Miss Herrick had charge of the study hall in the Pittsfield High School
the last period of every day. Her presence meant “Study.” There was no
time for foolishness when she came into the room. She treated requests
to speak in such a chary manner that a pupil would think twice before
asking the privilege.
“May I speak?”
[Sidenote: Learn the Reason]
Miss Herrick would not say a word, but would beckon the pupil to her
desk.
“What would you like to learn, Jessie?”
“I wanted to ask Mary how to do an algebra problem.”
“Bring your book up to the desk; perhaps I can help you.”
So time after time a request to speak to a fellow pupil was turned aside
for something more helpful.
(3) _Studying aloud._ Probably few teachers realize the difficulty a
child meets in learning to suppress tone and muscular movement of mouth
and lips while reading. Indeed, the adult can assure himself that in
silent reading, even he does not suppress all movement of tongue and
vocal cords.