m How Not To Teach; m§\him icr sill fl iifll do. WITH REASONS WHY, APPENDIX CONTAINING APT QUOTATIONS. FOR V^&^^_^j}tm& "' ISBV WILLIAM M. GIFFIN, Principal City Training School, Newark, N. J., and Author of Giffin's Number Chart, Etc. How Hot To Teach; '& WITH REASONS WHY. AN APPENDIX CONTAINING APT QUOTATIONS FOR USE IN SCHOOLS./^^'lr—Vl^'fii^ WILLIAM M. GIFFIN, Principal City Training School, Newark, N. J., and Author of Giffin's Number Chart, Etc. /UU''hK\ i^^J I ^ C0P7EIGKT 1881 BY A-S.BAEireS & Od^ PREFACE. In my training work I am associated with many inexperienced teachers. It is by observing their faults and correcting them, that I have obtained this collection of "things the teacher should not do," which I now give to the public. I have no doubt that every teacher (myself not excepted) who reads this book will get ''hit:' If the "hitting" does any good, I shall feel paid for my effort. In my judgment, the teaching to primary children of the quota- tions found in the Appendix is an excellent drill. They can be taught emphasis, inflection, articulation, and pitch, with these as well as from their reading book. It creates an appetite for such reading, and has a tendency to cause them to read more of the authors from whom the quotations are taken. A teacher who uses them will soon find her pupils bringing in selections which they have found for themselves. At the end of the year, each pupil will know his classmates' quotations as well as his own, and can tell who wrote them. He is fortunate who has an apt quotation at his tongue's end when needed. Newark, N. J. W. M. G. 6 HOW NOT TO TEACH. organs of speech to pronounce any word. Not one in ten who says wich for which knows that wh is sounded hw. A teacher should not send a pupil to the black board, pointer in hand, to read a sentence. The pupil will point to each word, and therefore will not read naturally, but as follows : I — see — the — boy. A teacher should fiot teach the fujidamental rules in arithmetic abstractly, but should use the objective method. " Sounds which address the ear are lost, and die In one short hour ; but that which strikes the eye Lives long upon the mind ; the faithful sight Engraves the knowledge with a beam of light." A teacher should not ask a question of a class, as a class, that can be answered in more than one way. She will receive from all parts of the room, '' Yes, ma'am ; No, ma'am ; " and in a moment the class is in confusion. If she desires to ask a question of the class, she can say : " How many think so ? hands up ! " A teacher should not allow a word to be misproftounced, or an error in grammar to be made, without correcting it at once. This is a part of her work. An excuse that she has not time, is no excuse. Has she finished teaching the word what, so long as the pupil calls it 7vat1 A teacher should not call on the bright pupils any more^ if as much, than on the dull ones. TEACHING. 7 The diamond will always be in the rough unless it is polished. The dull pupils will not learn if the bright ones do all the talking, while the latter will learn by hearing the dull ones. Bright pupils are, as a rule, attentive, while the dull pupils are inattentive. A teacher should not become tired of correcting faults of pupils^ or of telling them how and what to do. Children have rights, and so long as they do not understand a subject they have a right to ask and receive explanations. She who acts upon this, will, in God's good time, reap her reward. A teacher should not do for a pupil what the pupil can^ with reasonable effort^ do for himself. The mind can become vigorous only by constant exercisQ. A class will soon learn to wait for the teacher to do its work and answer its questions. Chil- dren should be trained to observe, to do, and to tell. A. teacher should not begin a recitation until she has prepared the lesson herself^ and concluded how much of the work the pupils can do for themselves. A teacher who does not prepare herself, will uncon- sciously be doing for her class what they might have done for themselves. A teacher should not allotv more than one pupil to ask or answer a given question at the same time. When not having a concert exercise, it is not possi- ble for her to distinguish more than one at a time. It also divides the attention of the class and teacher. 8 HOW NOT TO TEACH. Again, it is not good manners for one to interrupt another. A teacher should not apply to another pupil for an answer to a question^ before the one who is reciting has finished. If a pupil desires to finish reciting, it discourages him and also deprives him of his granted privilege, for the teacher to say : " Oh, sit down ; you are too slow ! " If he shows no desire to recite, the teacher may call on another. A teacJier should not ask a second question until the first has in some way been satisfactorily disposed of. Time should not be taken to ask questions that are not worth answering. A teacher should not allow a pupil to ask any question, give an opinion, or leave his seat to show her work on his slate, without first obtaini?ig her per^nission. It will cause constant interruptions, and in a short time it will be hard to tell who is teacher and who is pupil. There should be a time for everything and everything should be in its time. It also has a ten- dency to make the pupils saucy. A teacher should not have too large a division reciting at one time. It is impossible to do justice to all, if more than twenty are reciting. More, I think, can be accom- plished with twenty pupils in fifteen minutes, than can be accomplished with fifty pupils in forty minutes. TEACHING. 