«p^H*p?!flap»|i?^ ?jpfflP»^M«Wp5^^ Class, Book L3±ns Gop}Tight}i^.- CDFffilGHT DEPOSm GUIDE - POSTS FOR THE SCHOOL ROOM FOR Institutes, Normal Schools, Reading Circles and Self-Instruction of Teachers but Es- pecially Intended for Young, Inex- perienced Country Teachers BY JUDGE BUXTOiN ROBERTSON ■A Graduate of the University of North Carolina; A Country Teacher A City TeQcher; A City Superintendent; A County Superintendent Copyright, 1918, by J. B. ROBBRTSON ^:&/. 'TT6 7 PRESS OF BURLINGTON PRINTING CO. BURLINGTON. N. C. OCT 14 1918 ©GI.A5()615r) TO THOSE TEACHERS WHO HAVE TAUGHT IN ALAMANCE COUNTY. NORTH CAROLINA WITHIN THE PAST ONE-HALF DOZEN YEARS AND WHO HAVE GIVEN THE AUTHOR DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY MUCH OF THE INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION FOR THIS LITTLE BOOK IT IS FRATERNALLY DEDICATED ''True worth is in being, not seeming,— In doing each day that goes by Some little good — not in dreaming Of great things to do by and by. For whatever men say in blindness, And spite of the fancies of youth, There's nothing so kingly as kindness. And nothing so royal as truth." — Alice Gary. Contents^ Chapter Page I. The School Grounds 11 II. The School Room and Its Equipment 17 III. Making Ready For The Opening 23 IV. The Daily Program 27 V. The Teacher 34 VI. The Assignment of The Lesson 39 VII. Teaching The Lesson 44 VIII. Two Kinds of Books 49 IX. Playtime and How to Use It 52 X. Discipline 58 XI. The School and Its Environment 65 XII. The Final Function of The School 69 APPENDIX I. Practical Precepts 79 II. Mottoes For The School 83 Thou must be true thyself If thou the truth wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another soul wouldst reach; It needs the overflow of the heart To give the lips full speech. Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed. — Horatius Bonar. preface To present in a very plain and practical way those fundamental principles and those vital problems that are most essential for the teacher's success, is the pur- pose of this book. We have, therefore, intentionally avoided the use of technical terms known only to the scientist and scholar; and we purposely have not gone into a detailed discussion of fine-spun theories. But our effort has been to discuss those prominent principles of teaching, and those important, though problematic pro- cesses of every day work in the school that must be met and solved. It has been our plan to place guide-posts with pointing hands along the teacher's road, to direct her along the main highways of teaching that will lead her to success. If what has been said in this little volume renders to the teachers who read it such saving service, it shall have fulfilled the measure of its mis- sion. The Author. Burlington, N. 0. January 2, 1918. Oh, may I be strong and brave, today! And may I be kind and true, And greet all men in a gracious way, And put good things in the things I say. And love in the deeds I do. — Nixon Waterman. 1 THE SCHOOL GKOUNBS EVERY picture has its background; every story has its setting; and every school must have its campus or grounds. The school site should be selected not only near the center of population, and to take advantage of the convenience of roads, but it should be selected so as to have high and dry grounds that are reasonably level, and large enough for every need. The works of art can do much to overcome what is wanting in nature in a school site if a mistake is made in the selection, but let not such a large and last- ing mistake be made in the beginning when nature has been so fruitful in plenishing the earth with beautiful sites. Since no definite site has been selected for us and cannot be at this time, it is not within the province of the writer to locate and construct the different grounds and buildings. But we hope to set up such guide- posts as will warrant the right start and give such in- structions as will answer general questions. After the proper site has been selected, and selected large enough, every ground needed on the school cam- 11 12 Guide Posts For The School Room pus, every appurtenance belonging to the school — the school house seat, the well, the wood house, the out house, the ball ground, the tennis court, the walks, the drives, the grass plots, the flower beds — should all be seen clearly and located in the mind of some one be- fore the work is begun. Otherwise the whole may be marred in the very beginning by locating and placing one in the wrong place. A story is told of two boys who went early to bed; and soon Jim called to the taother to make Tom "lay over" and give him his half of the bed. Jim called his mother again for the same purpose. Tom replied that he did not have but half of the bed. Jim said, "Yes, but you have your half right in the middle so I can't get my half." If the school house were located in the middle of the site when it should not have been, it doubtless would re- main a mistake regardless of "ma" and ''pa" and all the neighbors. Therefore, select the place for every- thing and all things before anything is placed or built. The school house should be located so as to take care of its own interests and leave room for other things. Unless the grounds are large it does not leave room for other things to place the house in the center of the grounds. If the grounds are large, the center might be the proper place. The house should not be too far away nor too close to the road or street. If it is too close the work of the school will be disturbed by the travel and traffic. If it is too far away from the high- way, it makes the school difficult of access and it fails to have the prominence as a silent teacher that its im- The School Grounds 13 portanee deserves. All ideal of form and all demand for symmetry and beauty ask that the house be set square with the world or straight with the road or street. The latter demand, to set with the highway, is the more imperative because the highway is seen for the comparison of the eye and then it is what marks the range and run of other things — the sidewalks, the fences, the plots, etc. To find a house setting corner- wise to all these things is to produce an uncomfortable feeling on any one who has in his make-up the slightest demand for the aesthetic and beautiful. And the wood house, the well house and every building that is seen to view should be lined up with some other building or road or walk or something that is near it, so as to fit the place it occupies and to be in place and harmony with its neighbors. I have never seen a pig pen at a school house, but I heard some teachers speaking not long since of getting a pig for the school so as to use the wasted fragments from dinner and thus teach economy and make a few dollars for the school by growing the pig into a hog. I encouraged the idea for I believe it worthy of practice. And if I were going to build a pig pen at school or anywhere I would want it built in line and in harmony with the other things about it. No child or set of chil- dren can afford to have their sense of order and beauty dulled and damaged by such a constant scene of dis- order and incompatibility of arrangement. There are few things that should be as closely con- sidered and as carefully guarded as the water we drink. 14 Guide Posts Fof. The School Room If the water we drink is impure it means that we are constantly taking impurities into our system. A spring is a good source of pure water if it is properly protect- ed. But this ''if" is a large one. The location of a spring subjects it to the filth and impurities of the vicin- ity — it being in about the lowest place. Most springs have the circular ditch around them for protection. And most of these ditches are neglected. In many cases the foot path going to the spring treads down the ditch and leads the overflow directly into the spring. A well is preferable to a spring. The well should be arranged so the surface water runs away from the well instead of running to the well. In addition to this the well should have a cement top to keep out all surface water. For school purposes a pump is better than a bucket. When a bucket is used the constant opening offers the well as a receptacle for trash; and then the children handle the bucket and rope or chain with dirty, contaminated hands and send them, again down into the water. Out-houses have been much neglected in our rural schools. They are not only a convenience but an ab- solute necessity. The exposure of both sexes at all ages due to the want of them is a generator of immorality. We often speak of the colored race having a low stand- ard of virtue. Any race that lives in a crowded con- dition as the colored race, where all sexes and all ages are housed together and exposed to each other, will have a low standard of virtue and morality, no matter what the color may be — black, brown, or white. Then