Town of Arlington annual report 1904-1906, Part 78

Author: Arlington (Mass.)
Publication date: 1904-1906
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1904-1906 > Part 78

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STEREOPTICONS. The stereopticon has come to be an essential in every well-equipped school. The waste of time in trying to describe to a child in words what he can gain through the eye alone is apparent to every one. The object of the stereopticon is not to amuse the child but to interest him, and there is nothing over which a child is more enthusiastic than good pictures thrown on a screen about which he talks or from which he is instructed. During the year all the grammar schools have bought stereopticons, which have an added value to the children from the fact that the money to pay for them was raised wholly by the efforts of the teachers and pupils. The Committee have very generously furnished curtains to darken the room in which the instrument is used in the various school houses. The question now confronting us is how best to secure slides. It is our plan to raise money by entertainments and other means, and gradually secure small sets of slides on geography, history, and science for each school. No two schools shall have duplicate slides, but some arrangement will be made by which each is entitled to the use of the slides in every building. I would respectfully recommend that the school committee give the matter a start by appropriating a small sum for the purchase of slides for use in the schools.

SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS. By changing Forest Street from the Locke into the Cutter district the crowded condition of the Locke School has been remedied. The result to the Cutter School has been quite unexpected. During the summer several apartment houses have been built in the immediate vicinity of the school. The new families, with the Forest Street children, have increased the membership of the school so that the lower grades are all large, the first and second grades having fifty or more pupils each. There is no unreasonable crowding however, and I anticipate no necessity for changes during the next year.

In the High School Building the ninth grade is large this year. In December there were one hundred thirty-one in the three rooms. As each room was planned to hold forty pupils, it has been neces- sary to put in more desks to accommodate the increase.

Because of larger numbers and the added requirements of the commercial course, Room 10, previously used for the music of the ninth grades, has been fitted up for a regular recitation room. Furniture, especially, designed for commercial work, has been put into Room 9 which makes a very satisfactory commercial room.

A floor has been laid in the unfinished room at the rear of the

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platform in Cotting Hall. This room will be used for gymnastics in the freshman class and ninth grades. It makes a very good room for the purpose. It is our desire to put into this room some simple apparatus for gymnasium work and games. I feel sure that the use of this room will be a source of both pleasure and benefit to High School pupils.

The first year class in the High School is larger than usual, the class in December numbering seventy-five. It is divided into two sections, and should properly be in three sections to secure for every pupil the amount of individual attention necessary for the best results. Without doubt, next September the new "freshman" class will have to be divided into at least three sections, necessitating the use of another room.

There is no doubt that the commercial course will result in keep- ing a large number of pupils in school who would otherwise go to work. If this very desirable anticipation is justified, within a few years, we shall either have to build an addition to the High School Building or keep the ninth grade in the grammar buildings.

During the last two years, two new rooms have been put into regular use, thereby necessitating their heating during the fall and winter months. Two extra rooms to be heated by an already inade- quate heating plant, has proven a serious matter. Should we have a prolonged period of cold weather, it would probably be necessary to close some rooms, certainly Cotting Hall, during the cold spell. The small boiler should be taken out, and a new one, of the same size as the larger one, substituted. Then by using a motor to run the machinery in the manual training room, the building could be heated satisfactorily in all kinds of weather.

THE TEACHING FORCE. During the year there have been eleven changes in the teaching force, two in the High School and nine in the grades. An additional male teacher with the rank of sub- master has been secured for commercial work in the High School.

Miss Elizabeth S. Magay, teacher of French and Latin, has given up teaching to take a position in a business house. Her place is filled by Miss Marion Foster.

Miss Bertha T. Davis, teacher of history and English, resigned to accept a position in the Springfield High School. Her place is filled by Miss Mabel E. Bowker.

Miss L. Alice Upham, Grade IX., has given up teaching, and her place is taken by Miss Helener G. Robertson.

Miss Harriet M. True, Grade IX., accepted a position in the Newton High School, her place here being filled by Miss Susan F. Burbank.

Miss Carolyn E. Mann, Russell School, Grade VI., accepted a position in Cambridge. Her room is now taught by Miss M. Alice Connor.

Miss Eva M. Cotton resigned her position in the Russell School, Grade IV., and Miss Mae Blackmar is in her place.

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Miss Florence W. Jones, Russell School, Grade II., resigned to be married, and her position is taken by Miss Myrtle Davis.

Miss Marion Leland, Cutter School, Grade V., is not teaching this year, and her place is occupied by Miss Mary L. Morrison.

Miss Dora Leadbetter, Locke School, Grade VI., has gone to Cam- bridge to teach, and is succeeded by Miss Bertha M. Wright.

Miss Alice M. Paige, Parmenter School, Grade II., accepted a position in Malden, and is succeeded by Miss Grace B. Tibbetts.