9 A teacher having charge of a school, should not enter a room and break into the recitation with a question of his own, without first asking permission of the class teacher ^ or excusing himself for his interruption. It is just as ill-mannered to interrupt a person speak- ing in a school-room, as it is in a parlor. It sets a bad example before the children. A teacher should not allow a pupil to give a silly or ivhat the pupil thinks is a ^Uute'' or funny answer to a question. If she encourages it, she will, in a short time, have a class trying to be more funny than wise. A teacher should not tell one class to be doing ^''some- thing " on their slates while another class is reciting. " Something " is not definite. A class should always have an explicit direction or copy. A class told to do something, will, no doubt, make funny pictures. A teacher should not adopt a loud or unnatural tone of voice when teaching. Let her be herself, and not overtax her organs of speech. The whole class will adopt the same tone, and tumult and disorder will be the result. A teacher should not allow a pupil to answer a question with the rising inflection. The teacher is asking and not answering questions. It teaches the children to be undecided, and deprives them of independent thought. 10 HOW NOT TO TEACH. A teacher should not call the answer to a question wrongs if it is not i?i the exact words of the text book. There is more than one way to express the same thought. If the answer is faulty, correct it ; but com- mend the pupil for his effort if it is in the right direc- tion, and you will not have dampened his ardor. A teacher should not refuse to excuse a pupil from standing during a recitation if he complains of not feel- ing well. If he is sick, it is very unkind to compel him to stand ; and if he is not sick, your kindness will be the best way to punish him. If his sickness becomes chronic, investigate the matter and put an end to the trouble. A teacher should not teach a pupil how to bound a state before having taught him the points of the cof?ipass in his 0W71 town, and required of him the boundaries of his school and the town or city in which he lives. Pupils must first be made to understand what is meant by north, south, east and west, or they will receive the impression that north is up hill, south down hill, etc. A teacher should not ask pupils of ten years of age, or less, to learn more than five new words a day in spelling. Five words a day for four days will be twenty words a week, giving one day for review. Twenty Avords a week will be eight hundred a year ; quite enough for pupils of this age to learn. TEACHING. 11 A teacher should not teach spelling orally. The pupils will seldom, if ever, have occasion to spell the words orally in after life. It is a known fact that children will oftentimes spell a word correctly orally, and will spell it incorrectly if asked to write it in a sentence. A teacher should not take time to teach the youngest children the nanies of the letters. A child can be made to understand that certain lines placed thus |\, form a right angled triangle, and that other certain lines placed thus leg, form the word leg. His knowing that the first letter is /, the second e and the third g, does not help him any ; in fact, his natural reasoning might lead him to think the word was ell — e — gee (elegy). 12 HOW NOT TO TEACH. CHAPTER II. DISCIPLINE. A teacher should not use a commanding tone of voice when asking a favor, or when giving a direction. No one enjoys being commanded. We would all rather be asked or told to do a thing, than to be com- manded to do it. Then, again, the children will think the teacher is saucy, and, therefore, will become sulky and troublesome. " Please " will never harm a teacher. A teacher should not ask a pupil if he has been out of order, when she knows he has. Oftentimes the pupil will say, " No," adding a false- hood to his other offense. It was unnecessary to ask the question, as the teacher knew he was out of order, and she should have dealt with him accordingly. A teacher should fwt, for a moment, hesitate to ask the pardon of a pupil or class that she knows she has accused wrongfully. Morally speaking, it is her duty. The pupil and class will honor and respect her for doing it, and when their turn comes, they will not hesitate to follow her good example. DISCIPLINE. 13 A teacher should not i^efuse to hear a pupil 's side of a story ^ after ^ if not in, school hours. All men are allowed a fair trial for any misdemeanor, no matter what the offense. There should be no abso- lute Monarchy in a Republican form of government. A teacher should not look always at the faults, and never at the good in her pupils. " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." We do not desire Deity to see only our faults and punish us for them. He has said each will be rewarded or punished according to his works. A teacher should not 7nake a practice of selecting an idle, mischievous pupil for her 7nonitor, or to run her errands. Such pupils are usually smart enough to see her motive, and will often be out of order that they may be chosen, and hence, are being rewarded, and not punished, for their faults. A teacher should not allo7V a pupil to sit in the class with untidy head, or dirty hands and face. It will have a demoralizing effect on the class. A teacher should not find fault with a pupil for doing what she is guilty of herself. The child will see the injustice of such fault- finding, and will despise, and not respect, the teacher. 