Part 2 — DIVISION VI

All good things perverted to evil purposes are worse than those which are naturally bad.—Dickens.

577

CASES ARISING OUT OF THE EXPRESSIVE INSTINCTS

Deeply ingrained is the impulse to exchange ideas with other persons. So strong is it that even when not removed from human associations we often personify animals and inanimate objects and address the artificial persons in words expressive of ideas.

The expressive instinct has produced a large number of meaningful human attitudes, actions and sounds—silence, gesture, signalling, facial expression, singing, whistling, handclapping and other noises made by hands and feet. All of these facts have direct bearing on school discipline. If thoroughly understood they can be so dealt with as to relieve a teacher of much anxiety. Otherwise the torments of pandemonium await the teacher and failure marks attempts at school work proper.

The most comprehensive desire that lies behind actions of this sort is to gain recognition from other persons. We shall study the evidence for this conclusion through a number of instances.

1. Oral Expression

Whisper not in the company of others.

—George Washington.

In General

(1) Whispering. A few students of the subject of school management may need to be reminded that a 578child who whispers is attempting to conform to a good school policy and at the same time to satisfy a powerful instinct. He foregoes the use of the ordinary conversational tone in deference to the custom or rule that outlaws the unrestricted use of the same for pupils in the school-room.

It is a powerful instinct that impels one to communicate with his fellows. No one has failed to experience the impulsion to talk, or in some way, express himself to another person.

The child ordinarily speaks freely and in a normal tone of voice when addressing another individual. Whispering is an unusual and emergency measure, adopted when circumstances render the customary mode of communication inappropriate, imprudent or impossible. The interchange of ideas brings a pleasant glow of good fellowship.

Whispering, also, is a relief from the weariness of work. If there is any daring in a pupil he will try out the teacher on whispering. There are always enough reasons why occasional communication is necessary, to afford an excuse for asking permission to whisper, and next, to whisper without permission.

No teacher ever attempts to secure absolute silence. Minor infractions of a whispering rule are always tolerated. Such must ever be the case. These concessions to human necessity lodge the idea that more whispering may pass unnoticed. In a word the conditions that favor whispering are numerous and very stimulating.

The impulse to whispering can never be eradicated from a pupil. It may be suppressed or directed. A 579wise teacher has no wish to remold human nature to the extent that a person ceases to care for the opportunity of talking to another person.

We are confronted with the problem of how to control an impulse that we desire to preserve without injury and yet without waste of time and effort.

Whispering has always been a menace to the best school order. Everywhere and in all grades it threatens to retard or make impossible the highest type of school work. Not only is the noise of whispering a nuisance in itself, but it stimulates unnecessary noise from other sources. When whispering ceases many other sounds of doors, rustling leaves, etc., will be either markedly subdued or entirely eliminated.

Furthermore, whispering is a well recognized cause of inattention to the subject in hand. The pupil who whispers, and the one to whom he whispers, both have their attention withdrawn from the work of the moment.

Whispering is not a wrong in itself, like dishonesty or theft. Again, while all agree that better order can be maintained without whispering, few have a tested method to suggest for reducing it to a minimum.

The most useful principle of discipline for the control of whispering seems to be that of substitution. Given a room full of children with no work to do, whispering will spring up instantly. Given a room where every pupil has urgent work on hand, the amount of whispering will be greatly reduced.

If work can be substituted for communication, as an object of interest and effort, a large gain will have been made.

580Careful attention must be given to the age of the offender. In younger pupils the joys of talking with one’s fellows are still very enchanting. Usually offenders are not vicious in intention, rather they are quite without self-control.

To require that whispering shall be reduced to a minimum can not be looked upon as an injustice; at most it is only an inconvenience. At church and theater and in the parlor or dining-room, whispering is tabooed. The teacher, then, is merely requiring what good manners prescribe in this respect for other assemblages of people.

The whispering problem can never be allowed to solve itself. The offenders will wax worse and worse until intolerable conditions will compel a reform. On the other hand a method of suppressing whispering, that only interrupts school work the more, is not to be adopted.

The most favored procedure is to adopt, first of all, a general policy regarding quiet, one that is patiently urged and unceasingly enforced. Sudden, explosive, distracting attempts at suppression are to be avoided.

Every teacher, from the first grade to the last year in the high school, will admit that whispering is one of the most general annoyances. Some teachers succeed in holding it in check while others aggravate the difficulty until it becomes a misdemeanor.

There are educators who recommend that as long as whispering is carried on about lessons and school work, it should not be prohibited. There are others who say it should be prohibited, but fail to give prohibitive measures. The former fail to note that whispering 581about lessons and school tasks is really a temptation to whisper about almost anything that comes into the child’s mind.

First Grade

In the first grade, whispering about lessons and school work is unusual. Their interests are play interests and their activities are the activities of child life; about these they talk. It is only natural that they should do so. While it does not seem fair to the child to transplant him from his outside world of freedom to the school-room where the privilege of free expression is denied, still the first grade teacher must bear in mind that if she allows whispering to become a habit in the first grade, it will become very annoying in the higher grades. There is no argument in favor of whispering, and, therefore, the first grade teacher should train her pupils not to whisper during the school sessions.

In rural schools the matter of preventing whispering is more difficult than in the city school, for what is busy work for one grade cannot be used in another. What will interest one grade will not interest another, hence study periods and periods of busy work must be most carefully planned, especially in the first three grades. Too much time must not be given to study, for that means opportunity for play and mischief and, of course, for whispering.

Even with the best planning, an occasional child will whisper. Such a child should not be reproved in a faultfinding way. The teacher may preface her request to refrain from whispering by approval of something that has been well done, then say, “My dear, we do not whisper here at all.” Following her request, 582the teacher may do some kindness for the child that will gain his love and affection and make him willing to try to obey the teacher.

If the child repeats the offense the teacher must use the same methods again. Say, “Oh, no. Do not do that, we must not whisper.” The teacher should use an even, smooth tone of voice, devoid of the least inflection that might indicate impatience or unkindness. She should follow this second command by expectancy. She should feel that the child will not do otherwise than obey her. The child may repeat the offense, but the teacher must use the same method again and again, until the child responds and does not whisper. Second and third offenses usually make teachers impatient, and, instead of kindness and indulgence toward the child, they manifest impatience. By all means such a course should be avoided, even though the offenses be many.

Teachers are often heard to complain that pupils recite before called upon, or talk without permission. Such teachers confess to faulty methods on their own part. Early in the year they failed to curb such tendencies, thereby allowing them to become habits. In the very first lesson require each pupil to wait for his turn in the recitation, to secure permission to speak when he has something to say. If the teacher will closely supervise her class work in this manner for the first month, she will have no further trouble on this point. To begin right is half the battle in school-room discipline. Those petty offenses that a teacher dislikes must be prevented the first day, the second, and so on, until they no longer recur.

583In the first and second years it is highly important that the pupils form correct school-room habits in all respects. Whispering is easier to control here than in any subsequent grade.

CASE 103 (SECOND GRADE)

Whispering Habit

Carrie, a little girl six years old, was nervous and talkative. She had a habit of turning her face half around toward Mabel, who sat just behind her, and, half covering her mouth with her hand, she would whisper to Mabel almost constantly.

While the teacher, Miss Bond, was giving general instructions she was constantly reiterating, “Carrie, stop talking!” Carrie had a semblance of obedience in this direction simply because her speeches were never long.

Evidently Miss Bond had no other expectation than that the offense would be repeated. The work of both Carrie and Mabel was below par.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Change Carrie’s seat in order to give her new surroundings. Give her and her classmates something that is easy to do, and expect them to do it.

Use the principle of substitution by changing the work often. If Carrie whispers in her new location, talk to her privately about it. Show her your friendship for her in many ways. Never give up the idea that she will soon stop whispering. Instead of calling out to her so that all hear you, go to her privately and without faultfinding ask her to stop whispering. Whenever you observe that she is diligent and has refrained 584from talking for a little while, commend her warmly. As soon as she realizes that you are her friend, and that you really expect her to stop whispering she will do so.

COMMENTS

Habit breaking is possible only when a new habit is being formed in place of the old one. A child will say, “I just can’t keep from whispering,” telling thus both a truth and a falsehood. The truth is that when the external conditions and the inner set of the mind are both favorable, the habitual act is certain to occur. The falsehood is that the child “cannot control the habit.”

Whispers need oftentimes a decisive shock in order to shake them loose from an ingrained habit. This shaking up may be largely self-administered if a tactful teacher knows how to make a pupil measure himself and pass judgment on his own behavior.

Changing the seat breaks up the complex circumstances in which whispering has hitherto been practiced. The removal to a new location creates a mental shock, yet offers no insult to one’s personal feelings.

There is valuable aid in hurrying the mind of a pupil on from one point to another while establishing a new set of ideas in the mind. Keeping a pupil busy following your program by the presentation of new tasks, duties, recreations, helps to save him from falling back into the moods that have been the fruitful source of improper conduct.

