INSTRUCTIONSAll articles in seventh grade will be made of White Pine or Yellow Poplar; those in eighth grade of Chestnut.Stock bills are not needed for articles composed of one piece of material only.Finished sizes are the sizes to which the pieces are to be planed. Your drawing will tell you these sizes.Pieces of irregular shape are to be figured at their widest and longest dimensions.Cutting sizes are obtained from the finished sizes by adding1⁄4″ to the width and1⁄2″ to the length. Cutting sizes are the sizes to which you work in sawing out the stock preparatory to planing it.All stock will be mill-planed on two surfaces to the correct thickness except that for the ring toss, spool holder, game-board, and laundry register. Thickness of mill-planed stock will be the same whether for finished sizes or cutting sizes. On rough stock, or stock that has not been mill-planed, if the finished size is3⁄4″ thick the cutting size will be 1″ thick.Sometimes it is possible to save material by combining two irregular pieces. The finished stock sizes will indicate the number of pieces while the cutting size will indicate the size of the single piece from which they are to be cut.Remember that length always means “along the grain of the wood,” and that a piece may be wider than long. Under the word “Pieces” put the number of pieces that are of the same size.
INSTRUCTIONS
All articles in seventh grade will be made of White Pine or Yellow Poplar; those in eighth grade of Chestnut.
Stock bills are not needed for articles composed of one piece of material only.
Finished sizes are the sizes to which the pieces are to be planed. Your drawing will tell you these sizes.
Pieces of irregular shape are to be figured at their widest and longest dimensions.
Cutting sizes are obtained from the finished sizes by adding1⁄4″ to the width and1⁄2″ to the length. Cutting sizes are the sizes to which you work in sawing out the stock preparatory to planing it.
All stock will be mill-planed on two surfaces to the correct thickness except that for the ring toss, spool holder, game-board, and laundry register. Thickness of mill-planed stock will be the same whether for finished sizes or cutting sizes. On rough stock, or stock that has not been mill-planed, if the finished size is3⁄4″ thick the cutting size will be 1″ thick.
Sometimes it is possible to save material by combining two irregular pieces. The finished stock sizes will indicate the number of pieces while the cutting size will indicate the size of the single piece from which they are to be cut.
Remember that length always means “along the grain of the wood,” and that a piece may be wider than long. Under the word “Pieces” put the number of pieces that are of the same size.
In the elementary schools the form of stock bill used should be as simple and explicit as is possible. The appended form is one that has proven satisfactory. That it may be in convenient form for student use, it has been included with “Projects in Beginning Woodwork and Mechanical Drawing,” as also is the Form for Price List and Estimate of Cost.
The accompanying form indicates clearly what is expected of the boys in figuring their cost of material. Since these costs are figured before the articles are made in wood, no account is taken of material wasted. With a carefully planned course of projects and an instructor who knows the possibilities of requiring a boy to reduce the size of his piece when one member has been reduced under size there is very little use for extra stock. As a rule what stock is so returned can be used for other smaller parts. If a boy is unnecessarily wasteful, he should be required to figure extra stock. This is to be done only in justice to the other boys, not as a check to the wasteful boy. Such boys, as a rule rather glory in their wastefulness. The best check for such a boy is to require him to use his original stock, reducing the sizes of all affected pieces as may be necessary.
As this is, in all probability, the first problem in which the boys deal with approximate rather than mathematically exact results, the instructor should not become discouraged with their first attempts. No better opportunity exists for introducing the boys to problems such as will confront them after they leave school. The instructor will do well to check the boys’ results by means of his own previously figured results after the boys are all thru their figuring. There is a difference between figuring for an answer previously given and figuring as they must after leaving school.