14 HOW NOT TO TEACH. A teacher should not be satisfied with the careless or noisy perf or i7iance of a direction^ and should not neglect to repeat her request until it is performed rightly. She is not only teaching for the present, but for the future also ; and habits formed when young are not easily broken when one is old. There is no better way to show the class that the teacher is not satisfied, than to have them repeat the direction until they do it rightly. The teacher should be careful not to show any tejnper. Simply, in a calm though positive manner, repeat until satisfied. A teacher having charge of a school should not, while in a room observing, correct any act of disorder or faulty recitation. Neither should the class teacher be any more or less strict then than at any other time. The children should be impressed with the fact that the class teacher has full charge of them. Then they will not think they are to be good only when the principal is in the room. Otherwise the children might loose confidence in the class teacher. The principal can correct any faults privately ; or, by asking for the class, he, many times, may correct the fault and do harm to no one. A teacher should not neglect an opportunity of showing her appreciation of pupils' tryittg to do right, or of instilling into the minds of the pupils a sense of the nobleness of doing right because it is right. Many children who are in our public schools never go to church or Sabbath school. Their only model of DISCIPLINE. 15 manhood or womanhood is their teacher. Teachers, how important that the model be a perfect one ! A teacher should not take the time of the class to do her oivn ivork. A teacher has no more right to take the time of the pupils than she has to take their money. She cannot write letters, make out reports, etc., and teach at the same time. Moreover, her duty during school hours is to teach. A teacher should not allow tattling or tale-bearing. Because they relate to petty offenses, and are usually, if not always, given from mean, selfish motives, in which the children should not be encouraged. A teacher should not fteglect to encourage pupils to give evidence or information of any wrong done to persons or property. This is in no way related to tale-bearing. It is just as proper for one pupil to tell that another pupil has been cutting his desk or destroying his book, as it would be for him to tell one man that he saw another man steal his purse. The moment the teacher asks for information, it becomes evidence, for which the teacher has a right to ask, and which the pupil is bound to answer. A teacher should not compel a pupil to stand, sit, k?ieel, or take any other long-continued attitude of restraint as a mode of punishment. Such treatment is not only wrong, but also very 16 HOW NOT TO TEACH. injurious. The pupil will never have any respect for the teacher who takes this mode of punishing him. A teacher should ?iot be changeable in her discipline. A teacher must be every day alike. Steady, uniform, even, regular discipline, must be had. " Never a tyrant — always a governor." A teacher should 7iot stand before a class that is becom- ing generally disorderly^ thinking to herself, ''"Oh, what shall I do?'' The class will know by her looks of what she is thinking. Good teachers are always ready in cases of emergency ; and a little positiveness is all that is required to subdue the class. She should select some one pupil, and make an example of him. The first one she sees out of order is the guilty one to her. A teacher should 7iot explain any points in a lessoft to a class while part of them are working. A class cannot work and listen. If she has any- thing to say, she should ask them to give their atten- tion, and she should not explain anything until they all give it. When they are told to work, let them work. A teacher should not try to startle a class into being orderly or attentive. A class will learn to wait for the '* thunder clap " before giving attention. A low, but steady, firm tone of voice will do the work much better. The desk was not made to pound on, nor the floor to stamp upon ; and if used so, are of no use in obtaining order. DISCIPLINE. 17 A teacher should not command or order a thhig done, when a suggestion will do as well. A class will think more of directions when they are "few, and far between." " Boys, I would not do that," is much better than, " Boys, turn this way and mind your own business, or I will give every one of you a mark." A teacher should not consider '' anything " good enough to wear to school. A class will have more respect for a teacher that is careful about her dress, than they will for one who is careless. A class that respects a teacher is not hard to discipline. A teacher should not call a pupil a sneak, liar, or any other name of the kind. Because she is causing the pupil to think the same of her ; and as his feelings will be hurt, he will be indignant, and, probably, will become surly and unmanageable. 18 HOW NOT TO TEACH. CHAPTER III. ETIQUETTE. A teacher should not begin an exercise at the opening of school until she has greeted the pupils with, ^^Good 7ftorni?tg, children,'' or, ^'Good jnorning, boys and girls!'