USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1887 > Part 11
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MUSIC.
Weymouth was the last town of more than ten thousand inhabi- tants in the State, and, so far as I know, in New England, to employ a special teacher of music in the public schools It would have been very detrimental to the town's interest to have put off any longer the taking of this important step. Of course the citi- zens of Weymouth are anxious that their children should enjoy all the advantages enjoyed by children in other large towns, and they do not wish to be behind in educational enterprise. It is very gratifying. therefore, to be able to announce that under the able leadership of Mr. A. E. Bradford, whose services it was your good fortune to secure, the schools are already making commendable progress in this hitherto neglected branch of study.
REVISED COURSES OF STUDY FOR HIGH SCHOOLS.
ENGLISH COURSE. - A and B, with choice of C, D, or E. CLASSICAL COURSE. - A, with choice of C, D, or E, and choice of H, I, J, or K. COLLEGE COURSE. - F, G, and H.
YEAR.
TERM.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
First.
1.
Algebra.
2.
Algebra.
3.
Algebra.
English. English. English.
B'k-keeping. Civil Gov't. Botony.
B'k-keeping. Civil Gov't. Botany.
B'k-keeping. Civil Gov't. Botany.
Algebra. Algebra. Algebra.
French. French. French.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Second.
1.
Geometry.
English.
German. German.
French. French. French.
Geometry. Geometry. Geometry.
Greek. Greek. Greek.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
La'in. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
'Third.
2.
Physics.
3.
History.
Zoology. Chemistry. Chemistry.
French. French.
German. German, Phys. Geog.
German. German. Phys. Geog.
Physics. Physics. History.
Greek. Greek. Greek.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Latin. Latin. Latin.
Chemistry.
Zoology. Chemistry. Chemistry .
Fourth.
1.
History.
Geology. Review .*
English Lit. English Lit. Pol. Econ.
English Lit. English Lit. Pol. Econ.
English Lit. English Lit. Pol. Econ.
· History. Rhetoric. French.
Greek. Greek. Greek.
Latin. Review .* Latin.
Geology. Review .*
Geology. Review .*
Geology. Review .*
.
3.
History.
Astronomy.
* Of grammar-school studies. .
Drawing, weekly. Spelling, weekly. Arithmetic, weekly, first year.
Physiology, weekly, second year. Reading by each pupil, monthly. Declamation or Recitation by each pupil, bimonthly.
Essay by each pupil, bimonthly.
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2.
Geometry.
Rhetoric.
Rhetoric.
French. French. French.
German.
3.
Geometry.
Latin.
Physics.
Chemistry .
Phys. Geog.
2.
History.
Astronomy.
Astronomy. Astronomy.
203
OUR HIGH SCHOOLS.
I come now to the studies taught in our high schools, - those institutions which serve to crown our common-school system, and which, I am inclined to think, are under better discipline and . doing better work to-day than at any previous time in their his- tory. I have asked the principals to report upon the special wants and conditions of these schools ; and such portions of their reports as are of public interest, and serve to supplement my report, being mainly descriptive and historical, I present herewith : -
The course of study adopted by the Committee last fall is an improve- ment in several ways over the old. It is of especial advantage to those · pupils preparing for college. Latin is now studied four years, Greek, three, and mathematics, two. This gives time to take up all studies re- quired by our colleges, and I have no hesitation in saying that any boy or girl of average ability who does his work faithfully can be fitted for our best colleges at the high school.
In the other courses there have been clianges in the method of instruc- tion. In history and the natural sciences the work has been less a memor- izing of text-books and more a study of subjects. In history no regular text-book is used. Leighton, Liddell, Arnold, Smitlı, and Creighton are recommended for Rome, and topics are prepared from any or all of these authors. The advantages are obvious. The old habit of memorizing text- books is entirely broken up, and pupils gain the power to search rapidly for historical matter in various authors, to compare different accounts, to weigli evidence, and form individual opinion. This seems to me one of tlie chief advantages of historical study. Too many pupils know text- books by lieart, but little of the subject.
In chemistry the work is entirely by experiment. Each pupil in the class is supposed to perform every experiment, sometimes under the per- sonal direction of the teacher, and sometimes alone. One recitation of the whole class, weekly, reviews and brings up for discussion the work done in the laboratory.