In order for the boy to figure his bills he must have a Price List. A form for a price list such as is needed for the materials that are to be used in “Projects in Beginning Woodwork and Mechanical Drawing” is appended. The prices given are neither retail nor wholesale but about midway between what the boy would have to pay for his stock bought in the limited quantity he needs and the cost to the school in quantity lots. Only the best of lumber is used. Money might be saved by buying short lengths but none is saved by buying “cull” stock with the expectation of cutting out the defects. The prices are for Chicago, 1911-1912, and are inserted for comparison only. On lumber, 15 to 25 per cent has been added for waste in cutting up. Since all of the stock used in the grades is in board form, wood finish is figured only for the two broad surfaces. The price will be found sufficient to cover the material used on edges. The price will also cover such waste as ordinarily comes thru the inexperienced handling on the part of the boys—they will not “spread out” the materials to as good advantage as will a mechanic, of course.
(Form, reverse side of a Stock Bill)
ESTIMATE OF COST OF MATERIAL
INSTRUCTIONSBase your lumber estimate on the Cutting Sizes. All prices of lumber in your Price List are per square foot, therefore your stock should be figured by surface measure, only width, length, and number of pieces being considered.Fractions of an inch and fractions of a cent are not considered, except in the price per foot, and in the number of feet as noted in the next paragraph. If the fraction is1⁄2or over, use the next higher whole number; thus, 21⁄2or 23⁄4becomes 3. If the fraction is less than1⁄2, drop it; thus, 21⁄4becomes 2.In figuring, find the number of square inches in all pieces that are the same in price per foot. Reduce this to square feet by dividing by 144. Reduce it decimally and do not carry the result beyond tenths place. Dispose of any fractional figures beyond tenths as directed above. Always write your decimal as a fractional form in the bill—otherwise a decimal point might be overlooked and the result be greatly changed. In the form above note that .3 is written3⁄10.In figuring finish, both surfaces of the stock are to be covered so that the easiest way to find the number of square feet of finish is simply to double the number of square feet of lumber. Edges are not considered. Only Groups VI, VII, and VIII have finish applied.
INSTRUCTIONS
Base your lumber estimate on the Cutting Sizes. All prices of lumber in your Price List are per square foot, therefore your stock should be figured by surface measure, only width, length, and number of pieces being considered.
Fractions of an inch and fractions of a cent are not considered, except in the price per foot, and in the number of feet as noted in the next paragraph. If the fraction is1⁄2or over, use the next higher whole number; thus, 21⁄2or 23⁄4becomes 3. If the fraction is less than1⁄2, drop it; thus, 21⁄4becomes 2.
In figuring, find the number of square inches in all pieces that are the same in price per foot. Reduce this to square feet by dividing by 144. Reduce it decimally and do not carry the result beyond tenths place. Dispose of any fractional figures beyond tenths as directed above. Always write your decimal as a fractional form in the bill—otherwise a decimal point might be overlooked and the result be greatly changed. In the form above note that .3 is written3⁄10.
In figuring finish, both surfaces of the stock are to be covered so that the easiest way to find the number of square feet of finish is simply to double the number of square feet of lumber. Edges are not considered. Only Groups VI, VII, and VIII have finish applied.
PRICE LIST 1911-1912.
In the grammar schools the lumber is figured by surface measure per square foot and the form of bill is made as simple as is possible. A high school boy should be able to handle a problem somewhat more in keeping with commercial practice. In addition to the material cost he should keep account of the time expended in making his piece of woodwork so that he may figure the labor cost as well. The small size of the stock used does not admit of the full commercial practice. This, however, ought to be explained to the class at this time. The following form is for High School use:
PRICE LIST, 19—— 19——
HARDWARE—
For prices on hardware consult Hardware Catalog provided for you.
Figure retail price, that is, figure screws at price per dozen, not price per gross.
WOODFINISH—
Per square foot of surface covered.
LABOR—
Per hour.
