DISCIPLINE.

A large proportion of the suspensions reported were for truancy and irregularity of attendance. It is gratifying to report fewer cases than during last year.

Dismissals have been, in nearly every case, for theft of school prop

erty.

The loss of books and other articles belonging to pupils and to the schools has been a source of much anxiety and annoyance. In a few cases the offenders were discovered and punished by dismissal, but in the majority of cases it has been impossible to trace the thefts, though every effort was made to discover them. Every precaution was taken to protect the property left in school buildings.

I am forced to believe from the experience of the past three years that there can be but little done to remedy this great evil until the certainty of some punishment more severe than dismissal is assured, and until some effective means can be found to prevent dealers in second-hand books from buying indiscriminately from pupils. I believe the best interests of the schools demand strong and vigorous measures in dealing with both the buyer and the seller.

The discipline of school buildings has been uniformly excellent. can not speak too highly of the good work done by the principals of buildings. Though responsible for the teaching of the highest classes, they have been of the greatest assistance in the organization and management of the schools under their charge.

The order in school rooms has been very generally excellent; in fact, of the eighty-one schools of this division I have only to report four as unsatisfactory in this particular.

In this connection I think it is proper to speak of some few mistakes in school management observed here and there during the year. The points mentioned are by no means common to all schools, but are of sufficient importance, I think, to warrant notice here.

One of these faults is the failure of a few teachers to develop in the pupils habits of carefulness in the use of books and materials. Children, unless watched and trained, will disfigure the pages of text-books with ink-stains; will endeavor to improve the engravings with pen and pencil; will tear the pages and break the covers. They will break slate-pencils and use the pieces, unsharpened, for school work; will throw paper on the floor rather than in the waste-basket; will cut and mark desks and break windows, if they may. There is a moral obligation, I think, which binds a teacher to consider this side of a child's development as strong as the obligation which binds him to teach the prescribed amount of arithmetic or geography.

There is here and there observed a carelessness of the personal ap pearance of pupils. They are allowed to remain in school with dirty hands and faces, uncombed hair and muddy shoes. The teacher's desk, inside and out, is often a contradiction in practice to her precepts.

Window-ledges, pupils' desks, closets-all too often show evidence of poor housekeeping. In such schools, black-board work is apt to be careless; there is generally a lack of ornamentation about the room; there are no flowers in the windows.

I believe that the influence upon a pupil made by pleasant surroundings, though unseen, is yet definite; and the teacher who does not see in this a means of training her pupils neglects to take advantage of one of the greatest aids in securing good discipline.

In a few schools I have found pupils without materials for work-without pencils, slates, or possibly books. I recognize the difficulty in making pupils and parents prompt in this particular, and other discouraging elements in the question, but no effort should be spared to provide pupils with the tools for work.

Perhaps here I may refer to the loss of time in some schools, due generally, I think, to poor discipline, lack of preparation of material on the part of the teacher, or indolent habits among pupils. The aggregate amount of time lost may easily become surprisingly great. Sometimes also I have thought the results of an hour's or half hour's teaching hardly warranted the effort and the time.

In concluding this part of my report I desire to state that in my judgment the schools of the first division were never in better condition, as far as school accommodation, attendance, and discipline are concerned, than at the present time.

SCHOOL WORK.

The plan of supervision was much the same as during the past year. Frequent inspections of all grades were made under your direction, and detailed reports of these inspections given to you at meetings of the principals in your office. In addition to this, there were numerous meetings of teachers by grades, at which the purpose of the work and the methods of working were fully discussed. To supplement these meetings, the first division teachers were called together by grades for the purpose of further considering any points bearing upon the work of the school-room. Questions of discipline and management were discussed usually at meetings of the teachers held in the different buildings. At different times during the year lessons on various subjects were given by teachers of the several grades for the benefit of other teachers in those grades. The purpose of such lessons was always to sug gest to the teachers the most approved methods of work. These lessons, supplemented by earnest questioning and discussion on the part of teachers and by suggestions from the superintendent, could not fail to be productive of the best results. The effect of the admirable series of lessons in history given by several teachers of the seventh grade and of the lessons in language and geography given by teachers of primary grades was observed in every school. The results were thoughtful questioning

as to the purposes of the work and an earnest search for the best methods of accomplishing it.

It is a pleasure to be able to report that during the past year the teachers of the first division have labored faithfully, intelligently and successfully. It is my belief that there has been more good teaching, with better results, than ever before since my connection with the schools.

Number.-During the year a manual of number work for third grades was put into the hands of teachers. For the higher grades the work was elaborated in the course of study. As a result of these publications there has been a better understanding of the relation of the work of each grade to the rest of the course. I have observed in general that the work of all teachers has shown a marked improvement in method, resulting naturally in a more thorough understanding of the relations of numbers. I have noticed but little machine work with figures. Quite generally pupils have dealt with small numbers readily comprehended. I have observed further in all grades a commendable effort to make the practical application of the work prominent; the requirement of the making and solving by pupils of simple problems illustrative of principles developed; the expression of these written problems in mathematical language; the development and formulation of rules of work.

Although the character of the work in number has been generally excellent, I have naturally discovered here and there practices to criticise, some of which I briefly mention.

