Never keep a child in at recess time for any other reason than that he has already had recreation. Test Freddie’s hearing. It may be that some defect in that respect has made it impossible for him to catch some of the explanations given by the teacher. If hearing is found to be normal, test his vision. Possibly he can not see all the lessons that are placed on the board. Perhaps, also, the light may shine on the board in such a way that he can not see the writing. COMMENTS The Bavaria system has revealed the great need of individual instruction. This question of getting help on the difficult parts of a lesson is not, in itself, wrong. The evil comes from the confusion of haphazard whispering. The whispered help which one pupil gives another, without the teacher’s consent, is attended by more than one evil. The attention of two pupils is shifted from the central interest. The teacher is deceived as to the real knowledge which the helped one has of the subject and he can not therefore correctly estimate his work. Yet the physical well-being of a child demands that he have his recess period of relaxation. The teacher who does her duty in the matter of supervised play will abandon “keeping children in” as a punishment for misdemeanors. ILLUSTRATION (FOURTH GRADE) [Sidenote: Rewarding with Stars] Miss Green tried the following method in her room. She wrote the pupils’ names on the blackboard in a conspicuous place. She told the children that whenever she saw a child whisper during the week just beginning she would erase his name. At the beginning of the second week a star was placed after each name remaining on the board. Those who had whispered the week before were given another chance by again writing their names on the blackboard. Each succeeding week a new star was given to those who had not yet whispered and each week those who failed were given a new trial. When any one had received six stars they were given a book. Little was said about those who failed, but every week a story was told, when the stars were given, showing the value of self-control, or the disaster which followed lack of self-control. This plan practically eliminated whispering. CASE 105 (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES) [Sidenote: Outdoing the Teacher] Miss Peterson taught the fifth and sixth grades in a central Illinois town. She had a loud, scolding voice. The children whispered almost incessantly, apparently to drown her harsh tones. They nearly always succeeded in part, but occasionally when the noise of whispering seemed worse, Miss Peterson’s voice actually arose above the din and in threatening tones she said to them, “Stop whispering!”