Miss Smedley did not stop to figure out why Almon Metcalf studied aloud.
If she had, she would have taken into consideration the fact that he had
been two years in school without being taught how to study. She would
have realized that calling the attention of the whole room to his
deficiency would not help him to break the habit.
The boy was not the only one who was to blame for distracting the
attention of the class in arithmetic. Miss Smedley’s own remarks were
instrumental here.
Almon Metcalf needed Miss Smedley’s special guidance in learning how to
study.