When dealing with a disciplinary case, a wise administrator attempts, just as far as possible, to keep a 585sharp eye on the train of events that transpires in that pupil’s life. Any serious interruption of the sequence of ideas and moods that are favorable to the reform, necessarily postpones the fixation of the new trait, habit or resolution.

Pupils will quickly learn that a firm disciplinary policy, a helpful watchfulness, can be maintained without carrying with them an aggravating scrutiny of conduct. Friendship and good fellowship can be revealed through teamwork in the building of a character as well as in the coaching of a football team.

Some of the best chums are those who occupy the relation of player and coach. When on the athletic field the coach exercises rigid mandatory control. The onlooker may suppose that he is something of a tyrant, but the boys on the team know better; they sense his genuine good fellowship underneath the harsh exterior. By common consent the future victory is willingly bought with the price of undergoing these strenuous activities under an apparently despotic supervision.

In like manner the school teacher must learn to exercise a positive control over the activities of a pupil, which shall not abolish, but covertly disclose, rather, a fine sense of the comradeship that binds a good teacher to a responsive pupil.

Sometimes out of a spirit of helpfulness a child is led to whisper when, in reality, the one to whom he whispers is most at fault, as in the following instance taken from an experience in the Fourth Grade.

586

CASE 104 (FOURTH GRADE)

“Helping” by Whispering

Lawrence seemed given to constant whispering. The most trying thing about it was that he seemed to whisper more constantly while class instruction was going on than at other times. Miss Blair was the more puzzled over this because Lawrence was an exceptionally bright pupil, and very courteous. This matter of whispering was the only case in which he failed to obey Miss Blair.

When she spoke to him about it he listened respectfully with flushed face and downcast eyes. He certainly did not seem indifferent to her wishes, yet the very next time she began to pronounce words in spelling he seemed to divide his attention between writing the words and whispering to Freddie, who sat just behind him.

When she stood near Lawrence, he did not whisper; furthermore he always seemed to whisper to Freddie only.

She consulted Freddie about changing his seat, but found him anxious to retain his place behind Lawrence. She decided that the best plan was to punish Lawrence as well as others for whispering. So she announced that five minutes would be deducted from the recess period of a pupil for every time he whispered.

She was surprised to find that this seemed to place no restraint upon Lawrence. He whispered as much as ever and lost every recess like a little soldier.

When this had been going on for two weeks, one day Sarah, who sat just behind Freddie, hung around Miss Blair’s desk plainly trying to get up courage to say 587something. Finally, Miss Blair said, “What is it, Sarah?” Sarah replied, “Freddie makes Lawrence whisper.” Miss Blair said in astonishment, “How can that be?”

“Why,” said Sarah, “Freddie can’t tell just what you want, or he can’t spell the words and he punches Lawrence in the back and Lawrence tells him what to do or how to spell the words.”

Here, then, was the key to the situation, which Freddie had been too selfish and Lawrence too manly to disclose.

Freddie was given a seat near Miss Blair’s desk where she could help him, and Lawrence ceased to whisper. The sadness which had shown in his face at every recess was replaced by happy relaxation.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Find out by tactful questioning, changing seats during one period, etc., just why a certain child persists in whispering. Ascertain whether the one to whom he whispers gets or gives information and arrange for the dependent one to get direct help from you, or from some fellow pupil, after instructions have been given.

Never keep a child in at recess time for any other reason than that he has already had recreation.

Test Freddie’s hearing. It may be that some defect in that respect has made it impossible for him to catch some of the explanations given by the teacher.

If hearing is found to be normal, test his vision. Possibly he can not see all the lessons that are placed on the board. Perhaps, also, the light may shine on the board in such a way that he can not see the writing.

588

COMMENTS

The Bavaria system has revealed the great need of individual instruction. This question of getting help on the difficult parts of a lesson is not, in itself, wrong. The evil comes from the confusion of haphazard whispering. The whispered help which one pupil gives another, without the teacher’s consent, is attended by more than one evil. The attention of two pupils is shifted from the central interest. The teacher is deceived as to the real knowledge which the helped one has of the subject and he can not therefore correctly estimate his work.

Yet the physical well-being of a child demands that he have his recess period of relaxation. The teacher who does her duty in the matter of supervised play will abandon “keeping children in” as a punishment for misdemeanors.

ILLUSTRATION (FOURTH GRADE)

Rewarding with Stars

Miss Green tried the following method in her room. She wrote the pupils’ names on the blackboard in a conspicuous place. She told the children that whenever she saw a child whisper during the week just beginning she would erase his name.

At the beginning of the second week a star was placed after each name remaining on the board. Those who had whispered the week before were given another chance by again writing their names on the blackboard. Each succeeding week a new star was given to those who had not yet whispered and each week those who failed were given a new trial. When any one had received six stars they were given a book.

589Little was said about those who failed, but every week a story was told, when the stars were given, showing the value of self-control, or the disaster which followed lack of self-control. This plan practically eliminated whispering.

CASE 105 (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES)

Outdoing the Teacher

Miss Peterson taught the fifth and sixth grades in a central Illinois town. She had a loud, scolding voice. The children whispered almost incessantly, apparently to drown her harsh tones. They nearly always succeeded in part, but occasionally when the noise of whispering seemed worse, Miss Peterson’s voice actually arose above the din and in threatening tones she said to them, “Stop whispering!”

Her evident reason for this was to get only a temporary, partial silence, for this was all she accomplished. Her outbreak against noise occurred two or three times daily. The children even blew whistles very softly at times and actually disliked Miss Peterson the more because she seemed to believe them when they told her the sound was made by the wind whistling through the cracks around the ill-fitted windows.

One day when the noise seemed worse than usual, she announced that whoever whispered next would have to “stand on the floor.” There was a moment’s silence and then one of the girls whispered a comment upon her remark. Instantly Miss Peterson called her to stand up in the front of the room. The girl to whom she whispered immediately talked for the obvious purpose of joining her friend in disgrace. When Miss Peterson asked the second girl to join the first, a smile 590was exchanged between them. This was seen by others who decided to join in the fun. One after another, almost as fast as named, joyfully joined the group of those standing, and what is more, whispered to each other on the floor. When almost half of the pupils had been called out, poor Miss Peterson gave them a very angry lecture, and threatened them with the loss of recess. A partial silence ensued after the lecture, but that session of the school was worse than lost.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Take time to see yourself at work in the school-room. Test out your own influence as a noise maker by adopting some very quiet methods of doing your own work; see if the children do not imitate you also in maintaining better order.

Abandon the haphazard method of curbing whispering. Think the whole situation over; measure each pupil in respect to the whispering nuisance; classify the room as a whole in respect to the matter. Probably you will adopt two or three methods simultaneously for different types of pupils.

Apply these methods unobtrusively. By working with individuals have the rumor pass around that you are becoming stern about whispering. This can be done without provoking enmity.

Use a number of stories on self-control, neighborliness, etc., but do not connect them with your campaign against whispering. If some story makes a great hit, allude to its leading character when dealing with certain individual offenders.

591

COMMENTS

A harsh voice or a loud tone tends very strongly to provoke school-room noise. It sets an example; it shows the teacher’s disregard of the customary rule relative to quiet in the room; it provokes a similar noisiness for the sake of self-defense.

The well modulated voice not only pleases sensitive ears and gentle spirits, but it suggests strongly to the pupils what their own voices may be like. Such a voice says not only, “Do this,” but also “Do it quietly.”

The voices of most persons are untrained. Teachers usually give little professional attention to their voices, yet no aspect of their personality needs greater attention.

The voice is usually a good indicator of character. Miss Peterson doubtless is no exception. We doubt if any person enjoys her friendship as much as if she used a sweeter, gentler, lower-pitched voice.

The adoption of some method of voice culture will react on the character.

Either singing or dramatics will soften the voice and warm up the heart. If nothing else is available, the reading of well selected poetry with an attempt at faithful expression has a lasting effect if maintained for a considerable period.

Public announcement of a mode of punishment for a certain offense often leads a group to try together the experiment of breaking the rule laid down. A public talk about a general misdemeanor must be well thought out and given at an opportune time, with no hint of anger on the part of the teacher. The pupils 592will not reason that an angry person’s judgment is warped, but they will nevertheless, resent a lecture given in any other than a seriously helpful attitude of mind.

The novice and the failing teacher use direct methods hoping to secure immediate and adequate results. One teacher says, “I want to use a method that will bring whispering to a stop at once.”

Human nature rarely consents to such radical methods. Indirect methods and a little lapse of time are usually necessary to give the human nervous organism opportunity for readjustment. Such a reorganization of habits is not closely under the control of the will; rather the lower nerve centers must actually effect the desired reforms. Intelligent choice merely supplies the inner stimulus which directs the course of the rebuilding of habit that is so earnestly longed for.

“The perpetual ill-behavior of many children is itself the consequence of that chronic irritation in which they are kept by bad management.... That harsh treatment which children of the same family inflict on each other is often, in great measure, reflex of the harsh treatment they receive from adults.” (Spencer, Education.)

ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES)

Mrs. Steward taught a room of pupils in the fifth and sixth grades. Near the end of the second week she felt that she had the confidence of her pupils and could count upon their coöperation.

Taking a Vote

On Friday morning just before recess she said, 593“How many of you would like to try to have no whispering at all between now and recess time? It is only ten minutes.” A majority of the children voted that the trial be made. The silence was really restful. Just before dismissing for recess she asked how many liked the silence. Again a majority of them held up their hands. About twenty minutes before noon she again allowed them to vote as to whether or not all should refrain from whispering until noon. This time more even than before voted for silence. Half an hour before school closed they again decided against whispering for the rest of the day.

On Monday one or two sessions were voted upon with success. Before the end of the third week the children from choice had voted whispering out of the school for the rest of the term because they liked complete silence better.

They followed the teacher who used the method of leading suggestion.

Thereafter when someone forgot and whispered, they were reminded, kindly, that they were not following the wish of their fellow-pupils. On this subject of majority rule, stories were told of its value in human history.

Many teachers make use of the honor system in determining deportment grades, especially asking for self-reporting on whispering and similar offenses.

CASE 106 (RURAL SCHOOL)

Mr. Boling taught in a rural school in Central Illinois. He used the following system as a check upon whispering.

When All Whisper

594Every evening just before school closed he called the roll. Those who had not whispered during the day were to answer “ten.” If they had whispered once “nine.” For every time they whispered during the day they were to deduct one from their daily grade in deportment.

With some children this acted as an effective check. One little girl, Jennie, had truthfully answered “ten” every day since the introduction of the system. She sat with her sister in a double seat. One day a friend asked permission to “speak” and came to the sister’s desk to borrow a book. Jennie not being able to find the book said to her sister, “Look on your side!” Then she slapped her hand on her mouth and her little heart sank. She had broken her record. She had whispered without permission! Many notes passed between the sisters as to whether or not Jennie had really whispered without permission. It was grimly decided that she had. They reasoned that whereas the friend’s permission to “speak” allowed each of them to speak to her, still that gave the sisters no right to speak to each other. Jennie suffered all the rest of that day. How like a real culprit she felt when she answered “nine” at roll call. The memory of the disgrace lingers with her through the years.

But Mr. Boling had other pupils of far different home training and natural disposition from Jennie.

Katie Mender and Annie Kuhn were examples of this class. They whispered almost incessantly. Jennie knew it and she believed Mr. Boling himself knew it and yet they answered “eight,” “nine” or “ten” every evening.

595A few there were who not only whispered incessantly but who shamelessly answered “zero” every evening.

Clifton with a good-natured grin answered “zero” daily and looked around the room with a complacency that seemed to say, “What a smart boy am I!”

And even Jennie often wondered if his care-free life was not enviable. Nothing was ever said or done by Mr. Boling to show that Jennie was more to be commended than Clifton.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Commend Jennie for her conscientious reports. Talk privately to Katie and Annie about their false statements. Make them see the value of truth in business and social life.

This may be done publicly at roll call by some such statement as this: “Every day that Jennie makes a true report of perfect control of her desire to whisper, she has grown stronger in character as surely as the oak is stronger after battling with a wind storm.”

A reference to the growth of flowers would please Jennie but would not impress the boys. Give them some such instruction as this: “Notice carefully every thing you say during one play period. Stop to think what would have happened if you had been untruthful every time you spoke. When you have thought of a good reason why people should speak the truth come and tell me what your reason is.”

Have a further check upon Clifton, one that he will respect. His is a case of ignoring wholly the rights of others. You may say, “Clifton, what would you do 596if a new boy should come to school and wish to play ball. Then when playing he wouldn’t heed a single rule of the game. Suppose he insisted upon striking as long as he pleased, tripped those on his side when they ran, and never helped to get his opponents out. If the boys were sure he knew just what to do, how would they proceed?” Clifton will tell you that they wouldn’t let him play. “Would they like him?” “Why?”

Take another case. Say, “Suppose a twelve-year-old boy came to school who talked out loud continually and so spoiled the game of studying and reciting lessons. What ought I to do?” He will doubtless suggest a course to stop the boy’s talking. “Now supposing a boy whispers all the time and so hinders others as well as himself from scoring a point in their favor in arithmetic or spelling, what should be done?” “But in all these cases it would be better to hold on to the boy, don’t you think?”

Lead him thus to see the case in its true light. If Clifton does not weigh matters when you talk them over with him, separate him from the mass of the pupils. This can be done without inflicting an intentional penalty. See this method as developed in the illustration just below.

COMMENTS

If Jennie is not commended, she will have no reason to believe that her honesty and restraint are really valued.

It is a shameful neglect on the part of a teacher to allow children to lie habitually and do nothing to make 597them truthful. Mr. Boling, to lessen a minor wrong, tolerated a gross misdeed.

Clifton was daily learning anarchy, and demonstrating to the school that lawlessness is regarded as “smart” by some. This idea should be speedily corrected.

In place of the honor system which invariably has the three classes of dispositions above described to deal with, a better plan is isolation.

ILLUSTRATION (RURAL SCHOOL)

Seats Near the Front

Miss Taylor of Allenton used this method to reduce the amount of whispering. She arranged a seat on each side of the room near the front for the use of those who needed special help in the matter of self-control necessary to prevent whispering. Since every desk was occupied she placed a sewing table against the wall on either side in front for desks, and used camp chairs for seats. At these tables she allowed children to sit who needed an environmental help in securing self-control. She made it very clear that this was not punishment; it was simply help to enable the child to do what he himself wanted to accomplish. Her whole attitude was that of solicitude for the best welfare of the two who had the additional help of isolation to teach them self-control. Those who occupied these seats were aided by giving them helpful surroundings in place of those fraught with temptation.

When pupils have reached the high school age, if former training has failed to give them enough self-control to make them refrain from whispering at least 598they will be able to see the reasonableness of silence in both the study and recitation rooms.

Here special honors and privileges may well be granted to those who are silent if only the teacher makes it clear that a reward for the exercise of self-control is just as legitimate as a diploma for courses in study completed. Indeed a badge of honor won through self-imposed restriction in this matter is an index of real merit, and the tactful teacher can easily show the pupil that this is the case.

Much of the trouble about whispering here, as in the grades, arises from pure thoughtlessness, selfishness or self-esteem.

(2) Talking aloud; talking too much; talking without permission.

CASE 107 (HIGH SCHOOL)

Displaying Wit

In the Elkton High School many factors contributed to make Charles Drover a favorite. He was an athletic star, he was from a popular family, but above all he was a wit of considerable merit. His witticisms always secured a hearing. His temptation to whisper was very great. Remarks of general import, no matter how serious, usually ended by giving those around Charles much to do to refrain from laughing aloud.

Mr. Hodge, the high school Principal, was annoyed past endurance. One morning after a brief talk on a coming lecture, Laura, a neighbor to Charles, smiled broadly. Mr. Hodge said, “Laura, pass into my office.” She went at once. After the classes had passed, Mr. Hodge went to his office and frowningly explained to Laura how much her constant levity 599annoyed him and demanded that she bring in extra school work as punishment, and further said that if she still persisted in treating all remarks made from the platform with so much unconcern he would see to it that no position of trust be given her in high school affairs.

The week passed and the day of the lecture arrived. Laura was to be one of the ushers that night. Mr. Hodge was giving some final directions concerning the arrangements for the evening when Laura giggled. Instantly Mr. Hodge announced that some one else must be appointed in Laura’s place as usher and that she bring in the translation of twenty extra lines of Caesar the following day. This was the beginning of a strong opposition to Mr. Hodge which culminated in his being asked to resign at the end of the year.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Deal with the cause of the disturbance. Suppression of either the laughter of the girl or the humorous trait in the boy is entirely out of the question. Pass over the girl’s misdemeanor until the boy has been disposed of.

Cultivate the humor in Charles. The primary task will be to teach him how to make good use of his talent. Wide reading under your direction will acquaint him with many types of humor and enable him to choose with discrimination. Show him the appropriate uses of humor, the occasions when humor can best be indulged in, the injuries wrought by unregulated fun. Have him take charge of the humorous column in the 600high school weekly. If he has a gift in drawing, develop humor and art together.

You may learn a great deal from Charles; if you do, let him know the fact and so link him to you the closer. Hold many private chats with him informally about his work and enter into it with genuine interest.

COMMENTS

Nine times out of ten the one who laughs in school is not the real culprit. A person scarcely ever regards himself as “funny” or ridiculous. A pupil laughs at another’s error, blunder or joke.

If the sense of humor is enkindled, laughter is the only natural outcome; the control of one’s impulse to laugh must of course be taught, yet for school-room purposes it is far more important to be master of the conditions that provoke laughter.

The treatment recommended for Charles will help to make a man of him, and other pupils will respect the teacher all the more if he prizes a talent which wins the applause of all the school.

A teacher who is unable to laugh or to share in that which is positively humorous is an unlovely person.

“’Twas the saying of an ancient sage that humor was the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor. For a subject that would not bear raillery was suspicious; and a jest which would not bear a serious examination was certainly false wit.”

