Putnam patriot., 1916-09-15
SUPERINTENDENT
 FILES
Addresses Teachers Through Circular
 Letter
"Just a Friendly Chat

work of the new school year.
 We understand generally that we are in school for serious purpose. The administrative officers Of the schools have entrusted to us, wisely or un- wisely, the training Of boys and girls who are to be future citizens. Our training of these boys and girls will re fleet our abilities md disabilities. Our real selves, our real worth or lack of it, may be determined by the product of the schools after the damage k done.
 No man or teacher talks better than he or she thinks. No man or teacher is likely to act better than he or she thinks and talks. If the world at large is To judge Us by what we say and do, and Is to judge our real worth from our speech and thought, il will conclude that many Of Us, very many oi us, have been growing backward 50 let us proceed to take stock Of our selves before we begin our school work.
 We can safely assume that we have been engaged or that we have been re- tained in the school system because the administrative officers believe we can be trusted to dc well the work Of teaching. We are worthy of trust or we are imposing on a long suffering public If we are unworthy, fl our school lives are n continual round ot bufiing, we are net worthy of our hire and we can do the schools more harm than good.
 Some Of us are not friendly with cer tain others of our fellow workers. We may sometimes be led into making unifiendly comments upon fellow workers in the hearing of ont pupils or in the hearing of outsiders. Those who hear us speak sparaeingy of others with whom we should be work ing shoulder to shoulder will not hesi- tate 10 form nn opinion ot Us that will not be complimentary. They may en- courage us to continue our dispafag ing remarks, or,if they are feal friends, they may try to show Us wherein our attitude is wrong. lndiserlminate re- marks of dispafagIng natare afe bound 10 impair our efficiency as we lose reputation for good judgment md sense of justice and proportion. If we cannot work with our fellows easily and we'll, without friction, us safe to conclude that we are in the wrong line of work. We should be possessed of enough good sense 10 get out of any line of work where we are at odds with the authorities or with our fellow laborers.
 We need above nll things else in this gear of grace io Seep free and clear Of entangling alliances of any sort in the community. Are we always careful enough to keep ourselves free from such a!liances? Community matters, matters outside of our schoofooms, can best be settled by those citizens who are ready and willing to sacrifice ot the community. Community i'm proyemtnts are more often brought about by trying to help the other fel. low in his work than by trying to knock him down. This k worth re- membeIing. Do we always try to help the other fellow, as Christian teaching enjoins upon us9
 Where you and l attend church on sunday or how we vote on election day, these are private matters for which we are not accountable to the community. Under our government there are neither political nor religious tests for teachers. No one should ever feel the necessity Of apologi1tng for church or political affiliations.
 We should not discuss our fellow workers with outsiders. We should not let outside influences or outside in. formation tn any way sway us in our judgment and treatment of our fellow workers. We ean be courteous and sefupUlously honest in our relations with parents and teachers without be- coming parties To any scheme that may be in process. Ne need always 10 play the game fair. We want and should expect the cooperation Of the home the interference of outside inter ests will always prove intolefable.
 We should never oe offended at hon est criticism. We should ditlerentiate between fault finding and criticism. Honest criticism always carries with il suggestion for improvement and the assurance that the critic will work with us. Fault.hnding requires little wit and Is destructive. Honest eriti- cism Is constructive and helpful and should be encouraged; fault finding is destructive and diseouTaging
 Teachers frequently find themselves finding fault. In such cases We need 10 stop short and take stock of our. selves. Is oar attitude correct? Are we simply finding fault or Is what we say intended as honest erilieism9 Are We prepared to suggest the way Of isl- proving the things We find fault wits? N hen we are tired or discouraged, fsult-finding Is easy. Al such times our critical remarks should be dis. trusted. We should never ind fault in the hearing of our pupils. When