Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

Page 32 text:

24 ing, and to good citizenship. It is the teacher who, by her daily contact with the child, is to lead him to better things-with her personality rests a great responsibility. There is little doubt that in untold cases the love and sympathy and thought that a teacher has shown for a child has influenced his whole life, making it brighter, better, and happier, and perhaps keeping him from wrong-doing and disgrace. Whoso shall cause one of these little ones which believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea. , Personality has also been defined as a conscious endeavor by the teacher to make socially serviceable all the material and spiritual stores which she possesses. As the most direct expression of her personality, too much emphasis cannot be placed on the teacher's personal appearance. Her dress should be made becomingly, regardless of the latest fashiong the colors should harmonize with each other and with the hair and eyes of the person wearing them. Children notice every detail, and we must remember that their whole vocation is endless imitation. Unconsciously they will learn to love harmony of color and know good taste in dress. In this way we can help them much. TEAcHER's coWN When teacher wears her old gray grown, I just hate education, I-ler pretty face puts on a frown, Her voice is all vexation, And oh dear me, I feel so glad 'Cause next week is vacation. When teacher wears her new blue gown, I just love education,. Her smiles go dimpling up and down, I learn my mult'plication- And oh dear me, I feel so bad 'Cause next week is vacation. Absolute cleanliness of person is of the greatest importance-we must teach the children to be careful of face and hands, hair and nails-and who is to be the example ?-the teacher. If the teacher is loved and re- spected, the child's greatest ambition is to be like teacher, and do as teacher does. The ornaments and decorations of the school room should be in keeping with the place, well chosen and well arranged: the room itself as neat and clean as the hands of the teacher and children can make it. The books should be carefully kept and a love and respect for them should be bred in our children. These and other things are an important part of the

Page 31 text:

23 The Joys of Saturday Awake! awake ye Normalites, For Saturday is here, And brings along its own delights, Of dusting and good cheer. Get ready now to sweep the room, With a smile of great content. Take the furniture outside, We are in our element. Open all the windows wide, . Take broom, with courage gayg We'll make the room all clean inside, For it is sweeping day. The kitties that once decked the floor, 'Neath bed and bureau lay, Alas! poor things they are no more, For this is Saturday. Now to the laundry we shall go, .To make our linen white, For starching shirt waists, we all know: Is our extreme delight. But, ah, these joys of work-a-day, That do our muscles strain, Shall end, for Monday comes our way, With lesson-books again. M. I. and C. B. The Personality of the Teacher COLERIDGE. says that personality is individuality existing in itself, but with a nature as a background. Behind each teacher's individuality there must be a background of human nature, a great store of sympathy .for children and of understanding of their needs. This she must have in order that she with them, may explore all the wonderful highways and byways that lead to knowledge, and to right liv-

Page 33 text:

25 teacher's self. As they increase and prosper, so her influence extends, and she is looked upon as a person of ability, and a power for good in the com- munity where she lives. In addition to these material things are the intellectual and emotional constituents of the teacher. These include a thorough mastery of all sub- ject matter to be taughtg power of developmentg an effective means of pres- entation, guidance and controlg a sympathy with, and love for children: and a wide knowledge of all that will tend to cultivate the child. These characteristics, aesthetic and intellectual and moral, grow out of the teacher's self-activity, her efforts in behalf of the children and the other people about her. A teacher may have great acquirements, but if she uses her knowledge to no purpose, she can not be said to have person- ality. If, however, she is known here for one good deed, and there for an- other, if her friends and her pupils receive from her a helping hand, if her children have dry and uninteresting book-lore made fascinating and interest- ing-such a teacher may be said to have personality. John Henry Newman says that personality freal knowledge, per- sonal intellectual culture, enlargement, illumination-he uses all these termsj is the action of a formative power reducing to order and meaning the matter of our acquirementsg it is a making the objects of our knowl- edge subjectively our own. A teacher may have a certain schedule, dehnite plans of work to fol- low, from superintendent and supervisors. They are like sign boards on the road, pointing to the end, and giving directions how to get there, but in themselves they are no guarantee that any action will be taken to reach the end. A force, an individuality, must be behind it all if the desired goal is to be reached. 1 e A teacher with personality cannot be a tool or a machine. Emerson, in The American Scholar, makes a distinction between the lhinlfer fof other men's thoughtsl and man thinking, between the worker and man working. The teacher's individuality shows itself in the originality which she uses in presenting the different subjects in the common school curric- ulum, in thinking of little devices for helping the children to remember in making dry subjects more interesting and facts more real, in the decora- tion and ventilation of the school-room, in games or plays for the children: in all these and in many other ways the teacher's originality may be shown. She must deal in a loving and sympathetic manner with little children, each child requiring unique treatment. The stronger her personality, the better she is able to do this. Personality is not inertness and impassivenessg it is work, energy, and efficiency being used for the benefit of others. There is always room for a forceful teacher. School teachers are a troop of thinkers, and the best heads among them take the best places. Emerson says, A feeble man can see the farms that are fenced and tilled, the houses that are built. The strong man sees the possible houses and farms. Just so the able teacher sees the possibilities in each child and in the work at hand, uses every little thing that can help her to attain her end. makes use of every opportunity, makes of every occasion a great occasion.