—Shaftsbury.

The best teachers occasionally have a whole room of pupils roaring in peal after peal of laughter. They 601lose nothing by the experience; rather they gain immensely, for laughing together makes hearts warm up towards each other.

The weak teacher dares not risk himself to laugh when the class or room is seized by a fit of fun. For the pupils it is highly interesting to watch the struggles of the teacher to avoid doing that which they know he likely wants to do. In refusing to participate in their mood he repels them. He puts himself out of their group; he takes a position as a critic and as an alien.

If one leads pupils to make proper use of their talents, he fulfills his truest function as an educator. Developing, restraining from excesses, guiding in the profitable use of the natural endowments of the child—these are the necessary duties of every high-minded instructor.

We must learn that the impartation of school facts is but one means of equipping a child for taking his place as a prepared member of society.

Whatever natural gifts a child has must be dealt with in school life. Those that are dormant must be drawn out; those that are already functioning must be directed.

When a boy or girl fully realizes that the teacher’s primary thought is helpfulness, many difficulties will disappear.

ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)

Jennie Leavitt was a high-strung, irrepressible, well-meaning girl far on in her teens. It was her custom to announce firm adherence to good moral standards 602when such matters were up for discussion. Her motives, moreover, were seldom open to question.

Isolating Whisperers

She entered class at the opening of the term with an established whispering habit. Her classmates, one by one, were moved from her vicinity so that, finally, only one was left with whom she could chat. Her breaches of good order were so innocent that any suggestion of coercion seemed inappropriate; the removal of her companions reduced the problem to small dimensions.

The teacher had but one short step to take: to give her remaining companion another seat in some unobtrusive way and to make enough assignments of written work to afford a means of expression for the active mind of the school girl. This could easily be done because of the excellent mutual understanding between the whisperer and her teacher.

A school should offer conditions and surroundings that are as conducive as possible to study, to concentration of the pupil’s effort. Too many teachers put plenty of emphasis on the physical factors in their pupils’ surroundings—ventilation, posture, light, etc.—but allow their rooms to degenerate into a perfect hubbub of noisy confusion in which study is impossible.

CASE 108 (FOURTH GRADE)

Joseph Levy and Sadie Higgins, two pupils in the fourth grade of the Pittsburgh Avenue School, Minneapolis, were talking without permission, when Miss Bowen, who was conducting an arithmetic lesson on the other side of the room, saw them.

Talking Without Permission

“Joseph and Sadie! Did anyone give you permission 603to talk?” she inquired. “I want you all to know (she rose from her seat and addressed the whole room) that hereafter there is to be no talking without permission. If it is absolutely necessary that you speak to someone, hold up your hand.”

The next day Sadie “forgot.” Miss Bowen was busy helping another pupil. She waited until she had finished. In the meantime, several minutes had passed. Sadie had found out what she wanted and was working on her arithmetic lesson, when Miss Bowen went over to Sadie’s desk, pulled her out of the seat by her arm, and said so the whole room could hear, “Sadie Higgins, I’m not going to tell you more than once that you have to ask permission when you want to speak. Do you hear me?... Well, sit down and see that the next time you wish to speak, you ask my consent before doing so.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Discuss matters of conduct with offenders, not with non-offenders. Because Sadie had spoken without permission, it is not therefore necessary to tell Joseph that he may not speak without permission. Address yourself to the one who needs the prohibition. Treat each case by itself. Wait until you have finished your immediate work, whether it is holding a recitation or writing on the blackboard. When the period is ended, quietly speak to Sadie in private, telling her she must ask permission when she wants to speak as you may be able to answer her question without bothering another pupil.

“Just hold up your hand and if I think it is necessary, 604I shall nod my head, meaning ‘Yes’; this will not disturb the rest of the room.”

COMMENTS

Miss Bowen disturbed the whole room much more than any talking between Sadie and Joseph did when she called the attention of the other pupils to the fact that Joseph and Sadie were talking without permission.

Every teacher should remember that children need constantly to be reminded of what they should do until the act becomes a habit. Miss Bowen did Sadie an injustice, since the child had not been accustomed to ask permission when she wished to speak.

It was very well for Miss Bowen to wait until she had finished the work at hand before speaking to Sadie, but she should have remembered that the child had had time to forget that she had spoken. To pull her out of her seat and publicly scold her was entirely out of place.

ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE)

Breaking An Old Habit

When Miss Lucas took charge of the fifth grade room in the Henry Clay Grammar School, Lexington, Kentucky, she was informed on the first day that the children were accustomed to speak to one another without permission. As this was often annoying, especially when three or four spoke at once, she decided that this must not be.

When, the following morning, she saw Lola Mossman, a girl of exquisite manner, walk over to the desk of Bernice Bryant, evidently to ask her about a lesson, 605Miss Lucas waited until the close of the period, when she spoke to Lola in private.

“Is it the custom in this school, Lola, for the pupils to speak to one another during a study period without permission?”

“Yes, Miss Lucas.”

“I am sure the whole room will be less disturbed if we form the habit of asking permission before we speak.

“If you need to find out something about a lesson, you should have permission to speak. I will willingly grant it; but do not ask to speak when you see someone else talking. It is disturbing to the other pupils to have two persons speaking at a time.”

Through Lola Mossman and one or two other pupils as a medium, the children soon discovered that Miss Lucas expected them to ask permission before speaking.

CASE 109 (FIFTH GRADE)

Monopolizing Time

Mamie Eggleston was a devoted pupil in the fifth grade of a school in Paterson, New Jersey. She never missed an opportunity to talk with Miss Olmstead, her teacher, before or after school.

“May I come in?” Mamie would say if she saw Miss Olmstead seated at her desk before school began.

“Yes, indeed.”

Then for fifteen minutes Mamie would talk just for the sake of saying something to someone who would listen.

“I like Miss Forsyth’s new waist, don’t you?”

“Are those little black bands on your wrists tied or fastened on? That waist is awfully becoming to you. 606I have a pink waist. My mother made it for me. But she won’t let me wear it to school,” etc., etc.

“There’s the bell,” Miss Olmstead would say as she thought, “Well, there’s another fifteen minutes lost and I intended to put the arithmetic problems on the board before school began.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Do not over-indulge a talkative child. In a kind but firm way tell her that you have some important work to do or that you must see Miss Belmont before school begins. If she persists in talking with you after school, answer her questions politely but hurriedly, while you put on your wraps and say as you go out of the room, “I have to leave now. Are you ready to go home?”

COMMENTS

Miss Olmstead did an injustice to both the child and herself. Valuable time was wasted by allowing the child to talk on at length, without any motive other than the pleasure of talking.

It is not necessary to cut off entirely a child’s talking with you outside of school hours. Such pleasant associations between teacher and pupil are to be encouraged. We are concerned in this case with the child who likes to talk just to keep herself in the foreground.

By heeding only those questions which have weight, by listening to the child’s talk only long enough to be polite, you will help her to control a desire which, unrestrained, will, in the future, make her presence unbearable.

607

ILLUSTRATION (SIXTH GRADE)

Reforming Habits

When Miss Carleton first came to teach in the sixth grade in East Orange, New Jersey, she was warned that certain little girls in her room had the habit of talking to the teacher whenever they could get an opportunity. They enjoyed loitering around the teacher whose place Miss Carleton had taken, because they thought it was her duty to listen to everything they had to say. As a consequence, they literally ruled the room.

“Miss Kimball says ...” and “Miss Kimball says ...” they would remark as if they were the appointed interpreters of Miss Kimball.

Miss Carleton made an immediate decision that she would show the children by her actions that she did not intend to waste valuable time listening to their empty talk.

As usually happens with a new teacher, she was surrounded by a group of girl leaders at the close of the first session.

“Do you bring your lunch, Miss Carleton?”

“Did you know our room is going to give a set of books to the library this year?”

“That will be lovely,” Miss Carleton politely replied to the last question, as the first one had been immediately superseded by the second.

She then stood to arrange her desk in a businesslike manner, implying that the present moment offered no opportunity for further discussion.

Immediately she went to her wardrobe, saying as she did so, “I take it for granted you all brought your 608lunches. I hope you will enjoy them. You might move the waste basket a little nearer your desks so that it will be convenient for your papers and fruit skins.

“When I come back from lunch I shall expect to see each one of you out in the school yard. It is a beautiful day for a game of Hop Scotch.

“Good-bye.”

So Miss Carleton tactfully mastered the situation of the first day.

CASE 110 (SIXTH GRADE)

Miss Atkinson was an intelligent, quick, good-natured little woman whom the children really liked. She never got angry, and her discipline was good so far as the big misdemeanors were concerned.

The A division was reciting its arithmetic lesson while the B division studied. Miss Atkinson sent half of her class to the board and started to give out an example.

Talking During Recitation

“May I find out the lesson from Tom?” A boy who had been absent the day before was speaking, without pausing to raise his hand for permission.

Miss Atkinson nodded and read the example over again.

“We had that example yesterday,” came from one of the pupils in the class.

