Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1888-04-05
school Government.

Many teachers find great difficulty in
governing their schools. When such is
the case. the first step he or she should
take is to ascertain the cause of the
difficulty. In order to accomplish this |
they should be familiar with the ele-
ments of school government, note " hat |
elements are wanting, and endeavor to
supply them. We hear from thous-
and and one school journals and |
teachers associations advlces, such as:
Respect your pupils; practice patience;
never get angry, etc. SGch anvice is
good rs far as it goes, but teachers are
aware of all these things. But will |
somebody kind enough to tell how to be
and do all these things? One great
help is to be competent in what You
profess to teach. No teacher ever
lowers himself in the estimation of his
pupils by saying he knows not; but on
the other hand is sure of losing their
good opinion by pretending to know
what he knows not. The teacher who
frankly acknowledges his ignorance of
what he knows not, and stands on
what he knows, stands on solid rock
and commands respect. Ii teachers
would but treat pupils with courtesy
and appeal to their manhood and
womanhood in nine cases ont Of ten
much trouble would be avoided. Treat
pupils us if they were noble and you
make them so. Treat Il boy meanly
and you appeal to his mean qualities.
Appeal to his higher qualities and you
arouse in him Il feeling of self respect.
Much of the every day disturbance in
the school room may be avoided by
having a program of study and reci-
tation by which the pupils will know
when and how long they have to pre-
pare for each lesson, and when to be
ready to recite it. So also great deal
avoided, by training pupils never to
bother the teacher by speaking aloud or
swapping the fingers, but by simply
lifting the hand and securing the
teachers permission when he is not
engaged. When an infraction of good
government occurs. show the guilty
one that his privileges are necessarily
shortened at his oUn instance, and
make him feel it, and then show him
| that they may all be regained if he
| promises to use and not abuse the
7. privileges he has lost. For example:
Two boys like to sit together, but they
whisper too much. The privilege of
sitting together should be suspended
| for Il time because they have abused it,
and the teacher after impressing this
fact should separate them. Pupils
| should be made to feel that their
| privileges are not restricted at the
mere whim or ipse di.cit of the teacher,
but Il consequence of their own weak
ness, and they :hould gradually be led
to feel that this principle governs. them
through life. a teacher should avoid
if possible receiving secret information
and on no account should the witness
be encouraged by the promise that his
name shall not be known. Teach
pupils to see that the duty to the school
in other words to society, out-weighs
any minor consideration; that true
honor has no secret pact with wrong.
doing, and cannot shield it without
committing equal wrong. Pupils
should be induced if possible, wher
| ~ sod fN n,,i
openly and manfu1ly and tell on tht
guilty one, as one performing a high. il
disagreeable duty. In school, or il
society, the guilt of moral cowardice j!
often involved in the concealing. 10
informing. This principle affect
society as well rs schools. Dow no
often see the upright citizen wink ii
| gross wrong-doing, under the mistakel
) idea that there is something mean il
exposing it? Let in be tacitly under
stood that the manly or wonanl
3 pupil is the one who is openly, fear
lessly, on the side of law and order
Pupils will generally despise and pei
: secute the secret informer, but vii
! admire the one who does right withou
, fear of their frowns or Jibes. Tn
q pupil who says fearlessly. Il am wit
, you IN all good sports, but will no
wink at anything which l know to b
wrong" will not be unpopular in tn
i school. ! know a few such and each
power for good, and among the mos
J popular in the schools. Correcting O
Q marking states is "A needless task man
impose on themselves. Daily the SLATE
covered with problems of the lesson al
Z placed high on the teachers desk, an
y these she must correct during her moo
IS hours OF after school. 1t subjects til
III teachers to a labor that is productiy
= of no better results on the part of TT
L pupils. Now fatty, the game is M
e, worth the powder. If the time tn,
T. spent ON states weregiven to individu
e work with the billiards in the elias
N results would follow that would sho
% the teacher that her efforts were not
% VAN. Teachers should have a care fl
s. the pupils reading matter, and endeav'
to form taste or desire among the
H. to read books written by the be
ly authors. Why is it we do n
If ordinarily read Latin and French
Of Because we do not understand the
is well enough to comprehend their mea
lie ing. Just so, children do not read,
It. do not choose the best books, beca,l
of they do not understand the lauguai
is OF them so well as they understand
e, lower grade of literature. The teache
in should endeavor to lift the child
te mind and heart into a realm where
We will be able to understand and dete
in the difference in low thrashy "Dir
in Move. stuff and the higher STYLES
re composition. Get pupils interested
Inol-c npd fhoy will want the