(Form for high school use)
BILL OF MATERIAL
INSTRUCTIONSUnder “pieces” put the number of parts that are alike.Under “size” put the various dimensions of pieces. In finding the sizes of the various pieces of lumber, examine the working drawings for finished dimensions, making due additions for tenons, then add1⁄4″ to the width and1⁄2″ to the length to allow for cutting out and squaring up. Tho you are to make use of stock mill-planed to thickness, you are to specify the thicknesses from which this mill-planed stock is got. Allow1⁄8″ for mill-planing.Remember that length always means along the grain.Fractions of an inch in width and length are not considered. Neither are fractions of a cent in the final results. If the fraction is1⁄2or over, take the next higher whole number. If it is less than1⁄2, drop it. Fractions of an inch in thicknesses that are over 1″ and fractions of a cent in the price per foot are to be figured as they are.Lumber is measured by the superficial foot which is 1″ × 12″ × 12″. Boards that are less than 1″ thick are sold by surface measure. In other words, boards less than 1″ thick are figured for quantity as 1″ thick.Standard sawed thicknesses are 1″, 11⁄4″, 11⁄2″, 2″, 21⁄2″, 3″, 31⁄2″, 4″. Thicknesses less than 1″ necessitate re-sawing these sizes. In some communities the price per square foot for re-sawed stock varies for each difference of1⁄4″ in thickness.In figuring, multiply the length by the width by the thickness, by the number of pieces. If any piece is less than 1″ thick figure it as 1″. Combine all results that are the same in price per foot. Reduce to square feet by dividing by 144. Reduce decimally and do not carry the result beyond tenths place. Dispose of any fractional part beyond tenths as directed above. Write your result in fractional form that the decimal point may not be overlooked and be the cause of trouble.The price list gives the price of lumber per 1,000 feet. The price per foot is readily obtainable.In figuring finish for these cabinet pieces, double the number of feet of stock as given by the stock bill to get the number of feet of finish. This is only an approximate method but is sufficiently accurate for such pieces as are to be made in first year high school, as specified in “Advanced Projects in Woodwork,” Group IX.
INSTRUCTIONS
Under “pieces” put the number of parts that are alike.
Under “size” put the various dimensions of pieces. In finding the sizes of the various pieces of lumber, examine the working drawings for finished dimensions, making due additions for tenons, then add1⁄4″ to the width and1⁄2″ to the length to allow for cutting out and squaring up. Tho you are to make use of stock mill-planed to thickness, you are to specify the thicknesses from which this mill-planed stock is got. Allow1⁄8″ for mill-planing.
Remember that length always means along the grain.
Fractions of an inch in width and length are not considered. Neither are fractions of a cent in the final results. If the fraction is1⁄2or over, take the next higher whole number. If it is less than1⁄2, drop it. Fractions of an inch in thicknesses that are over 1″ and fractions of a cent in the price per foot are to be figured as they are.
Lumber is measured by the superficial foot which is 1″ × 12″ × 12″. Boards that are less than 1″ thick are sold by surface measure. In other words, boards less than 1″ thick are figured for quantity as 1″ thick.
Standard sawed thicknesses are 1″, 11⁄4″, 11⁄2″, 2″, 21⁄2″, 3″, 31⁄2″, 4″. Thicknesses less than 1″ necessitate re-sawing these sizes. In some communities the price per square foot for re-sawed stock varies for each difference of1⁄4″ in thickness.
In figuring, multiply the length by the width by the thickness, by the number of pieces. If any piece is less than 1″ thick figure it as 1″. Combine all results that are the same in price per foot. Reduce to square feet by dividing by 144. Reduce decimally and do not carry the result beyond tenths place. Dispose of any fractional part beyond tenths as directed above. Write your result in fractional form that the decimal point may not be overlooked and be the cause of trouble.
The price list gives the price of lumber per 1,000 feet. The price per foot is readily obtainable.
In figuring finish for these cabinet pieces, double the number of feet of stock as given by the stock bill to get the number of feet of finish. This is only an approximate method but is sufficiently accurate for such pieces as are to be made in first year high school, as specified in “Advanced Projects in Woodwork,” Group IX.
