Vol. XXIII

MEETINGS

Bay Section the California Teachers' Association, Supt. C. J. Du Four, Alameda.

Northern California Teachers' Association, S. P. Robbins, President, Chico, Cal.; Mrs. Minnie O'Neil, Secretary.

Central California Teachers' Association, J. E. Meadows, Hanford, President; E. W. Lindsay, Fresno, Secretary. Southern California Teachers' Association, Mrs. Grace Stanley, President, San Bernardino; J. O. Cross, Secretary, Los Angeles.

California Council of Education, E. M. Cox, Oakland, Cal., President; A. H. Chamberlain, San Francisco, Cal., Secre

tary.

California Federation of School Women's Clubs, Miss Ethelind M. Bonney, Stockton, President; Miss Alma Simon, Stockton, Secretary.

California Education Officers, Sacramento, Cal., Hon. Edward Hyatt, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Dr. Margaret Schallenberger-McNaught, Commissioner Elementary Schools; Edwin R. Snyder, Commissioner Vocational Education; Will C. Wood, Commissioner Secondary Schools.

State Board of Education, E. P. Clarke, President; Mrs. O. Shepard Barnum, Charles A. Whitmore, M. B. Harris, Marshall De Motte, Mrs. Agnes Ray, George W. Stone.

Little Talks by the Way

By EDWARD HYATT

Report Accessible

The Biennial Report of the State Board of Education, to the Governor, including the reports of the three commissioners, the statistician, and the superintendent, was issued from the state printing office a short time ago and may be had by all and sundry upon request to the state school office at Sacramento. It contains very many figures and tabulations showing in detail the conditions and the transactions of educational life for the past two years. If you relish the dry pabulum of statistics, by all means get a copy. It will afford sustenance for many days, and will while away many an idle hour.

For Instance

If, for instance, you are interested or curious about anything connected with the Retirement Salary, this is the place to look for the facts that have been recorded. The receipts and the expenditures of the great fund may be seen for all the time since the passage of the act. A list of all bonds and securities which have been bought and

inherited by the Retirement Fund, is given. The number of retirements is stated, with

the times and methods for each. All expenditures for necessary employes and equipment are set forth. Many other vital particulars are given.

Some Large Figures

Thus, we discover that during the life of the Retirement Law the teachers have contributed by their $1.00 subscriptions $616,000; and there has been derived $465.000 from the inheritance taxes, making $1,100,000 as a grand total of the receipts. During the same time there has been spent $415,000 for teachers' pensions, $10,000 for clerks, bookkeepers and office furniture, and the balance on hand last July was nearly $700,000. Of this nearly $100,000 is an endowment, of which only the interest may be used. To start with, there were 82 annuitants. The first year were added 130; the second year 142; the third year 130. The total number on the rolls now is about 500, which at $500 each makes $250,000 as the approximate yearly outgo

SAN FRANCISCO, FEB., 1917

at the present time, and which grows at the rate of more than $50,000 per year. Other School Matters

We also find that the total expenditures for all school purposes reaches the huge sum of thirty-seven million dollars per year. Of this, the greatest amount is spent by the elementary schools, viz: twenty-one and a half millions. The high schools come next with ten millions, the State University next with three millions, normal schools one and a half millions, and kindergartens one-half million.

CONSERVATION OF WILD

FLOWERS

Beyond the school grounds, beyond the parks of the cities, beyond the well tended gardens and orchards and fields of the country, along the roadsides, in unplowed pastures, in open woods and among the marshes, is the world of wildflowers. Neither private care nor public conservation guards them. They are exposed to reckless plucking, breaking and uprooting by anyone whose eye is attracted to their bloom.

Picnic parties tear up wildflowers by the thousands. Springtime joy-riders along the highways stop at the sight of a glorious blaze of redbud blossoms, or a white wonder of flowering dogwood, or the California lilac, the toyon berry bush or other blossoming tree or shrub, and in sheer wantonness of thoughtless pleasure, break of the branches, leaving the tree flowerless and mutilated. - Margaret Schallenberger McNaught.

