The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

"Children's interests are what we
malce them" is the final decision from
scientific study according to the Seattle
Education Bulletin. Interest, in
other words, grows out of the environment
in which the child finds
himself. Our responsibility is that
of seeing that the child gets the best
environment possible."
Just one example of another type
of difficulty children encounter on
their first day at school. A little girl
had returned home at noon for lunch
after her first morning at school and
was asked how she liked it and what
had happened, to which she said that
it was all right but she wanted to
hurry back to get her present. Upon
being questioned further, the child
told them that the teacher had told
her "to sit here for the present."
But in spite of such drab surroundings,
children do manage to make the
best of it, frequently on account of
the enthusiasm of the teacher.
Surroundings
And now consider the relation of
your teaching in such surroundings.
The cities have done much to overcome
such situations, I grant, but
there are too many children not cared
for.
Certainly the Language Arts are
for means of communication—we
should all be the bearers of good
news. Language itself is but a system
of verbal signs but when we consider
these signs as written some,
especially by master penmen in earlier
days, we are aware what can be accomplished
under even the worst conditions.
Let us now picture a typical room
of the best type for developing the
English work and all that it implies.
Picture the room lined with the
best books beautifully bound and illustrated;
pictures adorn the walls;
easels are in the room for drawing
or expressing ideas in color; wi'iting
materials are there for those who
wish to preserve their thoughts or
for other reasons. The walls are
tinted and a feeling of satisfaction
comes over one as he steps into the
room. People the room, and we find
in one corner a group quietly conversing;
in another corner, we see a
group consulting books on particular
subjects; in another group, we find a
child reading aloud to others; and
still others are being guided in their
tasks by persons who once were called
teachers.
To most of you perhaps this is not
new, but to others it is still but an
idol dream. Children have been
taught for so long to follow the
teacher's dictates that they know not
how to help themselves.
Some Reactions
I would like to give a few points
here which I discovered along this
line by asking my students who are
taking the course for teachers in
writing. I was anxious to know just
how much their previous training in
writing meant to them since leaving
the grades and high school.
The Educator 17
I asked them to write down what
was the most outstanding thing that
they now remembered of their earlier
work in writing. These are their reactions
by individual students: "Neatness
was stressed in all wi-iting and
spelling", "Compositions were recopied
in best handwTitmg", "Good
position was stressed", "Close mouths
of 'a's' and 'o's' ".
Exercises in writing: 1. "Ovals
and push pulls made—were called
'train smoke' and 'fences' respectively
with no idea why they had to make
them. This occurred through the first
three grades." 2. "Disliked the exercises
which led up to writing." Z.
"Hated to do them." 4. "Seemed to
practice exercises forever."
Periods: (Wide variation seen) 1.
"Last pei'iod in the day." 2. "Period
at a time of day when I wanted to
get through." 3. "Period nothing but
a bore. All disliked it very much."
4. "Period uninteresting. Too long
and wrote the same material too
long." 5. "Period always came I'ight
after lunch or recess and dreaded it
because we were warm and dirty."
6. "Periods few and far between."
With a little well directed
study and practice anyone
can learn to write well.
7. "Right before noon." 8. "Always
before the last recess." 9. "After recess
and I think it is hard to write
right after you have finished playing."
10. "Period from 10 to 15 minutes
daily." Several gave this answer.
11. "Period once a week, 4.5
minutes."
Copy books: "Had copy books."
Given by several. "They always
looked awful—never saved any." One
student studied the Zaner-Bloser system
and received every certificate
which was awarded for penmanship to
pupils.
Incentives and personal like or dislike:
"Praise acted as a stimulant."
"Paper put on bulletin board." "I
liked to write very much." "Thoroughly
enjoyed the class." "Admired
the teacher's writing and wanted to
write like her." "Wanted class more
often." "Liked writing pretty well."
One won a medal— "liked writing
until in the 5th grade and then grew
careless as had no period for writing."
Had a man supei'visor and it
was "the only time I appreciated
writing when he appeared." One student
was sick for some time in one
grade and the other children wrote
her letters which she has kept. "Used
clay to make letters and numbers. I
disliked it very much." "In a sixth
grade, teacher had children write one
space high and I was chosen as the
best writer—an inspiration to me."
"Never cared for writing. Room was
too dark." "First lesson was to write
name."
Discipline in writing class: "Mouth
slapped when child talked." "Teacher
tapped child's head with pencil." "Use
of a ruler to tap the hands." "A
teacher used a yardstick to spank a
boy and so much dust came from his
trousers, children all laughed and
teacher had to laugh too. At recess
children would chase the boy and try
to hit him to see the dust fly." "One
teacher ate chalk in the 3rd grade.
Children tried eating it and when
they got to 4th grade, they were
punished."
All teachers must be writing conscious
just as "all teachers should
speak the English language contagiously—well."
All boys and girls
must be made %viiting conscious, but
before they become writing conscious
there is a larger task for their
teachers.
As I said in the beginning of the
paper, boys and girls have a vocabulary
of several thousand words at the
age of 4. They have a command of
the English language. They use
compound sentences and gradually
use complex sentences without much
help. They talk, and talk well on
many subjects on their level. Then
somewhere along the line they stop.
No more questions are asked. They
have been inhibited so many times
that they finally give up in despair
long before they reach the sixth
grade even and all spontaneity is
lost in high school.
Our business men say the applicants
for positions can't spell, can't
write, and next I am expecting to
hear from them that the applicant
can't read. Some remedial courses in
reading are already formed in high
schools and colleges.
What Can Be Done?
The first thing, we'll have to get
the work arranged according to the
child's needs. And by the way, I
just ran across an interesting bit of
news the other day. It seems that
Quintilian who lived from 35 to 95
A.D. discovered individual differences
at that early date.
Since, as McAfee so ably says,
"the ability to read is the key to all
recorded knowledge" and reading
furnishes the mindly only with material
of knowledge, it is "thinking
that makes what is read ours." And
Bason has so wisely said, "Reading
maketh a full man; conference, a
ready man and writing, an exact
man."
Therefore, we have the Language
Arts—Speech, Reading, and Writing
in the order learned and in the order
which will prove to us if we are
really educated. "A man is judged
by his language." But it is through
his observations and then the interpretation
of such observations that
will lead to action which is the great
end of life just as it is the beginning
of life. "What is put into the first
of life is put into the whole of life."
(Continued on page 28)