which -will bless and brighten and uplift them in after years. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE TEACHER’S VACATION. - - -Your school term has closed. Vacation is here. How shall you spend it? -That is the question. - -Rest. That is the proper thing to do. Rest does not mean idleness, -however. Why are you tired? The merchant works twelve months in the -year, six days in the week and more hours in a day than you do? The -farmer, the mechanic and others do the same. They are glad to get -a week off once a year, and many of them do not get that. Why are -teachers so completely worn out at the close of the term? Why are -they so pale, so nervous? Why do they so often count the weeks, then -the days, and at last the hours before the term ends? Is there a -teacher of five years’ experience who has not at some time been guilty -of such counting? Is it the hard work? Is it the lack of agreeable -surroundings? Is it want of pure air and exercise, or is it worry? - -Freed from anxiety, and to the lover of the work, teaching is neither -dull nor exhausting. The actual mental energy spent in teaching by -most teachers is not great. It is seldom that they give long continued -mental effort to one subject during school hours. In fact, the worst -drawback to teaching to one who seeks to be a scholar in the best sense -of the term, is that his attention is continually divided. He cannot -concentrate his mind on one subject long enough. He must divide his -time between government and the teaching process. For this reason, -those who wish to be scholars rather than teachers seek to teach in -the universities rather than in the primary or secondary schools. Here -they may specialize. Here their class work is free from government -proper. Their students are mature. The mature thought of the student -stimulates the teacher and the investigator. They are growing into ripe -scholarship instead of directing younger pupils in the elements of -subjects. - -We may safely say it is not the unusual amount of thought devoted to -teaching that gives pallor to the cheek of so many teachers at the -close of the year, nor do we believe it is altogether due to unpleasant -surroundings. School houses are in many places far from inviting. -Two or three churches with stained glass windows and pretty homes of -comfort and refinement are often found near the most dilapidated old -tumbled-down school house, and a shame it is. But the teacher who -is master of the situation and a leader of children, can do much to -overcome this. Clean buildings and grounds with some good walks and a -few trees and flowers will follow as a result of a good teacher after a -few years in almost any school. - -The teacher, too, usually secures room and board with a good family -where they may have comforts equal or superior to their own home. -Teachers are always welcome to the best society--it may not be the -low-necked, high-heeled variety--but the best and most substantial. -The best homes welcome them as guests and the biggest fat apples are -laid--an honest and worthy tribute--on the teacher’s desk. Churches -and societies in rural and village schools always welcome the teacher -with pleasure, and the teacher is lacking in mixing qualities who -does not get access to all the comforts and pleasures the community -affords. Their standards may not be your standards, but their honesty -and unconventionality will make up for much. One of the inexpressible -pleasures of teaching comes when you can lose your own selfishness -in your own quiet devotion to duty in the community. The worn-out -condition of the teacher, if she has the ability to adapt herself -to reasonable conditions, does not come from lack of congenial -surroundings. - -Lack of fresh air and exercise may count for much. Many school-rooms -are poorly ventilated. Teachers standing breathe more impurities than -pupils seated. The windows should be slightly lowered at the top and -the room frequently flushed with fresh air for the benefit of both -teachers and pupils. Then most teachers do not take enough exercise. -Do you play at recess? Whether it is advisable to play with your -pupils or not depends upon your own power. Can you play with pupils -without sacrificing or compromising your dignity? Some persons can, and -others cannot. Some gain the good will of pupils by playing with them, -others lose it. You must know your own ability. Games in which you -can excel usually count in your favor. Games in which the pupils can -greatly excel you, are not apt to add to your standing or reputation -among pupils. But whether you play or do not play you should spend an -hour or two each day in exercise in the open air. A brisk walk to the -postoffice, an hour of work in the garden or with flowers, or the care -of chickens or anything which gives you exercise in the open air and -calls your thoughts from the work of the day is beneficial. The work -must be congenial, but the labor must not be so strenuous as to sap -your vitality. It should be of everyday occurrence, and yet so that in -extremely bad weather the time may be shortened. An hour of work in the -open air in something in which you have a genuine interest will put -life and vigor into your school work. - -Worry kills. Relieved of all worry, the teaching profession would be -ideal, and yet worry springs almost all together from the imagination. -The teacher goes to school in the morning scared for fear of trouble. -A feeling of dread that something is going to go wrong, that some -calamity is about to befall, hangs over the teacher. She fears to look -out of the window or to step out on the playground for dread she will -see something wrong. It is this dread, this feeling that something -awful is going to happen, this worry which causes the pale face and the -nervous condition of the teacher at the close of school. - -Then so many teachers never