The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1879-09-12

threadbare hOmily on the mobility of the pro-
fessiOn'' and the unappreciated worthiness OF
those engaged in it. l know We are martyrs to
unappreciation, and all that; il is q lamentable
fact that the threadbare professor Of Prarieville
receives less consideration than is bestowed upon
the perfumed and purse-prOud simpleton Of
Broadway; but il it our place, in common cOur-
tesy, to be continually parading our own worth9
The jack-law attracts the attention Of the passer-
by, but fails to win his admiration. Suppose,
fellow martyrs, We do away with this mobility
business. Suppose We do our work cOnscien-
tiously and faithfully, and venture that accord
ing to it's merit or wOrthlesSness it will command
respect or execration, stand or fall
What duties or obligations. then, does the
teacher owe TO his patrons?
First, then, though of minor importance, it is
the duty OF the teacher to cultivate personal
acquaintance with his patrons. Allow me to
call your attention to two very common miscon-
ceptions of the teacher and his work. by one
class of patrons the teacher is looked upon as q
being not to be approached familiarity or on COM
mon topics of conversation, by another, on the
other hand, as nOnentlty which hardly attains
the dignity of humanity-a machine which the
promise of thirty dollars per month puts in mo-
ton for five months, and which needs no
further attention-not even the lubricating ap-
plication of the oil of human sympathy, or the
modifying influence of the milk of human kind
ness These are both mistaken notions, the one
about as erroneous Us the other. Why cannot
the teacher be a man among men? You remem-
Der the indignant inqucry of Shyl0ck: Have
we not hands, organs, dimensions, senses, afec-
tions, passl ms? Fed by the same food, hurt
with the same weapons, subject to the same dis
eases, healed by the same means, warmed and
cooled by the same winter and summer, rs other
men are2 If you prick us do We not bleed? Ii
YOU tickle lis do we not laugh? ifyOu poison lis
do we not die? And if you wrong us shall We
not revenge?'' Aud let us add, soto roce, if you
Islander us do we not suffer?
These :errone,us impressions may be speedily
dispelied by friendly advance Oh the part Of the
teacher. Meet your patron on the street, or In
his home. Let him know that You have some
thing more than business interest in his boys
and girls, that you may be approached Oh other
TOPICS Of conversation than your fondness or dis
like for teaching, the number in attendance lat
your school, - with scrupulous statements of the
proportion Of ''malcs and ieinales'' (Does itnot
sound familiar?) Let him understand that you
are capable of taking friendly ani Intelligent
interest in his farm, or his business. DO you
not know tina; That man Will forthwith conceive
n
his children, and that you Will hin IN him hence
forth firm supporter oievery Ju,tiliabie measure
you may employ for the general advancement?
I'd. Personal friendship for your pupils. By
this l mean, not only the personal notice Il
teacher must necessarily beStoW upon MS pupils
in the school room, but personal and friendly
intercourse out of school hours. Meet your pu-
pills on the street with a smile AM. bow. Take
| occasion to talk to them familiarity of their
| studies, their pleasures and their trials. Every
teacher knows that many an unriIiy boy and SUI
len girl is reached only il at all, by personal ana
private and triendiy conversation: 1t is uni
versally recognized fact that thekIndly pers-
Onal notice of superiors is flatiering and CRATE
| full to human pride. You need not necessarily
make your pupils bosom friends or sweet
hearts nor depOrt yourself in such manner
that such o construction could he placed upon
your actions; but so conduct yourself that you
\ will remain in their memory as q Kind but judi
cious friend and adviser.
school room. This scarcely needs elaboration.
Etiquette does not figure to any great extent in
the curriculum of our common schools. And II
is to be deplOred that it is sadly neglected even
rs regards the lrecept and example of teachers.
Now do not wish to be understood as intimate
ing that teachers should deliver themselves
stately of long drawn lectures on ball room and
drawing room etiquette: rs to the terms In which
| invitations should be couched, accepted or de-
clined, the contortions and genutexions which
the human body must undergo at the demands Of
polite society, the most graceful and timely man:
| ner of making your exit from your host, and all
the comglicatea formally of white re; ;p,
may wisely be postponed till the age Of discre-
ton (D. But there are some wholesome princi-
Piles Of every day politeness, which every one Il
expected to observe, that 1t Is your right and
duty to teach and enforce. Americans are exc
Grated the world over for their lack OfceremOnial
snare Of the blame for this rests at the door 81
the ignorant or careless teacher: I am aware
that home influence should be such as to preclude
the necessity of this kind of instruction. but it Is
q sad but indisputable fact, that in the majority
of cases it is not.
POliteness cannot be inculcated by precept
teacher Be uniformly obliging and courteous,
especially in your personal Intercourse with your
pupils, and in the school room though the hot
fury which you can scarcely control, let even
your Indignation be gentlemanly and dignifed
Children will dread your displeasure the more
4th. Conscientious discharge of duty. There is
no other profession which offers 30 greit tempta.
sions for what is popularity termed ''shirking''
your desk all day, droning dresmily over a
dull pages Of text book, listening listlessly to
the old story ~ lOve'' and "you love" and ''he
loves" and first person plural eve all love, !"
doling out u drop of stale wisdom at intervals,
silencing an innocent interrogation by giving the
stamp Of certainty to q hypothesis, with decid-
because it Is too much trouble to look it up, and
because You are not brave enough to confess your
ignorance by a frank and manly don T know"
And then you are just as popular, to all appear
ances, with your pupils; You reap encomiums
without number from local correspondents of
that great arbiter ''the Press" according to
popular verdict everything is 'going smoothly
(yes, decidedly smoothly! without even enough
friction to extract q single spark of original
thought from the lethargic intellect Of teacher or
pupil in a twelve-mOnth,
Now all this is not merely sin and a shame.
II is positive crime and would that it were
within the pale of the statutes. The teacher who
teaches with no enthusiasm, with no other
motive than to consume time and draw his paltry
salary at the end of the month ought to be sum-
mxriiy kicked out OF the profession. He is trif-
ling with sacred and holy charge, and deserves
not that the cloak of wisdom should shield him
from righteous execratrOn and contempt. ''What
your hand 6ndeth to do, do with your might. -
OF course every teacher owes to himself
not to work beyond his capacity. He is
mental force for whole school. But it is need
less to say that there are fewer who err in this
direction than in the other Don't let the fire of
enthusiasm burn out your life, but let it illum-
4 mate your work, aud shine brightly into the
life and thought Of your pupils.
5th. The teacher owes 1t to his patrons to have
thorough education. Notice the word employed
thorough; not necessarily extensive and pro-
found, but at your tongues and fingers end.
Don't be content with the Pickering shadow of .
fact, the hazy suggestion of an idea, but make
the fact Q component and inalienable part of
your intellect, and be able to exhibit it to others
in its most striking and luminous light to place
your finger upon it instinctively and immedi-
ately, like the compositor before the printer .
case. The lack Of this critical and available
knowledge Is one of the most common and
deplorlbe faults of our teachers. The writer has
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