The boys hesitate.
"George, what did you have in your hand?"
"A piece of paper."
"And what were you doing with it?"
_George._ "William was trying to take it away from me."
"Was there any thing on it?"
"Yes sir."
"What?"
George looks down a little confused.
_William._ "George had been drawing some pictures on it.
"I see each of you are ready to tell of the other"s fault, but it would be much more honorable if each was open in acknowledging his own. Have I ever had to speak to you before for playing together in school?"
"Yes sir, I believe you have," says one, looking down.
"More than once?"
"Yes sir."
"More than twice?"
"I do not recollect exactly,--I believe you have."
"Well, now, what do you think I ought to do next?"
The boys have nothing to say.
"Do you prefer sitting together, or are you willing to have me separate you?"
"We should rather sit together, sir, if you are willing," says George.
"I have no objection to your sitting together, if you could only resist the temptation to play. I want all the boys in the school to have pleasant seats."
There is a pause,--the teacher hesitating what to do.
"Suppose now I were to make one more experiment, and let you try to be good boys in your present seat, would you really try?"
"Yes sir."--"Yes sir, we will," are the replies.
"And if I should find that you still continue to play, and should have to separate you, will you move into your new seats pleasantly, and with good humor, feeling that I have done right about it?"
"Yes sir, we will."
Thus it will be seen that there may be cases where the teacher may make arrangements for separating his scholars, on an open and distinct understanding with them in respect to the cause of it. We have given these cases not that exactly such ones will be very likely to occur, or that when they do, the teacher is to manage them in exactly the way here described, but to exhibit more clearly to the reader than could be done by any general description, the spirit and tone which a teacher ought to a.s.sume towards his pupils. We wished to exhibit this in contrast with the harsh and impatient manner, which teachers too often a.s.sume in such a case;--as follows.
"John Williams and Samuel Smith, come here to me," exclaims the master, in a harsh, impatient tone, in the midst of the exercises of the afternoon.
The scholars all look up from their work;--the culprits slowly rise from their seats, and with a sullen air come down to the floor.
"You are playing, boys, all the time, and I will not have it. John, do you take your books and go and sit out there by the window, and, Samuel, you come and sit here on this front seat,--and if I catch you playing again I shall certainly punish you severely."
The boys make the move, with as much rattling and disturbance as is possible without furnishing proof of wilful intention to make a noise, and when they get their new seats, and the teacher is again engaged upon his work, they exchange winks and nods, and, in ten minutes, are slyly cannonading each other with paper b.a.l.l.s.
In regard to all the directions that have been given under this head, I ought to say again before concluding it, that they are mainly applicable to the case of beginners, and of small schools. The general principles are, it is true, of universal application, but it is only where a school is of moderate size that the details of position, in respect to individual scholars, can be minutely studied. More summary processes are necessary, I am aware, when the school is very large, and the time of the teacher is incessantly engaged.
9. In some districts in New England, the young teacher will find one or more boys, generally among the larger ones, who will come to the school with the express determination to make a difficulty if they can. The best way is generally to face these individuals at once, in the most direct and open manner, and, at the same time, with perfect good humor, and kindness of feeling and deportment towards them personally. An example or two will best ill.u.s.trate what I mean.
A teacher heard a rapping noise repeatedly, one day, just after he had commenced his labors, under such circ.u.mstances as to lead him to suppose it was designed. He did not appear to notice it, but remained after school until the scholars had all gone, and then made a thorough examination. He found at length a broken place in the plastering, where a _lath_ was loose, and a string was tied to the end of it, and thence carried along the wall under the benches, to the seat of a mischievous boy, and fastened to a nail. By pulling the string he could spring the lath, and then let it snap back to its place. He left every thing as it was, and the next day while engaged in a lesson, he heard the noise again.
He rose from his seat.
The scholars all looked up from their books.
"Did you hear that noise?" said he.
"Yes sir."
"Do you know what it is?"
"No sir."
"Very well, I only wanted to call your attention to it. I may perhaps speak of it again, by and by."
He then resumed his exercise as if nothing had happened. The guilty boy was agitated and confused, and was utterly at a loss to know what to do.
What could the teacher mean? Had he discovered the trick?--and if so what _was_ he going to do?
He grew more and more uneasy, and resolved that, at all events, it was best for him to retreat. Accordingly, at the next recess, as the teacher had antic.i.p.ated, he went slyly to the lath, cut the string, then returned to his seat, and drew the line in, rolled it up, and put it in his pocket. The teacher, who was secretly watching him, observed the whole manoeuvre.
At the close of the school, when the books were laid aside, and all was silence, he treated the affair thus.
"Do you remember the noise to which I called your attention early this afternoon?
"Yes, sir."
"I will explain it to you now. One of the boys tied a string to a loose lath in the side of the room, and then having the end of it at his seat, he was pulling it, to make a noise to disturb us."