Miss Zada Furber, Locke School, Grade V., resigned to be married, and her place is taken by Miss Philena A. Parker.

Permanency of the teaching force is one of the requisites for obtaining good results. It may be seen from the above list that we have not yet arrived at that condition. If, however, the Town upholds the School Committee in its desire to raise the maximum salary in the grades, we shall have better schools, for we shall not only lose a smaller number of teachers because of higher salaries in other places, but we shall be able to attract better teachers to Arlington.

Of the new teachers secured, five are college graduates and seven are graduates of normal schools. All have had successful experience in other places.

Only one consideration influences the school officials in the selec- tion of teachers, and that is the highest good of the schools. The question of partisanship, relationship, friendship, residence or creed has never been considered for a single moment by any member of the Committee in the election of teachers.

PROMOTIONS. In the nine grades in our Grammar Schools, two hundred twelve children failed of promotion last June. That means that two hundred and twelve children actually lost a year of their school lives. This is very serious. Such a state of things cannot go on. On giving the matter your serious thought you will doubtless agree that there is something radically wrong with a system in which fourteen per cent. of the children fail of pro- motion. Either the standard is too high or children get too little individual help. We know, of course, that the latter is a fact, and it seems, under our present system, to a certain extent, unavoidable.

There were some good things about the country schools of years ago which must be conceded. There was no general attempt at classification, and the elective system prevailed. Each selected his favorite studies and worked upon them independent of the rest of the school. Progress along the chosen lines was rapid. A spirit of self-reliance was developed. Best of all, the bright were not retarded by the slow, nor were the slow forced beyond their ability.

The most just criticism of our graded school system is its "deadly uniformity." "Forty to fifty pupils are in lock step, and the rate of advance is determined by the average third. The bright pupils who

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might do double the work are repressed, while those whom nature has not so highly favored are either forced beyond their natural capacity or left at the end of the year hopelessly behind. The indi- vidual is lost sight of in the mass."

The difficulty is a real one, and many attempts have been made to remedy the evil with varying degrees of success. Some places have promotions twice a year, some every term, and one place about every six weeks. In some places "skipping classes" have been organized in which three years' work is done in two, or four years' work done in three. In schools having from twelve to twenty classes the last seems to be a good plan.

The latest plan, and the one now receiving the greatest attention, is the Batavia Plan, so called because it received its first system- atic trial in Batavia, N. Y. The plan contains nothing absolutely new, but in Batavia the ideas have had the advantage of method- ical application and persistent working. The prominent feature is that a large portion of the class instruction and recitation is replaced by the direct teaching of the individual child. A definite part of every session is set apart for this work. The rest of the class is busily employed at study or written work while the teacher with a child seated beside her is giving the help needed, or giving directions for future advance work. With the skillful teacher each child gets just the help he needs, and each child knows that his advancement depends wholly upon his own effort. No at- tempt is made to keep the whole class together except in such sub- jects as music and drawing, though there may be small groups going along at the same rate. The precocious may advance to the top of his ability, the mediocre may go along as fast as he will, while the slow child is encouraged to go as fast as he can. It is planned that those who are behind in one or two subjects (very few children are behind in everything) will get just the instruction and encour- agement needed. Class instruction and recitation are not entirely given up. They have a place, but that feature is subordinated to the needs of the individual. I am told by one who is an enthusiast, that a healthy spirit of emulation is inspired, each one realizing that his promotion depends upon his individual effort. Promotions from one grade to another are made at any time during the year that the teacher thinks a child fitted for the work of the next grade. At the end of the year, no one is left behind to repeat the work ex- cept in very rare instances where there is long continued absence because of illness, or other unavoidable circumstances. This plan is being tried in a few places in New England, and thus far with promises of success. Nothing but longer experience will demon- strate its final value.

For the successful working of this plan, a teacher should have not more than thirty pupils, possibly thirty-five -- an ideal number for class work as well - in order to do the work alone. A teacher to succeed in the work must be a kind, sympathetic, patient, skill-

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ful, versatile woman. All our teachers, like average mortals, unfor- tunately, are not all that.

It is apparent that our schools need a plan of some sort to secure the promotion of pupils when they are ready for it and to prevent the deadening repetition of a whole year's work.

If all the children who were kept back this year remain in school an extra year, as will result to all those who go through the gram- mar grades, it means a cost to the Town for their instruction of over $6,000. Not all, however, do remain. Many drop out discouraged. If any plan can be devised to save this extra year for the pupil and for the school, it would be not only of immense value to the slow child, but a great saving in expense to the Town.

