The San Francisco call., 1905-08-27
7 e a c h e r

class pulls the other way all is hard.
In very truth, Dorothy, it is the class
that makes the teacher lovely, or qn-
lovely in her manner to the girls.
There is something else 1 would like
to remind you of. A teacher may have
great anxieties and trials ia the back
ground of her life, and it MAY he that
she cannot always rise above them. 1t
was so with IA teacher Ia.had when I
was II. which is just your beautiful
age. You do not begin to know what
a delightful thing 1t is to be IA and in
the very glow and sweetness of the
morning time.
In the school j attended then there
were d number of teachers, most of
whom were more or less popular.
There was one who, by common con-
sent, we treated with disdain. She did
not appeal to any of US. We did not
like the way she wore her hair. We
made fun of her priln dresses, which
were never in the fashion. and we did
not admire anything about her. She
was very near sighted and very nerv-
Gus. Her eyes often looked rcd, as if
she had been crying, and she had u
trick of letting books and pencils fall
and of getting ink spots on her papers.
If she reproved girl she did it diff
IDENTIFY and we called 1T GROSSLY, but 1
now know that she suffered agonies
of shyness and never got over being
afraid of the girls. When school days
were over l knew her better and L
found out what a heroine she was. Her
mother was a hopeless invalid, her lit
tie brother was cripple, and she sup
ported them both while there hung
over her the terror that her eyes would
give out altogether and that She would
be obliged to resign her position.
Girls can be very cruel. They do not
mean to be cruel, but because Of their
youth. their quick enthusiasm, their i'm
pulsiveness and the intolerance they have
often cause great deaf of suffering
which they would be sorry for if only
they knew what they were doing.
a teacher may be lighting a battle that
you girls cannot in the least appreciate.
If she has been in the harness several
years her nerves are probably very much
worn. If every one tries to make the
days work easy for her there. will be few
complaints about her crossness. I am al
ways glad when l hear of girls who adore
a teacher. The alteration may be little
incoEvenient 10 her, and it is sometimes
trifie overdone, for girls live in ale su-
perlative. They are very apt to talk in
italics, and use tco much emphasis. But
if their teacher is sweet, gracious and re-
fined, if her personal ways are dainty and
her dress is neat and trim, they uncon-
sciously initiate her.
Many years ago, before anybody
thought of germs and microbes, there
was a most engaging and beautiful
teacher whose class of thirty every after
noon were each dismissed with kiss. AT
a signal the girls closed their desks and
turned around in their chairs. Then be-
ginning with the first and going on to the
last, each girl stepped to the desk, gave
her teacher her hand and was dismissed
with kiss. You may have some old
friend who can remember scene like
this in her schooldays. We are much
more careful about kisses now, and do not
encourage them from rosebud lips.
But there may be affection without
much demonstration. If you do not love
your teachers they can do little for you.
If you dislike them, not only will you do
poor work under their care, but you will
not be so sweet and lovable as you might
otherwise be. To carry a stone in ones
pocke: TO throw if the chance come is to
cherish spirit of unkindness which acts
most unfavorably on the whole life.