the out-houses are ■ not onlv actual necessities and con- The School Grounds 15 veniences, but without them we defeat in a very seri- ous way the purpose of the school. Another neglected necessity at the school is the wood house. Most of our schools are taught in the winter season when the weather is cold. This means we must have fuel of some kind. With the winter weather comes rain and snow — sometimes for days and weeks without ceasing. The wood, without the wood house, is wet and unsuited for the fire. Think how much work and worry there may be and exposure to diseases, robbing the school of time if half an hour or an hour is taken each day on account of wet wood. A wood house that will cost a very little will save the time and trouble. After the grounds have been planned and plotted and buildings all erected, the next thing to do is to keep the grounds clean and in order. Did you ever realize when traveling that you were nearing a school house because you found heaps of scrap paper along the high- Yi^ay for half a mile? And wiien you reached the school you found the grounds littered with paper, the wood pile and the ash pile near the front door, both in the edge of a brush pile, and several shade trees hacked in an ugly fashion? If you have seen this sight, I hope you may never see it again. It is just the opposite of what should greet you at the school house. The grounds should be kept free from such litter and rubbish all the time. And on approaching the school grounds you and every child should have that refined feeling for better tilings that comes from looking on clean yards, beauti- ful trees, edged walks, and well-kept grass plots and 16 Guide Posts For The School Room flowers There is nothing more demoralizing than bad- ly kept premises. There is nothing more inspiring and refining than well-kept premises. We are a part of all that we see. II THE SCHOOL: EOOM AND ITS EQUIPMENT THE school room should be large enough to con- tain a certain number of rows of desks with sufficient aisles on each side of every row and without wasted space. If double desks are used a space six feet wide should be provided for each row. In other words a room should be twenty-four feet w^ide to contain four rows of desks, eighteen feet to contain three rows of double desks. If single desks are used, four feet should be provided for each row, in order to have ample room. On this basis the room twenty-four feet wide would seat six rows. In seating a given room with single desks, you cannot seat nearly as many pupils as seen by the num- ber of rows of desks. However, the single desks are preferable for proficient service, but not from the standpoint of economy of space or economy of cost. A given style of desk that costs $3.00 for double, the single costs about $2.40, and seats only half as many. The school room should be so constructed, and the desks so placed that the light comes from one side (pre- ferably the left) or the back or the left and back both. 17 18 Guide Posts For The School Room Cross lights are injurious to the eye and should not be in a school room. In no event should the desks be ar- ranged so the student looks directly toward a window; but on the other hand the desks should be arranged so that the students' eyes rest upon some wall or shaded surface. This leads us to consider the walls of the room and the interior patiiting. The appearance of the inside of the school room should claim our special attention. How deadening and dangerous is the dark and dirty school room ! How inspiring and refining is the painted well- kept room, decorated with suitable pictures. Let the necessary cleaning always precede decoration. There should be in each room some prevailable color scheme. If this is not easily carried out in full it should be kept in the main b}^ avoiding anything with a color that is entirely out of harmony. If the room is properly lighted, (the window space equaling one-sixth to one- fourth the floor space) a light gra^^ or light green is one of the best colors. A light green is preferable. A soft white is good where and only where much light is de- sired. Select pictures to suit the grade and the kind of work that is done. Select pictures to suit the life of the grade or grades of pupils, and pictures that lead into the life that you want the students to live. Pictures teach. A story is told that a mountain boy went to sea, and very much against his mother's will. She lamented and lamented his going. She not only regretted his going, but she was puzzled to know why he wanted to go. She The School Room and Its Equipment 19 soliloquized: ''Why did my mountain boy want to go to sea?" And she gazed upon the wail of her room as she sorrowed and only to see a picture of a ship with sails set and tossing upon a surging sea. The explana- tion was found. Pictures teach. Be careful in their selection. No picture should go up because it is a pic- ture only. It should have some merit. Its merits should be explained and known and admired and appreciated. Good taste never overdoes anything. Too many pic- tures can be put into a room. Too many pictures can be put into an art gallery. Certainly too many can be put into a school room. Select some, not too many, arrange them from the student 's point of view, and not the teacher's. Nothing is better for school room walls than well- chosen mottoes and epigrams.* They impress great truths upon the minds of the children that are never forgotten. They often become principles that reign in the mind and rule the life for good forever. No normal person can come face to face with a fundamental truth so concisely and so clearly stated that it lingers in the mind without being benefitted. Let the walls of every school room be feeders of truth as well as the books, by bearing in bold type beautiful and aptly chosen truths. All modern school rooms must be amply provided with blackboards to do effective work. The teacher must have room to demonstrate her work to the pupil and the pupil must have room also to put his work where all may see and learn. The blackboards should *See chapter II of appendix. 20 Guide Posts For The School Room be at the front of the room and as nearly to the front as can be. Hyloplate, which is a pulp material about three-eighths of an inch in thickness, with a smooth surface, is one of the best and one of the most used boards. It is sold at about one dollar per square yard. Slated cloth, which is not so good, can be bought for about one-half the cost of hyloplate. If you have a smooth wall you can paint a board black with black- board paint that will give you fair service at a minimum cost. One dollar's worth of blackboard paint that can be secured in almost any town will paint board enough for the average school room or more. Eostrums are often not used in school rooms. But by the use of a rostrum a teacher can see more and save energy — a commodity very much in demand. A port- able rostrum is usually the most practical. This type can be suited to different needs. For example : The rostrums in a building, if portable, may be collected and formed into one large rostrum for special occasions. Every school room should have its windows weighted and provided with shades. This is especially true of windows exposed to the southern light. Northern light is preferable for a school room, as it is free from the bright glare of the sun. But to regulate the light of the room properly, all windows should be shaded. If the room is improperly lighted by having cross lights, the teacher can offset the bad effects by keeping the shades down on one side of the room — especially those near the front. Window shades are very important and cost very little. The School Room and Its Equii»ment 21 The stove, if a stove must be used, should be selected with regard to the size of the room. It is often custom- ary to put the stove in the center of the room. To lo- cate the stove in the center of the room does not econo- mize space. It economizes space to locate the stove be- tween the desks and the teacher's place or at the rear of the room. It is economy of money to buy a cast iron stove instead of a sheet iron heater. The heater will cost half as much and will not, as a rule, last one-fourth as long. Ever.y stove pipe should be made as long as possible to increase the radiation in the room and to decrease the danger of destro^'ing the house by fire. No stove should have its pipe leading directly to a flue right over it — and especially where the ceiling is low. In- crease the length of your pipe, put in a damper and thus increase your heat and decrease danger. A stove box was the old means used for protecting the floor from the fire in the stove. And how often it was the recipient of all the trash — hulls, paper, bis- cuits, bones — and a sight 1?p behold it wasv and "altogether dirty. It was the cuspidor of the school ; and it was a genuine germ generator generally at work. If a stove box is to be used it should be kept clean. I would rec- ommend sheet iron instead of the box. A waste box, or better, a waste basket should be part of the equipment of every school room. Let it be pass- ed twice or three times a day to collect the students^ waste paper and in this way keep the paper from be- ing scattered on the floor. 