CLASS MANAGEMENT

CLASS ROOM DECORATION

There are three prime factors of success in class room decoration, namely:

1. Harmonious coloring of walls.

2. Pictures (a few).

3. A balanced arrangement of the furniture of the room and whatever is placed upon the walls either for decorative purposes or for study. Of these three factors the greatest, by far, is balanced arrangement.

Satisfactory and therefore effective class room decoration depends mainly on the arrangement of the contents of the room-even to the children and the teacher-not on the contents themselves.

Much has been written on the necessity, importance, value, etc., etc., of the cultivation of good taste as a part of the work of elementary school training. There is no doubt about good taste being a desirable thing to possess. It pays in many ways to have a cultivated taste. It is, however, a difficult thing to make grow and flourish largely because its cultivation is too intensive. The possessors of good taste get their holdings in it largely by constantly associating with good taste things. But, if this last be true all the more necessary is it that children, when in the class room, have constant association with a tasteful environment.

The silent influence for good which a tastefully ordered class room has upon the future thought and actions of the average boy and girl cannot be measured, but it is bound to be considerable, and when such surroundings if constant, are coupled with a teacher whose manner and voice are of the right sort the lasting qualities of the effect are doubled. But the class teacher, alone, cannot be held responsible for class room conditions even on the matter of class room decoration. The principal cannot escape his responsibility in this matter. If he is cold to the importance of class room decoration there is little hope of his teachers being enthusiastic over the subject. If effective class room decoration is to prevail in any school the principal must take a strong helping hand in establishing and maintaining it. The principal's office above all other rooms in the building should reflect good taste.

Now follow the ten commandments:

I. Do not decorate the blackboards. It can't be done. The blackboards should be kept within the sphere of their purpose. They need no ornamentation any more than does a sheet of writing paper or a drawing board. They should, however, be kept clean. Have all work erased from the boards immediately after the instruction which resulted in such work, has come to an end. There may be exceptions to this precept, but if there are they but prove the rule.

II. Do not use the doors or cabinet walls as bulletin boards. Pictures, posters, or examples of class work should be displayed in some particular place made suitable for display purposes.

III. Do not allow wall displays of class work to get stale. It would be very profitable in many ways if class rooms would present new and fresh arrangement of displayed work every Monday morning. To make this weekly change would require but little time and attention commensurate with the effective though silent influence which a change would have on the class spirit.

IV. If you desire to display something on the class room walls don't "stick it up anywhere." Place it deliberately on the walls in an appropriate place so that it will form a part of a determined plan of display, otherwise, keep it off the walls.

V. Keep the window shades balanced.

VI. Make of the teacher's desk a model of good design in balanced arrangement. It is not enough to "keep it in order." A fresh bouquet of flowers placed on the desk every morning-or a rearrangement of the old bouquet will do quite as well if the flowers are still fresh-will have a wonderful influence on the pupils for good in the way of deportment either physically or mentally. In making the above statement the fact is not lost sight of that school location has a deal to do with floral decoration-so have the However, a teacher who is alive to the importance of floral decoration will find some way-once in a while at least-to have flowers on her desk.

VII. Keep the window-sills free from litter. They should not be made the resting place of drawing models, constructive work results, bottles, cans, books, or a host of other things often found upon them. The only thing which can be placed upon a window-sill without offence is a plant, and a healthy one at that, not one that is dead or dying. It is an absurd excuse to give for the "messing up" of window-sills that no other place is afforded where things may be "put." Make an urgent and logical demand to the proper authorities for the necessary "places to put things" and see how quickly the demand will be honored.

VIII. Have pictures hung, when possible, a little above eye level. When placed above the Dado moulding-which is generally about seven feet above the floor, they should be large enough not to appear lost on the wall. They should be hung with two wires so as not to rest upon the Dado moulding.

IX. Make quality rather than quantity the characteristic feature of your display material. It may be said, however, that the decoration of lower grade rooms may be more lively in color and more in quantity than those of the upper grades.

X. Remember that the most effective method of teaching is by example. Be careful, therefore, how you preach good taste. It would be wise, however, not to let flagrant breaches of good taste on the part of the children pass without correction.

FRANK H. COLLINS, Director of Drawing, New York City.

CARE OF TOOLS

Every one will agree it is very necessary that the children learn to take good care of the tools. Many valuable lessons may be taught indirectly through this medium. In one of the Ungraded Classes, a teacher found the boys thought it made no difference whether they were careful of the tools or not, but when, as the result of lessons in civics, the boys found that their fathers as taxpayers supplied the very tools of which they had been so careless, their point of view changed and they mended their ways. So may the lesson be taught that good results can be obtained only when the tools are kept sharp and clean and used for the purpose for which they are intended. When the boy realizes that when it becomes necessary for him to use undue strength because of the dullness of the tools all joy is gone from the task, he is a step nearer to the great lesson of efficiencyand as he works he learns that orderliness and carefulness are sure to bring good results just as a lack of them will bring failure.

In our own class we have three work benches equipped with all the necessary tools. We start with the idea of a place for everything and everything in its place. Having so many supplies we found this absolutely necessary. In fact we were very chaotic until we planned in this way. We have a housekeeper; a different boy each week, whose task it is to arrange each bench for work every day. That is he places the saws, try square, hammer, gauge, pencil and ruler on each bench ready to be used. The other tools, as planes, knives, chisels, not to be used immediately, are left in the racks in the bench closets until needed that they may not be injured or cause injury to the worker.