“No, we didn’t. It was something like it but it wasn’t the same,” replied another.

Before the dispute was settled and the children at work, five minutes of the recitation period had been wasted. Ten minutes later, Alice, of the B division, 609asked if she might open a window. Then Grace wanted to borrow a pencil. While Miss Atkinson was showing Joe how to point off, Henry called out, “How many places must we carry it out?” By the time the various queries were answered, Joe’s attention had wandered and in order to make his difficulty clear to him, the teacher had to go back over the ground already covered.

Thus every class period was frittered away. Questions were continually being fired at the teacher like shots out of a gun. One bold pupil was constantly making remarks intended to be funny or to delay the progress of lessons. Miss Atkinson could not see the harm in answering the seemingly legitimate inquiries, and her efforts to curb the general habit of talking aloud were altogether too mild.

Fully one-half of both the children’s and the teacher’s time was wasted by such interruptions. Serious, concentrated effort was impossible and the duller pupils were confused and distracted by this endless breaking into their train of thought.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Insist that the work in hand shall not be interrupted. If for one day the teacher will persistently refuse to recognize questions spoken aloud without permission, a long step will have been taken in the direction of correcting the bad habit.

Allow two or three minutes between classes, if necessary, for answering the questions of the division which has been studying.

Henry should be led to raise his hand if he needs 610help, and his difficulty should be settled in turn—after Joe’s has been explained. The bold pupil would lose some of his smartness if he were fully occupied with work. Keeping the pupils constantly busy in the arithmetic class, by dictating rapidly and putting a premium upon getting through quickly, prevents discussions upon unessential parts of the work, such as whether or not the same example had been given out before; the children do not have time to consider the matter.

COMMENTS

It is not difficult to make children see that the rights of others are infringed by interruptions such as speaking aloud without permission. Once this is understood, the teacher must stick to her refusal to recognize such interruptions. When the children understand that they are expected to keep silent, they form the habit of waiting for permission before asking questions. Unless the teacher shows respect for the lesson in hand—not allowing her attention to be distracted from it—she can not expect the pupils to do so.

Some teachers are afraid to refuse to answer questions at the time they arise in the child’s mind, fearing to bring the child to a standstill in his work and that he will be idle unless his difficulty is settled. It is a part of a child’s education to learn to be independent, to solve his own difficulties. Too much dependence on “Teacher” unfits the pupil for progress in his lessons or in anything else.

611

ILLUSTRATION (SIXTH GRADE)

The habit of talking aloud is easily cured.

Miss Ellis was called upon to substitute in the place of a teacher who had been lax in her discipline. The pupils talked aloud almost as freely as if they had been in their own homes. Miss Ellis knew her position as substitute would be a hard one, and made up her mind that she would spend the first day, if necessary, doing nothing but enforcing order.

Making Up Time

The first time a child talked out loud without permission, she said, quietly, “Now, John, you know we can’t get very far with this lesson if we are to be interrupted. And we don’t want to have to take it over again tomorrow. Suppose you try to settle the matter yourself, or wait until after this class to ask me.” And she did not answer John’s question.

It was only a few minutes until Isabel remarked that she couldn’t see what was written on the blackboard from where she sat. Miss Ellis told Isabel that by standing up she could read what was written there very plainly, and that it was unfair to the rest of the school for her to take up their time by speaking aloud.

At the third interruption Miss Ellis said, again very quietly, “At this rate we shall all have to stay after school today to finish our work. I will not answer any more questions until this class is over. Then I will give you three minutes to do all the speaking, borrowing, and so forth that is necessary for the rest of the morning. And any talking aloud will put us just five minutes behind with our work, so we’ll have to make up that five minutes after school.”

612No one went home that afternoon until an hour and a half after the regular time for dismissal, but the talking aloud habit was broken, once and for all, during Miss Ellis’ regime.

One big element in a teacher’s control of a school is a phase of stick-to-it-iveness, namely, her ability not only to prescribe a given line of action but to stick to it herself and hold her pupils to it day after day. Too many teachers are spasmodic in their control. They are very strict for a few days, then grow negligently lax in their discipline, only to pull their pupils up to the previous standard again with a jerk. It is just as easy to form good habits as bad ones, but a teacher can never hope to train a school in good habits if she punishes today what she leaves unnoticed tomorrow, as Miss Rand, a seventh grade teacher, did.

CASE 111 (SEVENTH GRADE)

Useless Talking

It was Friday afternoon and both teacher and pupils were weary of the school-room and of work; all were a little cross and nervous, and impatient for the dismissal bell to ring.

“Make John quit tying my hair-ribbon to the inkwell,” spoke up a girl from the back of the room.

Before John’s case was quite settled, “May I erase the boards after school?” “Does our geography lesson begin on page 268 or 267?” “Do we have to write our compositions in ink?” and so forth—an endless string of useless questions, confusing to those who were trying to study and nerve-racking to the teacher. And besides the talking aloud there was a constant and needless passing to and fro.

613“Now see here, children, this has got to stop. Monday morning we’re going to turn over a new leaf and put a stop to this talking aloud. Remember that! The first one who talks or leaves his seat without permission will be punished.”

Monday morning, true to her word, Miss Rand punished every child who talked aloud without permission. Tuesday and Wednesday the school was a model of quiet and order. But Thursday Miss Rand had a headache and did not feel quite equal to having it out with Theodore when he asked, without permission, “Is this the 22nd of the month?” for it was a perfectly legitimate inquiry, inspired by the exercise in letter-writing which was his language lesson.

A half hour later Margaret called Miss Rand’s attention to the fact that the clock had stopped, then looked scared as she realized she had broken the rule. Miss Rand argued to herself that the child meant well, so she let the talking aloud pass uncommented upon.

And so it went, the children falling rapidly back into their old habit of talking whenever they pleased. By the middle of the next week pandemonium was again the order of the day and Miss Rand again “cleaned house,” saying, “Tomorrow morning I’m going to begin making everyone of you who talks aloud stay in at recess. There is no reason why you can’t do your work quietly, and tend to your business without asking so many questions,” and for a few days she was most energetic in enforcing quiet and order.

But in two weeks the school-room was again a place of noisy confusion. And so it went.

614

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Instead of announcing, each time, that there would be a change in her way of running the school, Miss Rand should have said, “Don’t talk aloud without permission, Theodore,” the first time and then, without saying any more about it, she should have quietly signified by a gesture or a look that speaking aloud was forbidden, refusing to answer queries put in this fashion. If she had done this every time a pupil spoke aloud and had never let a single opportunity to correct this bad habit go by, the school would always have run as smoothly and as well as it did for the few days after one of her periodic upheavals of enforcing order.

Have backbone enough to stick to the course of action which you know to be the best, in spite of the fact that you are tired and that four o’clock is almost at hand. All you need to do is to raise your hand in a gesture enforcing silence, but do it every time talking aloud occurs.

The effect of quiet insistence upon the no-talking rule is much better than a hundred spells of violent housecleaning, with periods of laxness in between.

COMMENTS

A school can not run smoothly and be governed well if the authority of the teacher has to be constantly brought into view. It is the unseen authority which counts for the most.

A teacher who is consistent, and who makes her pupils understand that she means what she says always—not just temporarily—gains their respect and confidence. She can govern them then without the prop 615of punishment or rewards, because they feel her strength and continuity of purpose—her ability to govern.

ILLUSTRATION

Work Steadily

A certain young man who owned a fine colt undertook to break him himself, although he had had no experience in training horses. The colt was high-spirited and difficult to control, the young man impatient and nervous. When the colt did not do as he was expected to immediately, the young man was apt to lose his temper and use the lash pretty roughly.

One day an experienced horseman watched such a performance from across the street. The young man gave the colt several beatings in succession, the horse becoming more and more difficult to handle all the while. After the horseman had watched a long time in silence, he called to the colt’s owner, “Put up your whip, young man, and hold the lines tight and steady and you will find that your colt will act differently.” The young man acted upon the suggestion and found that he could claim immediate success.

CASE 112 (SEVENTH GRADE)

Too Great Absorption

Miss Bersley was a teacher in the fourth grade of a school in Brockton, Maine. She was an enthusiastic young woman, but there was one great drawback to her teaching. She became so interested in what she was saying, that she gave the backward pupils in her room no chance to recite. They were too slow. She was always sure of a quick reply from such children 616as Spencer Thorpe. He was ever ready to speak on every subject, even though he was not always informed. Miss Bersley would not have openly admitted this to be the situation, but her recitations disclosed her attitude.

“Name the principal manufacturing towns in New England.”

Up went Spencer’s hand.

Miss Bersley hesitated.

Spencer flung his arm around until she said, “All right! Spencer, since you are so anxious to recite, you may tell us.”

Once on his feet, he named one town after another, as fast as they came into his mind, regardless of whether they were manufacturing towns or whether they were located in New England.

“What natural advantages does New England have for manufacturing?”

As usual, Spencer raised his hand.

“Very well, Spencer.”

