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

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The Spectrum Dear Yearmates: As we come to the end of our course, we look back over our year together at London Normal School and ask ourselves, Was it a good year? In all cases I ' m sure the answer is an emphatic Yes . That answer would probably have been different had we asked the same question several days after we arrived at our new home last September. Many did not unpack their luggage as quickly as they thought they would! But we slowly changed our minds as we lost our shyness. From that first Hello to an equally homesick classmate, we began to forget that we were away from home. With parties, dances, athletic competitions and Literary meetings, we stuck it out and began to enjoy ourselves. Enjoy ourselves? No, maybe we were being led astray. Those first observations and lesson assignments were anything but enjoyable! What horrible things they seemed to be. But compared with those which were to come, they were a picnic! To get back to the subject of good things, who would have missed playing basketball, volleyball, and baseball; the trips to Hamilton, Toronto and Guelph; working on the Yearbook; the monthly parties, the School Management lectures and the Literary programmes? These are just a few of the more pleasant advantages that only London Normal School could have shown us. While in this pleasant atmosphere, we also attained our main objective. We learned attitudes , modern methods of teaching, pedagogy, skills — and in addition, many things we should have learned before coming to Normal School. With a mixture of all these, we are now ready to take our place in the teaching profession. As we go to our respective schools, whether they be one-room schools on a lonely country road, or a modern building in the city, let us re- member the words we now sing: Toast our Alma Mater: Don ' t forget her rule. Nor the busy happy year At London Normal School. Yours respectfully, ROBERT C. McINTOSH, President Student Parliament 13

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The Spectrum LOUISE MOISLEY, B.A. Library Science. Did you look in the Index } WINN1FRED R. PRENDERGAST, Physical Education. What was your aim in leaching (hat game? FRANK G. WALKER, Crafts. What can I do for you. dotlerV

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The Spectrum £cUto ial September, 1950, was the beginning of a new phase of life for all of us. We sat in assembly that first day, feeling strange and shy — a varied collection of young people from all parts of the province, representing many different levels of education, and a wide variety of backgrounds. Yet for all our differences, we had one thing in common: our objective. Complete strangers to one another, we kept our eyes on the row of Masters on the platform, the Masters whose purpose it was to help us to realize our ambition. In the space of nine short months, they were to try to blend us into a class of efficient teachers, ready to do our share in the education of Canada ' s young people. This was to be no easy task. Most of us were high school graduates with all the character- istics of bobby-soxers. A few of us came from Ontario ' s colleges, brimming with memories of college songs, football games, classroom lectures, and all the other highlights of college life. Our instructors were to teach us to view school life from a different perspective — the other side of the desk. Now, at the end of the year, as we compare ourselves with the gathering in the assembly on that first September day, we realize that we are beginning to change. Our own school days are becoming farther away. We are beginning to look at school from the teacher ' s point of view. We are no longer teen-agers, Arts men or co-eds, but members of a respected and honoured profession. Our year at Normal School has taught us our purpose. Our future is more than a career. At least eight thousand children in Ontario will be deeply influenced each year by the Class of ' 51. We must be prepared to teach more than the three R ' s; we shall need to teach also the three H ' s, the head, the hand and the heart, fitting the children in our care to make a success of their own individual lives by recognizing and making use of their own potentialities, and by making good citizens. We may never experience the thrill of having a future Newton or Milton among our pupils, but we shall have every year a group of children who need the guidance of a mature mind to help to establish themselves in our complex civilization. Our responsibility is a heavy one. How can we face the future with confidence of success? How can we prepare ourselves for the work that lies ahead? Has our brief experience at Normal School been sufficient to qualify us to help in the development of the characters of tomorrow ' s men and women? We would be foolish if we were to think for a moment that some magic wand touched us during our nine months here, transforming us from self-centered teen-agers into wise and under- standing teachers. No — if we are to be successful in the profession we have chosen, we must realize that our education is far from complete; indeed it has hardly begun. Our pupils are in constant contact with us for a large part of their waking hours during the eight most impression- able years of their lives. They cannot help but be influenced by our personality, our character. We must advance a long way before we can call ourselves good teachers. We must add depth to our own minds by constant striving for new learning, obtaining at least a working knowledge in the field of the Arts, the Sciences, and Philosophy. We must develop a keen sense of observance of the happenings in the world around us. In addition to skill in teaching methods, we must aim for infinite patience, tact and good humour. These are the requirements of a good teacher. Education is more than a succession of lessons, both for us and our pupils; it is the develop- ment of the mind. When education ceases, the mind stops growing, and rigor mortis sets in. Perhaps a teacher, more than anyone else, should realize this. Wherever we go, whether we teach for a lifetime or for only a few years, time will impress upon us repeatedly the motto of the Normal Schools: ■ Docendo Discimus We learn by teaching.