Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-02-06
Good Order.

What constitutes good order de-
ponds very much upon circumstances.
What would be regarded as good Or
der in a high school Dor might be
very poor order In a primary school,
just because it would be too good,
and obtained by too much con
straint and repression. And what
might do very well in a small school
might be quite lntolerable in a school
of fifty or sixty.
The great rule to be followed is
the rule of economy-to obtain the
greatest and best results with the least
expenditure or waste. While we be-
lieve that a good school is utterly i'm
possible without good order, still we
believe that many teachers spend SO
much labor in excepting order that
their teaching amounts to but little.
Secure that degree OF quietness which
enables and stimulates your pupils to
do the best studying and reciting and
yourself the best teaching.
Now it is not natural for any per-
son to sit perfectly quiet for any great
length of time. To do so requires
a special effort which hInders rather
than aids real earnest study. To re-
quire of little children that death-like
stiffness which is sometimes met in
schools renowned for their order is
less than criminal. Little ones must
be allowed to change position with
considerable freedom. 1t might be
said almost literally that the supreme
law of the primary school is orderly
motion as the basis and accompani-
ment of all instruction. In the in
termediate and higher grades, the
great fact prevails that movements OF
the body will unconsciously take
place when the mind is earnestly en-
gagged in study. This presents nc
excuse for habitual dropping OF pen
ellis and rulers, the rustling of books,
etc. Nor will the highest good OF
the. school be found in ordinary cases
to tolerate Whispering" Interrupt
tons of the teacher when hearing
recitations, etc. Good order means
good, healthy, mental activity, with
every pupil attending to his own bus.
mess, and doing nothing to distract
the attention of anybody. 1t does
not mean every child as straight as i
lac had a ''bone in his back" and the
room so quiet that ''you could heal
a pin drop" or necessarily hear the
clock tick. 1t is too often forgotten
that good order is a men and not al
end in school-life. The most cage.
and profitable work is seldom don,
in the ~stillest schools.
2. AS a general notice that a reel
tation or some special work is abou
to begin, or in a SCHOOL, rare one
where every pupil is ready to do right
there can be no harm in saying, "W'
must have it more quiet now" Blu
if 1t is said because the children ar
unruly, and are consciously indulg
ing in disorder when they know you
t expectations, we judge it worse thai
useless to attempt to secure quietnes
, by general terms. In such disorde
some pupil Is doing wrong, and goo'
discipline ought to detect very sool
who the offender is and the offende
, ought to know that an eye is directl,
upon him. Otherwise he will sool
be joined by many like unto himself
But by using general terms you con
fess that Won do not know inst VIII,
the guilty one is, and he feels create
security than ever in continuing hi
annoyance, as oon IS your attention
+ is again given to your regular work
You had better suffer and watch TO
some time, and until you know jus
who the tresspassers are, and the
; set things to right with the directnes
! and vigor that come of certainty
, than to he continually beseeching tn
! mischievous ones to be good in term
: that tell them they are perfectly safe