When, the following morning, she saw Lola Mossman, a girl of exquisite manner, walk over to the desk of Bernice Bryant, evidently to ask her about a lesson, Miss Lucas waited until the close of the period, when she spoke to Lola in private. “Is it the custom in this school, Lola, for the pupils to speak to one another during a study period without permission?” “Yes, Miss Lucas.” “I am sure the whole room will be less disturbed if we form the habit of asking permission before we speak. “If you need to find out something about a lesson, you should have permission to speak. I will willingly grant it; but do not ask to speak when you see someone else talking. It is disturbing to the other pupils to have two persons speaking at a time.” Through Lola Mossman and one or two other pupils as a medium, the children soon discovered that Miss Lucas expected them to ask permission before speaking. CASE 109 (FIFTH GRADE) [Sidenote: Monopolizing Time] Mamie Eggleston was a devoted pupil in the fifth grade of a school in Paterson, New Jersey. She never missed an opportunity to talk with Miss Olmstead, her teacher, before or after school. “May I come in?” Mamie would say if she saw Miss Olmstead seated at her desk before school began. “Yes, indeed.” Then for fifteen minutes Mamie would talk just for the sake of saying something to someone who would listen. “I like Miss Forsyth’s new waist, don’t you?” “Are those little black bands on your wrists tied or fastened on? That waist is awfully becoming to you. I have a pink waist. My mother made it for me. But she won’t let me wear it to school,” etc., etc. “There’s the bell,” Miss Olmstead would say as she thought, “Well, there’s another fifteen minutes lost and I intended to put the arithmetic problems on the board before school began.” CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT Do not over-indulge a talkative child. In a kind but firm way tell her that you have some important work to do or that you must see Miss Belmont before school begins. If she persists in talking with you after school, answer her questions politely but hurriedly, while you put on your wraps and say as you go out of the room, “I have to leave now. Are you ready to go home?” COMMENTS Miss Olmstead did an injustice to both the child and herself. Valuable time was wasted by allowing the child to talk on at length, without any motive other than the pleasure of talking. It is not necessary to cut off entirely a child’s talking with you outside of school hours. Such pleasant associations between teacher and pupil are to be encouraged. We are concerned in this case with the child who likes to talk just to keep herself in the foreground. By heeding only those questions which have weight, by listening to the child’s talk only long enough to be polite, you will help her to control a desire which, unrestrained, will, in the future, make her presence unbearable. ILLUSTRATION (SIXTH GRADE) [Sidenote: Reforming Habits]