There are now nearly 18,000 teachers emThe disproportion ployed in the schools. between women and men continues to

grow, being now 10 to 1 in the elementary schools, and 12 to 1 in the high schools. The average rate of gain for ten years past has been over 50 per cent in the elementary teachers, and over 200 per cent in high school teachers. There are over 400,000 pupils enrolled, and over 27,000-about one-eighth-are graduated every year. Away from Dull Care

But this is enough of dry statistics in all conscience, so let us sail away on the wings of the morning, leaving Dull Care behind. I am writing this higglety pigglety on a swift-moving railroad train, crossing the wide, cold plains of Nevada, on the way to the National Superintendents' Convention at Kansas City next week. The preceding figures have given me a headache.

A stale odor of tobacco drifts in every time the door opens. Bits of personal gossip and casual politics distract my attention on every hand. The porter hovers around all the time, brushing, dusting, picking up paper, throwing away apple cores, saying "Yes, sir, Yes sir," answering interminable questions from every one

No. 2

within reach. The keen wind outside sweeps free, shaking the cold sagebrush as it goes. The mountains all about are covered with snow to their very bases, stern and forbidding in their aspect. Last night at five we left the green gardens and the early flowers of Sacramento behind and rushed pell mell at the western slopes of the Sierras in a pelting rainstorm. All night we climbed up and up through the smoky snowsheds, where the rain had changed to snow-ten feet on the summit! Through the snow the train rushed, carrying its load of warmed and plush-lined boxes out and away into the clear desert air. Wonderful Creation

What a remarkable creation of man, the Pullman train! Carrying at great speed a luxurious hotel across the continent, filled. with soft and lazy human animals. They look out listlessly at the struggling creatures outside, struggling against weather and labor and hunger and poverty, and feel never a pang. They go to their feasts three times a day, without a real appetite. The wind and the cold are kept away from them by double windows. Steam piped keeps them languidly warm. Slaves anticipate their every whim. The world is raked with a fine-tooth comb to tempt their senses, with everything to eat and drink and see and smoke and feel that can be dreamed of. The strongest contrasts in human life are witnessed by the lonesome hobo, tramping across the desert, bundle on back and tomato can in hand, who looks into the windows of the Pullman train that flashes by-who sees elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen eating rich foods from silver and china and snowy linen, warm, happy, idle and comfortable, with nothing to annoy or make them afraid. It doesn't make him feel very good. The same contrast is felt, but in a lesser degree, by the Pullman passenger who looks out from his life and light and gayety upon the forlorn hobo on the desert landscape, inching along to he knows not what. Why Is It So?

By the way, speaking of hoboes, why is it we never see among them a Jap? As I travel about California I see countless thousands of tramps, some going up, hunting for work, others going down, hunting for work.

Every

White men, negroes, Greeks, Scandinavians, by the score along the railroad lines, hopefully beating their way, east and west in equal numbers, north and south about alike, all hunting for work, unable to avoid travel to find it. one has a hard luck story, every one has been oppressed and overwhelmed by fate. But never by any accident do I see among them a Japanese. Doesn't fate lie in wait for him also? Does he never have hard luck?

Perhaps the Japanese is more efficient, more industrious, more skillful than the white men. If this be so, he will surely drive the white man out and inherit the earth-because why?

"The most important myths and the most. illustrative poems should provide not only nutriment for thought, but material for memory. Our youth in the push for hasty achievement bolt their meals; they masticate little, swallow everything, digest nothing, and having agonized, forget. Teachers and parents are overconsiderate, nowadays, of the memory in children; they approach it gingerly; they have feared so much to wring its withers that in most children the memory has grown too soft for saddling. In our apprehension lest pupils may turn out parrots, we have too often turned them out loons. It is better that a few of the facts in their heads be wrong than that there be no facts at all. With all our study of children, and our gabble about methods of teaching them, while we insist, properly enough, that youth is the seedtime of observation, we seem to have forgotten that it is also the harvesttime of memory. It is easy for children to remember what they learn, it is a delight for them to commit to memory; we act criminally when we send them forth with hardly a fact or a date or a glorious verse in the memory of one out of ten of them. Such, unfortunately, is the case in many of our schools; and such was not the case in the day of our fathers. Pupils should be encouraged to recite memoriter the best poems and verses

Good for Gayley, he knows what he is talking about!

