The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1891-03-13
'g-9l
$3.50
Extra work, or Busy work.

Gain in average weekly attendance ......... S0.0l
Gain In average weekly per cent 1921 10
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Extra Work, or Busy Work.
The school-room should not fepresepl
an absolute monarchy, it should rather
be a constitutional monarchy. Nor.
advanced educatlonalists hold that i,
should border on the republican form Of
government.
Students need a guiding hand, ard
while a cert0in amount of lihertv should
be given, they must be made tn feel that
there is a superior governing p wer. Ia
which they must submit. This done
and soon they become convinced that it
il 10 their best interests to assist the
teacher in the development Of the facul
ties. A conscientious pupil, land nearly
all pupils can be trained TO become
largely conscientious begins to feel.
after q little, the awakening Of mowers
within him, and as the life springs begin
TO flnw he rouses TO the fact that educa-
ton is not so much the amount Of
mathematics, language or science one
imbibes as the development of those
powers TO be gained by the pursuit Of
those studies.> 1t is then he comedies
kA6 VI CIiiOti W AllG -
il then they unite efforts for the de-
velopment of the highest powers of the
pupil, and the true teacher is in his elt-
ment.
The work Of a school is. or shnuld he.
divided in teachers mind thus: rect
tstiOn. study, recreation. The recitation
is not of paramount importance. BY i
the teacher tests The pupils KIN lwle4g
D.. ! -
cili:y and accuracy Of expression, his re-
tentive power, his attentive rapidity of
thought, etc etc.
Recreation is not play. but include
such work as music, gymnastics, calls
themes, storytelling, etc, etc.
STUDY!
The study period il probably The
greatest cross 10 tile teacher, while i j.
the Creates benefit TO the Pupil Il
Just az necessary to my mind-av.
more necessary, that child should
study well, that he should reeite we'll
Then i is than h himself m kes the ef
fort, all external support beng with
drawn, then that he siIidrs toward per
lection, then his mind and soul assert
themselves. To work we'll he must hold
all impulse to idle or play Al blv. an
either by direct effort of VIII, or great
desire TO please, quer The task Tn
first great need of the child is the con
troll of his will power; he estPclall'
needs this self-rontT !. Childr "a
usually enter SCHOOL with will strong r
to control others than to eonrrnl them
selves.
The main use of the study timo il rn
lead the children into habits OF afteu-
ton and precision and selfcontreI in
the use of eyes. tongue, haipis and f4et
and the end in the maximum aupnnt of
work in the minimum spacr' IF time
II matters not the cr0wyird cor ditioI
of a school room. the teagtAer must take
great care, especially in primary grades,
that the external enndr ions for study
are good. The air shOuld be fresh. tn
study class a. remote a. possible from
the recitation class; teacher and luils
should molu ate their voices so as nor
70 distract.
Study class should sit IN restful posi-
ton, 80 that little change be needed,
and above all they should be limited a.
20 time.
Take for example class of fifteen IN
arithmetic require given number of
examples in limited time. The length
of time shonld be that required bv the
majority of the class. There will al
WAYS be a few who will complete their
work before the expiration of time.
These are emphatically the greatest
responsibility of the teacher, and their
cases involves the greatest amount of
study. II they work rapidly but care
Iesslv it should be done over If it b.
satisfactory, then the pupil must be-
given employment for the remainder of
the study time. 1t would he mental
suicide to neglect it.
THIS work is known TO normal teach
ers as BUSY Work" II this spare time
be not pleasantly and profiably em-
ployed, you make for Yourself unneces-
EaFy trouble and place premium or
confusion.
Now watch the effect of this busy
work. Those who hn'sh first have
conscious glow of strength, feeling u at
their industry has been rewarded. The
others desire the pleasur, the few have
deserved and double the energy place d
noon their work. When the time
comes when all the class prodnce neat
and accurate work. you simply increase
the amount of work aud the process be-
gins again.
For such work to he success FIJI, CT
tlren must understai d clearly Whal y u
standard of excellence is. All falling of
should be shown and proven to the pupil
and be punished by loss Of busy work,
and mad. to do over poorly done vol
Such punishment is better than keel
ing in after school, or at recess Each
effort to reach the standard. shouid r.
eeive honest and fair commentator.
Keep up the child's courage. Praise the
effort, will, desire, but do not praise mn
worthy results. Let your standard b
accuracy, neatpess. rapidity.
A very pitiiul, wee paper may deserve
4 much heartier, 'YJu have tried, try
again" than moderately good me.
Each teacher must decide for himself
what "busy work" shall consist of
Certainly il must have reductianal value,
drawing, board decoiatluus. man draw
ing. anagrams, historical ard yeugi aph
ical, puzzles, etc, ere. Any of these u
the children like them The drawing
and colOFing uf race, government, pro-
ductiOn,a and religious maps.alSo campaig'
aud settlement maps. Is excellent work
These may be framed or mounied for he
room walls, as reward for work well
done.
AnsRrams may as we'll be made as
bought, from the simple r To Simon
"Peter in Tears" and the selecting of
letters aud the marking of words IS
healthful aud agreeable exercise. His
torical, grammatical, scientific, and bio
graphical puzzles are to be found in
magazines and newspapers, and should
be selected with reference TO the knowl-
edge of the class.
Reading matter jndiciously selected
is q great gain to pupils in the grammar
grades, it should always be such as 10
give pupils a taste for good reading.
Care should be taken that the nupils
do not take advantage Of having some
liberty in their work. But over.haste
and carelessness seem to me 10 be more
easily dealt with than indifference and
waste of time. The object of such a
course of work il to keep all the time OF
the pupils occupied, aud occupied hap
PLY and to some purpose.
We too often put premium on ldie-
ness, instead of industry.
F. S. SMILIIE