for the spring term in a rural school, I supposed everything was in readiness for the first day's work. Upon reaching the school-house the first morning I found the children waiting to get into the building. I tried to greet them cordially, but I began to feel very nervous. As soon as I unlocked the door there was a wild scramble for the choice of seats.

"The room had not been cleaned, and the floor was literally covered with dirt. Many of the desks were broken and nearly all were loose and shaky. There was an old dirty tin water-pail and a cup without any handle, but no wash-basin. The curtains would not roll up. The black-board was very poor and there were no erasers or crayon. Here I was. The floor must be swept, a temporary programme must be made, and the lessons of the day ascertained and prepared. After selecting their seats the children had gone out to play, and when, at nine o'clock, I rang the bell, in came about twenty boys and girls. I made, or attempted to make, a little speech that I had thought out. It was very disconnected and did not seem to impress the children as I had thought it would.

"After this speech I made some inquiries as to where the last reading lessons had been, and then assigned the morning lessons in this branch. Pretty soon the class in first reader was called. I asked one of the class to read, but he could not pronounce the words, so I called on the 'next' and the 'next,' and so on. Finally the lesson for the next recitation was assigned and the class dismissed. The class in second reader was called, and conducted about as the first class had been. The children all seemed to be watching every move I made, and I was very ill at And now the pupils began to get restless. Hands

ease.

were raised and such questions as these asked: 'Where shall we begin in arithmetic?' 'What lesson in history shall we take?'

"I need not describe further the mistakes I made that first day, but will only say that I struggled through the work in a hap-hazard way, and you may be sure I was glad when four o'clock came.

"Some of my mistakes were as follows:

"(1) I should have gone to the school-house before the first day and become familiar with its condition and surroundings.

"(2) I should have asked that the room be thoroughly cleaned and repaired.

(3) I should have asked that crayon, erasers, and other needed materials be supplied.

"(4) Above all, I should have secured the classification register and ascertained, as nearly as possible, just where each class and each individual pupil should commence work.

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'(5) A good temporary programme should have been made.

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"(6) I should have become familiar with the names of all pupils likely to attend school.

"(7) I should have reached the school-house very early the first morning.

"(8) It was a mistake to make or attempt to make any extended speech; a very few words would have answered the purpose better.

(9) Definite lessons should have been assigned as needed.

'(10) I should have been so full of the subjects to be taught and of the spirit of teaching that the first day's impression would have been favorable."

Some Additional Suggestions.-(1) Do not attempt to get the names of the pupils the first thing. Any other time is better.

(2) Omit the opening exercises unless you are sure that you can make them interesting and brief.

(3) Begin as you intend to continue during the term. (4) Place the assignment of the first lessons on the blackboard before the time for opening the school.

(5) Ask pupils to help you in doing any necessary work, such as sharpening pencils, cleaning erasers, distributing crayon, rearranging the furniture.

(6) Endeavor to carry out your plans just as you have made them. Lose no time, but assign work promptly, see that every pupil has something to do, and begin recitations as soon as possible.

(7) Aim to make the first day's work a full day's work, allowing no puttering, dawdling, or waste of time.

(8) Give very clear and definite directions for all movements and explain the signals to be used, and enforce all your signals and directions rigidly from the first.

(9) Use the intermissions to advantage in preparing board work for the next classes, getting material ready for illustrative work, planning changes in seating, or other necessary arrangements.

Jean Mitchell's First Day. In that delightful school story, "Jean Mitchell's School," there is a vivid description of her first day. To one who reads between the lines the story of that first day reveals the secret of making a good start and the qualities that make any teacher's first day a success. The "new teacher" was neatly dressed and greeted the pupils with a pleasant "Good-morning." She had a good face and clear eyes, alive to all that took place. She was perfectly self-controlled, quick to resolve, prompt

to act, and perfectly fearless. She had a sweet voice and was a good reader. She could tell a story well and illustrate it by drawing objects on the board rapidly and skilfully. She was a good questioner and put such life and enthusiasm into her work the first day that it was not strange "the school went home in a maze of wonder," at a loss to understand the magic of it all. But the wise teacher knows that the secret of that first day is summed up in the sentence: "Meanwhile in her quiet home at Newton a brown-eyed girl planned by day and dreamed by night of her first school and how she could best make it a success."

SUGGESTED READINGS

Wray, "Jean Mitchell's School," chap. II; Bagley, "Classroom Management," chap. II; Roark, "Economy in Education," pp. 3744; Seeley, "A New School Management," chaps. III, IV; Landon, "School Management," pp. 109-111; White, "School Management,” PP. 94-101.

CHAPTER XI

CLASSIFICATION, GRADING, AND PROMOTION

Meaning. Thus far we have discussed the larger problems of organization that deal with our school system as a whole. But each individual school must be organized before instruction can be carried on successfully, and every school is in some respects a special problem in its organization. This problem must be solved, as to its details, by the teacher in charge of the school, and, as we have seen, some of the local factors that must be considered in the solution are the public sentiment of the community, the number of pupils, the course of study, the teaching force, the building, and the materials to work with.

However, no teacher should make the mistake of supposing that any school can be organized once for all or that the organization will maintain itself without wise and continuous management and supervision. School management is keeping the school well organized, for there must always be a continual process of readjustment.

We have seen that the course of study is made up of many different branches, each arranged in a progressive order of difficulty. In like manner the school is composed of individual pupils of different ages, capabilities, and degrees of advancement. Now the teacher must adapt his instruction to the needs and advancement of his pupils. If he attempts to make a wholly separate and