get the confidence of their school. They -are looking for open defiance or open rebellion at any minute. They -prowl about to find something going wrong. They tip-toe and sneak on -the pupils, confident always that pupils are plotting against them. It -is no wonder that pupils delight in annoying such a teacher. They stop -the recitation time after time to reprimand Johnnie in the back part -of the room. They pace the floor like a hyena in a cage, looking for -trouble. Let me suggest that if Johnnie is disturbing the recitation -to such an extent that something must be done that you let Johnnie do -the walking instead of yourself, and let your rebuke or punishment -be severe enough, and sincere enough, and complete enough, and yet -reasonable enough, that you will never have to stop the recitation -again to reprimand him. - -Good common sense and self-control should be brought to bear on your -duties, and as an aid in making steady your nerves. As responsible as -the school-room is, pupils are not going to run off with the building. -Neither are they going to do anything unpardonably bad. Their youthful -faults and follies will be forgotten by you, and the neighborhood -too, in a few years. So what is the use of wasting the nervous force -and energy which ought to be directed towards the teaching process in -needless worry for fear something will happen. - -You ask, “How can I help it?” You can help it: - - _1. Use your will to control your mind._--You have read of the - soldier who found his knees trembling. Stopping short and - looking at them he said: “If you knew where I was going to - take you you would shake worse than that.” By centering his - mind upon other things he gained control of his shaking - knees. You, by exerting your will, may learn to calm your - fears. - - _2. A large part of your nervousness comes from feeling that - you are not well prepared for the work._--You fear that - something will come up which you do not understand. You - are not right sure whether you can answer the questions - you are going to ask the class in to-day’s lesson. You - feel that the problems and questions of the school-room - are going to come to you as a surprise. The best remedy - for this is to study and plan and organize your knowledge - of the subject; to read carefully and critically but with - discrimination the plans, methods, devices and experiences - of other teachers. These may be found in journals and books - on methods and plans of teaching. - - _3. Your vacation, while they should be free from worry and - unnecessary work, may be seeding time for storing up - many helpful things which will prevent worry in the - future._--Read a few good thoughtful professional books. - Question the plans and methods mentioned. Make clippings - of those things which will help you in the future, and - keep them in scrap-books, classifying these that you may - readily turn to any topic wanted. What stores of knowledge, - what amount of worry may thus be avoided by planning for - the future. Not only this, the planning itself will give - pleasure as its own reward at the time, with compound - interest in the future. Think over and plan and systematize - your work. Yes, I hear you say that you cannot plan then - so that you can use it the next year. You must revise your - plans, it is true. A plan is much more easily revised than - constructed anew. No teacher can use a plan over and over - without revision or adaptation to the individual class. - But during vacation is the time to make collections of - material, storehouses as it were, to interest your class - for next year. - - _4. Do not neglect the rest and recreation and inspiration that - comes from a week at the county institute or a few weeks - at a good summer school._--The acquaintances made, the - inspiration received, the thought-producing ideas gained, - and the feeling of professional fellowship engendered is - worth many times its cost. With a vacation rightly used you - may come out of your next school term with more energy and - more physical strength. - -It is the worry of the school-room that kills. Teachers must overcome -the worrying habit or succumb to its baneful influence. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE TEACHER’S VIEW OF LIFE. - - -Of all the things that indirectly affect your teaching, as well as -your own personal happiness, nothing is of such importance as your -view of life. It gives coloring to your every act. It is a background -from which other things must take their tint. It shapes your views -and determines your actions unconsciously upon hundreds of the less -important things of life. It makes you a long-faced pessimist, sour and -grouchy, or it makes you an optimist, bright and cheery. - -One’s view of life is not always entirely his own choosing. Health, -family, friends, success, may affect your view of life and in turn -be affected by this same view of life, but your view of life can be -consciously cultivated. You are what you are from three sources. - -First, your inheritance. Color, race, nationality, physical features, -natural talent, etc., are not of our own choosing. These are for us -or against us. We are bound by these fetters and yet we cannot be -held morally accountable for them. They determine in a greater or -lesser degree our future in many things. Our moral responsibility -would make it our duty to accept without pride or regret, without -boasting or apology, without compliment or complaint, our God-given, -parent-inherited possibilities. From these we are to make the best -we can. - -Second, You are what you are from your environment. In no marked -measure are we responsible for our environment in early life. While it -leaves its indelible traces on us, it is not of our own choosing. No -man is individually responsible for his own birthplace nor boyhood -home. Whether in the busy marts of trade or the