[Sidenote: Useless Talking]
It was Friday afternoon and both teacher and pupils were weary of the
school-room and of work; all were a little cross and nervous, and
impatient for the dismissal bell to ring.
“Make John quit tying my hair-ribbon to the inkwell,” spoke up a girl
from the back of the room.
Before John’s case was quite settled, “May I erase the boards after
school?” “Does our geography lesson begin on page 268 or 267?” “Do we
have to write our compositions in ink?” and so forth—an endless string
of useless questions, confusing to those who were trying to study and
nerve-racking to the teacher. And besides the talking aloud there was a
constant and needless passing to and fro.
“Now see here, children, this has got to stop. Monday morning we’re
going to turn over a new leaf and put a stop to this talking aloud.
Remember that! The first one who talks or leaves his seat without
permission will be punished.”
Monday morning, true to her word, Miss Rand punished every child who
talked aloud without permission. Tuesday and Wednesday the school was a
model of quiet and order. But Thursday Miss Rand had a headache and did
not feel quite equal to having it out with Theodore when he asked,
without permission, “Is this the 22nd of the month?” for it was a
perfectly legitimate inquiry, inspired by the exercise in letter-writing
which was his language lesson.
A half hour later Margaret called Miss Rand’s attention to the fact that
the clock had stopped, then looked scared as she realized she had broken
the rule. Miss Rand argued to herself that the child meant well, so she
let the talking aloud pass uncommented upon.
And so it went, the children falling rapidly back into their old habit
of talking whenever they pleased. By the middle of the next week
pandemonium was again the order of the day and Miss Rand again “cleaned
house,” saying, “Tomorrow morning I’m going to begin making everyone of
you who talks aloud stay in at recess. There is no reason why you can’t
do your work quietly, and tend to your business without asking so many
questions,” and for a few days she was most energetic in enforcing quiet
and order.
But in two weeks the school-room was again a place of noisy confusion.
And so it went.