22 Guide Posts For The School Boom To help keep down dust, and hence to render the room more clean and sanitary, and to make sweeping easier, and to avoid the spread of diseases, oil the floor of the school room. Few if any other sort of living rooms are subjected to so much dust as the school room. Each pupil brings in a certain amount of dirt to be dried into dust. Desks become dirty, books and hands soiled, and disease germs go flying on their deadly mis- sion. Offset these effects and render sweeping easy by oiling the floor. Four gallons of oil will be worth many dollars in preventing dust, protecting property and pre- serving life. ni MAKIHG READY FOR THE OPENING THERE is much truth in the ancient adage, ''Well begun is half done." Some one has asked the question: "When should you begin to train a child?" The answer most generally accepted is: "One hundred years before it is born." Many other signi- ficant truths might be recited to emphasize the value of a good beginning and the importance of beginning in time. ''Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'it might have been.' " Often there have been sad failures by not starting in time. No teacher young or old, can afford to take chances on beginning a school term too late by not "Making ready for the opening." To take such a chance fre- quently means to meet defeat in the face when you do begin. Every teacher should go to the community in which she is to teach several days before the opening 23 24 Guide Posts For The School Room and make ready. She should secure the school census and locate and learn every pupil and every patron be- fore the opening day. A good plan would be fo^ her to take the census. But if she does not do this, she should make just as close canvas of the district. It may not be a part of the teacher's duty to set the house in order ready for the opening. But no teacher can afford to let the opening day come without the house in order. The house should be ready, clean, in- viting, and inspiring the very Jfirst day. It is so neces- sary that the pupils be taken into a room of this kind the first morning, that no teacher can afford not t > make sure that the house has been set in order for the opening day. Visit the Superintendent. Get the information he has about the past year and the instruction he has for the coming year. Carry from the office the old and the new record books. Learn what has been done and thus determine what is to be done. Ascertain as far as pos- sible the names of all the children who will be present the first day. With this list and last yearns register the school can be fairly well graded and a tentative pro- gram can be made before the school opens. All this will enable the teacher to make the first day's work effective, save the day, and make the proper impression for all time. Nothing inspires hope and confidence in the teacher more than for her to know that she has her work well in hand. Nothing impresses the student body for good more than to feel that the teacher is master of the situ- Making RexVdy For The Opening 25 ation. If the teacher has made herself chief by mak- ing all things ready, she has started a force for good that will be felt through the entire school. There are two things that are indispensable for suc- cessful teaching — a knowledge of the subject, and a knowledge of the child. The teacher must begin to teach the child where he is and nowhere else. She must know his environment, the content and condition of his mind in order to know what and how to teach him. For the teacher to attempt to teach the child without this information is like the business man trying to take charge of a business and run it without a knowledge of his stock; or like the doctor who treats his patient without any diagnosis — it is uncertain and dangerous. The inventory can be made for the teacher by her visit- ing the pupils and this should be done before the open- ing. How to secure and hold attendance is one of the most significant problems confronting school teachers today. In many good counties in North Carolina and other states the enrollment is only about 75 per cent of the census. The average attendance is only about 50 per cent of the census. Attendance is a big problem and an important problem, and I know of nothing that will go so far toward solving it as early and continual visita- tion of parents on the part of the teacher. Visit the patrons to make ready for the opening. Visitation of parents makes the teacher ready for the opening again by preparing her against the evil day. A noted educator tells an interesting story on himself, 26 Guide Posts For The School Koom how he began the work of the pedagogue soon after the Civil War. As he was young he taught as he had been taught, namely, "If you don't come to the mark, I'll use the rod." The first day he said he whipped six- teen. The second day thirty-two (mothers and fathers) were going to whip him. He concluded the story by saying that after he went around and visited those peo- ple, ate with them and talked with them, that many of them became his warm friends. If visitation makes friends out of rash enemies, how much more safe and ef- fective it would have been, had it been used as a preven- tion instead of a cure. Nine-tenths and more of the dif- fiulties between individuals and among people come from a misunderstanding. If we understood people, if we knew them as they are, we would love them better and appreciate their efforts more. The conduct of those who are in our favor is nearly always right and proper with us, while the conduct of those who are out of our favor is always wrong and improper, and our apprecia- tion of a deed is measured by our estimation of the doer. So in making ready for the opening, visit. It will teach you about the pupils with whom you must deal; it will help you to secure and hold attendance and it will prepare you for passing the rough places by plac- ing you in favor and understanding with the parents. . 3y THE DAILY PEOGEAM A DAILY program is a plan of procedure. It tells us who, where, when, and what. With it each class and grade Imows what to do and when and where. It is a guide to system and order and work. E^ch and every school should have a well planned and well developed daily program. The following program will be suggestive and may render us aid in a more de- tailed consideration of parts and mechanism: 8:30 Opening exercises 8:45 Phonics Second grade number work Third grade number work Fourth grade arithmetic I^'ifth grade arithmetic Sixth grade arithmetic Seventh grade arithmetic Writing or drawing — All grades 10:15 Eecess 10:30 Fifth grade sanitation Phonic drill or word drill 27 28 Guide Posts For The School Room First grade reader ^ Second grade reader Third grade reader Fourth grade reader Fifth grade History Sixth grade History Seventh grade History General exercises 12:00 Dinner 1:00 Sixth grade agriculture Phonic drill First reader and Language Second reader and Language Third reader and Langauge Fourth grammar Fifth grammar Sixth grammar Seventh grammar 2:30 Recess 2:45 Phonic drill (Spelling) Seventh grade civil government First grade reader (Nature study) Fourth grade geography Fifth grade geography Sixth grade geography Seventh grade geography Spelling off the book (2nd and 3rd grades) Spelling off the book (4th and 5th grades) Spelling off the book (6th and 7th grades) 4:00 Dismissal Daily Program For The School Room 29 Now let us give some reasons for the faith that is with- in us. The teacher should not only know the who where, when, and what, but she should know the why and he able to give the reason. First the reader will observe our program as outlined starts with an opening exercise, a very important item often omitted. Nothing can be right unless it starts right. A school day's program does not start right and is not right unless it starts with an opening exercise. The discussion of the opening exercise alone is the work of a whole volume ; and here we can only call attention to its place and importance. For a full discussion of its worth and make-up see Educational Bulletin XI Opening Exercise for Public Schools in North Carolina. This entire program is planned with the view to one teacher, but by increasing the number of teachers we can divide and decrease the number of recitations and increase the length of time for each recitation. If more than one teacher is in a given school, then we recom- mend that the opening exercise be held jointly or to- gether about half the