In physics, zoology, botany, and astronomy, the work is inductive as far as our means allow. While the advantages of a good text-book cannot be overestimated, the design is that this shall be simply a guide for more extended work.
A beginning has been made, also, in a different direction. I refer to what is usually known as " outside reading." This may be divided into two parts, viz., the reading of current topics in the daily papers, and the reading of books or magazine articles bearing directly upon the studies pursued As to the former, it seems to me that our boys and girls can hardly afford to study the history of ancient nations, and forget that there are great nations to-day throbbing with eager, active life. History repeats
204
itself. The relations of the great nations of the world to one another; the measures passed by our national legislature; the arguments for and against such great subjects as tariff reduction, civil service reform, and prohibition ; the public career of men like Gladstone, Bismark, Salisbury, and Grévy, should all be familiar to educated young men and women. To further this work, we have a "reading table," on which are generally found such Boston dailies as the Transcript, Journal, Advertiser, and Her- ald. These are furnished by the pupils. The subjects of articles worth the perusal of the pupils are placed on the blackboard, and attention called to them.
The leading American magazines, loaned by different parties or taken from the library, are also placed on the table, and pupils are referred to them when they contain articles touching studies pursued in school.
F. H. BEEDE, Principal North High School.
We have been working for the past year under a revised course of study, and are living up to it in every particular. We are called upon to teach about thirty different subjects. This multiplicity tends to bewilder the pupil, and it is therefore our constant endeavor to show that there is unity in this seeming diversity. The one purpose which we keep ever in view is to render each pupil better able to read, to write, and to speak his mother tongue, i. e., to give him a thorough English education, whether he pursue the Englishi, the classical, or the college course.
In proposing to make the pupil better able to read English, we do not mean simply a good oral reader, but also a good silent reader, one who reads between the lines, who gets the most out of what he reads, and not only reads what he is obliged to during his school career, but also acquires a taste for good reading, which goes with him into his subsequent career.
Here is where the public school and the public library meet. The one should enable the pupil to use the other aright; there should be a close connection between them. The pupil of the high school should, ex-officio, be entitled to take books from the library, and should be expected to do so. There should be a list of books from which pupils should be expected to read in connection with their studies. There ought to be a weekly delivery of books at the principal school buildings remote from the library.
"Reading," says Bacon, " maketli a full man." The study of astronomy, geology, and universal history enlarges the pupil's mental horizon as to time and space; of physics and chemistry, zoology, botany, and mineral- ogy, increases his insight into the nature of things, revealing to him,
· " Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything";
of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, sharpens the reasoning faculties ; of languages, Latin, French, Greek, and German, gives facility and ele- gance of expression.
The study of German has been introduced during the present year The greatest benefit to be derived from its study, as from that of any
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foreign language, is not to be sought in its practical use, for probably few of our graduates will be called upon to employ it thus, but rather in the reflex action upon the pupil's vernacular.
Especially is it desirable that every pupil cutcring upon a high-school course should study Latin. So many English words have been derived from this source that it is impossible to understand English in its fulness without studying Latin. It is the language of science, and the mere Eng- lish student is handicapped in the study of zoology, botany, etc., by his- inability to understand scientific terms, which, to the Latin student. are replete with meaning. Moreover, the study of a highly-inflected language is necessary to the understanding of the structure of English. It is an encouraging fact that twenty-four out of an entering class of twenty-nine have voluntarily elected the classical course. It is to be hoped for the best interest of tliosc wlio enter another year, that all will take Latin.
Greek is studied only by those who take the college course. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that, while the high schools and academies of all the ncigliboring villages have many fitting for college, in this school there is hardly ever more than one at a time taking this course. At pres- ent there is one pupil preparing for Wellesley. It would be a distinct gain to the school and to the community if more scholars should fit here for college.
That the pupils may be able to write and speak good English, we are giving special and systematic attention to rhetorical exercises, composi- tion, recitation, and declamation. The class of subjects treated is better suited to the pupils' comprcliension than the abstract ones once in vogue, and these Wednesday afternoon exercises are thus made interesting and instructive. As a valuable exercise in writing and methodical arrange- ment, a neatly written copy of cvery rhetorical exercise is required to be handed in and filed away for the examination of the school authorities and of visitors.