Standardization in the manual training shop is just as desirable and as profitable as in commercial shops. Not infrequently young teachers begin their work with the idea that the greater variety of tools and materials they can introduce into their course the richer is its content. To a certain extent this is true but experience will soon prove that there is a limit beyond which it is not profitable to go. In grammar schools, with classes of twenty, it is inadvisable to have more than one plane on a bench—or even in the general tool equipment, if the coursesoutlined herewith are followed. By planning the joint work carefully beforehand, or requiring the pupils to plan their joints according to certain standards as to size, no more than two chisels need be placed at the disposal of each boy and none in the general equipment. The same may be said of bits, etc. Make use of certain screw sizes, as few as can be used to advantage, and equip in auger bits accordingly. This practice not only is less expensive but it enables the instructor to keep the equipment well in hand both as to sharpening and accounting.
Except with individual oversight, in small classes, it is not advisable to plan projects for grammar schools in which holes smaller than3⁄16″ diameter are to be bored. The expense of maintaining or replacing bits of smaller size that get broken is unwarranted.
Of course, it is not to be inferred from the foregoing that any necessary tool is to be omitted, or that any tool is to be made to do a work that will cause it to be injured thereby.
There is educational value in the way of imparting information in providing pupils with a different kind of wood for each project. This used to be specified in some of the very best courses some years ago. Today the tendency is not only to standardize the kinds of wood but to standardize the thickness. The economic problems arising from the handling of many kinds and sizes of lumber more than offset the informational value that pertains to the practice. A study of samples of wood that are placed within easy reach of the pupils will compensate somewhat for the loss occasioned by standardizing the kinds of stock. After all, the presentation of three or four type woods is about all that can be expected, as the work is now presented.
Wood finishes can be standardized in a manner similar to that of lumber and hardware. There is undoubtedly educational value in a boy’s making his own stains. Under ordinary school conditions, however, it is not possible to have him do so. Nor is it advisable for the instructor himself to mix his own finishing materials. Even the most expert woodfinishers find it taxing their ability to mix a fresh lot of stain that will exactly match that of a previous lot. There is nearly always some boy, or boys, with pieces but partly covered when the stain in any given lot is exhausted. The best way, everything considered, is to make use of some standard color of finish in stain and filler. When a given quantity is exhausted it is an easy matter to order more of the same color with the assurance that the color of the new lot will matchthat of the old. It is not possible to teach everything in the short time allowed and there are excellent reasons for omitting these.
The price list and the list of equipment given herein show to what extent the author has standardized his material and tools.
The following forms have proven satisfactory.
(Form for front cover)
CLASS BOOK
Manual Training Center___________________
Instructor_____________________
(Form for pages)
The foregoing form is for use in grammar school centers. One book for each center will suffice. On the cover, the instructor will fill in the name of the school at which the center is located, also his own name.
There should be placed after “school” on the inner page the name of the school from which any class of boys come. Their grade and the name of their academic teacher is to be filled in.
In marking attendance in the class book, use a short straight line for absence. If a boy is marked absent and later comes in, a straight horizontal line thru the vertical line made to indicate absence will indicate tardiness. By arranging these marks in the square in some definite order the particular time of absence or tardiness can be told. For example, if a class comes to manual training once a week, a mark in the upper left hand corner may indicate absence or tardiness the first week of that month; if in the upper right hand corner, for the second week, etc.
In the column marked “Grade” will be recorded the teacher’s estimate of the boy’s work. In some schools boys are required to pay for material used. The column marked “Acct.” is to be used in keeping record of money paid by the pupil.
The column marked for deportment is not to be filled unless a boy insists in calling the instructor’s attention to himself because of his misconduct. On such occasions a check is recorded after his name at the time reproof is given.
These books will be taken up by the supervisor of manual training at the close of the year and will be kept by him.
Boys who enter or leave at times other than the beginning or close of the regular school period should have the fact and date indicated in connection with their names.
Where money is collected from students, the supervisor should insist that the instructor keep a separate purse for this purpose in addition to keeping a record in his class book. The class book record will be of service in checking the purse account and in aiding in settling any dispute between instructor and boy and in giving the supervisor a check in case any parent asks for information. It is not an unusual thing, however, for the instructor to find his purse account in excess of his book account. This is due to the fact that he has forgotten in the stress of other shop duties to make a record. In such a case the purse account, not the book account is to be turned in. Since the instructor is not a purchasing agent there will never be occasion for his book account to exceed his cash account.