seclusion of a frontier -farm, whether in primitive Patagonia or gay Paris--it may affect his -life and ideas and attainments, but for this there is little credit due -him as an individual because it was not of his own choosing. - -The potent influence of environment and opportunity on the individual -is the hope of the teacher and the reformer. To improve this the state -spends its millions upon schools, education, good roads, mail service, -sanitation, etc. The great reformers of the ages have been true to -their highest ideals because of their faith in their ability to improve -the conditions of the masses of mankind. Our schools and reformatories -are based upon the same faith. We can improve the race by improving -the environment of the young. A careful study and contemplation of the -effects of improved environment upon the life of the individual should -nerve any teacher to the highest effort. - -Third. You are what you are largely by your own efforts. The mature man -should be self-directive. Circumstances, inheritance and environment -may limit him, but he grows in strength and courage in fighting -and overcoming this environment. The ripened fruit of education is -intelligent individual self-direction. It is the aim and end of a -liberal education. It is the goal to which all else in education should -direct. - -We believe, then, that it is possible for the individual--the thinking, -liberal-minded individual, the teacher trained to see not only the -highest ideals of education but to understand the principles and laws -of mental growth to attain such ideals--we believe that it is possible -for such a person to shape in a very large measure his view of life. -Upon the way he looks at life depends largely his health, happiness and -success. - -“As a man thinketh, so is he.” This has been the thought of the great -religious reformers of the ages. Buddha and Christ, and all that go -between, agree in this one particular. They differ in what to believe, -but all agree that one’s innermost belief shapes and determines his -life and final reward. With Milton, I believe that “mind can make a -hell of heaven or a heaven of hell.” With these statements let us -see if we can make more clear how one’s view of life will enter the -practical affairs of the teacher and make for them of teaching either a -paradise or purgatory. - -Contrast these views of farming--the first a farmer only; the second -a man on a farm. The one is narrowed in his view of life to his cabin -and forty acres. Each day is a ceaseless grind. The old statement that -there is nothing new under the sun is true so far as he is concerned. -His soul and life are dwarfed and swiveled. He ekes out a miserable -pittance day by day. Growling and miserly and grudgingly he makes -his simple exchanges at the country store. He haggles, and frets and -stews over prices, seeking a low and sinister motive in every man’s -transaction but his own. Of all men he thinks himself the most besought -and hard pressed. Day after day he spends in absolute idleness because -he can find nothing worth doing. His cattle, his corn and his surplus -supplies are so many cents saved for the winter’s clothing. The weeds -grow up to his front door, his fences are unkept, his stables are -falling down, and from the broken window panes hang “the signal rags of -shiftlessness.” Life holds for him no hope save the sordid things of -life. Narrowed and dwarfed and ignorant he goes his ceaseless round. -No beauty for him in the sky overhead or in the flower at his feet. -The storm cloud appeals only as it may break the drouth or blow down -the crops. His thoughts and his vocabulary are bounded by his daily -ceaseless round of small economies. Healthy, hearty, his view of life -is so narrow that what God intended for a man is little more than a -thing. - -His neighbor measures all by its market value. The money it will -bring--this to him would measure anything less than a soul and would -tempt him to sell his soul. He buys land to raise corn to feed hogs to -buy more land to raise more corn to feed more hogs; to buy more land -to raise more corn to feed more hogs to buy more land and thus the -endless possession goes until he is gathered to his fathers and his -children have a chance to spend his earnings often in riotous living. -His view of life is broader than the first. He learns that there is a -difference in the quality of corn and hogs. To produce continuous crops -he must protect and build up the land. The stock of hogs and the care -they get make a difference in the profits. His view of life is bounded -by the almighty dollar. He is not hopeless, as he has interests outside -himself. - -Contrast these with the man of liberal mold on the farm. The farm is -to him his apportioned part of God’s green earth, a place to live and -to be happy. An ever-changing scene and view makes life on the farm -to him a continuous panorama of beauty. The blueness of the sky, the -brightness of the stars, the balmy breezes, the landscape view, even -the heat of summer and the cold of winter add zest to his living. He is -ever thankful for sunshine or showers, pure air and fresh water, health -and exercise--thankful that his is an environment of taste and beauty. -He is busy and he is happy. His mind is centered on other things but -the dollars, and the comforts come as a side line and without worry or -fretting on his part. He rises with the lark to give another touch -here and there that will add to the growing of the crops or the beauty -of the home. He feels that by his labor he is not only keeping his wife -and family but helping to feed the hungry millions of mankind. - -What a difference in the spirit of the man who feels that he is feeding -the hungry millions of the earth, helping in God’s great plan of -civilization and enlightenment and the miserable miser who seeks but -shade and shelter! - -Your