There is a tendency on the part of a few unthinking teachers to coutinue the objective work in lower grades when the necessity for the objects has ceased to exist. Occasionally also in the primary grades have teachers failed to supplement the work of seeing by the drill work necessary to make the knowledge of the facts discovered permanent. Too often also I have observed that pupils are not accurate workers, a result naturally following the failure to make the child positive in his knowledge of facts discovered. A further result of this is that pupils are not rapid workers. I would not suggest less work in development, but that there be more drill work to supplement it. In the seventh and eighth grades I have sometimes found that teachers were assigning problems too intricate to warrant the time spent in solving. I do not believe such problems are necessary to the thorough understanding of number. In all grades I am convinced that more time is devoted to the study of arithmetic than its relative importance as a part of our school curriculum and as a factor in the development and training of our children warrants.

Penmanship.-Instruction in penmanship in the higher grades has been limited largely to the formation of good habits. To accomplish this teachers have insisted that all written work should represent the best efforts of the pupil. In the lower grades careful instruction in the forms

of letters has been given. Added to this, during the first eight weeks of the year, exercises in pen-holding, position and movement drills have been an important feature of the work.

There are serious grounds, I believe, for questioning the value of this latter work as it is done in some schools. As an exercise in itself it is practically useless. If in practice the teacher fails to apply the results to the writing of the school its purpose is missed. Too often the lesson in correct position and pen-holding consists of the study of principles forgotten when there is an opportunity for their practical application. Furthermore, it is often forgotten that the end to be gained is not the ability to make straight lines or correct ovals, but rather that training of the arm and hand which is essential to ease in writing. In this exercise, as in drawing exercises for a similar purpose, I observe that some teachers have gone through the form of teaching without an adequate idea of its purpose or place in the school work. Generally, however, the penmanship has been excellent.

Spelling. Briefly stated, I have found that the efforts of teachers have been directed towards cultivating in pupils a feeling of personal responsibility for the correct spelling of every written word. The result of this work when conscientiously done is that pupils more frequently consult dictionaries and authorities, and have acquired very generally the habit of ascertaining the correct forms of words before attempting to use them. The study of the form, meaning and use of words ordinarily used by pupils has been an important part of the work in this branch. The written work examined shows conclusively that the work has been properly done.

Physiology.-Lessons in hygiene have been given in all grades. In the third and fifth grades sets of text-books have been furnished, adding materially to the supplementary reading matter so much needed in these grades. Selected topics, studied as wholes, were profitably used for composition work. When practicable the subject has been presented objectively. I have observed here and there a tendency to devote too much time to the study of technical physiology and anatomy.

Reading. In your report of last year you say that the teaching of reading is naturally divided into two parts: first, the teaching the pupil to recognize the words of his vocabulary, to grasp readily the thought expressed by what is read, and to read aloud; second, training pupils to an appreciation of what is read, to a knowledge of how to read, and how to use the results obtained by reading.

The first part of this work has been well done in the primary grades, as is evidenced by the fact that the reading in these grades has never been better than at present. There has been almost uniformly a most careful preparation of the reading lessons. In the first and second grades the new words of the text to be read have been studied and used in many combinations before the printed page has been put before the child. The result is that he readily grasps the thought of what he reads, un

hampered by the difficulties presented by new words. The oral reading, as a result of the seeing the thought of what is read, has been better than ever before. Another cause for this excellence is to be found in the fact that pupils have read more than ever before. Supplementing the reading books of this grade, compositions written by the children, black-board exercises embodying the new words taught, lessons prepared by teachers, stories from children's papers and magazines, other readers of the same class, and sets of books furnished for the use of these grades have been read.

The teaching of sounds necessary, I believe, to make the child independent of the teacher's constant assistance has been somewhat neglected, I fear. I consider this a most important part of the work of the grade. It is unreasonable to expect a child to help himself without furnishing him with the means. He can not by his own effort add to his store of new words without a knowledge of the values of the letters that compose them. Before the child leaves the first grade he should know these sounds thoroughly.

In the higher grades a correspondingly large amount of reading has been done. In these grades the teaching of how to read has been subordinated to the teaching of reading as a means of getting at the thought of what is read. In most schools a large amount of reading has been done, most of it to supplement the work in history and geography. The requirements of the course of study have made this almost necessary. The amount read and the kinds of reading varied, of course, according to the opportunities pupils had to consult books at home or the possi bility of their enjoying the benefit of public libraries. Many books have been purchased by pupils. Teachers generally have contributed from their own libraries books that have been of incalculable value in the school work. During the year several copies of McMaster's History of the United States have been placed in each of the eighth grade schools. This is a good beginning, but many more books are needed in all grades if we would train pupils to an appreciation of good literature or to a knowledge of how to read.

Language. The teaching of language has been an inseparable part of the instruction in every branch taught in our schools, and in no branch has there been so marked an improvement. There has been a constant effort to make the teaching practical. Much attention has been given to the expression and arrangement of thought in all oral as well as in all written work.

The composition work in all grades has been intelligently done. In primary grades the children have been led to see groups of facts sug gested by pictures, objects, etc., have been trained in the proper arrangement of these facts or thoughts, and, when needed, have been furnished with the idioms necessary to show the proper relations of the thoughts seen. Facts in technical grammar, plurals, possessives, a few rules in capitalization and punctuation have been taught as the necessity for a knowledge of these facts became apparent. In the higher