time, and by individual rooms half the time. In the individual rooms we can adapt the exercises to the grade of the pupils and thus make our exercises far more instructive. But in having the exercise this way we lose that larger spirit of brother- hood, and that uplift that comes with the unity of a larger number. Next we notice that this program is built from the lowest to the highest grade throughout the day. This is done because the beginner cannot help himself, and 30 Guide Posts For The School Room hence you need not wait for him to prepare — so we put him first. It is noticed at a glance at this program that we have grouped so as to associate all classes in a given subject — arithmetic, history, grammar, and geography. This is done for a purpose. It simplifies the program and by this arrangement the work of one recitation sup- plements and aids the other. "We observe also that a number of important subjects do not admit of such association. These subjects are: writing, drawing, sanitation, general exercises, agricul- ture, and civil government. Here each of these must have an individual place before or after a series of the other. And just where they are and why let us notice. Writing is put before the morning recess because it is then we have not agitated our nervous systems by the play of the recess nor the work of the day ; but we have used our minds over our arithmetic and we are ready for the reaction — for the physical to take the ascendency and write and let the mental recline and rest. Sanitation, agriculture, and civil government are placed in the ascending scale by grades as all other sub- jects — from the lowest to the highest. Each one is plac- ed before a regular session of sitting because this plan gives all other members of the school that much more time to prepare what is just before them. General exercises may take various shapes and forms — discussions of current events, history, or both, or re- citing a special reading or singing, announcements, etc. At any rate the general exercise is an important item Daily Program For The School Room 31 and one good place for it is just before dinner. We gather up, we change, we rest, we get ready for dinner. Why is spelling placed at the close of the day? There are two or three reasons why this is done. Spelling can be recited in a few minutes, and by putting spelling at the last it keeps the school at work until the end of the day. Most students will prepare spelling that is to be done off the book. Again, spelling is very largely a memory subject. It is very largely obtained and re- tained by memory. But putting it last we let the mind carry it home unmolested by anything else. The last thing we learn is one of the easiest to remember. The question always arises, and it is a very import- ant one, when or in what grade should we introduce the sciences, the subjects to be studied as arithmetic, gram- mar, geography, etc. This question can not always be answered by giving a certain grade to take up the sub- jects or any one of them. The only true answer is this : Any subject mentioned may be taken up when the stud- ent has acquired ability as a reader sufficient to read readily the subject to be studied. To take up the sub- ject sooner is a mistake. To try to do anything without the means of doing it is futile. The means used in ac- quiring any subject is reading. The key that unlocks the whole treasure-house of knowledge is reading. But the student will find that he and his work will suffer if he tries to get the key and use it at the same time. **One thing at a time and that done well, Is a very good rule as many can tell." 32 Guide Posts For Tee School Room )- The student, as a rule, has the required abilitj^ as a reader on entering the fourth grade to take these we will call "study subjects" in an elementary way. Reading should be the predominant subject till read- ing is acquired. This fact was kept in mind while mak- ing the above program. But all the primary students of every grade should be taught writing, drawing, lang- uage, spelling and number work. These things should be associated with the reading and let one supplement the other, but let reading keep in the ascendency till some proficiency^ in reading has been acquired. Let me say in conclusion something about the length of this program. Every teacher of average experience has felt the need of more time. But I am firmly of the opinion that no daily program should be longer than this one. And I believe that in the winter season, when the days are short and the weather cold, it could be made shorter to advantage. Many teachers feel very well satisfied with their daily programs except on rainy daj^s. On rainy days the pupils are wild ; there is no place for them to go to play, and they almost run the teacher wild. The teacher is heard to say, ''I wish I knew what to do with the pupils on rainy days." The following program may suggest a solution: Rainy day playtime program. Recesses — Excuse those who care to be, with instruc- tions that they go quietly and return promptly in a few minutes. Sing one or two songs. Raise and lower the Daily Program For The School Room 33 windows and take a few moments calisthenics drill or similar exercise in the house — all the students taking part in concert with the teacher leading. Dinner — Have the baskets passed and have a fifteen or twenty-minute lunch period with students in seats engaging in orderly conversation supervised by the teacher. At the end of this peroid excuse those who care to be, instructed to return promptly in a few min- utes, and sing one or two songs. After the singing, raise and lower the windows, and take a few minutes drill in calisthenics or similar exercise quietly in the house. This program will consume about all the time for recesses, but it will save tv^-enty-five or thirty minutes from an hour dinner period. Dismiss as many minutes earlier in the afternoon as you saved from the regular play periods. V THE TEACHES THE one thing around which the whole business of the school revolves is the teacher. There is indeed much truth in the adage : ''As the teach- er is, so is the school." Some one has said that you could have a good school with a pupil on one end of a log if there was a good teacher on the other end of the log. We do not for one moment discount the necessity for equipment for good work in the school room ; but it is nevertheless very true that the teacher fashions, forms, and makes the school whatever it is in a very large degree. Hence we see clearly the need of a good tacher. What is the difference between a successful teacher and the unsuccessful teacher? Some people succeed as teachers; others fail. Why this difference? A signi- ficant question — a big question. It is too big to be answered briefly. And yet if I were asked to answer it in one word, I would say, it is a difference in person- ality. Then we may ask what is personality? Person- ality is the sum total of those distinguishing attributes that reveal the character. The good teacher must be 34 The Teacher 35 neat and orderly in appearance, pure in thought and act, firm and sympathetic in all her dealings. Before a teacher speaks she begins to teach. Her appearance makes a quicker and more lasting impres- sion than what she says. Her very bearing and manner counts for much. She should by all means be neat and careful about her dress. There is no compromise for a teacher's just hanging her clothes on herself in a slouchy, baggy, don't care sort of style. Colors should blend and harmonize. If the teacher be a man he should by no means neglect personal attention. The evil effects of an unshaven face, soiled linen, an absent tie, unpolished shoes can never be atoned for by repent- ance. The teacher who is neatly and sensibly dressed, with bearing that is becoming a lady or gentleman, whose voice has a normal pitch and good qualities, will sell to a school before the time for active teaching be- gins for 100 cents in the dollar, and this appearance, if kept up, will aid wonderfully in keeping the market normal for any other wares the teacher may have to offer. She who would stand in the holy place of the teacher must have clean hands and a pure heart. The guiding principle of any person is how he thinks. ''As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." The best and surest proof of pure thinking is pure acting. The acts of a person reflect upon that person and assist in the de- velopment of his character as well as in revealing his character. The would-be successful teacher must be so developed that she is firm and sympathetic in all her 36 Guide Posts For The School Koom dealings. She must be firm to give standard and busi- ness tone to the work. She must be sympathetic that she may enter into the light and life of the child and lead him firmly, but kindly into the truth and right. Then the teacher must be both