view of life changes the complexion of the things about you. It -puts spirit and energy into the most humdrum tasks. A necessary work -is an honorable work. Do that which your ability and your environment -makes necessary. Do it with cheerfulness and a will. Envy no man his -success until you are willing to pay for it what he has paid. By paying -the price you can win success for yourself. But success is not always -measured in dollars and cents. Teach yourself to view life and labor -in its broader light, and you will have found the philosopher’s stone -that dignifies labor well done, and draws pleasure from any honorable -occupation. - -To deify your own work is the way to get pleasure and growth out of it. -Forget as far as possible the daily wage. Let the carpenter see himself -helping to build and improve the homes of mankind and he is ashamed of -shoddy work. The street sweeper should glow with civic pride. His work -is as essential as that of any man. When he realizes this, his work is -then not drudgery. He feels the worth of his work. He feels that he is -making his city the cleanest, the brightest, the healthiest and the -most beautiful in the world. When he turns at the end of his beat to -see behind him a street immaculate, there swells in him a worthy pride -of his work and his worth, a thrill as pardonable and as justifiable -as that in the mayor’s breast as he reviews his uniformed police. -The teamster with his load of coal, dirty and begrimed though he may -be, should forget his toil and drudgery in the conviction that he is -helping humanity to keep warm while in turn he is earning an honest -living and the comforts of home for himself and family. - -Let the washerwoman, bending over her tub, feel that her work is not -only honorable, but necessary. Except for her, or others doing her -work, humanity in a few months time would be in a pitiful plight, and -our present civilization could not long exist. Dignify your own little -niche in life. See in all things the hand of an infinite power, shaping -and directing the destiny of man and then no work will be drudgery to -you. - -You get out of life what you put into it. Measure and it is measured -back to you. Joy, sunshine, cheerfulness, obedience, these are -reflections of yourself. The brightest colors, the most beautiful -harmonies, are self-created products of your own mind. We see what we -look for, we hear what we listen for, we get what we give. We must -lose our life in our work if we are to find it again renewed and more -fruitful in the lives of our pupils. Love our pupils and they will love -us in return. See good in everybody and the goodness in them will rise -up then to greet the goodness in us. Have beauty in our own life and we -shall see beauty in the life about us--the rainbow, the storm cloud, -the landscape, the sparrow’s song, the brooklet’s ripple, will all find -an inspiring response in our natures. - -Grouch and the world is grouchy. Fault-find and others will find -fault. Distrust and others will not have confidence in us. The world -and all things about us is one huge mirror from which our own image -is being reflected back to us. If we want to change the image begin -to consciously build up in ourselves a bigger, brighter, better view -of life and we shall begin to see bigger, brighter, better images -reflected back to us. - -As a teacher learn to look on life with a healthy optimism. Get -a world view of humanity in its progress. Recognize yourself as -a force--infinitely small perhaps, but a necessary force in the -triumphant march. Dollars and cents are necessary to you to fill to -perfection this place--but over and above all money, sweeter and -more lasting, is the lives you can reach, the good you can do, the -pleasure you can inspire, the kindlier feelings you can cultivate in -your pupils. Cheered, upheld, inspired by such thoughts as these, no -community will be uninteresting, no school will be unworthy your best -efforts, no healthy, hearty, happy child but will stand before you an -instrument of infinite possibilities. Knowing what notes to strike you -can place it in harmony with God and the universe. - -To see life in its larger views, to live life on a higher plane, to -lift others to this larger life is the opportunity of the true teacher. -Think you that teaching is dull? - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -The text from the original publication from which this eBook was derived -has been retained as published specifically where: - - • the text appears to be missing a number of articles and prepositions - • in several instances, subject and verb are not in agreement - • some apostrophes for ownership are missing - • inconsistencies appear between chapter headings and the body text - • there are anomalies in punctuation - -Fractions on pages 63 and 143 have also been retained as printed in the -original publication, i.e. 62 1-2, 1-12, 18-12 and 1 1-2. - -The following changes have been made: - - Page 87 - ignominously in the contest _changed to_ - ignominiously in the contest - - Page 95 - as a pleasant workship _changed to_ - as a pleasant workshop - - Page 128 - will be his adaptibility _changed to_ - will be his adaptability - - Page 135 - a word is missed the the next below _changed to_ - a word is missed the next below - - Page 139 - No communicaton is allowed _changed to_ - No communication is allowed - - Pages 156 and 164 - Idyls of the King _changed to_ - Idylls of the King - - Page 156 - Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” _changed to_ - Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables” - - Page 157 - and the soul is indispensible _changed to_ - and the soul is indispensable - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTY TALKS TO TEACHERS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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