When the cleaning up period comes at 2.45 all work stops, the two boys working at each bench put their unfinished work on shelf in front of the room, clean the bright parts of the tools with oily waste and put them in their proper places in the bench closet and brush the top of the bench clean.

A shop problem that used to bother me quite a little I found solved in an Ungraded Class I visited. After the sewing lesson a girl went around with a magnet on a string and picked up all the pins. I use the magnet now for nails and my lowest grade boy enjoys himself immensely picking up all the nails he can find and placing them in the proper box. Once a month the older boys look after the tools, decide which they can sharpen, and which must be sent to the grinder.

We have a clothing closet in our room large enough to serve the purpose of a lumber closet and consequently we can order enough wood for the entire term. One day when the wood arrived I asked two boys to arrange it the way they thought best, and their way worked out so well that we have never changed. They arranged a shelf about three feet from the floor and placed the boards on it resting on their edges. They left spaces

for the smaller pieces at the bottom so we can get at any kind of wood we want quickly. Now when a boy decides on a model he can easily choose the kind of wood best suited for it.

In all the shop problems I feel if we can train the child even in a small way to be neat, to be accurate, to be careful, to be economical of time and material, to train his hand to work with his mind, much has been accomplished. "The working hand makes strong the working brain.” MARGUERITE HORRIGAN,

P. S. 59, Manhattan.

CORRELATION OF SUBJECT MATTER

Over and over again the great educators of the day are emphasizing the importance of making a closer connection between the child's school life and the experiences of his outside world. He is to see and feel that the daily class room work is closely associated with real life and that it is a definite preparation for his future work. As this fact is driven home to us more and more strongly, we as Ungraded Class teachers are striving to meet this need by centering the school activities of our class rooms about a theme which touches intimately the lives of the children in our particular vicinity. We are aiming to choose as centers of interest those which are a part or may be a part of the real life of the child's environment.

One school neighborhood, it is true, presents accessible, interesting and living centers which may be quite foreign to a class in another section of the city. In the store, however, as a central theme, we find possibilities which are not only of universal interest but are a reality in the daily life of every child and home. Curiosity may be aroused concerning what is in the store, where it came from, how it got there, how made usable, how measured and what it is worth. In making these investigations we reach out into the fields of geography, history, language and arithmetic, and the work of the days, weeks and months is built up in a natural and vital way.

In its broad sense, the store opens up varied possibilities. There is the grocery store, the dry goods store, the millinery, the stationery store, the butcher shop and the bakery, each of which may furnish vast and valuable material for study.

For the minute let us confine ourselves to the grocery store, alone. Many of us have, or have access to, the model store equipment which is now in many of our schools. As our first step, it is quite essential that as a class or in groups we visit one or more of the local stores, prefacing each visit with discussions as to the definite point or points which we wish to observe. One committee group may be held responsible for equipment and general arrangement; another for price marks and bills and still another for neatness, cleanliness and general appearance.

With this preparation in stock we begin to plan out the building and arrangement of our schoolroom store. At once need arises for woodwork on part of the older children in providing the necessary shelves, counters,

boxes and bill files. There is a need for scales, measuring cups, and telephone directory. Each child and possibly the teacher, may be able to add his own contribution of labor or commodity. All of which appeals to the child and tends to make the store making process a fascinating occupation. Our store equipment seems quite complete when some boy or girl suggests that we still lack vegetables, fruits and nuts which comprise a part of most stores. Clay and plasticine solve the problem. In our nature lesson we become interested in the various fruits and vegetables of the season and from time to time we mold, color and add them to our store collections. Real nuts may be gathered.

Boys and girls begin to print or typewrite signs, price lists, and advertisements. The poor speller begins to detect his own weakness. He takes on an added interest in the spelling words he needs to know. His spelling lesson becomes one full of purpose and value. Here, as later in making out bills, writing necessary letters, narratives and compositions we find those words which naturally build up the lists for our spelling lessons. We are learning to spell words which are used not only in school but are practical in life outside.

Every real store has some one in charge who oversees, understands and knows extent of equipment. Our store calls for some one to officiate in this capacity. He inventories and classifies entire stock and determines selling prices, which involves practice in reading and number. Helpers are chosen to look after neatness, cleanliness and care of material.

Two or three of the older girls go to the cooking room for cooking lessons. It is quite natural that they are interested in the soups and broths which they have been taught to prepare. They take delight in explaining to other members of the class the soup making process. This interest broadens out into the factories from which our cans of soup are shipped. Where are they located? Is it possible for us to visit one? Curiosity leads us naturally and with a definite purpose out into the subjects of geography and language, oral and written. The many spices on the shelves each have stories of their own which plunge us still farther into the industrial world. The bars of soap readily suggest questions about the soap making process; which gives us material for study a later day.

One little girl has a father who works in a candy factory. She is interested in the chocolate bars. It delights her to tell her class-mates some of the facts in the candy making process which she has learned from father. Through her the class enjoy a profitable visit to the factory. It is through these experiences that the fund of material derived for English becomes the sort Dewey characterizes as "having something to say rather than having to say something.”

In the play telephone, excellent exercises in dialogue are furnished. Tableaux may be arranged and for the timid child puppet plays furnish valuable devices for conversational exercises between customer and salesman. Simple dramatization exercises may suggest themselves. The children love to play the story of Lincoln as clerk in the country store.