good and powerful. It is held by some that the teacher is born, not made. According to history, all people except about two have been born. The teachers are born as well as other folks ; but unless they are trained and apply themselves to their tasks they might as well, if not better, never have been born. When the master mechanic need not serve through the toilsome and tiresome days of apprentice- ship, when the specialist and expert physician need not be trained in the science of medicine and the art of ap- plying drugs to the disordered system, then the teacher need not be familiar with the material to be taught nor the method for teaching it, but may rely on the daj^ of her birth for her qualifications for the complex task of teaching the youth of the land. The power and skill that is necessary for the teacher to have in order to win success comes by her having a knowledge of the subject she proposes to teach and a knowledge of the pupils she is to teach, and then enough method to bring the two into vital relationship with each other. Such a process is teaching, and nothing short of this is teaching. The teacher should have a general knowledge of the subject and a recent and specific preparation of the subject and the lesson for consideration. Such a knowledge comes from applica- tion and study and not from birth. Such a knowledge The Teacher 37 comes from work on the part of the teacher and not from birth. Such a knowledge comes from work on the part of the teacher and not from wasting time, revel- ling, and in riotous living. See that teacher who knows her subject from such application to the work before her and you see that teacher who is firm because she has the assurance and power of one who knows and knows that she knows. She is not a slave to the book. But she can watch the eyes of her class and rivit their attention because she has the freedom of the master and the stock in trade of the rich. The student, the ever ready barometer, begins to take note, to admire, and to respect his teacher because he realizes she is mighty. This power will begin to awaken an interest in the student. Life begets life, power begets power, an air of business permeates the room. Discipline is largely solved. School work begins to move and to grow. That teacher who teaches all she knows fails. When the teacher gives out all she has she looses her class. Interest wanes when the bottom is sounded. Potential ability is the most powerful. We like to buy where there is plenty left. The student likes to learn where the store-house of knowledge is so full it runs over. A teacher thus equipped with knowledge as a rule has self control that controls the student because she has the assurance that wins both her own confidence and the confidence of her pupils. Such a teacher is sym- pathetic and orderly because her knowledge is mature enough to take method and crystallize and to classify. A teacher so well equipped becomes the real teacher, the 38 Guide Posts For The School Room inspiration, the life, the sympathetic friend of the pupil and not the grumbler, the task master, the slave-driver, the time killer, the life destroyer. The impress upon the child-life of some strong per- sonality that has been developed by broad scholarship can never be fully estimated. It is claimed by some thinkers that it is more important from whom you learn than it is what you learn. Every boy and every girl needs the influence and inspiration that comes from some strong personality. Unless the teacher is some- thing he will be unable to teach much. Let us have teachers that apply themselves to the task of teaching so well that they are full of their sub- jects — so full that what is not said gives weight, and power, and force to what is said. Let us have teachers that know the heredity and the environment of their pupils so well that, they know every inclination, every capability, and every avenue of approach. Then let us have teachers so full of interest in humanity that they lose themselves in the love of their work, the work of lighting up the souls of boys and girls. VI THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE LESSON ALTHOUGH it is one of the first and most fund- amental functions in all the teaching process, the assigning of the lesson is one of the least considered. Few authors mention it at all and few teachers devote any time to it. Nevertheless to tell the student to take the next page or the next lesson in a subject that is entirely new to him and then send him to his seat to learn it if? like sending one into the dark without a light to find something that he does not know. And yet how often the lesson is assigned in these words : ' ' Take the next page ; go to your seat. ' ' Such an assignment may be accompanied by the instructive remark ''and study your lessons," or it may not. Too often the next page is assigned with such inaccuracy that the student reasons a half page will do as well; and with such indifference on the part of the teacher that the student knows it makes very little difference on the part of the teacher if he does not get that. The purpose for assigning a lesson at all is that a certain amount of work may be properly prepared by a student till a stated time, and that at that time, the 39 40 Guide Posts Foa The School Room student may recite the lesson learned to the teacher. It is of no small consequence to be exact in the assignment of the lesson. It means business to know exactly what you have to do. It quickens interest in the student when he knows exactly what is required of him. We usually get from people about what we expect. And unless we expect something exactly from a student we will more than likely not get anything exactly. Ac- curacy begets accuracy. The lack of accuracy on the part of the teacher in the assignment of the lesson be- gets inaccuracy, indifference, and idleness on the part of the students in the preparation of that lesson. It is very true that the teacher must have due regard for the length of the lesson in making the assi?:nment. It should not be too long nor too short. To make it too long burdens the child. If thfe load is too heavy, he becomes discouraged. He cannot properly prepare, and he finds himself underneath instead of on top — a bad position for work, and work that will count. On the other hand the lessons should not be too short. To make the lesson too short means to do little at most. Some times when we make a task too small it dulls in- terest as much as to make it too large. And it often happens in life that we do not do a small task as well as we do a large one. But it is a serious mistake to give a child four pages for a lesson when he cannot properly prepare two pages. Wherever it is possible and practical make the lesson a unit in thought. But be sure to tell exactly what the lesson is and just how it is to be recited. The Assignment of The Lesson 41 An assignment of the lesson should include an intro- duction to that lesson. This may mean giving the set- ting of the lesson so the student may have some know- ledge of intelligent approach. Or it may mean, and often does mean making the connection between the old and the new lesson — showing how the new is like or unlike the old, showing how it is old principles newly applied. It may consist in pointing out all the new things in the new lesson and their peculiarities, if they present any, and how to meet them. For example, the little child who is making his first way into reading should be told, or led to find out, all the new words in the coming lesson. The older student should be shown when he comes to multiplication for the first time exact- ly how to do the thing and also that it is only a short method of addition — a thing he has already been told, etc. A. jocular friend of mine once remarked to me: ''The reason I never went to school much was because I had to pa.y the teacher to teach me and then the teacher wanted me to study it all out." Said he: "I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to pay the teacher to teach me a thing and then he require me to study it cut for myself.'' Everj^body knows that while what my friend said sounds logical, there is very little sound philosophy in it. But every one knows that un- less the teacher can aid the student in studying, the teacher will fall far short of his opportunity; and the best time to aid the student in studying is before the studying begins — during the assignment. This aid will be given if the proper introduction is made. 42 Guide Posts For The School Room Did you ever hear a person introduced to an audience after this fashion: ''Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mr. Jones. He may find 3^ou all out the best way he can." Many times, too often, the little child is left in the same condition, to find out the lesson the best way he can; and it often is at a time when the little fellow