The Batavian idea is certainly a good one and a modified form is urged on the teachers. I assure you that no such number of pupils will be kept back next year. Such a scheme is applicable not only to the grades but to High Schools. Many pupils drop out of High School early in the course through sheer discouragement. They are thrown more upon their own resources in the High School. The habit of self-reliant, individual work has not been formed. They have depended heretofore much on the aid and encouragement of the teacher, and, after vain attempts to make a creditable showing, they drop out of school. Many pupils are conditioned in one or more studies, largely, no doubt, because of their own indifference, but in many cases because just the individual help and encourage- ment needed was not given at the right time. It is the duty as well as the privilege of every teacher to give to the slow or back- ward child the fullest measure of encouragement and help just as long as there is the slightest hope of his ultimate success.

ATHLETICS AND GYMNASTICS. The baseball team and the hockey team of the High School have been remarkably successful during the year. The baseball team last spring was among the best of the High School teams around Boston. More to be commended even than their ability as ball players was their conduct and bearing on and off the field wherever they appeared. They conducted them- selves in a gentlemanly manner that made them a credit to the Town of Arlington, as well as to the High School.

It is a lamentable fact that a Town, to which so much credit is given by neighboring towns and cities for having such clear-headed, clean-minded boys, should so little appreciate them that it furnishes no play-ground for them to develop their teams upon, but allows them to pay out every year over $150 for rent of a field on which to play ball.

The ice hockey team was ranked as the best school-boy team in the State by impartial critics.

The report of the supervisor of gymnastics will be found in the appendix, to which I call your especial attention.

VALUE OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The public schools cost a

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great deal of money, but in comparison with the value obtained I believe the cost to be small. We should not forget the great value of their work in our community and the opportunity they offer every child who enters their doors to obtain a splendid equipment for successful service in life.

In their object and achievement, their far-reaching influence in determining the citizenship of our Town and the destiny of our Nation, they remain in this community, as in most communities in our land, the one institution worthy of not only the most liberal expenditure of money, but the object of civic pride and popular appreciation.

President Hyde, of Bowdoin College, says :

" The public school is the institution which says that a poor boy, though he may eat coarser food and wear a shabbier coat and dwell in a smaller house and work later and harder than his rich com- panion, still shall have his eyes trained to behold the same glory in the heavens and the same beauty in the earth ; shall have his mind developed to appreciate the same sweetness in music and the same loveliness in art; shall have his heart opened to enjoy the same literary treasures and the same philosophic truths; shall have his soul stirred by the same social influences and the same spiritual ideals as the children of his wealthier neighbors.

" The socialism of wealth, the equalization of material conditions, is at present an ideal dream, a contradictory conception, toward which society can take, no doubt, a few faltering steps, but which no mechanical invention or constitutional device can hope to realize in our day. The socialism of the intellect, the offering to all of the true riches of an enlightened mind and a heart that is trained to love the true, the beautiful and the good; this is a possibility of the children of every workingman, and the public school is the channel through which this common fund of intellectual and spiritual wealth is freely distributed to rich and poor.

" Here native and foreign born should meet to learn the common language and to cherish the common history and traditions of our country ; here the son of the rich man should learn to respect the dignity of manual labor, and the daughter of the poor man should learn how to adorn and beautify her future humble home. »

I recognize the fact that the schools are open to criticism. They are a long way from being what I wish they were, and what we intend to make them. I believe the teachers, and those in charge of the schools, welcome generous and intelligent criticism. We do not love unfair criticism, but even that is much to be preferred to indifference. Much of the friction between pupil and teacher would be avoided and the teacher's work and motives better understood and appreciated, if the parents visited the schools more frequently and shared with the teacher her aims and responsibilities.

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In considering the value of the schools, we should not forget the most important factor in the whole problem - the teacher. Her value to the community is, by most citizens, very little considered. So long as she makes no startling mistake, she is allowed to go comparatively unnoticed. She gets little social recognition, yet, next to the parent, she is the greatest personal influence in deter- mining what a boy or girl is to be.

Fine buildings, perfect equipment, learned essays and lectures by specialists on education, counsel and advice from the Superintendent, an interested community -none of these things can give us good schools. It is the consecrated teacher, devoted in mind and body, laboring day after day in the schoolroom to lead onward the young souls committed to her care - this is the important factor.

There is one side of the true teacher's work which cannot be put into figures or recorded in letters. It is the helpful, ethical spirit she puts into it. It is the daily exemplification in her life of the Golden Rule. It is the " cup of cold water " that received the com- mendation of the Master. I have known of cases where the teacher has been the comfort and inspiration in the home of her pupils. The cause of prolonged absence and anaemic conditions have been investigated. I have known of low salaried teachers who have used their own money to help poor families to buy shoes and clothing for the children that they might come to school, and the teacher in the next room never suspected the sacrifice. None of these things appear in reports, none is shown in the averages of the room, but the people should know that the true teacher's work is not bounded by the class-room or confined to school hours.

