St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-04-10
VOLUME 37---NUMBER 1915.

the first as the teacher and discipline
rian by all. The ease with which the
school was handled. the enthusiasm in
study she inspired. the mental stir of
the school room were remarkable and
entertaining to visitors. Miss Bahbitt
showed great familiarity with her school
duties. and was never at Il loss what to
do next. In this consisted much Of her
power III the school room. She won
the confidence and affection of the pu-
pills and parents. The school was a
very useful one-an undoubted success
One great drawback to all the schools
i'll this district is the noise in the en-
trance hall between the school rooms.
During my visits the noise i'll the hall
1T the hour of recess was sometimes
deatening, and that when recitations
were going on. was told it WAS thus
ereIy day. The noise was made now by
one school, and now by the other.
1t is the bane OF both schools. and is
unnecessary. Some strict rules should
be established over the hall with pains
and penalties" under some acknowl-
edged authority. The committee with
the teacher. should try to bring about
Il needed change i'll this respect.
District No. IL. No school WAS held
III this district during the year i'll conse-
qurnce of the poor condition of the
school house. The pupils attended
elsew here chiefly at PaSsumpsic | was
told.
District No. II. Miss Nellie Stearns
taught each of the two terms of til.
perience of Miss Stearns III teaching
she did her work unusually we'll. Sh,
was quiet and sclf-possesSed. llel
/ numbers were small. but she conducted
| her exercises with the methods of {;
larger school. and thus showed that she
had the qualities of Il promising teach
CT " hom further experience will perfect
Among the variou> branches taught
I i'll the schools of the town. the greatest
deficiency seems To bc in that of red'tiHg
Ii l. true that the Introduction of the
new series of readers into our schools
has given Il sort OF interest to the read
ing. But have noticed. if am not
mistaken. an increasing careles>nes> III
this exercise on the part of scholars and
teachers have not heard the reading
in all the schools but | have in many
of them. and | have been generally
disappointed. One great source of the
evil is the almost universal tendency OF
scholars To read i'll books above THEN
capacity. Having gone up into high
Ell class and book it is next To impoSs-
bile To persuade them To take an easier
/ book. The result is. they stumble oIi
for Years over sentences Thich they kH0u
nothing dbout. very much as they would
read a deGd language hear i'll almost
all our schools the school boy mouoto.
ny, the clipping of words, the mum.
bling. the hurried almost frightcnc,
emunciatiom. the repeating of words
/ the stumbling which render the readin.
/ exercise painful to the hearer and seem
/ ingly So to the reader also. Another
cause of this rarelc>SnesS Is the lax al
/ drilling i'll this exercise i'll the schools
/ There are some marked and honorabl,
exceptions. The simple hearing of /;
class redd. amounts to Just about moth
ing i'll this direction. 1t may but perpet-
udte faults. No teacher should consider
himself qualified for school teaching
who has not arranged in his own minc
some simple system of elocutlonarN
drill for his reading classes. We hav,
some good readers in town in tn,
I schools. but the number. ! believe. l.
comparatively small.
When the graduates of our common
schools come forth. | think it will h'
found that many of them will not b,
able To read il common article i'll the
newspaper intelligently. naturally. ano
easily. The fault will lie very muci
with our teachers in not giving reddin,
the place it has Il right to. is the tOuH
ddtiOn study i'll the schools.
J p. HUMPHREY.
Town Supt.