London Normal School - Spectrum Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

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« LITERARY SECTION » The Passing of Lord Tweedsmuir LORD TWEEDSMUIR is dead. With characteris- tic Scottish courage, Lord Tweedsmuir fought a brave but losing battle with the grimmest of forces, even death. In hushed solemnity, Canada mourns his passing. Bom a humble son of the manse in rugged Scotland, lohn Buchan had risen by his own personal industry to the envied position of the King ' s representative and to the distinguished title His Excellency the Right Honourable Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor-General and Commander- in-Chief of Canada. During his five short years of service In Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir had endeared himself to the hearts of all loyal Canadian citizens. Not only had he proven himself to be a capable administrator and a worthy representative of our King, but he had shown himself to be ? m n of wide interests and of a deep, human understand- ing. His amiable character, revealed in so many friendly actions and words during his various tours of this Dominion, had won the esteem of all who had met him. Undoubtedly, the gap that has been left bv the Governor-General ' s pas sing will be a difficult one to fill. Perhaps lohn Buchan has touched upon the lives of even the humblest of us, throuqh the medium of his pen. His fine novels, Green- mantle, The Thirty-nine Steps, and Mr. Standfast, several of which have been filmed, have been read and enjoyed by thousands of Canadians. Not only was John Buchan a novelist, but he was also a biographer. And many of the more intellectual tvpe revel in Buchan ' s delightful portrayal of Walter Raleigh, Cromwell, and Augustus. Buchan was a versatile writer and his works are the product of a master mind, a veritable monument to a great man! Lord Tweedsmuir will not be remembered for his spectacular feats (for, indeed, he had no room for such things in his life) but for his constant perseverance and the quiet industry and diligence of character which made his life such a living force. Lord Tweedsmuir is dead. But with those of our generation, who have felt the force of his personality, the memory of a great figure will linger for a long time; and with our progeny, too, who will come to know and respect him through his legacy to literature, the memory of a great writer will linger for years to come. WILMA M. MILLIKEN. In Training SOME of us wanted to come to Normal — the normal thing to do; consequently, we volun- teered our services to our country ' til death or marriage should intervene; the rest of us were conscripted and sent to be interned for the dura- tion of the year. Between cheers and sobs, we marched to the station and detrained somewhere in London. After manoeuvering about the city seeking places to entrench ourselves for the coming campaign, we went to headquarters to meet our commanders. Before we could pass the Board of Admission to the camp, we were examined by a Medical Officer. Most of us passed and the remaining few were admitted to a concentration camp for a harder life. All was quiet on the Normal Front for several weeks. Then one day, we were informed from headquarters that we were to change our position. Plans to sally from the main camp and make reconnaissance flights to new territory were drawn up. There our new commanders — critic teachers — were located. We were to observe their tactics carefully, that we might follow them the next week. Every Friday, we move to a new field. We enter it, speaking in quiet tones lest we be over- heard. Our battlefield for the next week is sited. Some time before the following Wednesday, we retire behind the main lines of school life to make our plans for the next offensive. Each night at midnight or shortly after, action ceases — there is a blackout in the room (a pass from the landlady is necessary to gain entrance thereafter). By Wednesday the plans are drawn up — nothing must go wrong — we must win! At noon we drink an extra cup of tea, since no stronger rations are distributed. Well armed with material, both illustrative and concrete, we make a drive on the school where we are to courageously en- counter a struggle. The zero hour approaches — a nervous tension holds us — the alarm is rung! At this signal, the pupils make a rush into the school and quickly form in their ranks. This afternoon, Miss Blank is in charge — take over the controls, Miss Blank. The pupils watch warily for the first move. We are cautious as a mass attack might be expected from the class; we dig in for their advance. All is quiet, running on wheels until — a wrong command is given — we must go on — it ' s do or die! The pupils burst into an explosion — of laughter. Now we are on the defensive side and forced to retreat to our supply of resourcefulness. Ground is gained, however, by riddling the pupils with a rapid machine-gun fire of questions which repulses them. Retaliation is not made and they are bom- barded again for information. This blitzkrieg Continu:d on page 25

