The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1901-02-22
EDUCATIONAL COLUMN,
By County Supt. L. r. Clark.

The county association was held in
the Methodist church ut Kinsley Sat.
urday, Feb. 16.
Although the attendance was not
all that could be wished, several top
les were quite fully discussed and
many helpful suggestions offered.
FORENOON SESSION.
The meeting was opened with prayer
by Rev. Cummings.
Miss Helen Anderson, of Offerle,
presented the subject ''School Room
Decoration, in an intesesting paper.
objects of decoration not only break
the monotony of the school room, and
make it more hOmelike, but they lead
pupils to think and learn" 1.-The
best decorations are the happy, smil-
ing faces of the pupils.''
Miss Rumser, in discussion said
"SchoOl Boards must be educated to
see the need of clean, cheerful school.
rooms and cooperate with the teach
er. p" IA few large pictures are bet
ter than a number of small ones"
Miss Blanchard emphasized the
need of arranging the objects of deco
ration in tasteful and artistic man
ner.
The subject of "Changes in the Text
Book Law" was discussed by Mr..
Jenkins and others. The concensus
of opinion seemed to be that state un-
iformity was desirable, but some of
the books should be replaced by bet
ter.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Mr.. Coates who had prepared pa
per upon the subject, 1.-The Teacher
upon the Playground" was unable to
be present but sent his paper which
was read by Miss Alice Kennedy.
The paper enumerated the many
advantages which come from the
teacher mingling freely with the pu-
pills during intermission. "Things
teacher has an oversight of the
games" "Children will often spend
much time arguing and quarrelling
over disputed points. IF the teach
err is at hand he can quickly adjust
matters and the game can 20 on.
big boys frequently boast before
younger pupils that they can lick the
teacher.' If the teacher shows his
muscular superiority upon the play
ground it puts stop to this and wins
him the respect of all the boys"
(, The paper was discussed by T. E.
Little, J. w. King and others. Mr..
King suggested that the teacher
should not enter into games if lack
of skill rendered him unable to cope
with the best players, as an exhi bitiOn
of inferi iority would make him ridicu-
lous in the eyes of his pupils.
The subject, ''The Big Bad Girl"
was discussed in a rather light vein,
but many good ideas were presented.
Mrs. Lewis being asked to give her
opinion said there were no bad girls.
After the applause from the lady
teachers had subsided, however, she
admitted that there were girls, who
owing to false ideals and inadequate
home training were exceedingly diff
cult to control. Teachers must bear
patiently with these erring ones and
strive to ipslill higher ideals. Sever
al of the lady teachers admitted that
there was a time in their career when
they took great delight in tormenting
teachers, but could give no remedy.
Miss Nina Clark gave very inter-
esting and instructive talk on 1.-The
Defective Pupil" $50 often dullness,
stupidity Or inattention is the result
of bodily defects in the child, and
teachers and parents have not the wit
to discover it.' She concluded nv
reading from the Child Study Month
ly the pathetic story of defective
boy and the injustice he suffered at
school.
The county superintendent closed
the protest. onal part o: the session by
a talk on the future outlook for the
distr cs school, and the plans for the
future in this county, after which Miss
Clark charmed the assocl alton with a
beautiful solo.