The Power Collection
Of Memory Gems

When the Board of Education decreed that the Cubberly selection of poems for school use, as collected and published by Alice Rose Power, should be studied in our schools to the extent of at least three poems a term, that act did more for the acquisition of good English than all the crazy compositions ever written by illiterate children, or corrected by overworked teachers, could accomplish in a hundred years!

a new

In order to render the greatest service to the members of the community, the Humboldt State Normal School, Arcata, Calif., put the school plant to use during the recent vacation. Through the helpful co-operation of the Extension Division of the University of California was held the Farmers' Week and Homemakers' Conference.

In spite of the handicap of rain and a comparativly brief period for publicity, the attendance was satisfactory. The lecturedemonstrations of Mrs. M. N. Fowler were greatly appreciated by the ladies present. The subjects of dairying, horticulture and poultry were discussed in the men's meetings. We felt that we were fortunate in having the opportunity of talking things over with the men from the Experiment Station without having to go to Davis and Berkeley to listen to them.

As far as known, this is rather a new type of work in California Normal Schools. It seems to find a place, however, if one may judge from the expressions of appreciation of the visitors, and we hope that it will become a permanent affair.

The President, N. B. Van Matre, is to be congratulated on using the Normal plant for such practical purposes.

THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A SUCCESSFUL PRINCIPAL

By Wilhelmina Van de Goorberg We have frequently been told what constitutes a good class-room teacher. Not quite so much has been said or written. about the necessary qualifications of a successful principal; perhaps because the list of virtues that belong to the ideal teacher is so comprehensive that it must of necessity include all the essential requirements for any educational vocation whatsoever. But it is evident that the salaries of principals are larger than those of class-room teachers because the former are supposed to possess superior qualifications, not because their work is heavier or their hours are longer, for that is often not the case. A class-room teacher is "on the jump" every moment of the day; the principal has moments of relaxation and solitude. Her position is one of greater honor and dignity. Wherein, then, does the good principal, surpass the school-room teacher?

It seems to me that the man or woman placed in charge of an elementary school should, in addition to possessing a fine personal character, excel in at least one of the following:

(1) A large knowledge of people, enabling her to deal understandingly with the adults with whom she comes in contact, including the teachers under her supervision.

(2) A sympathetic understanding of children, so that she may be to them a leader of strong personal influence, able to create that fine spirit among the pupils themselves so striking in some schools, and to be a real aid to her teachers in the handling of individual cases.

(3) Expert knowledge of educational matters based upon broad general knowlledge, so that she may have the respect of her co-workers, and so that her supervision her co-workers, and so that her supervision of them may be really inspiring and helpful.

The ideal principal has all these qualities in a considerable degree: I think it safe to say that no one should aspire to be a principal who has not all three in some degree, and at least one of them in a considerable degree. The third, indeed, might be considered as indispensable to her occupation as the typist's knowledge of the typewriter. In a field so broad as education, however, there must be much more than a precise knowledge of certain definite facts-hence the necessity for a wide general education and the mature judgment of a real student of human affairs. (From Los Angeles City Teachers' Bulletin.)

"I wish you to know what a great help the Beacon System of Teaching Primary Reading has been to me. Not only have the results been better, but there has been no drudgery to the work. It has made the reading much easier and therefore a greater pleasure to all, but particularly to those who backward in their reading."

were

FLORES L. PATTEE,
Pri. Tea.

"We have been using the Beacon Method in our first grade classes this year for the first time and our teachers are well pleased with results." IDA V. MEEKS, Stockton School.