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What Are We Worth? T A 7 E Normalites are sometimes tempted to feel, quite incorrectly of course, that we are not quite so important as some other students in the City of London. When one says, I ' m going to Normal this year, one frequently receives the reply, Oh, another school marm! in a tone which sounds as if it were accompanied by an internal shudder. Perhaps it is because the memory of a stern figure with a frigid voice demanding, What are you doing back there, Johnny Jones? remains with everyone most of his life, that the Londoners are unwilling to give a lofty position to the greatest profession in the world. The London Free Press which prints, daily, news of the university, even if it is only that the men are growing beards during examinations, deigns but seldom to print news of the Normalites whose news-making potentialities are repressed by the worthy masters. But our true worth has been recognized by one corporation — the London Street Railway Company. In spite of all the nurses and doctors studying at Victoria Hospital, there is no Hospital Bus, and even our illustrious university has given its name to only one bus, but we have two — Normal and Normal South. And do the Normalites appreciate this! Just watch them swarming on the buses about three o ' clock some Friday afternoon! You can ' t miss them — watch for the unmistakable black book, and the air of hilarity decorously restrained in accordance with all the best principles of etiquette. Or, perchance, they have been visiting a factory and each carries his breakfast in a neat green package tucked under his arm. The personnel changes from year to year, but the bus still flaunts our banner on high, proclaim- ing to the unbelieving citizens of London that we are — Normal. MARY CAMPBELL. Heard on the Bus LOUISE: What was your lesson like, Anne? ANNE: Oh, not too bad. Miss Smithson said it was a nice lesson, whatever that means, but that I might have distributed my questions better. JOAN: Well, that isn ' t the worst mistake one could make. Hear me and weep. Do you remember all the trouble I took in trying to find illustrative material on Social Life in Green- land? TESS: Do we remember? There was a good deal of our time and energy involved, too. . . . You used the pictures too soon, or too late, I suppose? JOAN: Worse than that. I had concluded my lesson with an inward sigh of satisfaction, feeling that all had run smoothly — with ne ' er a Master to disturb the waters of contentment. But my contentment was rudely disturbed when Miss Richard- son, in her criticism, sweetly asked, Don ' t you think you might have used some illustrative material in your lesson? . . . Believe it or no, I had entirely forgotten to show a single picture! DENISE: Which was pedagogically unsound, of course. . . . LOUISE: Cheer up, Joan! You probably received credit for having made the children exercise their imagination. JOAN: Joking about another ' s plight, are you? But you ' ll not find me forgetting the next time, if I ' ll have to set an alarm clock to remind me! JACK: Bravo, Joan! You might also try having a pupil in the rear of the classroom hold up your material during the lesson — to keep you reminded, and to keep him actively engaged. DENISE: I ' m sure the Masters would commend such a display of resourcefulness. What ' s that you have wrapped in newspaper, Jack? JACK: A log. DENISE: Answer in a complete statement and so that all can hear you. JACK: I — have — a — log. TESS: Surely you didn ' t teach your lesson sitting on that log! JACK: I did not teach my lesson sitting on that log. Since I had to teach, Telling the ages of trees, I figured I ' d show the class the real thing — Reality, reasoning and research, you know. ... At the same time, I saved doing some black- board sketching. DENISE: How clever! JACK: Thank you, Miss Teacher-to-be! Encouraging good work is fine classroom management. . . . Let ' s hear from you. Bill. BILL: Here goes! Scene: Kindergarten class; Hero: Yours truly ; Audience: Four and twenty Chickadees looking straight at me. You needn ' t snicker, Jack. They were looking at me and listening attentively too, while I depicted the adven- tures of Johnnie Woodpecker, remembering to do so in a clear, pleasant, non-nasal voice. JACK: What about the rumbling quality? BILL: ... I paused for effect at a dramatic part, when a little fellow ' s hand shot up with, My bwudder has a neck tie like yours. JACK: Observation, expression and reaction on the pan of the pupil. . . . DALE: As for me, Miss Allison suggested ever so tact- fully, that phrases and words such as analagous colors, constructing an interior, speak distinctly and optional were somewhat above the language level of Grade One. BILL: You must have been sitting on a rainbow of analagous colors when you used those terms, I ' ll warrant. DALE: What ' s your new lesson, Gladys? GLADYS: One on adverbial clauses. I ' ll have to look up some spotting exercises. LOUISE: There ' s a good book in the library which you might try to spot. It was a great help to me last week. BETTY: Well, Teachers-to-be, you ' ve exhausted all de- vices to keep me interested any longer. Here ' s my corner. Good-bye until tonight, when we ' ll be gaining some new socializing experiences in the basketball game. Let ' s remember to be resourceful, driving ahead with a set plan so as to attain the aims set forth. BILL: Aye, aye, Sir — that is, yes indeed! And we ' ll have to remember our number combinations so as to keep record of our score. . . . SISTER GRACE. [22]