has few means at his command for finding out. There is, however, a serious danger in an introduc- tion and in our prescription for study of telling too much. To tell too much is a mistake that should be carefully guarded. To tell the story makes it ever after an old story. It puts the student on the stool of do- nothing because the work is done. It robs the student of finding out for himself, of becoming a hero as a stu- dent. But in all of our telling in the assignment of the lesson tell just enough to put the student on a working basis. W]>ile we are telling exactly what the lesson is, and how it is to be recited and making our introduction so the student will know how to study let us be sure to do all this so we will create in the child's mind a vital in- terest in the lesson. Interest is the best leader into any and all study. Hence interest should be aroused in the lesson in the assignment without fail. Point out the importance attached to the lesson. Indicate some of its real value. Speak of its beautiy. Ask some ques- tions that will arouse the interest of the class so the members of the class will be eager to know the answers and tell them they can be found in the lesson. Tell a little of the lesson in a way that will catch the child The Assignment of The Lesson 43 and hold his interest. Then ask vital questions that you leave for them to consider and to answer. Be earnest, be specific, be enthusiastic, be pleasant, be alive that the students may go to their seats from the recita- tion with a burning desire to study, and to learn the next lesson that has just been assigned. vn TEACHING THE LESSON MANY things can best be defined by telling what they are not. This method may help us in get- ting more clearly in mind what teaching is, since other processes are so often taken for teaching. Hearing the lesson is not teaching. The teacher (?) of- ten says that she was hearing the gramar lesson or the geography lesson when so and so happened. It may be that she was, and very likely she was hearing the les- son but that is not teaching the lesson, not at all. Hear- ing is passive but teaching is active, as we shall learn. Telling is not teaching. We may tell a great many things but we teach a much smaller number. I saw a crowd of ladies a few days ago returning from a club meeting and it seemed to me that all were telling some- thing at the same time, but I am confident that no one was taught. Telling is not teaching. I saw a lady teaching some children to read. She had told one boy all the words on the first sixty pages of the book, but when a test was made to find the number of words taught it was found that she had taught one and only one and that word was '*it." When the child was asked 44 Teaching The Lesson 45 to reproduce what he had been taught he called *'it'' by its name, but he called **on," "in" and ''in," '*on" and *'was," ''saw," and the larger words he could not call. The teacher told him dozens of words but she taught him only one. If teaching is not hearing the lesson and if it is not telling, what is teaching? Teaching is the process of causing one to know what he did not know before. Teaching is the successful transferring of knowledge. Teaching is both productive and receptive. It is pro- ductive on the part of the teacher and receptive on the part of the learner. There can be no teaching where there is no learning. It is claimed by scientists that there can be no sound where there is no ear. There can be no teaching where there is no ear, eye, or any other avenue used in approaching the brain. Teaching is the process of placing something in the mind of an- other in such a way that it finds lodgment. The two senses almost entirely used in teaching are the senses of seeing and hearing. Too often hearing is used alone. The more effective way to teach is to teach through the eye instead of the ear. We understand and remember much more of what we see than we do of what we hear. Every one has heard the expression: "It went in at one ear and out at the other," but few, if any, ever heard the expression, "It went in at one eye and out at the other. " It is easier for knowledge to go in at the eye than at the ear and not so easy to get out. It is claimed by those who have made investiga- tions that we remember one-tenth of what we hear, ^ye- 46 Guide Posts For The School Room tenths of what we write, seven-tenths of what we see, and nine-tenths of what we do. According to these statements the ratio of hearing and seeing is one to seven in favor of seeing. There are many ways of reducing to sight what is usually taught through hearing. One good teacher of the writer would often say to his class when we failed to grasp a principle iu arithmetic, ' ' Let me draw a figure and explain" — meaning by figure some plot or diagram. And when he drew that figure he had very little trouble, usually, in making clear what before was unseen and unknown. A diagram will show the relation between parts of a sentence through the eye as it can never be shown through the ear. Think for a moment how much geography we learn and learn not to forget from look- ing for a few minutes at a map. Many times the ab- stract and difficult may be pictured, made concrete, and hence made easy as it is given to the mind through the eye. In order for the teacher to bring the matter taught and the miad of the one taught into such vital relation- ship that the matter finds lodgment in the mind of the student, the teacher should know both the matter and the mind. She must be familiar enough with the matter to define it, to describe it, to analyze it, to tell about it in terms known to the mind of the one taught. A teacher can never teach well what she does not know. She can never teach well what she does not know well. Neither can she lodge something in a child's mind un- less she knows enough of the mind to make the con- Teaching The Lesson 47 nection. ''We can never make others know our know- ledge unless we can comprehend their ignorance." Just here many mistakes are made in teaching. The teacher takes too much for granted. She supposes the student to know things that he does not know. Here she begins to build before laying a foundation. She fails in teaching because she fails to make plain the simple. Teaching consists in going from the known to the unknown. So often the teacher tries to go from the unknown to the unknown, and when she does, she fails — there is no connection. It is folly to ask a stu- dent what direction New York is from Greenwich if he does not know what nor where Greenwich is, nor any- thing about direction, to say nothing of New York. First teach him about Greenwich and directions, and then talk about the direction of New York from Greenwich. The chances are that he will then have enough to do to find New York. Begin at the beginning and take one step at a time. Do not try to climb the ladder by be- ginning at the top. ''We build the ladder by which we rise, And we mount to its summit round by round. '^ The serious fact is that if we do not begin at the bottom and mount round by round we do not mount at all. Too much of our so-called teaching starts nowhere and goes nowhere. It is just words, words, words with- out arrangement or direction or aim. The teacher must have some plan to be followed, some goal to be reached, 48 Guide Posts For The School Room and then proceed logically to follow that plan, unfold- ing the truth in an intelligent and intelligible manner as she goes, till the goal is reached and the banner of possession is driven down securely. Do not drift, sail. Do not lead the student, let him go, but direct him. He will follow blindly so long as you lead him. Do not carry him. To carry him is much worse than to lead him. If you carry him, he will soon become a weakling and an imbecile. Let him walk. Do not drag him. If you drag him, he will become bruised and bleeding and discouraged. His capacity for learning will be reduced and he will become disqualified for being taught. The child is never taught and taught properly till the lesson is classified and related to what is already in the child's mind so the mind seizes the new matter v/ith a firm mental grasp. This relation between the old and the new should be made close enough for the student to get a clear comprehension before the teach- ing ceases. Teach him to see the cause and the effect and how the cause produces the effect. Teach him the whole and the parts that make the whole and how the parts fit into the whole. Teach him to distinguish the important and the non-essential and why one part is more important than another. Use any and all these methods till the lesson is taught. Drill, drill, drill, till the child has a clear, firm, and fijxed conception of the lesson taught. vin T^NO KINDS OF BOOKS IT IS said that every one should carry witli him, or have close at hand two kinds of books — one out of which he