Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-03-22
TALKS ON SCHOOL AFFAIRS.

From the Platteville Normal School.
A school is like quadruped--i'
needs four legs to support it and en-
able 1t to move along naturally and
satisfactorily. These legs are the
children, the parents, the board and
the teacher. II any one Of these
supports be weak or sore there will
be limping and halting and possibly
complete collapse. AS it is burden
some for an animal to try to move
upon three legs, so 1t Is unsatisfac-
tory for u school to get along with
two or three legs; 1t needs the sup
port Of all and the harmony of their
united action--parents, board, child
rem and teacher must work together
for common end.
When school "limps' or "halts,'
and fails to move along satisfactor-
lily, perhaps the first and usual eX-
PLANTATION Is to charge the teacher
with the lameness-he is the weak
leg or the sore membor-and in in
dividual cases this may be only too
true. However, there are other pos
sibiltics in many instances; and
circumstances and conditions in the
home or the community mt large are
frequently the fundamental cause of
school troubles; so that 1t may be
said with truth that the success or
failure Of the teacher who Is blamed,
depends In its first cause upon the
dinner table or the store box. In
this cuse tho weak leg and the "sore"
member Is the parent, who drops
some tnoughtlcss or Intentional re-
mark before tho children, or friends,
thus sowing the first seed of discord.
1t is u critical time in the history
Of every school when new teacher
is hired and begins his work. This
Is true whether the teacher be II pro-
duet of the community, or n stranger.
In the former instance he Is likely to
be too "wcll known" to be properly
and in the latter, too little
known to be fully appreciated. In
either case the time Is one of anxiety
and uncertainty, and tho teacher
Dnd the school Is the talk at the dim
ner table and on the store boX--par-
ticularly so If he may be so unfortu-
nate MS to make some mistakes.
Should there be any unusual meth
ODDS or idcns that the teacher brings
with him, should he be u little more
strict with some of the children than
they or their parents like, or should
he have some peculiar characteristic,
the children tell 1t to their parents,
who thoughtlcssly, or it may be pur-
posely, speak hastily and despair
ingly before tho children, who may
then become so far estranged from
their teacher ~ to lose interest in
their school work, and spread con-
tagion of dissatisfaction through the
school and in the community,
AS II word of caution to the par
ents, therefore, let them be particu-
larly careful in what they say before
the children that is doprecative of
tho teacher or his work, for this will
tend to throw tho home influence
into direct nntngonsm with the Of
forts Of the teacher, and three legs"
children, parents and teacher
being or becoming sore" will take
away the possibility of harmonious
action and satisfactory results.
10 Judge tho teacher by his faults
is unfair; and to expect too much
of him IL, also. The teacher is not
usually II numskull or IN ignora-
NOUS; nor is ho n encyclopedia or an
egotist; nor II saint or sinner; but
only II human being with the short
comings and the impcrfections of the
world. BE real help to him then;
and If the teacher should place tight
lines on your boy or girl, do not add
to the fretfulness by harsh criticism,
and thoughtlcss impr"cations. At
least not until YOU have reflected
upon the words Of England's great
Prime Minister, Disraeli, that "it Is
easier to he critical than to be cor
rect"
In Nice lures Magazine for April,