Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-10-17

2,
life of the teacher burden.
Good, sensible parents should be
named in the list of requites of a
good school. I believe that parents
are the parties most vitality interested
in the success of the school. If
parents will take the trouble to keep
themselves informed on the needs
and workings of the school and will
make their interest manifest by CO.
operating with the teacher and their
children, their influence for good will
be very great. Too many parents
show their interest in the school by
adverse criticism of the teacher in
particular and every other element of
the school in general. Such parents
usually get the greater part of their
information concerning the school
from the reports of their children.
These reports are usually one-sided,
misleading, and at times absolutely
untrue.
If parents are given to fault-fnding
their children soon learn that evil
reports please them and furnish inter-
esting topics for conversation. They
are thereby encouraged to look for
evil rather than good and their inhu-
ence is against the welfare of the
school. Parents should never discuss
the faults and mistakes of the teacher
in the presence of their children.
Better go to the board or to the
teacher and make your complaints
known. The school has lost its use
fulness for your children whenever
you encourage them in fault-fnding.
The more thorough your knowl-
edge of the workings of the school,
the better will be your opinion of its
managers. So I would say to
parents: visit the school often enough
to get acquainted with its work: take
your charitable spirit with you, and
don't forget to say pleasant word to
the Woodworking teacher.
By far the most important requisite
of good school is a good teacher.
Good school boards and good school
houses, the best in the line of books
and apparatus, agreeable parents and
bright obedient children are all great
helps in the making of a good school,
but not one nor all of them are equal
in Importance to the good school
teacher. The board may be ignorant.
and careless, the supplies poor, the
surroundings dreary and the parents
Indifferent, but if the teacher is per-
feet the school will bea good school.
1t is fact that such conditions are
not uncommon. This makes 1t all
the more important that the teacher
be earnest, capable and untiring.
The teacher is, or should be, an
example for the people of the district
as well as the pupils. Morally, the
teacher should be above suspicion.
A shadow on the reputation of the
teacher destroys his usefulness in the
school and will lower the standard of
morals in the minds of the pupils.
Of course, the teacher should be
we'll qualified to do the work for
which he is employed. He must be
earnest and energetic. He should
not be so lazy that he prefers to do
all the talking and all the reciting
himself rather than to exert himself
sufficiently to get the pupil to do the
work assigned. If he gives the pupil
plenty of work and then requires the
work well done it will not be neces-
sary for him to spend a very large
part of his time disciplining his
pupils.
One ofethe requisites of a good
school from the viewpoint of the
school board is good order and for
this the teacher is in the main respon-
sible. The most brilliant and schol-
arly teachers fail in school work if
they are incapable of governing the
school. We have not yet reached
that stage of advancement in which
pupils can be allowed to govern them
selves. The teacher should be able
to handle all or nearly all cases of
misconduct without troubling the
board or superintendent. Pupils
usually have great respect for such
teacher.
Finally would say to the teacher,
don't think that because you have
been employed for a number of years
in one district th,t x,o,, ox,r, +ha