The result of the teaching of all these various branches will be twofold : information, the acquisition of facts; mental discipline, the ability to use these and to acquire others. Neither is sufficient; both arc necessary. Their relative proportion will be determined largely by the methods of teaching employed. The mere memorizing process may fill the mind with facts, but will confer little ability to use them. The reasoning faculty may be highly cultivated, perhaps, by exercise upon facts of little moment. The best result will be obtained by a judicious mingling.
It is sometimes said that there is no teaching so good as that in the lowest grades, and none so poor as that found in our highest educational institutions. We are attempting, however, to employ the best methods, for there is no one best method. Natural history specially demands objec- tive teaching ; physics and chemistry, experimental ; history and English literature, topical; the languages, oral, etc.
Nor is onc method alone to be relied upon in any of these subjects indi- cated; a combination of metliods is necessary. For example, much time
-
206
may be spent without accomplishing the best result even in physics and chemistry, by relying too much upon experimental work, on account of the limitations with which the practical surrounds the ideal.
E. R. DOWNS, Principal South High School.
The remaining portion of their reports I will submit to you at another time and in another way.
TEACHERS' MEETINGS.
I explained quite fully in my last report the character of our teachers' meetings, and will only say here that we seek by them to supply, so far as possible, the lack of a training school for teachers. Class exercises, with pupils, are a leading feature of our meetings. Generally we have two class exercises and one brief paper, fol- lowed by discussions at each meeting.
Among class exercises during the year or unreported last year, have been the following : -
Factoring and Finding the Greatest Common Divisor and Least Common Multiple, by Miss Mary E. Ford.
Picturing out Problems, or Free-hand Sketching in Connection with Arith- metic - two exercises, one by Miss Ella M. Clark, for primary grades, and one by Mrs. E. J. Smith, for intermediate grades.
Map-sketching in the Higher Grades, by Miss Martha E. Belcher, and Map-sketching in the Lower Grades, by Miss Hannah E. Ward.
Reading, Spelling, Story-writing, and Penmanship in their Relations to one another, by Miss Sadie J. Holbrook.
Impromptu Story-telling (Oral), as Suggested by Pictures, by Miss Mary E. Grundstrom.
Talking and Chalking Exercises for Little Children, by Miss Mary E. Crotty.
Singing in Intermediate Grades, by Miss Annie F. Hayden.
Reading and Vocabulary-building, by Mrs. Ella M. Spinney.
Experiments in the Effects of Alcohol, by Mr. Warner, and The First Steps in Temperance-teaching, by Miss Clara A. Reamy.
The Geometric and Algebraic Explanations of Square and Cube Root, by Mr. Furber.
The First Year's Work in Geography, by Miss Mary A. Dee.
The Use of Pictures in Teaching Geography, by Miss Jennie T. Holbrook.
Methods in History, by Mr. Emerson.
Methods in Music, by Mr. Bradford.
(This last exercise was without pupils. )
207
Among papers read during the year have been the following : -
Importance of Music, by Miss Hattie L. Reed.
The Pictorial Presentation of Geographical Subjects, by Miss Jennie T. Holbrook.
Language-teaching, by Miss Sadie J. Holbrook.
What the Teacher has a Right to Expect of the Community. by Mr. Downs.
The Development of Thought on the Part of Pupils, by Miss Carrie B. Morse.
Discipline, by Mr. Beede.
Suggestions as to the Help the Library may be to the Teachers, by Miss Carrie A. Blanchard, Librarian of the Tufts Library.
Abounding in valuable suggestions, and containing much that is needed for reference by the teachers, I would suggest that the last- named paper be published in connection with the school report, and placed in the appendix.
A CLOSER CONNECTION BETWEEN SCHOOL AND LIBRARY.
It will be remembered that three years ago, Mr. Downs, then principal of the Bates Grammar, prepared a list of books contained in Tufts Library, and valuable for pupils of the grammar grades to read in connection with their work in geography and history. This year he has prepared a similar list of books for pupils in the high schools, to read in connection with their work in zoology, botany, and various other studies. I would recommend that the list be published, both herewith and in separate form, as being something of permanent value, not merely for teachers and pupils, but for the public at large. In preparing this list, he has done valuable work for us all.
OUR REPORT SYSTEM.
