Now the care which he had exercised in attending to it at the
time, and remembering it when the same word (for the difference in the
spelling he of course knew nothing about) occurred again, was really
commendable. The fact, which is a mere accident, that we affix very
different significations to the same sound, was unknown to him. The
fault, if any where, was in the language and not in him, for he reasoned
correctly from the data he possessed, and he deserved credit for it.
The teacher should always discriminate carefully between errors of this
kind, and those that result from culpable carelessness.
3. TARDINESS.--"My duty to this school," said a teacher to his pupils,
"demands, as I suppose you all admit, that I should require you all to
be here punctually at the time appointed for the commencement of the
school. I have done nothing on this subject yet, for I wished to see
whether you would not come early on principle. I wish now, however, to
inquire in regard to this subject, and to ascertain how many have been
tardy, and to consider what must be done hereafter."
He made the inquiries, and ascertained pretty nearly how many had been
tardy, and how often within a week.
The number was found to be so great that the scholars admitted that
something ought to be done.
"What shall I do?" asked he. "Can any one propose a plan which will
remedy the difficulty?"
There was no answer.
"The easiest and pleasantest way to secure punctuality is for the
scholars to come early of their own accord, upon principle.
Pages:
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346