The directions given for the grammar school class book apply equally to this high school form, except that the week is the unit instead of the month. If a class comes five days in the week, a mark in each of the four corners of the square for Attendance and one in the center will indicate that the boy was absent or tardy five times that week. Always placing the marks in definite places for definite days will indicate what day of the week a boy was absent or tardy.
(Form for High School)(Outer cover)
CLASS BOOK
School_____________________________Shop_______________________________Instructor_________________________
(Form for pages)
At the end of each month there will need to be sent to the regular grade teacher information suggested in the following form. This form, when the teacher takes off the data contained thereon, is to be returned to the manual training center. The information contained upon this form is to be used by the regular teacher in making up her monthly report for the boys whose names are recorded. Deportment and attendance will be combined with similar marks in the regular work while the manual training grade will be recorded in the space so indicated on the regular monthly report.
As for the form of the monthly report for the high school, most high schools have their marking systems so arranged that the different instructors can transfer their markings directly from the class book to the card. If a form is desired, the grammar school monthly report will answer as well for the high school by changing the words “School” and “Grade” to “Shop” and “Section.”
MONTHLY MANUAL TRAINING REPORT
To the Teacher—Deportment is satisfactory unless checked. A boy with two or more checks needs a word of caution and advice.
Excuses for absence or tardiness are to be given the regular teacher except where a boy is absent from manual training but is in attendance at the regular school the same day. In such a case the excuse is to be given the shop instructor.
In addition to this the teacher will appoint a monitor who will telephone to her the class attendance at the beginning of each manual training period. Unwarranted absentees are to be attended to by her.
This record is to be returned at the very earliest opportunity to the manual training shop. Otherwise, it may be the cause of delay in your getting your class report from manual training the following month.
In grading work the tendency today is not to try to make fine distinctions such as 83 per cent, etc. “Excellent” for work that is equal to that of a mechanic, “Good” for work that is above average, “Passed” for average work and “Poor” for work that is not acceptable will be sufficiently exact. If the system of marking is by numbers, mark by tens, as 90, 80, 70, and 60, seventy being “Passed.”
In conduct, a boy at the manual training center should be governed by the same rules that obtain in the regular school, with slight exception.
It is sometimes argued that shopwork provides an opportunity for free and natural or unrestricted action on the part of the pupils. This they argue is a distinct advantage of manual training over the restraint of the academic classroom and results in greater development educationally. Theoretically this seems reasonable. Practically, it soon becomes evident that young pupils, such as our manual training boys, are lacking sadly in judgment in the power to discriminate between liberty and license in shop conduct. Allow them the privilege of talking to one another about necessary matters without asking permission of the instructor and you must be a strong teacher to prevent abuse of the privilege. To allow unrestricted conversation, however, is decidedly bad. Even with grown men and women working in shops, only restricted conversation is allowed. The reason is evident. If with men and women of supposed judgment there must be insistence on order and system, how much more so with immature boys.
Have definite signals and insist upon their being heeded promptly. The three bells used in the regular school work serve well to open the school. One, the opening of the doors; two, the call to order; three, the tardy bell.
Some instructors do not allow the pupils to enter the shop—do not open the shop—until the second bell rings. Other instructors allow the boys to enter the shop at the first bell and begin work as soon as they like. The first method is used mainly in large cities where large classes have to be cared for and where the boys are morally inacute. The second is preferable in some ways. It allows the pupil to make the most of his time. It has the disadvantage in that it requires the instructor’s immediate supervision after the first bell, or else allows the pupil to commit errors because of no supervision. As a rule it is the boy who most needs the extra time who does not make use of the privilege.
Of course, where pupils are not admitted to the shop before the second bell, provision must be made for taking care of them inside the building in inclement weather.