* Courtesy demands as much. The writer once heard a principal of a New York City school open her school by saying, " Good morning, children ! " He will never forget the thrill of pleasure he experienced when the children, with bright, happy faces, responded, " Good morning, Miss ." He ever after greeted his pupils so, knowing human nature is the same always, and if there was that in the greeting which made him happy, there must be that which would cause the children to be happy. If there are those who take advantage and call out in a funny way, a good teacher will at once know how to correct the funny pupil. A teacher should ?iot neglect to notice or acknowledge any little act of politeness or wiselfishness on the part of her pupil towards herself, or toiuard one another. Many pupils who attend our schools are never taught at home how to act ; in fact, they have ETIQUETTE. 19 impressed on their minds, at home and on the street, that one should get all he can, and keep all he gets, with thanks to no one. A teacher should not fail to teach her pupils hoiv to be polite to her, and to one another. She will make little ladies and gentlemen, who are not so hard to govern as rough, thoughtless boys and girls. 20 HOW NOT TO TEACH. CHAPTER IV. HEALTH. A teacher should not allow the pupils to 7vear their wrappers, overcoats, or rubbers in school. It will be very injurious to the health of the children. They are not old enough to have good judgment, and if they err, it is the teacher's fault, as she ought to know better. A teacher should not cause a pupil to sit with the sun pouring in upofi his head, or with a cold draft blowing in upon his body. The first may be the cause of blindness ; and no constitution is strong enough to stand such treatment as the second mentioned, for any length of time. A teacher should not neglect the proper voitilation of her room. If she does, she and the children are being slowly, but surely, poisoned to death. A teacher should not neglect to observe and prevent an insufficient light in the room, a7i over-sufficient, a wrong direction, an improper distribution, a wrong position of HEALTH. 21 head or body, a long-continuous use of iJic eyes witJwut rest, or an improper angle of the book to the eye. City Superintendent Wm. N. Barringer, of Newark, N. J., in his Twenty-second Annual Report, says : — "When we consider the fact that nearly four-fifths of all the knowledge of the material world that enters the mind, does so through the eye, the health of this organ of vision becomes a matter of serious consequence. It appears to me to be of sufficient importance to demand the careful attention of parents, teachers, and school authorities." When a class is reading, or when the teacher is reading, she should not fail to see that the room is comfortably cool, and the feet warm ; that there is nothing tight about the neck ; that there is plenty of light, without dazzling the eyes ; that the sun does not shine on the object they are at work upon ; that the light does not come from the front ; that the head is not bent very much over the work ; that the page is nearly perpendicular to the line of sight ; that the page or object is not less than fifteen inches from the eye ; that near-sighted pupils do not wear the glasses intended to see distant objects ; that the readers are not lying down. 22 HOW NOT TO TEACH. CHAPTER V. iM U L T U M IN P A R V O . A teacher should 7iot teach a day after she has con- cluded that she is not, to a great extent, responsible for the physical, 7nental, and moral growth of the pupils tmder her charge. Because the position is too grand, too noble, TOO responsible for any such person to possess. APPENDIX, APPENDIX Have the childi-en tell the name of the writer, his birth lace and the name of so^nething he has written, as — " Sweet is pleasure after pain." — John Dryden, England, 1631. He wrote Don Sebastian. (For other Hints, see Preface.) "Sweet is pleasure after pain." — John Dryden, England, 1631. {^Don Sebastian.) " The man whom I call deserving the name, is one whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather than himself." —Sir Walter Scott, Scotland, 1771. ( Waver ley Novels.) " Unblemish'd let me live, or die unknown : Oh, grant an honest fame, or grant me none ! " — Alexander Pope, London, 1688. {Essay on Man.) 24 HOW NOT TO TEACH. " Habit is a cable ; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it." — Horace Mann. " Of all bad things by which mankind are cursed, Their own bad tempers surely are the worst." — Cumberland, England. " Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again." W. C. Bryant, Mass., 1794. ( Thanatopsts.) "The groves were God's first temples." — Bryant. Once more : speak clearly if you speak at all ; Carve every word before you let it fall. Don't, like a lecturer, or dramatic star, Try over-hard to roll the British R. Do put your accents in the proper spot ! Don't — let me beg you — don't say ' How ? ' for ' What ? ' And when you stick on conversation's burrs, Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful ur's," O. W. Holmes, Mass., 1809. {The Boys.) "Teach me to love, and to forgive." Thomas Gray, London, 17 16. {_Elegy in a Country Churchyard?) APPENDIX. ^5 " He who has the God-given light of hope in his breast, can help on many others in this world's dark- ness, not to his own loss, but to his precious gain." — Henry Ward Beecher, Conn., 1813. {Life of Christ:) " Blessed is he who has found his work ; let him ask no other blessedness." — Thomas Carlyle, Scotland, 1796. {Life of Cromwell) '^ What considerate man can enter a school, and not reflect with awe, that it is a seminary where immortal minds are training for eternity ? " Edward Everett, Mass., 1794. (Shaking Hands.) " Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part ; Do thou but thine." — Milton, England. Men are but children of a larger growth." — Dryden, England. "A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good-natured." — Joseph Addison, England. 