The Virginia enterprise., 1908-12-04

how can she control those under
her or promulgatethat spirit among
tlsem4 In short. il slfes is~ not i'm
bued with that >spirit of progress
development aud Righteousness.
how can she aid the boy or girl in
these ways? How can any one inn
part that which he hath not2
| The school of the real teache,
advances. She gauges the work tc
be done to the strength of the
papite, requirinRne1shseFtoo too much
nor yet.to Iitefc:> She assfgns= q
fatr days work @fors each days and
then seesrhat it issaone:s She points
ont the correct way of doinF things;
She con,n,ands@not' by Words OF
command. but by those pedakoRical
tactics whose, silent influences al
lure the interest and impel the at!
tention. Her paapils are successful
aud are conscious of their success:
Woo to the school where failure is
common, for such a one can never
generate that interest, courage and
self-reliance, SO essential to study
and good moral aacharacter. Tempo.
rary or occasional failure are, no
doubt, sometimes very good dis!
cipiinary factore;4 but habit,asI
failure means hopefess death to
effort. The" general tone OF the
school must be- one of success:
Lessons must be such as ptspiis can
learn and they must be learned and
recited. Exercises aud drills sm MT
be such as children can enter into
and accomplish with reasonable
effort.
THoRoUGHNRss ESSENTIAL.
The teacher should see that her
pupils are thorough. Thorough.
ness is essential to correct under.
standing; anything less is intrust
worthy. Much of the thinking
among pupils is wrong because it
starts from imperfect ideals.
Thoroughness in the things of to.
day ;s essential to thoroughness in
the things of tomorrow. If the
foundation is weak the superstruc.
TUE will be insecure. BY doing well
the tasks set before them, pupils
foru, mental habits which will cling
to them through life.
The qualities of thoroughnessa are
honesty, truthfulness, perseverance,
and self-reliance. Let the child
learn from the outset that truthful.
ness and honesty, both in word and
deed, are to be pr;xed above high
grades in scholarship. Cheating,
borrowing, false pretension and all
forms of deception, whereby pupil
thinks he gains that which is the
reward of honest effort atone, ,ehould
not be countenanced. Perseverance,
and self reliance are the qualities;
more than any others perhaps, that
make men and women successful.
Almost everything worth having
requires effort to obtain it. The
child who is allowed to drift along
the line of least resistance will ever
remain a mental and moral in.
vertebrate, if indeed he escapes be-
ing degenerate.
Again the best schools are gym
pathetic schools. The teacher must
have sympathy for the children and
must gain sympathy for them. The
teacher must enter for the time be-
ing the world of her pupils, and if
possible see it through their eyes.
If she regards them as "rag.a-
uffns", troublesome imps", and
'degenerates" she must be very
careful or che will find herself help
ing to develop these very character
istics in the boys and girls. Where
the right feeling between teacher
and pupil prevails, parental COM
plants are rare, epithets are un-
known, aud dislike for the school is
seldom incurred. The teacher must
not think that every slow pupil is a
Ounce, that every pugnacious one
is an incorrigible, and that every
lazy one is a failure. An encourag.
ing word for the plain plodder, a
kind word for the wilful or irritab BILE
and firm set purpose worked ou,
for the indoIent may often cause a
great light to break in upon their
souls. I'VE have a true conversion
The dry rod puts forth new
branches, living waters burst ou,
of the rock, and the deser, blossome
as the rose"
We are told that Peter Cooper was
regarded as Ounce when in school
Sir Isaac Newton and James Wat,
were referred to by their teachers
az blOck-heads. Sir Walter Scott'l