To fully appreciate the merits of either practice it should be explained that each boy is to be held responsible for the tools at his bench and the class as a whole for all other tools. Each boy is expected to look over his tools upon coming into the shop that he may report any tool that is missing or damaged. Should he fail to make a report until late in the period, or not at all he should be made to feel the responsibility. Broken or lost tools should be paid for as the case merits.
At the close of the period, all tools are to be in their places ready for the instructor’s inspection. It should be explained to the pupils that this inspection is not to relieve them of responsibility but merely to assist them in avoiding an oversight.
Unnecessary damage to the bench is to be reported and the responsibility fixed as is that concerning tools.
At the ring of the tardy bell every boy should be in his place with his material, ready for work. Since the recitation generally follows the tardy bell, that should be the signal for quietness and attention such as is demanded in the regular schoolroom. The instructor will have marked his attendance by the time the pupils have got in order and the recitation may begin at once.
Insist upon continued attention during the recitation and demonstration. The author has made it a point to call upon any boy showing signs of inattention to recite. No boy likes to be considered a dullard and usually he will confess to inattention after which the proper note can be made of it.
Where the full half-day is given to shopwork, a five minute rest period is advisable. This allows the boys to relax and to make known to one another their ideas. Where possible, they should be allowed to move about and converse freely. Under no circumstances, however, should there be allowed scuffling or loud talk, either at rest or before the tardy bell. Aside from the damage that might be done themselves and the equipment, there should be instilled a feeling of respect for the shop environment.
The instructor should aim to have on each bench as many of the tools as will be in great demand. The general tools will be kept in a wall case. Permission should be given to boys to go after any such tool whenever he needs it without asking for it. Likewise it is advisableto allow boys standing permission to go to the drinking fountain, if it be in the same room, or to the wash basin or the finishing tables. It should be understood that there is to be no congregating at these places. Permission to leave the room should be required.
At the close of the period a tap of the bell will be the signal for the boys to put away their tools and work, get their wraps, brush off the shavings from the bench top and from under the bench into the aisle. When all are ready and the tools have been inspected, the teacher’s signal to rise, and then to pass may be given. Have the rows instructed to pass out in a definite order.
A few schools require the boys of the last class of the day to clean up the entire shop. In many communities this is not advisable for there is some justice in their complaints that they are not janitors. There will be no objection by boys in any community, however, to brushing out from under and around their own benches. This practice makes the janitor’s work comparatively light and does not offend the boy’s sense of justice or fitness. They do not object to the cleaning of the room so much as to the idea of doing what another is paid for doing.
The discussion of ways and means of maintaining discipline is not appropriate in a book of such brevity as this. Sufficient to say that a manual training teacher to do his best work should be a teacher well trained in methods of teaching and the psychological bases back of them. He should at least understand the art if not the science of good teaching.
Where an instructor is engaged in teaching his entire time it is not just that he should be required to attend to formal disciplining of pupils. In most schools, therefore, an instructor, like the regular grade teacher, conducts his shop as best he knows how. When a boy insists in being unruly in spite of all the instructor can do, then that boy should be sent to the principal of the building in which he belongs for further treatment. The shop instructor will be expected to make use of the many little devices for maintaining order that are required of other teachers. Otherwise he will find himself wanting to send boys to the principals more frequently than he should. His maintenance of order will be a much easier task than is that of the regular teacher.
While these restrictions may occasionally work a hardship, they effectually prevent such injustices as the boy who is inattentive during the demonstration bothering the boy who was attentive, when it comes to doing the work. Our American boy is not in much danger of beinginjured by our school requirements of order and discipline. In fact, he would be benefited by a little more strictness than is now the custom, both at school and at home.
The high school shop bells will of necessity be those for other classes with the exception of the double period. There will be no necessity for a rest period, of course.
An examination of the Lesson Outlines ofPart IIwill make clear the component parts of the lesson. These parts are: Recitation, Preparation for Demonstration, Demonstration, Work.