"You will doubtless be interest in the results of our trial of the Beacon Method in Garfield school during the past year. As you know, we had been using another phonetic system during the previous six years, and had had splendid results, the pupils acquiring a power not secured by others methods.

"The Beacon enables us to continue all the good things of the old system, and makes a We decided improvement in some of them. think the Beacon excels in method, because of the more natural blend and the elimination of unnecessary material; in content, because more interesting and attractive; in helps, because the

charts and word cards save much board work and are always available for reviews; and in results, the pupils acquiring all the power developed by the old system, with less of the grind and more of the joy of learning." PRIN. H. O. WELTY, Garfield School.

"I am still very enthusiastic about the Beacon Method because it is standing so many tests. My 1A class has completed the term's work five weeks before the close of the term and is now reading a Second Reader. This class might have accomplished this with another method, but as yet none of my classes have done this while using other methods. I recommend the Beacon Method for the following reasons:

"1-The method is a natural one following the pronunciation idea.

"2-The work is presented and learned in a matter which eliminates much of the 'grind work' of other methods, e. g. the chart rather than board work; only the necessary phonetics are presented at a given time-thus relieving the child of remembering a cumbersome number for a later use.

"3-The subject matter in the Reader is interesting and within the mental grasp of the child.

"4-Last and best of all to 1A teacher-the greater part of the phonetic work is presented in the first half of the year, leaving the time in the latter half for the much needed and constant review." BLANCHE M. SMITH, Garfield School.

From Santa Ana "Our teachers are much pleased with the Beacon Method of Teaching Primary Reading." SUPT. J. A. CRANSTON. From Holtville

"I wish to tell you that I think the Beacon Method a splendid one, as it makes independent pupils." ANNIE BOATRIGHT, Pri. Teacher.

Under Direction of HERBERT F. CLARK Alhambra, Cal.

Editorial

Concrete Experience

pro

Mathematical Concepts

The fundamental difficulty in trying to teach children textbook arithmetic is their lack of concrete experiences in the things they are trying to interpret. It is true. they can learn to add, subtract, work fractions, etc., in a formal way, but none of these things mean anything unless they in

terpret some definite experience. Our present state text in arithmetic is an extremely poor instrument by which to teach children the elements of arithmetical operation. The language used is so mature for sixth and seventh grade children, the arrangement is so illogical and inconsistent, that it is a wonder teachers do as well as they do with the children. What we need for city children is an arithmetic based on the experiences of city children. Much of the material should be concrete problems calling forth the reading abilities of the children. The problems should begin with simple, everyday experiences and gradually increase in complexity. There should be a constant connection between the pupil and the problems he is trying to solve. "Courtship of Miles Standish" Basis for English Study

Fortunate are children who are permitted to make a careful and detailed study of the "Courtship of Miles Standish." The selection as it appears in the New State Series Sixth Reader with the "study plan" at the close furnishes an excellent basis for just such a study.

The historical and geographical settings of the story give it a distinct American interest. The bit of romance running through it, the Indian element, the pioneer aspect, all tend to make it extremely interesting to children. Mr. Longfellow's deeply religious philosophy with the frequent references to Scripture give it a moral tone that cannot help but be elevating to the ideals

of children.

All through the story, pictures of vivid imagination are called forth; types of sentences, figures of speech, and dominant literary elements abound. Then there is the beautiful and extensive vocabulary employed. Every stanza abounds in good English words new to most children in the upper grammar grades. What an opportunity here for increasing, enriching the vocabulary of children!

Although a little mature for children, Mr. Longfellow's philosophy of life in general creeps out in pertinent phrases. His portrayal of the character of Priscilla in this story, as also the character of Evangeline in that other masterpiece of his, shows clearly his deep appreciation of womankind. He has Alden say of Priscilla, "There is no land so sacred, no air so pure and so wholesome, as is the air she breathes and

the soil that is pressed by her footsteps." Several times in the story, children discover the adage, "If you wish a thing well done, you must do it yourself, you must not leave it to others." They hear Priscilla say, "Let us, then, be what we are, and speak what we think, and in all things keep ourselves loyal to truth and the sacred professions of friendship."