Every eighth Monday of the school year, after the first, the pupils take home a report of attendance, conduct, and scholarship, to be signed by parents and returned (except in case of primary report cards, which are retained). These reports cover the eight weeks immediately preceding the date on which they are delivered, and out of fifteen hundred deliveries during the past six years,
208
only three, so far as I know, have been behind time, one on account of a death in the family, another from a lack of cards, and the third, because of (I presume) a little more folding of the arms to sleep. Scarcely a newspaper in the country is more certain to appear at a specified time than are our report cards.
The primary report cards are a very simple affair, as follows :
School. Class Primary.
Report of.
for the eight weeks ending.
Lessons
Times Absent
Conduct
Times Tardy
1 Teacher,
Lessons and Conduct are marked X (for EXCELLENT), GOOD, FAIR, and BAD.
Those for the very meritorious are stamped on the face with a star. "Star cards " are given only to those whose conduct is X, lessons good or X, times tardy none, times absent few and un- avoidable, or none.
209
The bimonthly card of the intermediate. grammar, and high schools (with only necessary changes of words and headings) is as follows : -
Bimonthly Report of
Class Intermediate, ..
School, Weymouth.
SCHOLARSHIP.
TWO MONTHS ENDING
Times Absent.
Times Tardy.
Conduet.
Reading.
Writing.
Drawing.
Language.
Geography.
Arithmetic.
Spelling.
AVERAGE.
The Parent or Guardian is requested to sign below.
Conduct is marked X (for excellent), good, fair, and bad. In Scholarship, above 80 is high ; between 70 and 80, good; below 70, poor.
Teacher.
On the back of the card is the following : -
At the end of the year, an ANNUAL REPORT will be made up from the reports on the other side of this card. This annual report, if favorable to the pupil, will, it is believed, be useful to him, constituting, as it were, a LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION from the school authorities, and serving as a sort of SUB-DIPLOMA for the year.
If, at any time during the year, a pupil brings home a report with con- duct marked bad, parents will; it is hoped, inquire into the facts of the case, and learn why the mark is given. Our schools can help to form char- acter as well as scholarship, and home influences and school influences should help each other.
An average of 70 for the year secures promotion.
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The annual report-card of these grades was as follows, in 1887 :-
ANNUAL + REPORT
OF
Class Intermediate. ....
School,
WEYMOUTH, MASS.
1887
Times Absent
Conduct.
Times Tardy
Scholarship
Conduct is marked X (for excellent), good, fair, and bad. In Scholarship, above 80 is high ; between 70 and 80, good ; below 70, poor.
Teacher.
On the reverse side is inscribed the following : -
There are elements of good scholarship which cannot be expressed in figures, and stores of knowledge which cannot be obtained out of books: at the same time, a card like this tells a great deal.
Punctuality at school promises punctuality in business.
Good behavior at school promises good behavior in society.
The same motives and disposition which make a scholar do well at school are likely to make him do well out in the world.
In other words, a good school report is a good letter of recommenda- tion.
From the lowest intermediate to the senior high, inclusive, the pupil receives ten of these cards, uniform in size and shape and wording, and inclosed in envelopes, but differing materially in style of type and coloring. It is expected that he will keep these . cards, and prize them as highly, perhaps, as the diplomas he re- ceives, -- one at the completion of his grammar, and one at the completion of his high-school course.
Our groupings are large and generous. We do not rank pupils first, second, third, fourth, etc., in a class of so many members. That is absolutely wrong, as well as in very bad taste. The human heart is hard to penetrate, and mind is hard to mark. We cannot look into the human heart and understanding, and see clearly
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enough to tell just how a boy or girl is going to turn out in the world. Life is too mysterious, and the human organism too com- plex for that.
I think it would be better in all but the primary grades to have only three groupings for conduct, "good," "fair," and " ball," just as there are three groupings for scholarship, " high," " good," and " poor." There is a feeling among the larger pupils that X (for " excellent ") is goody good.
EXAMINATIONS AND PROMOTIONS.