In making an analysis of the lesson, let us begin with “Preparation for Demonstration.” The recitation really belongs to the preceding lesson, and will be discussed last. The preparation for demonstration consists in having a pupil read aloud sections of a text which bear directly upon the demonstration which is to follow. The purpose of this is primarily to assist in preparing the minds of the pupils for the demonstration. Of course this preparation could be made orally by the instructor. In centers where the classes repeat the work day after day for the full week, the instructor finds himself enthusiastic in giving the beginning classes their lessons but, in spite of good intentions, slighting the lessons of the classes that come the latter part of the week. The reading from the text insures every class equal attention. Of course, the instructor will enliven the text by the addition of information from his own experience. There are other uses for the text, such as a reference book in case the worker finds as he works that he has forgotten some point. Also it enables the instructor to formulate definite questions on the work with some assurance that the student can answer them the week following. The preparation must not be too elaborate. This is a common fault of beginners in teaching. It is a means, not an end.
Some instructors object to reading before the demonstration on the ground that it detracts from the demonstration. When one thinks only of the exercise of observation this seems reasonable. It must be remembered, however, that young pupils are not skilled in making observations as are grown people. It is wise therefore to give them some aid in making their observations by giving them preliminary hints. In fact, those instructors who object to the preliminary reading frequently do precisely the same thing, that is prepare the boys for the demonstration, when they talk during the demonstration—they usuallyexplain each step just before taking it. With the preliminary reading of the text very little talking need interrupt the demonstration, which may proceed rather rapidly.
Here one sees the necessity for a well organized course. Each lesson must have its subject matter connected with previous knowledge of the class.
A successful demonstration demands an equipment such that each boy may see what is being done by the instructor. The closest of attention should be demanded. The matter to be demonstrated should be unfolded step by step. It is not necessary that all the steps be given. Any steps that have been given in a previous demonstration may be presupposed. Little time should be lost between the demonstration and its application.
The remainder of the lesson, the recitation, is to be given at the beginning of the next period or session. If shopwork has been lacking in one thing more than another it has been in the failure of the instructor to “clinch” his instruction. “The best test that a person has understood a thing is, that he can reproduce it in his own way in his own words.”
The woodshop instructor has a right and, in justice to the boys and his work, should insist that they stand squarely upon both feet and express the information asked for in good, plain, correct English. A boy who says he “knows but cannot tell it” only half knows. Unless he learns the lesson well enough to express it well, that lesson will soon fade so that when the instructor attempts to build upon that knowledge later, as he must, there will be trouble for both teacher and boy.
In written tests insist upon a definite form and neat papers. For example, on one line have the date and name, one to the left side of the paper and the other to the right. In the middle of the paper on the line just below this, have the name of the subject. Insist upon marginal spaces at either side of the paper. Do not have the questions copied upon the boys’ papers, but insist that their answers shall be in the form of complete statements, a subject and predicate—so complete that the instructor need not refer to the question to mark the answers.
At all times use good English, never rough language if you expect the boys to respect you and the surroundings. Quietly correct their grammatical errors. These things cost little in effort and assist in overcoming the slovenly tendencies so characteristic of boys at this age.
In the Lesson Outlines will be found questioning hints under Recitation. Some fifteen or twenty years ago our text books in geography, grammar, history, etc., had suggestive questions after each lesson. These questions were very helpful but like many another good thing they were abused. Weak teachers found it easier to conduct a recitation by putting these questions to the students in routine order, instead of using them merely as hints to enable them to present to the pupils all the matter of the lesson. To conduct a recitation by asking routine questions like conducting a recitation with a text open before the teacher when pupils are required to recite without the text, is not the sign of the highest type of teaching and is bound to result in more or less formalism and lack of vital interest.
Of recent years, texts have gone to the other extreme and not a few educators are wishing texts would give some hint as to the points of importance in the lesson. This the present book aims to do in the hints by questions under Recitation. These questions are purposely put in an incomplete form so that the instructor must needs formulate them before putting them to the pupil. They are intended, as are any public speaker’s notes, merely to enable him to carry on the discussion or recitation in a systematic and logical manner, missing none of the important facts to be brought out.