All through the story, these little bits of human philosophy creep out and enter into children's lives to influence them and make them better. And, so viewed from every point, this masterpiece of literature is a treasure-house filled with good things for children.

It furnishes ample material for a full half-year's work in real constructive Eng

lish.

Professor I. W. Howerth's
Aim in Education

In "Educational Review" for January, 1917, appears a timely and extremely interesting article on "Aims in Education" by Professor I. W. Howerth of the University of California. Mr. Howerth's examination of the processes involved in or ganic and inorganic phenomena leads him to conclude that "There is no aim in nature." Looking over into the human race, he further concludes that "There is absolutely no aim in natural education." "The recognition of this truth," he says, "will destroy that easy optimism which holds that somehow or other nature will take care of children and of nations, who can not or do not take care of themselves, or in whose interest nobody works with a conscious aim." This is a timely suggestion for American people in their present state of unpreparedness for the greatest crisis the world has ever known. timely also for those well intentioned, but pedagogically unsound school people who advocate the path of least resistance for school children in the selection of school studies and so forth.

It is

Mr. Howerth points out a further danger in modern tendencies arising out of the fact that so many of our policies, educational and otherwise, are determined by small groups of the social whole. In no field of social service is this tendency more dangerous and more tenacious than in the administration of school affairs. Courses of study are arranged by people far removed from the actual work of the classroom. Teachers are distributed among the schools of a large city without much reference to their particular fitness for a particular place their particular fitness for a particular place and pretty much with the same attitude that supplies are distributed, except that supplies are supervised with greater care

and discrimination.

of school systems. It is more than likely that they will remain in some modified form. Certain it is that they have not solved all the problems that their advocates promised they would. If they bridge the gap formerly existing between the eighth and ninth grades, it is more than possible that they have pushed a similar gap down between the sixth and seventh grades with the former difficulties intensified. Certain it is that it is more difficult for children of the seventh grade to adapt themselves to a departmental system, to respond to teachers who have a university point of view concerning methods and materials of instruction rather than the Normal School point of view, than it is for ninth grade pupils to do so. If the rate

of mortality between the eighth and ninth grades has been decreased, it is more than possible that a portion of it has been pushed down between the sixth and seventh, where in most cases the compulsory law is operative and tends to reduce it to a minimum.

The principal objection raised against the establishment of intermediate schools was that they would detract attention from the elementary schools, making it more difficult to get sufficient money for them, making them seem less important in the school system. To date this fear seems to have been justified. Immediately upon the establishment of these schools, tremendous sums of money were diverted from the ordinary elementary channels and expended on intermediate buildings and equipment. All sorts of ruses were used to get teachers onto high-school salary schedules in the intermediate schools. Elementary schools found their teaching forces reduced, larger numbers of children crowded into rooms, special teachers of music and drawing placed in charge of regular rooms; in short, a general pressure brought to bear upon the elementary schools to relieve a situation for which they were in no way responsible.

Furthermore, many children who finish the sixth grade do not want to go long distances to reach an intermediate school. Mothers hesitate to send their daughters through crude sections of the city to mingle with groups of children they do not know. They live within a few blocks of the ele mentary school, they know the principal and teachers there, they know pretty well the children of the neighborhood, and the question naturally presents itself, why send their children somewhere else to get that which can be given them in a more efficient way with less expense to the city as a whole?

No, the elementary school should be the vital element in our educational systems. They are the ones that should be made beautiful, given large playgrounds, furnished with the best equipment, taught by the best of teachers. Any movement that tends to detract interest from these fundamental institutions should be checked in its beginning.

"Peace Paddle" Editorial Provokes Stinging Protest

The editorial in the January issue of the Journal concerning the Peace Paddle called