40 



Civics, especially when made part of the daily lives of the pupils, is 

 a subject which arouses much interest in a class of boys. The in- 

 structor in this class seemed to know how he wanted to conduct the 

 class; he wanted the boys to take an active part. He had their good 

 will but could not keep up the interest. The greater part of the inter- 

 est shown seemed due to the subject rather than to the teacher. It 

 should be mentioned that the subject is one which is outside of the in- 

 structor's regular line of work. 



Soil Fertility 



16 members were present. 



The outstanding feature of this recitation was lack of discipline. 

 The instructor stood at the middle seat of the fourth row while the pu- 

 pils all sat in the last four rows. The observer reported on this class 

 in part: "The instructor might just as well have been at the front of 

 the room, for his presence was disregarded during the class disturb- 

 ances that took place. Not only were notes passed, but a note book 

 with them was deliberately thrown under the seats from the first boy 

 to the last boy. No hesitation was shown in speaking aloud. * * * 

 A few were trying to behave. * * * One of the noisiest, who 

 had been sent to the front row, turned around and entertained the 

 class more than ever from that vantage point. The instructor kept his 

 text open and referred to it often. He kept down discussion by drag- 

 ging pupils back to the *next paragraph.' ' 



It is doubtful if the pupils receive much benefit from a class where 

 discipline is so bad a^ it was in this class. 



Soils 



This class was made up of eight boys. 



The period was spent out of doors laying out plots. The instruc- 

 tor did most of the work himself, especially with the instruments. 

 The boys learned the names and uses of these only by asking. They 

 were anxious to know how to use them, but they were told that the time 

 was too short and that they could learn at a later period. The pe- 

 riod was in effect a demonstration of the use of unnamed instruments, 

 which the pupils did not learn enough about to understand. Their 

 enthusiasm seemed to be suppressed rather than encouraged. 



Food Study 



Eleven girls were in this class. 



The subject of the recitation was starch. The pupils and teacher 

 seemed to have the subject well in hand, but the class was of the monot- 

 onous type. A series of questions were faithfully answered by each 



