San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-07-11

~nlie singing raugnu oy the regu.
Lar staff Of the schools. with occasional visit
ing lessons by q teacher In the service Of the
board.
Drill Is taught In all the schools, and all
teachers who are not qualified are required
to qualify az soon as possible in drawing,
singing and drill Drill is given daily in
company movements, and Oh one afternoon
in the week exercises with Indian clubs and
wands are taught School work usually be-
gins at $50 a. m and goes on, with an inter
val for recreation till 1880 p. m, begins
again at 9 p. IN. and ends at p. m. but
teachers are required to sign their names in
the attendance book at least twenty minutes
before the beginning of morning and after.
noon school The children are marshaled on
the play ground about fifteen minutes before
school begins and march into school in single
file, hanging up their hats as they pass down
the hall The girls are marshaled separately
and in school sit together and separate from
the boys, though they are members of the
same classes and are taught at the same time
as the boys. They take their seats by word
of command, roll is called and exercise books
collected All Is then ready for beginning
the appointed work at $50 a m. or at p. m.
The large city schools usually have at
tached to them quite a number of probation
airy teachers and pupil teachers. The former
are persons who have not been trained as
teachers, but who are accepted by board and
paid a small salary-from $50 to $500
year-while they acquire practice in school
work. At first they correct the exercise books
containing the home work of the chill
dren, assist in keeping order at drill, and oc.
casionally they are employed by the heao
teachers to administer punishment TO idle or
disorderly boys. The punishment rarely, IL
ever, exceeds few strokes on the band with
a cane On Saturday mornings probationary
and pupil teachers have to attend classes at
the training college, where instruction is
given in drawing, singing, drill and other
subjects In schools where the head teacher
has a taste for science quite creditable collec.
tons of scientific apparatus have been got to-
gether, and lectures, accompanied by expert
ments, are, to the great delight Of the chill
dren, given once week Occasionally, too,
an enthusiastic teacher makes a collection
of geological or neurological specimens,
which serve as basis for illustration, and to
awaken a taste for such matters in the minds
of the children Instructions are issued by
the boards for the guidance of teachers In
these books Of instructions are found notes
on the way in which the inspector of the
district wishes the various subjects of the
school course to be taught; also hints
on organization and discipline All hasty
infection Of corporal punishment is di.
rscted to be avoided, and pupils are OF
no account to be struck on the head
Teachers are recommended to do ali
they can to render their rooms attractive by
flowers, pictures, engravings and other deco
rations In several schools plaster casts are
put up on brackets; pictures of famous men,
of notable buildings, and Of other things
calculated to arouse and awaken the interest
of children, relieve the barrenness Of the
wooden walls
In one school we have visited teaching by
means of pictuses has been almost elevated
into a system The illustrated papers are
regularly overhauled and the pictures cut
out and sorted according to subjects They
are then backed with stout paper and put
away in portfolios, labeled under headings,
such as United States, Canada, Australia,
coal mining, hospitals, politicians, famous
buildings, historical Sites and SO on. These
pictures are then brought out to give life
and interest to history and geography les
sons Sometimes the walls of school room
are almost entirely covered up to conve-
nient height with pictures and other decora-
lions. In another school in which We spent
some days, map drawing is taught as spe-
cialty, and the children are shown how to
tint their maps with suitably chosen washes
of color Maps of unusual excellence are
vanished, framed and hung up on the walls
of the school room to show the other children
the skill that may be attained by persever
ance and attention to instruction. Auckland
IN. q Cor. San Francisco Chronicle