So, through over thirty minutes recitation, out of a class of thirty-five, Spencer Thorpe was called upon five times, while many less forward pupils were given no opportunity for self-expression.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

At the beginning of the geography recitation say, “I am going to try a new plan in the lesson today. Let us see if I can tell who knows his lessons by the way he looks instead of by the raising of his hand.”

Be sure to give as many of the children an opportunity to recite as you can—all if possible.

617At the beginning of the next recitation say, “The plan we tried yesterday worked so well, I believe we will try it for the whole day.”

COMMENTS

By calling on all or nearly all of the pupils, you will accustom the boy who wants to speak all the time, to the idea that he must take his turn with the others.

By substituting an intelligent interest in the recitation for the raising of hands and the mere pleasure of being the central figure in the class, you will raise the class standard to a higher level. By assuming an attitude of attention, the pupils will unconsciously become interested in each other’s recitations.

The teacher may not hope entirely to do away in a day with the excessive raising of hands, or of speaking without waiting to be called upon, but the fact that she has secured her point during one recitation makes it easier the next time to suppress the excessive desire, on the part of one or two pupils, to monopolize the time and attention of the class to the exclusion and detriment of others.

ILLUSTRATION (EIGHTH GRADE)

At the beginning of the class in United States history in the Deerfield rural school, Miss Deaton decided she was going to do away with the privilege which four of the pupils seemed to claim of talking all the time.

Refuse Answers

“We have so many points to cover in the recitation today, we shall have no time to stop for the raising of hands. I shall call on you individually without 618waiting for that. Every one be ready to answer promptly.”

Miss Deaton smiled. Her attitude was one of complete confidence. The class responded accordingly.

Just once during the recitation did George Mills, the class “speaker,” forget. Miss Deaton had only to raise her eyebrows to remind him that this was not the form to be followed that day.

Laxness on the part of the teacher, even in a seemingly trifling matter, sometimes destroys the order in a school-room for all time. To get the best results and to make the most progress in school work, there must be no leaks in the efficiency tank. The experience of a certain eighth grade teacher proves this to be true.

CASE 113 (EIGHTH GRADE)

Miss James was a strict teacher who kept her word and was both feared and respected by her pupils. Technically she was a good teacher, too; that is, she knew how to present a subject to the child mind, to organize and emphasize the vital points in a lesson. There was apparently no reason why the children of the eighth grade room should not accomplish as much as the individual ability of each child would permit.

Interrupting the Studious

But they were not doing it. Mildred, who had gotten averages of 90 in most subjects throughout the seventh grade, was hovering just above the passing mark. The same was true to a lesser degree of others, and there was a continuous effort on the part of Miss James, the teacher, to suppress small naughtinesses in children who had good records for previous years.

619The children never finished tasks in the time assigned and the work done was mediocre in quality. Miss James did not realize how badly things were going until Mildred’s mother presented the case to her.

It was just after the monthly issue of report cards. Mildred’s card showed some unusually low marks—one that was far below passing grade. Mildred was a conscientious girl and could not herself understand why she failed to do as good work as she had done the year before. She knew she worked hard but she never seemed to accomplish results. Things always managed to happen just so that she had to skip over the last few paragraphs of her history lesson in a hurry, and look up all her reading words at recess because she had no other time to spend on them.

When she showed her card to her mother, bitter tears of hurt pride were in her eyes, for in the past there had never been anything but commendation at home when she brought home her month’s record. Her mother, being a wise woman, drew her little daughter to her and asked:

“What’s the matter, dear? Father and I know you don’t waste your time at school. There must be a reason for these low marks. Is it that Miss James is unfair? Doesn’t she give you what you deserve to get?”

“No,” sobbed Mildred. “It isn’t that. She marks higher than Miss Johnson did last year. I really don’t deserve to get any more than this. I do well enough on tests when I can study up, but I don’t do good work every day.”

620And Mildred cried out her trouble in her mother’s arms. That lady resolved to visit Miss James the next day and have a serious talk with her.

Miss James had seen that the eighth grade was doing uncommonly poor work and had cast about in her mind for the reason. She had shortened lessons until she was in danger of not complying with the schedule, and she had watched with an eagle eye for inattention and laziness. When Mildred’s mother pointed out the contrast between this year’s and last year’s work she was forced to admit that Mildred was always busy and was by no means a dull pupil.

What was the trouble?

She decided to watch more closely than before the events in her school-room.

The next morning after opening exercises were over, her glance over the room showed her every head bent over a book. The room was so quiet that Robert Woods’ wheezy breathing (he had a very bad cold) was distinctly audible.

Then the stillness was broken by John. He saw Miss James looking at him and asked a question about the lesson. Most of the children looked up from their work, shifted their positions, or gave some other evidence of having noticed the break. In a few minutes someone else asked permission to leave the room. And so on through the period.

Not until she had watched for several periods did Miss James realize the stir each one of these speeches aloud made, and how frequent they were. Then she saw that the speaking aloud disease had reached an advanced stage in her school-room and that it, and it 621alone, was responsible for the seemingly causeless deterioration in her pupils’ work.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Do not sit still in the front of the room during a study period and let children ask questions whenever they please. Require them to raise their hands and then go to them and settle the difficulty quietly without disturbing the rest of the school.

Develop the social consciousness in the child as early as possible. Make him realize that, for the general welfare of the whole school, it is worth his while to forego satisfying his need immediately.

COMMENTS

In this case the teacher was a good one and a good disciplinarian, but one minor weakness in her fabric of control had undermined all the rest of her good work.

Work, no matter how earnest it may be, can not be constantly interrupted without suffering the consequences. The inspiration is gone and interest flags.

The fullest and best work of which children are capable can never be finished on time if it is accomplished under the stress of interruptions and distracted attention. A steady noise, even a clatter or roar, does not disturb a worker after he becomes accustomed to it. It is the occasional outburst, the sudden breaking in upon a silence, that confuses the mind.

622

ILLUSTRATION

Exhausted Nerves

A young engineer who was accustomed to working in a downtown office in a big city was transferred to a branch office in a small town. In the city he had been surrounded by the continuous clatter of typewriters and adding-machines, the noise of the traffic in the street below and the boom of elevated trains just outside the window. Because these sounds were steady and relatively constant, the man did not notice them. He paid no heed, though his work required intense concentration and uninterrupted thought.

In the small town branch office he was the sole occupant of a little room looking out upon an uncleared field. Shortly after the engineer’s arrival the owner of the adjacent land began to clear it. He used dynamite to blast out the stumps. The explosions of the blasts would have been lost in the din to which this man had been accustomed in the city, but breaking in upon a dead silence as they did, they annoyed the engineer so much that he lost much time trying to pick up the broken threads of his work every day.

Then, these noisy explosions began to get on his nerves, for he was a high-strung man. At the end of two weeks he had a nervous breakdown which was caused by nothing but these periodic disturbances that set his nerves on edge and shattered his self-control. Fortunately, by the time he had recovered from his illness, the blasting was finished and he went on with his work undisturbed.

623

CASE 114 (HIGH SCHOOL)

When Miss Barton had charge of the high school assembly room in Geneva, Illinois, it was always a time for unlimited privilege on the part of the pupils.

“Miss Barton, may I speak to Elsie?” Susan Emmons asked, without raising her hand.

Two blonde heads were soon together talking over what they were going to wear to Jeannette’s party.

Two minutes later: “Please, may I speak?” This was from a demure-looking girl who was never known to ask this privilege from any other teacher.

Several minutes passed without a reply from Miss Barton. She was enjoying some peace in reading her home newspaper when again, “Miss Barton, may I speak to Susan?”

“Yes” (said without thinking).

Then, when Elsie was on her way to speak to Susan, she recalled, “Didn’t I just give you permission?”

“No, you gave Susan permission to speak to me.”

Too Frequent Speaking

“All right.” Miss Barton sighed as she turned her attention to another part of the room, where two boys were amusing themselves looking out of the window.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Refuse, without discussion, a request to speak, when you know it is not necessary.

It is often wise to ask, when such a request is made, “Is it necessary?” Look into the child’s eyes as you say this, letting him see by your attitude that you do not intend to give the permission unless it is necessary.

One cautious teacher asks, “Is it something about your lessons?”

624Refuse all requests that have nothing to do with the pupil’s work. Limit the time for speaking. Do not allow more than one person to speak at a time.

Much speaking can be avoided frequently by quietly stepping forward to the person who asks the permission and saying, “Can I help you? We won’t disturb Susan if we can help it.” The implied suggestion is itself a reminder to be more careful about asking such favors.

If you make it clear when you first take charge of a study room that you expect little or no whispering, the pupils will soon find out that such “speaking” is quite unnecessary.

COMMENTS

In the case of Miss Barton, the pupils misused a privilege which should have been reserved for special circumstances only.

The study period is not a time for idleness or recreation on the part of the teacher. If she makes it so, she can not blame the pupils for following her example.

ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)

Miss Herrick had charge of the study hall in the Pittsfield High School the last period of every day. Her presence meant “Study.” There was no time for foolishness when she came into the room. She treated requests to speak in such a chary manner that a pupil would think twice before asking the privilege.