26 HOW NOT TO TEACH. " The loftiest and strongest trees spring heavenward among the rocks." J. G. Holland, Mass., 1819. (^Bitter Sweet.) ''Absence of occupation is not rest. A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed." — CowPER, England, 1731. {Table Talk.) What is it to be wise ? 'Tis but to know how little can be known, To see all others' faults and feel our own." — Alex. Pope, England. *' Of all the causes which conspire to blind man's erring judgment and misguide the mind, what the weak head with strongest bias rules, is pride; the never fail- ing vice of fools." — Pope. Any heart turned Godward, feels more joy In one short hour of prayer than e'er was raised By all the feasts on earth since its foundation." — Bailey, England. " To read without reflecting, Is like eating without digesting." — Edmund Burke, Ireland, 1730. (Sublime and Beautiful) APPENDIX. 27 '*Oh wad some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as ithers see us ! It wad frae monie a blunder free us And foolish notion." — Robert Burns, Scotland, 1759. [Scottish Poems.) " He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small ; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all." — Coleridge, England, 1772. {Ancient Mariner.) " When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he has one good reason for letting it alone." — Sir Walter Scott. " If fun is good, truth is better, and love best of all." — Thackeray, England. {Vanity Pair) " I pray the prayer of Plato old, — God make thee beautiful within, And let thine eyes the good behold In everything save sin." — J. G. Whittier, Mass. (Centennial Hymn.) 28 HOW NOT TO TEACH. '' If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing." — Benj. Franklin, Mass., 1706. {Poor Richard's Ahnanac.) " There is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, sincere earnestness." — Charles Dickens, England, 1812. (Christmas Stories.) " Do not look for wrong and evil, — You will find them if you do; As you measure for your neighbor, He will measure back to you." — Alice Gary, Ohio, 1820. {^Pictures of Coitntry Life.) " There is no road so smooth, but it has its stumblin; places." — Cervantes, Spain, 1547. {Don Quixote) " He who gives freely, gives twice." — Cervantes. " Keep company with the good, and you will be one of them." — Cervantes. *' Truth may bend, but never break, and will ever rise above falsehood, like oil above water." — Cervantes. APPENDIX. 29 " Lost yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone for- ever." — Horace Mann, Mass. ^Educational Papers^ " When a man has no designs but to speak the plain truth, he may say a great deal in a very narrow com- pass." — Richard Steele, Dublin, 1671. {Political Writings.) " Nothing is easier than fault-finding. No talent no self-denial, no brains, no character are required to set up in the grumbling business. But those who are moved by a genuine desire to do good, have little time for murmuring or complaint." — Robert West. " A foe to God was ne'er true friend to man." — Edward Young, Winchester, 1684. (Night Thoughts) We rise in glory as we sink in pride ; Where boasting ends, there dignity begins." — Edward Young. " Be still prepared for death ; and death or life Shall thereby be the sweeter." — William Shakespeare, Stratford, Eng., 1564. {Hamlet) \ 30 HOW NOT TO TEACH. *' Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter, ere long, back on itself recoils." — John Milton, London, 1608. {^Paradise Lost}) Man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority. Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven. As makes the angels weep." — Shakespeare. " To thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man." — Shakespeare. " Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot." — Thomas Moore, Dublin, 1780. {Irish Melodies?) Errors like straws upon the surface flow ; He who would search for pearls must dive below." — Joseph Addison, England, 1672. Cato {tragedy.) Be still, sad heart, and cease repining, Behind the clouds is the sun still shining. Thy fate is the common fate of all. Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary." — H. W. Longfellow. APPENDIX. 31 Be not simply good, be good for something." — Thoreau, Boston. " Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us. Footprints on the sands of time." — Henry W. Longfellow, Maine, 1807. (Evangeline?} " The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing ivell whatever you do, without a thought of fame." — H. W. Longfellow. *' Who can say, Why to-day, To-morrow will be yesterday ? Who can tell Why to smell The violet recalls the dewy prime Of youth and buried time? The cause is nowhere found in rhyme." — Alfred Tennyson, England. {Enoch Arden.) " Each must, in virtue, strive to excel, That man lives twice, who lives the first life well. — Rob't Herrick, England, 1591. (He spe rides.) 9HIII 021 366 864™