The whole time taken in any one lesson for recitation, preparation for demonstration and demonstration should not exceed, ordinarily, twenty-five or thirty minutes.
It is a skilled teacher who can present a lesson to the best advantage. The best possible presentation is a subject that manual training men can investigate with profit. Asking questions and getting answers and giving demonstrations may mean much or may mean little in the way of developing the boys—nor can you tell always by the material results obtained—it all depends upon how these things are done.
By maintenance we refer to the cost of keeping a center running after it has once been fully equipped, exclusive of teachers’ salaries. This will be found to have several variable factors entering. A careless instructor can very quickly run the cost of maintenance to a point almost prohibitive. The loss of tools by theft, waste of lumber in getting out stock, etc., the careless planning of the work so that articles are made, requiring much lumber and little work, quickly makes inroads upon the appropriation for manual training purposes.
An allowance of ten per cent. for depreciation in equipment should be sufficient under all ordinary conditions. An allowance of one dollar per pupil per year should be ample where all material used is provided free. In fact, observation covering a period of several years shows that boys coming one-half day a week for the school year of ten months and making models similar to those in “Projects in Beginning Woodwork and Mechanical Drawing” cost the Board approximately seventy-six cents per pupil for maintenance. This center had very close supervision, however, and waste and breakage was reduced to a minimum.
The most prolific source of monetary outlay is caused by planning projects—it makes no difference whether they are small or large, a boy uses just as much lumber in a given amount of time,—that require little effort in their construction. For illustration, a boy may make a taboret with four solid sides and with butt joints where he should be making a taboret with grooved joints. The former construction has its place, but should not monopolize the whole scheme as it is so often allowed to do. A course properly planned will show that the cost of eighth grade work, such as taborets, etc., is no greater than that of the seventh grade which is composed of much smaller but more numerous projects.
Again, it is a mistake to plan many small projects consisting of small parts in the hope of effecting economy. The awkwardness of the average grammar school boy will make it necessary to discard much of such stock. Where the parts are of some size, it is possible in most every instance to give him a new but smaller set of dimensions and require him to continue to work on the piece originally given.
A scrap box for holding small pieces that remain after cutting out stock from the board, closely supervised so that the boys shall look over the pieces it contains before cutting a full board, is another source of economy. There should be comparatively little “kindling” for the janitor, if due care is taken by the instructor. Above all things, it should be understood and enforced that no boy is to discard a piece once he has worked upon it without the instructor’s permission. This he seldom needs to give for he can usually show the boy how to make further use of the piece in question by reducing its size.
While most schools provide the materials free, some do not, but require the pupils to pay the actual cost of the material used should they care to take the article home. There is something to be said in favor of each practice. The latter is not unjust as it provides thenecessary training. It tends to make class distinction, however, in communities where pupils are not able to purchase their pieces. On the other hand, it discourages the taking of things that are not really wanted and permits a most economical administration—provided the supervisor uses judgment in the selection of his projects. It tends to make him resourceful in providing projects of interest, which is an advantage provided the projects selected are in harmony with the general plans of the course, which is supposed to provide for the orderly introduction of processes.
High school pupils, according to the course outlined herein, will have about the same amount of time in the half-year allotted to benchwork in wood as do the grammar school boys in the full school year. The cost of maintenance will therefore be approximately the same for the half year as is that of the grades for the year.
In purchasing supplies it is possible, where the courses are organized and the materials standardized as indicated herein, to save by ordering in quantity lots. The lumber can be purchased by the 1,000 feet of the various thicknesses wanted. Likewise the hardware can be got in quantity lots, with the assurance that next year’s work will call for any stock that may not be used the present year.
Short lengths in lumber are just as good as long for manual training purposes and are cheaper.
Whatever is to be purchased by open quotations should be definitely specified so that one and only one quality can be delivered.
The printed catalogs of the various dealers with their retail prices are helpful, tho these prices are always “shaded” when quantity quotations are asked.