Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1906-12-18

of course we would have expected to
have got brighter and better dia-
mond. Many times some one has TAX
en- to the jeweler little piece of rock
or bit of glass, and asked to have it
polished, and the jeweler has done his
best to produce a bright and beautiful
jewel, but the product has not been
worth much. And so it has seemed to
me as l have watched the great growth
of education in this state, that the
teacher must be born teacher, regard
less of any question of controlling and
imparting instruction, and above and
beyond that a generous, loyal love for
the work itself.
There comes to us the realization
that the most successful teachers in
the world have been men and women
lacking III any university training or
normal school training, yet they were
the great leaders in matters of educa-
ton. 1t is true that all the training
and all the education one can secure
in normal school or college is worth
while. We all know that Abraham
Lincoln, one of the greatest educators,
had but six months of schooling in his
life. There are other ways besides
going to school, but as a matter of
fact the best way to get anything is
to get it at the best place to obtain it,
and the place for practical preparation
for teaching is at the school that is
organized for that purpose. The sue
cessful carpenter who teaches himself
will waste great deal of time and
lumber a great many nails that would
not have been wasted. So it follows
that it is absolutely necessary for a
| teacher as quickly as possible to bring
herself to that state of efficiency that
she ought to have had before she be-
I civ 70 too nl.tI
| There are two conditions, theory and
practice. We will get a surplusage of
the former in the training school and
the latter in the real school Expert
ence is the best training that the teach
err can get. We will say that some
teachers do their best work in the first
year. Much depends upon their prac-
tical training and upon their enthusi-
| asm. AS soon as their little practical
training is gone and their enthusiasm
is exhausted then they are no longer
worth anything as teacher.
Must Have Enthusiasm
IF l were a lady teacher whose en-
thusiasm had departed. l would quit
teaching school and get married. OF
course, if you get married you will have
to quit anyhow 1t seems to me, and
am sure every teacher Will agree with
me, there can be no real teaching until
her authority is not only recognized as
existing but actually controls the situa-
| tion. There can be no real teaching
unless the teacher Is i'm complete con-
! troll of her school. There are two kinds
of discipline, one kind is where the
room Is quiet land there are some peo-
Pile who believe that that kind of dis
cipline ought not to be in any school
room) and the teacher and children
are able to devote all their time and
thought to the work in hand. There are
others who declare that they DO not
want a child to be too much repressed
Some people are so constituted that
they call il discipline where the rooms
sound like a good old fashioned iron
manufacturing establishment But II
is your experience, / am sure, that a
little bit of noise in a school rooom is
sort of an incentive to disorder. AS
the volume increases the incentive i'm
ereases. 1T is much more difficut foI
teacher who speaks in a loud tone OF
voice to control her school than II shf
spoke in mild, soft tone. 1t is better
If she speaks in a mild tone of voice
and yet makes herself heard through.
out the room, and yet does not seem tS