“May I speak?”

Learn the Reason

Miss Herrick would not say a word, but would beckon the pupil to her desk.

625“What would you like to learn, Jessie?”

“I wanted to ask Mary how to do an algebra problem.”

“Bring your book up to the desk; perhaps I can help you.”

So time after time a request to speak to a fellow pupil was turned aside for something more helpful.

(3) Studying aloud. Probably few teachers realize the difficulty a child meets in learning to suppress tone and muscular movement of mouth and lips while reading. Indeed, the adult can assure himself that in silent reading, even he does not suppress all movement of tongue and vocal cords.

CASE 115 (THIRD GRADE)

When Miss Smedley took charge of the third grade in the Russell Sage School, she had to meet several new situations, one of which was most annoying. Almon Metcalf insisted on studying aloud. Most of the pupils in the room were accustomed to this, as he had been in the same room with them for years.

Studying Aloud

Miss Smedley was conducting a class in arithmetic in the upper division, when she heard a monotonous mumbling on the other side of the room. Almon Metcalf was studying his reading lesson.

“Almon, I wish you would study silently. Don’t you know you are interrupting our arithmetic lesson?”

All the children then turned around to look at Almon.

Again she started to take up the lesson, but the children’s attention was all on Almon. Miss Smedley’s patience was taxed to the utmost. It was hard enough 626to pound two times two into the minds of children when they were interested, but to have their attention distracted by a boy who insisted upon studying out loud—this was too much.

“Almon Metcalf, come here!”

The scared little boy hesitantly walked up to the front of the room.

“Aren’t you ashamed to take up my time this way?” Miss Smedley shook him while the rest of the room looked on the scene with greatest interest.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Give the boy an isolated seat for the time being. When with him alone apply a test whereby you can find out the cause of his studying out loud. Take a second grade reader and pick out a simple paragraph:

“Almon, read this paragraph to yourself.”

If you discover he can not tell you what he has read when he has finished the paragraph, teach him how to read silently. This matter of teaching silent reading is a point neglected by a great number of teachers.

Take one short sentence from the second reader. Read it to yourself, first, so that he can watch you. Then ask him to read the sentence the same way.

“What did you read?”

If he answers correctly, say, “That’s right. Now read two sentences.” If he can not tell you what he has read, give him a simpler sentence. Do not give up the test until he is able to read something, no matter how easy the sentence may have to be.

On the following day give the whole class the same test. Select a somewhat more difficult sentence. Let 627the one who can first give the words orally, raise his hand. Make a game of silent reading and its difficulties will soon disappear.

With third grade children, the teacher should show her class how to study each lesson. It is not enough to give an assignment. The method of study should be outlined.

For the preparation of the reading lesson, for instance (for that is the subject in which a child is more likely to study aloud), put a list of the most difficult words on the board and mark them for pronunciation. Ask the class to examine the words. Then say, “Are there any words you can not pronounce?” Give special attention to the boy who studies aloud, asking him to pronounce the words which you have written on the board.

For the fourth and upper grades, place a list of the more difficult words on the board, the meaning of which the children should be asked to look up in their small dictionaries; and do not forget that children have to be taught how to use the dictionary. Have play drills in this as in all other difficulties of a mechanical sort.

COMMENTS

Miss Smedley did not stop to figure out why Almon Metcalf studied aloud. If she had, she would have taken into consideration the fact that he had been two years in school without being taught how to study. She would have realized that calling the attention of the whole room to his deficiency would not help him to break the habit.

628The boy was not the only one who was to blame for distracting the attention of the class in arithmetic. Miss Smedley’s own remarks were instrumental here.

Almon Metcalf needed Miss Smedley’s special guidance in learning how to study.

ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE)

When Rosa Bentley entered the fifth grade of the Lowell school, Miss Sieger recognized her at once as an inveterate talker. This was especially manifest in the study periods where Rosa had formed the habit of studying aloud.

Teach Silent Study

“Well, there must be some cause for the child’s doing this,” thought Miss Sieger. “She is another one of those untrained pupils.” Miss Sieger was aware of the deficiencies in our school system.

“I’m going to teach Rosa how to study.”

That afternoon she worked alone with the child for fifteen minutes, patiently helping her, sentence by sentence, to comprehend what she was reading without pronouncing the words aloud. This was only the beginning of a series of special lessons in how to study.

When Rosa had gained some headway, Miss Sieger held her up as an example to an occasional delinquent.

“Rosa has learned how to study, now can’t you?”

CASE 116 (SEVENTH GRADE)

In Miss Algernon’s seventh grade room there were three pupils who insisted on studying aloud.

Studying Aloud

“I should think that by the time you reached the seventh grade, John Leavitt, you would know how to study. Only babies in the second and third grades 629have to study aloud. I don’t know what our schools are coming to when they allow pupils to be promoted to the seventh grade who have never learned how to study. I can not see that there is much use of your being here.

“Suppose you go down into Miss Kreisler’s room this morning and learn how to study. Her little third grade pupils know more about studying than you do.”

At the same time, Miss Kreisler was telling her children, “Miss Algernon is going to send three of her seventh grade pupils down here this morning, because they have been disturbing her whole room by studying aloud. I want you to show them that you can study silently.”

She had no more than finished her statement, when three children, John, and Farry Lawrence and Ellery Comstock, came into the room with all the assurance that such a conspicuous position could give them.

“You may take those three vacant seats,” said Miss Kreisler, as she mustered all the self-control she had to keep from laughing. The situation was so incongruous.

The little children caught the spirit and a general giggle rose in the room.

It did not take Miss Kreisler many minutes to see the futility of such a corrective measure. She sent word to Miss Algernon: “The plan didn’t work. You’ll have to try something better.”

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Give a sample lesson of the situation as it would be if everyone in the room studied aloud.

630“Let’s try it. Take your geographies. Don’t be afraid. Read aloud, everyone.

“That will do.

“How did it seem? Do you think we can afford to study that way? We couldn’t get much done, could we?

“All right; let us remember to have consideration for others in the room when we are studying.

“I think that list of questions on the board will help you in preparing your geography lesson for today. You will find the answers on pages fourteen to seventeen.”

COMMENTS

It did not help the children who had never learned how to study, to be held up in ridicule before a third grade room, nor to be cited as the product of a poor school system. Miss Algernon gave the children the impression they were the ones at fault and, what was even less excusable, that there was little hope for them in school. This would hardly inspire them with courage for greater effort.

ILLUSTRATION (EIGHTH GRADE)

Miss Griffin, a teacher in the eighth grade of the Waller Avenue School, decided to cure two boys in her room who had the idea they could not study in school unless they spoke aloud.

During a study period in which she was at leisure she went quietly to each boy’s desk and privately asked:

631“Are you a Chinese boy, Leonard?” The boy laughed and shook his head.

Chinese Method

“I thought not. Well, do you know, Leonard, that Chinese boys study out loud? A Chinese boy learns his lessons by shouting aloud until he has committed the passage to memory. Then he hands his book to the teacher, turns his back and recites the lesson as fast as he can.

“Now, you are not a Chinese, Leonard, neither are we advertising the old Chinese method of education. Let me see you study like an American boy hereafter.”

(4) Tattling. The tale-bearer usually acts to satisfy some secret desire either for fame or for revenge. Tale-bearing grows directly out of the taproot of selfishness.

Fortunately, public opinion, both in school and out is sufficient to suppress the majority of pupils in their leanings in this direction.

Nevertheless, a few individuals now and then taste the sweets of tale-bearing. These are apt to be in the lower grades, where the force of community ideas has less weight.

For the sake of both teacher and pupil it is necessary to mark a clear distinction between the legitimate report of a misdeed that is a menace to good order and the petty, selfish carrying of stories of other pupils’ misdemeanors.

The difference is marked by the character of the motive and the frequency of the reporting.

Some supervisors and administrators take the unwarranted position that all reporting of misbehavior by pupils is wrong. They do not expect nor desire information 632of misbehavior to come to them from pupil sources. They highly commend all pupils who refuse to answer questions on the misconduct of their schoolmates. They deny that the best of motives can warrant a revelation of student wrongs to the school authorities.

This position is extreme. It seems due to an attempt to adopt a pupil’s point of view. It positively contradicts the duty laid down by public sentiment and the fundamental law of the land, to the effect that all good citizens must aid in the discovery and repression of crime.

A pupil stands in a double position. He owes good will both to his comrades as individuals and to the school as an institution. His duty to neither must be overlooked. The rule of right in the case seems to be somewhat as follows: to his schoolmates he owes a generous silence when their misdeeds are not a serious menace to the school and a kindly sympathy when he must report their wrong actions. To the school he owes a loyalty that requires only a reporting of that which if left untold will be a serious injury to both the wrong-doer and to the school.

These broad statements need careful application in particular instances. For example, to answer the questions of an administrator should never be construed as tattling. To relate daily that Charley has been dropping hints of his intention to give Robert a sound thrashing should not be approved under the head of school loyalty; it stands on the level of gossip.

