Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-12-14

"
more about the child's welfare7 Per
? maps they are unreasonable and blam,
: us Tor their shortcomings, and ther
we become angry and say somethin,
: that will make IL impossible for us Il
ever reach their better natures. Blu
Is this the skillful way? Should We
not remember that our chief business
is to reach the child and that we hat
better smother our personal feeling.
rather than lose a possible opportunit,
TO get to the child's nature? Do we
make the parents feel that they are
welcome? So often | nave heard II
said that the teacher made them feel
as II she did not like to have them
come. This is grave mistake. We
can not do our most effective work un,
less there is hearty cooperation with
the nome. Cordial relations with the
parents will often prevent friction.
The teacher who wishes to WELD the
utmost influence for good ought TO
use good English. All OF us make more
or less use OF slang, but feel that Its
use should be reduced to the mini
mum, Children use it because of the
paucity OF words in their vocabular-
ies' put We can assist them uncon.
sciously If our own language is a liv,
ing example of the strength which in
to be found in English when property
! used. We who are emotional often in.
/ duige IN exaggerated statements a
habit which brings no good results
and weakens our power over the child
mind.
wonder If we do not often lose our
power in the school room by an at.
tempt at bantering? 1t often works
well enough in play, but when the
attempt is made in school the result
Is almost always loss OF power and
more or less disorder. Be cheerful.
attentive, polite and reasonably free
with the children, but inside the school
room let every action and every sylla.
ble count for control.
Be enthusiastic. Without this spirit
your teaching is merely perfunctory.
If you can not arouse enthusiasm in
your pupils and keep a good stock of
it yourself it is a question whether
ought to follow. Life gives life: en-
thusiasm, enthusiasm. This does not
mean great furore. Many of the
most earliest enthusiasts are not spe.
cially noisy.
To succeed as teachers we must
nave the power to inspire pupils with
sense of their own ability to do
things. Most of them seem to be awed
by the kind of work we require them
to do, They feel sure that they can
not do it, Many of them e in a tran
sition stage where they feel awkward
and are very self-conscious. Often we
shall find that our most vital work
consists in arousing confidence. We
must remember that we can never sue.
coed on regimen of failures. 1t is
not an uncommon thing to find So
called teachers who make 1t a bust.
ness to find so much fault that the
pupils feel that each lesson is a fail
IRE; that they haven't the ability to
get the lessons as the teacher wants
them and there is no use in trying.
II your classes habitually fail to get
their lessons there is something wrong
with the system of grading or your.
self, and most likely 1t is the latter.
Under such circumstances, take some
close mental inventories and struggle
TO your utmost for new methods and
new devices. Unless you can get the
pupils away from the habit of failure
YOU are in danger of blignting their
entire lives. | fear that we often fail
to realize how much of the future OF
each child lies in our keeping. | am
inclined 10 think that we pay too lit
lie attention 10 that class OF pupils
who show listIess spirit and drop out
of school as soon as possible. Per
haps more sympathetic attention on
cur part and moro words of encour-
agehent would work wonders in the
lives OF such children.
Before closing this discussion of per.
sonality It might be well to consider
the opinions of children themselves.
Some years ago the Pedagog-
ical Seminary contained study
by II. L. Kratz on the Char
acterlstics of the Best Teacher, -
from the pupils viewpoint. Two thous-
and four hundred children wrote de-
scrlptions of the above named teacher
seyenty-three per cent said she help
ed them in their studies; she made It
worth while for them to come to school
{ wonder if we always think of this
feature. We like to go wnere 1t is
worth our while: why should not chill
dren?
Flfty-cight per cent were attracted
| by the personal appearance OF the
teacher.
Fifty-dye per cent said she was good
or kind.
Nine per cent loved her for her pa
| ticnce. Two per cent liked her for
ncr crossness.
| The following are some of the state
ments made: She could stand some
fun" "she had no pets" "She liked
me and showed 1t once in while
She always got our attention" Her
actions helped me to do better" 'It
you did not get your lessons she was
so sorry that it made you ashamed. "