gets something and one into which he puts something. Almost every class and condition of people, people who follow all kinds of work find time or have time thrust upon, as it were, that they might spend pleasantly and profitably by reading some good book. They might read while they wait for the train, while tiey wait for the "other party to an engagement, while they wait through the interum between this, that, and the other. The companion for the book out of which you get something is the book into which you put something. Few minds that do much thinking can be relied upon for a memorandum or bulletin board. ''Where the memory prevails Much fruit of understanding fails." No mind is so constituted that it can retain all it learns. No mind is so constituted that it will retain all 49 50 Guide Posts For The School Room that is important and should be remembered. How of- ten we see things and hear things that are too good to lose or too important to forget! Thus it is that every one has need of a memorandum or book into which you put things. The student the pupil in school, whose sole business it is to learn things and keep them after he has learned them has special need for two kinds of books. It is generally admitted that he needs books out of which he gets things, and he does. That is his business — getting things. But it is also his business to retain what he gets. For what shall it profit a student if he shall learn all knowledge and forget what he learns? It is true that many things the student learns he for- gets and he could not be expected to retain them; or it is sometimes stated he is not expected to be a walking encyclopedia. But how often the important, the should- be-never-forgotten, if learned at all, is lost with the learning. The core, the gist, the outline, the important of all books out of which we get things should be care- fully and systematically written in the book into which we put things. If we realize that we remember one-tenth of what we hear and five-tenths of what we write, we will see at once the importance of keeping a book into which we put things. The advantage of keeping such a book is at least five to one. Furthermore to look for that which should be noted is to study as the student ought. And to write down in a book — a note book — ^what we have Two Kinds of Books 51 learned is to fix firmly and accurately in the mind what we have learned. In many schools, rural schools especially, too little written work is done. And in many more too little carefully written work is done. We develop most by doing a thing when we do that thing the best we can. The keeping of a nice note book, the keeping of a note book in shape to retain, has within the keeping splen- did training. In such keeping we call into use formula- tion, composition, capitalization, and punctuation. ''Writing makes an exact scholar." This is a quality that is so essential and yet wanting in so many. Ac- curacy and rentention both plead for note books in school. Note books are usually kept by college students but they should be kept by the high school and public school students as well. I believe every student in the fourth grade should start at the beginning of the session a note book for every subject he studies. I really believe that every student in all grades should have a note book. Certainly every public school student should keep note books on the work he does during the last two years of his public school course. And these should be a complete compendium of all that is most important and best in the course. The student by writing the important parts of the books he reads into his note books impresses these parts upon his mind with ac- curacy ,and makes an ever-ready reference for himself of all that is biggest and best of what he has read. IX PLAYTIME AND HOW TO USE IT JUST as the pendulum ©f the clock goes in one direc- tion that it may go an equal distance in the op- posite direction and by this process of movement keeps on running, so there are in life many states and activities that have actions and counter actions — one necessary to the other and both necessary to life and its developments. We need to sleep at night that we may be the wider awake in the day time. Wakefulness is necessary for sleep ; sleep is necessary for wakeful- ness. One is necessary for the other and both are necessary for life and its success. Some of the finer feelings work in a similar way. We are never quite so completely ready to laugh as when we cry. The demand and the best effect of one is secured from the reaction of the other. The same connection that drives the one, pulls the other in, and the process of change and interchange keeps alive our sentimental feelings. Just so work and play are com- plementary travelling companions. One can never exist in its best form without the aid of the other. That pupil or that school of pupils that has kept quiet and 52 Play Time and How to Use It 53 worked for some time is only making ready to that ex- tent for an equal and opposite reaction. And the work can not be done and done well long unless its compani- on, play, comes in to give the release and rest. Hence play has an important place in our daily program. Play is not a necessary evil as it is sometimes thought to be. That little child that is sliding down the ban- isters, that is dragging the rug out of doors, that is turning somersaults on mother's best bed is making brawn and muscle and tissue, the warp and woof of physical powers and strength. Modern education stands first of all for the strong physical man and then the mental and the moral. For we realize and know that these are so related, interwoven, and dependent one up- on the others that no one can suffer without the others suffering and the entire person being the loser. No part of the man can live to itself and no part can die to itself. This universal and fundamental demand for play has called for a regular place in the daily program of our schools for play — the playtime — and certainly an im- portant one it is. For indeed, ''All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'' All work and no play will make a dull pupil out of any boy whether his name be Jack, John, or Jim. This being true, all the pupils ought to play at playtime. For of all places, the school is one of the places where we do not want dull boys or girls. And if the school finds any such pupils in its 54 Guide Posts For The School Room number, then it is the schoors business to develop them out of their dullness. ''Work while you work And play while you play, For that's the way To be happy and gay.'' This little verse has in its lines much sound doctrine and wholesome advice. But many teachers fail because they insist on the injunction of the first line and neg- lect utterly the second. The rich reward that is declar- ed in the last two lines is not offered on a half compli- ance but upon a whole as is set forth in both lines. Then the teacher should insist on play at playtime for the playtime is made to play in and that is the way to use it. But how often the teacher at playtime crouches down beside the stove and stays there. Or takes a long walk alone and leaves the school to disorder and destruc- tion. What the teacher should do is to be just as much in charge during playtime as worktime. We believe one of the best ways to conduct the longest play period, the noon hour, is to have the first part of the hour for the lunch. Use about ten or fifteen min- utes, whatever is necessary, for eating lunches. Let baskets and buckets be distributed, all seated, and take lunch in a free and easy but orderly way. The teacher will, of course be the logical toast master. Make the period a pleasant one. Talk about the topics of the day and other things of interest and profit. When the Play Time and How to Use It 55 lunch period is over, all go out together and all play together, all stay out together or in such groups as sizes and sexes will dictate. Such a plan will eliminate running into and out of the house or staying in the house when the time has come for going out of doors. You would make, of course, such exceptions as sickness and other irregu- larities would require. Let it he well understood that every one on the play ground must play. If it is not there already, create the play spirit. Organize the different ages into play groups. Lead the game if it becomes necessary. Keep the game moving and moving lively. Idleness is the devil's workshop and it is just as true, or more so, on the play ground as in the school room. Use games that require several to play that all may have a part, such as base ball, basket ball, base, etc. Do away with that hanging around that a few want to do. They are the fellows, if let alone, that do things that ought not to be done; and then, too, they are missing the benefit of the playtime. To do all this the teacher may have to make some pre- paration in the way of enlarging the grounds or by equipping what she already has. If there is land enough in the school grounds use some for grass and flowers. But if there be not enough also for play, then use grounds for play alone. The grounds are made for the pupils and not the pupils for the grounds. The playtime is an important hour, make it count. 