Pupils in the three primary grades are promoted solely on the judgment of the teacher. Written examinations are confined to the three intermediate, three grammar, and four high-school grades, and occur bimonthly. They are, however, so distributed (below the high school (that not more than one occurs in a single week. I make out 80 per cent of the questions for each written examina- tion in arithmetic, language, and geography, in all or nearly all the grades. The teachers make out the others. An average of 70 for the year secures promotion. There is no special examination for admission to the high school. In each grade promotion rests primarily with the teacher, who is entitled to be considered the best judge in the matter. Examination papers are not passed around from school to school, or sent to the Superintendent to serve as basis of comparison among schools one with another. Teachers mark their own examination papers. Marking daily recitations is optional. Every time the report card goes home, it shows plainly the child's chances of pro- motion, because each examination has equal weight with all the others in determining it, and because there is no examination at the end of the year to be looked forward to with dread as being different from the others, and probably more difficult. By this distribution of tests and removal of exciting causes, we contrive to avoid all that educational hysteria of which we hear so much complaint. We study for life more and examination less, and do not seek, under an iron-clad régime that crushes out the individuality of teachers and pupils
1
212
alike, to make the supreme aim of the school-room to be the getting of a high per cent. I am becoming more and more con- vinced that what we need is not so much the artificial stimulus of examinations as the encouragement of a high ideal. A rigid and painstaking system of examinations may build up poor schools. but after they have reached a certain degree of excellence, it is apt to drag them down. Personal visitation and leadership, the holding of teachers' meetings, and the cultivation of esprit de corps, be- come the main essentials then.
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND SUSPENSIONS.
" Ah! what would the world be to us, If the children were no more ! We should dread the desert behind us, Worse than the dark before."
In many a family the father and mother can say that in all sin- cerity. In many a family parental love is as strong as life itself. For this reason we should inflict corporal punishment only from a sense of duty and when we feel there is nothing else to be done. Before inflicting corporal punishment, we should ask ourselves : Can't I get . around this boy in some tactful sort of way ? Can't I heap scriptural coals of fire on his head ? Can't I subdue him with kindness ? Can't I shame him? Can't I appeal to his honor? Must I whip him? But moral suasion and all gently coercive measures failing, the child should be punished, and well punished. A school should not be allowed to suffer any great length of time on account of a refrac- tory pupil or two. There should be no beating or brutality in the school-room. If a big, stout boy refuses to take his punishment (rattanning on the hand), there should be no unseemly struggle with him, especially on the part of a lady teacher, but the boy should be suspended. Suspension is the last resort. It is per- missible in cases of violent and gross opposition to authority, and when the influence of the pupil in the school-room is in the highest degree pernicious. It should not, however, be resorted to for trivial offences or in the case of very little children. We have too many cases of corporal punishment and too many cases of suspension.
213
There is something wrong when a teacher is obliged to resort to one or the other every few days. The right to inflict corporal punishment should not, however, be taken away from the teacher ; neither should the right to suspend pupils be taken away. Some- times a corporal punishment is just what is needed. Some times a suspension is just what is needed. So long as criminal lawyers find anything to do, so long as policemen, courts of justice, prisons, and the fearful gibbet are necessary to restrain grown-up people, just so long will severely repressive measures be required in the school-room from time to time. A teacher strug- gling with lawlessness merits the full sympathy and support of the school authorities, and hoodlums of the exceptional type, should, in my opinion, be wholly eliminated from our public schools and sent to reformatory institutions. If these do not exist, they should be created. Nothing affords me so much satisfaction as to sustain a teacher in a case of discipline, when that teacher is clearly in the right, but good teachers, it must be remembered, will not have many cases of discipline.
It must not be inferred that our schools are disorderly. Except in a very few of them, the discipline is just as good as I would ask to have it. Ithink a stranger, visiting our schools, would be struck by the orderly appearance they present and the quiet air of indus- try that prevails. Our motives and methods should be understood. We are seeking through judicious suspensions to reduce the amount of corporal punishment. We are seeking to make every boy feel it is nobler to be controlled by his report-card, nobler to stand up before the school, promise better fashions, and then keep that promise, then to be controlled by the mere smarting of a rod. We are seeking to contribute to the formation of true manhood and. true womanhood in the schools, and to make the pupils more self- respecting. Teachers should, however, remember that every case of corporal punishment that is not called for, contributes to just the opposite end, and every case of suspension that the circum- stances do not warrant, serves to weaken their hold not only upon the school, but upon the community. They should, like Davy Crockett, be sure they are right, then go ahead.
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