Bismarck daily tribune., 1903-11-06
TEACHING IN PORTO RICO.
Former Bismarck Teacher Sends Her
Impressions of Teaching in Porto
R;~a


Impressions of Teaching in Porto
Rico.
An interesting letter from Miss Pat
ton, formerly a teacher in the Bis
marck schools to Mrs r. ID. Hoskins,
contains so much of general interest
that portion of it is reproduced here.
Miss Patton is now teaching in Huma-
cao Porto Rico and her letter is
written from there:
This is my fourth week of school
in Porto Rico and things have begun
to take on a natural look and ] feel
that | am really doing something at
last. received my first official COM (
trict Inspector visited me and gave
me card stating that my work and
methods are satisfactory There are
three copies of this card made one
! is kept by the inspector and one
goes to the commission of education
in San Juan, while treasure the third.
| really believe that | was as proud of
the bit of pastboard as | used to be
of my certificates when was in my
teens But | had been studying the
situation, feeling my way" and ex-
perimenting with more or less success
to get these young people and child
rem to grasp the thought in English
expression when they are accustomed
to think and speak in Spanish twenty
three hours out of every twenty four.
: am working now-learning how
to present the knowledge | would have
: my pupils acquire. | do not have any
: of the discipline to attend to for the
regular teacher is always present.
visit five rooms only and if we have
a third English teacher sent us
shall visit but four The other Eng
lish teacher is young man who was
here last year for five months. But
in spite of his experience in Porto
Rico" | am given the best part of the
? work | have the more advanced
grades and he the primary.
: One of our duties is to teach Eng
: lish to the Porto Rcan teachers from
3 to p. m. each Monday. Wednesday
t and Friday This is especially inter
4 esting work. | have the four most
8 advanced teachers for my class and
t Mr.. Lough (my coleague) has the
e other six When | tell you that the
principal has spent three years in
t Ann Arbor University you will un-
4 derstand that my work is not of an
t entirely elementary character. w.
are studying civil government, com
position and English grammar.
wish you could come in and visit me
# awhile for | am sure you would enjoy
e being here On one side of my school
n house is a garden of palms, bananas
r. and roses. and on the other we
n look out on the ocean. The
If port is about four miles distant, yet
IS fort, is about four miles distant, yet
Ie we can see the blue Atlantic very
l. plainly In the front and rear are the
n mountains, not snow capped like Mt
ct Rainer to be sure, but covered witt
is beautiful green foliage. AT the yer,
to apex of many of them there stands
ct solitary palm tree, others have nj
ID trees. either at the top or on the sides
lg but the green grass makes them yer,
mt pleasing to the eye. We have goo
lis spend most of the day was erected 10
on school purposes since the war, tn
no other. where l spend twenty minute
er each day was used in Spanish time
On as the barracks for resident soldiers
rt We have the most approved tex
books, both Spanish and Englisl
as are supplied in all f1rst-clas
= schools the world over. The pupil
9 are we'll dressed for the most par
neat and attractive. and are especial
interesting in their zeal for learnin
to read and speak English. Only
few of them are colored though neal
lv all are darker than most children i
the States. Some are pure SPANS
or Poto Rican, others are, in all pro
bability, mixed. but there is yer
limited number in each room of pur
African They look up at me in tn
most winsome. confiding manner po:
sible and | am fast learning to lov
them as well as l did my Bismarc
girls and boys.
have eight private pupils and
take three lessons in Spanish eac
week so | am kept very busy you ca
see. One class Of three young men
especially interesting, one being II
con Of DRUGGIST and who exDectS