In concluding this report, I desire to express to you my hearty appreciation of the confidence and cordial support which you have given me; I desire to merit it.

Respectfully submitted,

. JOHN F. SCULLY, Superintendent.

REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.

Mr. John F. Scully, Superintendent of Schools :

I submit to you with pleasure my report on the condition of the schools in music.

The teachers are working earnestly along right lines and with the best material. The aim in music is, as in reading, so to train the pupil that when he leaves the High School he can sing correctly with pleasure to himself and others his part in a song or chorus with the same facility as he would read a book.

The books used are those of the Normal Course, of which a well- known New York musician said, "I would rather have given that

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system to the world than the 'Moonlight Sonata '". From the first the ear of the child is accustomed to full harmonies, minor and chromatic. Our children are not limited to the three chords upon which too much public school music is based. When a Grammar School boy returns a symophny ticket saying, " Wasn't it great ! I thought it would be too much for me, but it's just like our Third Reader, isn't it !" - it is a very happy criticism of the character of our daily music. Most of our State Normal Schools use this course in preparing their teachers.

The following schedule suggests a few of the most important points in the work of each year :

GRADE I. First comes the teaching of the scale to the class, individually, and the greatest of care is necessary, for the little voices are in every stage of development, some ranging over the high tones only, others controlling simply the low ones. The voice- building of the " monotones" is a very interesting process. When the majority of the class can sing the scale as a whole, its parts, the intervals, are conquered, thoroughly and happily. Children always enjoy doing what they can do well.

In close connection with this tone-work comes the time-study, those measures of two, three and four-part time which include the undivided beat, with the use of the swinging pendulum.

The presentation of the staff is a most interesting step - pupils read from it at the first lesson readily, if the preparatory work has been thoroughly done.

Coming to school in September with no power to sing the scale, in June, average first-year pupils can read simple exercises and songs from the charts in four keys, C, G, D and A, in time, and with sweet, pure tones. Their eagerness to try new exercises individually testifies to their enjoyment of the work.

GRADE II. During the long summer vacation the little minds have forgotten much of the technical work of the first year, so the fall months are spent in remembering. The voices in this grade are smoother, more self-reliant, and delightful individual singing can be obtained. Simple exercises and a great many little songs in nine keys are used from the chart. The last part of the year easy first readers are used with many more songs and exercises, the aim being to supply the best strengthening food to the growing musical sense. No two exercises are alike, each new exercise having some variation of time, accent or tone. The problem once conquered, the next exercise is taken, thus keeping the music always fresh and interesting.

GRADE III. The third year sees established in the average child a strong, true sense of rhythm, the ability to grasp at sight problems of tone not including chromatic skips, and time-prob- lems of the undivided beat in the varying measures of two, three, four and six-part time. In the last part of this year two-part singing is given. No attempt is made to assign definitely

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soprano and second soprano parts, as the exercises and songs are most wisely prepared so that the singing of both parts lies within the voice-compass of each child. The aim here is to establish in each pupil the power of thinking and singing one tone while another part of the class sings another. Each child has drill in "carrying a part." The recognition by these little people of tone and time prob- lems, and their accuracy of execution to those not familiar with the daily advance of the classes, seems wonderful.

GRADE IV. Starting the year with a conscious strength for con- quering difficulties, the child advances very rapidly. For tone-prob- lems, the chromatic scale, carefully introduced from the old friends, the half-steps, is given. Sharps are given first - (1) from the tone above, (2) from the tone below, (3) each sharp the objective point, (4) common chromatic phrases including sharps. The flats are then developed in a similar manner.

For time problems the divided beat and its combinations are given, and their recognition and representation studied as the simpler time is in the lower grades.

Written work begins here. The correct making of notes, the staff, etc., and the writing of simple major scales in nine keys are taught.

GRADE V. In the last part of the fifth year we take up the most advanced time difficulties, three and four sounds to a beat and their combinations, and continue the training for accuracy of ear, sweetness of tone production, strict swinging time in exercises, and all possible expression in songs.

The division of the pupils into first and second sopranos occurs in this grade. The written work is the first five chromatic scales.

GRADE VI. Three-part singing comes in the sixth year, and the voices are divided into first and second soprano and alto. The written work is the completing of the chromatic scales.

GRADE VII. Here we see most satisfactorily the results of the thorough, systematic teaching in the lower grades. The three-part work is continued, and the Introductory Third Reader, a most valu- able book containing exercises and songs of greater chromatic difficulty, is used. The beautiful harmonies, with the free use of dissonances, which necessitates independence of musical thought, are leading the pupils unconsciously to an appreciation of the best music. The written work is a review of the chromatic scales.

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Town of Arlington annual report 1904-1906, Part 78

Author: Arlington (Mass.) Publication date: 1904-1906 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Arlington (Mass.)
Publication date: 1904-1906
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1358