Her evident reason for this was to get only a temporary, partial silence, for this was all she accomplished. Her outbreak against noise occurred two or three times daily. The children even blew whistles very softly at times and actually disliked Miss Peterson the more because she seemed to believe them when they told her the sound was made by the wind whistling through the cracks around the ill-fitted windows. One day when the noise seemed worse than usual, she announced that whoever whispered next would have to “stand on the floor.” There was a moment’s silence and then one of the girls whispered a comment upon her remark. Instantly Miss Peterson called her to stand up in the front of the room. The girl to whom she whispered immediately talked for the obvious purpose of joining her friend in disgrace. When Miss Peterson asked the second girl to join the first, a smile was exchanged between them. This was seen by others who decided to join in the fun. One after another, almost as fast as named, joyfully joined the group of those standing, and what is more, whispered to each other on the floor. When almost half of the pupils had been called out, poor Miss Peterson gave them a very angry lecture, and threatened them with the loss of recess. A partial silence ensued after the lecture, but that session of the school was worse than lost. CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT Take time to see yourself at work in the school-room. Test out your own influence as a noise maker by adopting some very quiet methods of doing your own work; see if the children do not imitate you also in maintaining better order. Abandon the haphazard method of curbing whispering. Think the whole situation over; measure each pupil in respect to the whispering nuisance; classify the room as a whole in respect to the matter. Probably you will adopt two or three methods simultaneously for different types of pupils. Apply these methods unobtrusively. By working with individuals have the rumor pass around that you are becoming stern about whispering. This can be done without provoking enmity. Use a number of stories on self-control, neighborliness, etc., but do not connect them with your campaign against whispering. If some story makes a great hit, allude to its leading character when dealing with certain individual offenders. COMMENTS A harsh voice or a loud tone tends very strongly to provoke school-room noise. It sets an example; it shows the teacher’s disregard of the customary rule relative to quiet in the room; it provokes a similar noisiness for the sake of self-defense. The well modulated voice not only pleases sensitive ears and gentle spirits, but it suggests strongly to the pupils what their own voices may be like. Such a voice says not only, “Do this,” but also “Do it quietly.” The voices of most persons are untrained. Teachers usually give little professional attention to their voices, yet no aspect of their personality needs greater attention.