Teachers will do well to weigh carefully the attitudes of the conscientious and the over-conscientious pupils 633of their schools. The sense of duty to their schoolmates and to their teachers sometimes leads them into embarrassing dilemmas. A rough and ready rudeness with them will mark the dull and hardened teacher, who may foster a strained abhorrence of tale-bearing.

In the daily experience of the school-room it will be found that tattling usually arises from a distinctly selfish impulse. Perhaps jealousy is the most usual inciting cause. At times there is a standing antagonism between two pupils; the hope of revenge is here the leading impulse to tale-bearing. In other instances mere acquaintance, with neither friendship or antipathy, is to be observed; the eagerness for a sensation such as seeing a boy or girl whipped may lead to reporting minor or major wrongs.

First Grade

The little child who comes to school and tells the teacher and his playmates all the happenings of the home is as annoying as the pupil that is constantly coming to the teacher to tell that a certain pupil did this or that, or, in common school language, tattles. While a few teachers cultivate this practice in pupils, it is right to brand it as one of the most ignoble of habits. Teacher and pupils can be no better off for knowing all that goes on in a certain home. The teacher should tactfully talk of something else—something so interesting as to divert him from his talk about home matters.

The habit of tattling or “telling on” other pupils is more annoying and usually gets the pupil who indulges in the habit into ill-repute with the other pupils. It must be admitted that the teacher sometimes needs information from a pupil or pupils to ferret out some 634misdemeanor. But this should be given only when the teacher asks for it. In the first grade it is almost an exception if the teacher needs to ask pupils to give information to explain some misdemeanor. If the teacher pays no attention to tattling, it will soon stop. The spirit of tattling can be effectively cured, if, when the child tells on a certain pupil, the teacher will turn to the child and ask him if he does not admire some particular trait in the other child.

Often the motive for tattling is envy. By asking something about the other child’s good traits, envy will be eradicated, and it will be the exception if the offense is repeated.

CASE 117 (SECOND GRADE)

Daisy was a talkative child. Her eyes went everywhere and her ears picked up all the news that passed her way.

“Telling on” the Pupils

“Teacher, Tommy’s whispering”—“Jennie lost her book”—“Philip said some bad words”—“Annie’s papa’s dead, and she says she don’t care.” After a few interruptions of this sort, her teacher broke out with:

“If you don’t shut up, I shall go crazy. Why don’t you go to work and leave other people’s affairs alone?”

Such a rebuke closed up the torrent of tattling for only a very few minutes.

The next string of remarks was cut off with, “Not another word from you this morning. You’re a regular little tattle-tale.” When another remark began it was blocked by:

“I can’t hear any more tales from you today.”

635

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Substitute some suitable form of expression for this excessive tale-bearing. Even an eager interruption of the child, when you discern the trend of her remarks, is entirely in order. In particular try to find food for her mental hunger in the novel and sensational matters of her daily school life. Make immediate offers of help in her school work, in place of patient attention to tales. Polite ignoring of the child’s chatter will ultimately induce her to cease; especially if you suggest your disapproval of her unkind remarks by saying: “I like to hear good things about people,” or “Haven’t you something pleasant to tell me today?”

COMMENTS

No doubt the little tale-bearer often conveys useful information. If the teacher discloses any satisfaction with these tales, she may aggravate the very ill she should endeavor to cure. Any gains from tattling, should be used with great caution.

The general attitude of indifference and unconcern is the best antidote for tattling. When a story-teller loses his audience, all the impulses to talk are quieted; he necessarily runs down. A dignified reserve and a continuous distraction from the disagreeable habit will be a certain remedy.

ILLUSTRATION (RURAL SCHOOL)

Ignore Remarks

Miss Moffit, recently at the Endwood rural school, had the art of drawing out her pupils’ confidence on a variety of topics. They discussed school work, flower 636gardens, dress-making, electrical devices, corn contests, and a wide range of topics. This freedom of intercourse spurred the tattlers also into action. Hilliard came up at frequent intervals with numerous, personal incidents, until he learned how to control his tongue.

“Some of the boys are taking home chalk in their pockets.” At another time, “Sallie’s eating in school time,” or “Minnie didn’t get her problems.”

Miss Moffit sensed the drift of Hilliard’s mind. She decided to become absolutely impervious to Hilliard’s tales. She took the lead in conversations when he approached; she switched from one topic to another so rapidly that he had no opportunity to make much of his fund of anecdotes. She gratified his impulse to talk, by asking him questions on themes in which he was interested.

Tattling to the teacher lost its charm for Miss Moffit’s pupils.

CASE 118 (THIRD GRADE)

Marvel Green was one of the innumerable throng of schoolboy caricaturists. With periodic certainty he spread his drawings before pupil eyes for his own glory.

“Who Drew the Picture?”

Miss Hatfield knew Earl Moss, another mischief-maker, so well that she turned to him when she discovered a new “Green” on the blackboard and in an official manner, asked:

“Did you draw that picture of me over there?”

“No I did not,” was Earl’s quick reply.

“Who did it then; I’m sure you know.”

“I won’t tell, Miss Hatfield.”

637“You must tell me now. I’ll punish you if you don’t.”

Good sense came to her rescue and she postponed action until there was time for reflection.

In the evening the boy’s father called and said:

“I understand that you are going to punish my boy if he does not tell who drew the picture. Now I came to say that I can’t agree to that. I don’t want my boy to do wrong, but I can’t allow him to be punished for refusing to be a tattler. You must find some other way out of it.”

“Well,” thought Miss Hatfield, “he has a strange idea. I don’t want to make a tattler out of his boy. He’s a queer one.”

She didn’t whip the boy, and she never learned who drew the picture.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Silently erase the picture, or better still, pay no attention to it, if it is not a serious disturbance to school work. At all events make no public attempt to find out the artist. Many teachers would refuse to question one who did a given wrong, as it is almost certain to lead to complications. If your hold on the school is strong, laugh off the matter and say:

“I know where to find a good salary for a competent cartoonist. If any of you are interested, let me know.”

COMMENTS

General opinion is divided on the matter of tattling on a schoolmate. Blue law moralists demand that 638every child and every adult freely tell all they know against a fellow pupil.

The majority of persons may be trusted to oppose breaking down clan loyalty among pupils to the degree that any pupil shall be expected to tell of another’s fault when requested to do so by a teacher.

The wise teacher manages to avoid raising this issue as he nearly always loses in the contest. It is proper, of course, to ask a class to accept responsibility for a known prank.

ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE)

Superintendent Alexander was loaded with the responsibility of bringing an end to a series of petty thefts in a fifth grade room. The teacher laid the matter before him, in a manner which showed her extreme annoyance. He calmed her by saying:

“Leave it to me. I have long said there are no ‘bad boys’ and I believe it yet.” Mr. Alexander continues his story:

“Who Stole?”

“The boys knew before this that I would play fair with them. The first time I met two or three of the fifth grade boys individually, I let them know that I was aware something was wrong in their room, but made no charges nor inquiries. There was good reason to believe that several boys were involved in the pranks. By falling in with the boys they began giving me bits of stories about what had been stolen and when. In a few days I was able to piece up accounts of three serious robberies. I called together four boys who, I was morally certain, were guilty. I said:

639“‘I want you fellows to straighten up some little matters that need your attention.’

“‘What matters?’ one of the boys inquired.

“‘You know as well as I,’ said I.

“I paused a moment and told the three stories quickly. I did not insist on anything further but promptly dismissed them. Within three days full confessions were made to me individually and restitution was accomplished in two cases.”

Personal influence is a powerful and a dangerous force. Sometimes children indulge in character-warping conduct in the hope of winning the personal favor of a beloved teacher.

CASE 119 (FIFTH GRADE)

Desiring Approval

Sigrid Holderson was a pale, timid, anæmic child, who never joined the other children in their play, and one whom the other children seemed instinctively to dislike. When she was in the fifth grade she conceived a blind adoration for her teacher, Miss Field. She brought her votive offerings of wilted flowers and specked apples, all her limited resources afforded; and she watched for chances to prove her devotion by running errands and cleaning erasers.

One noon she came in with flushed cheeks and handed Miss Field a crumpled piece of paper containing a list of names.

“All those kids was sliding on the bank where you told them not to,” she announced. “I took down every kid’s name that went down.”

Miss Field had the usual horror of “tattling.”

“Why, you little tattler, you!” she said. “Go 640right to your seat, Sigrid, and don’t ever do such a thing again! You must never tattle unless it is necessary.”

Sigrid’s humiliation was complete. Her adored teacher had rejected her choicest offering, the paper whose writing had been done with stiff, cold fingers to an accompaniment of jibes from the lawless sliders. Her little mind could not quite fathom why Miss Field did not approve her deed, but seemed instead to take sides with the disobedient pupils.

This rebuff cured Sigrid of tattling, but the cure was worse than the disease. When Miss Field deserted her, Sigrid felt she had lost her last friend. Her classmates heaped scorn upon her as a “tattle-cat”; she withdrew more and more into herself, and became more and more abnormally sensitive.