56 Guide Posts For The School Room It is on the play grounds that the teacher learns the student as he is. There the student shows his real self. And for the teacher not to know her pupils means for her to succeed in part only, at best. And on the play ground is one of the very best places for the teacher to form that vital relationship with the student that is so necessary for her real leadership. Indeed ''That teach- er who sits upon a platform of assumed dignity and answers ov.v questions by 'yes' and 'no' and gives sage advice about our conduct has little influence upon us in school or outside of it." But on the other hand, that teacher who becomes a leader on the play ground, though it be by watchful and interested supervision, has the vantage ground with her pupils everywhere. The writer had some large school boys to come to him in town to praise their teacher in the country. On visiting the school, I found them reciting an English Grammar les- son, and doing splendid work, with perfect order and with a respect toward the teacher that was beautiful. In a few minutes recess came, and although the March wind blew like it was in a monstrous hurry to get through if possible before April came, the little teacher was seen deep in her cap and jacket on the ball field cheering and encouraging every effort made by a crowd of young giants. They would follow her anywhere whether it be in the field of literature, history, or science, because she had won their spirits and admira- tion on the ball field. Not alone does the playtime prepare the student for books but it is at playtime upon the play ground that Play Time and How to Use It 57 the pupil gets some of his best training and learns some of his most valuable lessons. It is here that the timid learn to take initiative. It is here the rough and dar- ing are ruled and regulated. It is here that both learn to take defeat and victory as every one should — ^to not be cast down in defeat nor overcome with joy in vic- tory. He learns also to think and to think quickly. He learns to think and to think ahead. He learns to use his own head and to act upon his own judgment. By these several processes the will is developed, and character is fashioned. Then have playtime and use it as you should, to play ifi. Work while you work and play while you play, for this is the v/ay to make school the most pleasant and the most profitable. X DISCIPLINE SO important is discipline in school that most peo- ple judge a school almost entirely by the success or failure with which the teacher meets as a dis- ciplinarian. Certainly we can not easily imagine a good school and it poorly managed or governed. We cannot have much system and business of any kind where chaos, confusion, and disorder reign. "Order is heaven's first law." And Mr. Page very truthfully says that order is scarcely more essential to the harmony of heaven than it is to the happiness and success of the school. ''"Without order pupils cannot give attention, without attention they cannot learn." Hence order, which is the very fruit of proper discipline, is at least necessary in the school room before we can begin to hope for any sort of success. How do we get this prime necessity of the school room, to whom shall we look for it? The teacher. It is written in her face. It is in her very bearing. It is in every motion — in her hand shake, in her work. The child sees it; he feels it before she speaks. 58 Discipline 59 Certainly the teacher largely wins or loses as a dis- ciplinarian in the very beginning. ''The husband who starts in his matrimonial career as lieutenant never gets promotion." ''A teacher is rarely promoted in a school who has not won his position in school at the close of the first day." And we are sometimes con- strained to believe that the position is won or lost the first hour. ''One ship drives east, another west By the self same winds that blow. It is the set of the sail and not the gale That tells us where we go.'' That teacher who proceeds to work while there is any degree of disorder in her room will continue to have disorder still. There is much sound doctrine in the old adage: ''Be sure you are right and then go ahead." But the teacher is never right till she has order and let her not by any means go ahead till then. Then go ahead in an orderly natural way. Speak in a good round but natural tone of voice. Do not pitch the voice up. Remember that the teacher's tongue is the tuning fork for the school room; and in whatever key you pitch your voice the students will make their noise. Sing in "C" natural, and then you can go higher or lower with ease and effect. That teacher who would succeed as a disciplinarian must first of all be complete master of self. That teacher who would control others must have self under 60 Guide Posts For The School Room easy control. He or she has lost when the cool head is lost. There must be a majesty, a coolness, a calmness about the teacher to command respect and obedience. Keep reserve force always. That teacher who by angry exertion reveals the extremity of his power has reduced himself to failure and ridicule. Never let the student sound the depths of your power, and he will remain a subject of your will. Put every pupil on a busy program and keep him there. Have something for everybody to do and have everybody doing something. Satan is sure to find work for idle brains and idle hands. Handle the room or the room will hand you. Know thyself, know the pupils; know the lessons and how to organize all in such a vital way that the student will find himself im- mensely busy with the day's business. Talk up the work. Keep it in the forefront. Make it prominent. Make it so interesting that the student will find interest in it. Talk much about the work. Say very little about rules and conduct. Let the most prominent thing in all the school be the one thing you came there to do. Be definite and consistent in all you do. If a teacher is indefinite and talks in a may-be-this sort of way or may-be-that and thus makes the impression that she hardl.y knows what should be done and that any old thing and any old way will do, almost anything that is wrong will soon be done. But on the other hand if the teacher is definite, says an exact thing in an exact n^anner, liolds up the standard of exactness, accuracy, Discipline 61 and pimctxiality day by day, not this way today and some other way tomorrow, soon things will be in their proper place at proper time and in the proper order. A number of teachers fail because they go in little storms. They storm around for a while and then the calm sets in. While the storm is on new rules are made, strong threats are made in a violent manner. When the calm sets in the rules are forgotten even by the teacher. The school runs wild and there is no hand to stay. Then whatever the attitude or position taken by the teacher, he must be firm and consistent in maintaining it. If one cog in the wheel is allowed to slip there will be required double the power to keep others from slip- ping. No teacher will succeed long without tact. The teach- er without tact will spring issues that should never be sprung. He will trouble trouble that will trouble the school that never should have been troubled. There goes a story that a teacher returned from the noon hour play to the school room and found on the black- board, ''Mr. Jones is a mule.'' — Jones being the teach- er's name. Mr. Jones added one word and then it read, "Mr. Jones is a mule driver," and the joke was off the teacher and on the boy or boys who wrote it. There was no court, no criminal, no issue, no trial; but there was a teacher with a little sense of humor, a little tact that turned what might have been serious trouble into a mere little pleasantry. Tact comes from the word ''tango," meaning to touch. Tact, then, is the science 62 GuroE Posts For The School Room that teaches us how to touch or deal with people. This is an important science for the teacher who would suc- ceed as an instructor or as a disciplinarian. Study it, use it. Last, but not least, that teacher who would succeed as a disciplinarian must be kind. Firmness and kindness are twins in the world of school discipline ; but if there be any difference in these, may we say kindness is the greater. It may be out of order to compare these quali- ties, both of which are so essential — I suppose it is. But where will kindness not go? Who has a heart within him that kindness and love will not reach? 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