FREEDOM FROM DISTRACTIONS

There is no possibility of securing good results from a lesson period constantly broken in upon by distractions.  The mind cannot do its best work if the attention is diverted every few moments from the train of thought, requiring a new start every now and then.  Every teacher has had the experience of the sudden drop in interest and concentration that has come from some interruption, and the impossibility of bringing the class back to the former level after the break.  The loss in a recitation disturbed by distractions is comparable to the loss of power and efficiency in stopping a train of cars every half mile throughout its run instead of allowing it an unbroken trip.  Careful planning and good management can eliminate many of the distractions common to the church school lesson hour.

Distractions from classes reciting together.—­The class should have a room or space for its own sole use, and not be compelled to recite in a large room occupied by several other classes.  The older Chinese method of education was to have each pupil study his lesson aloud, each seeking to drown out the confusion by the force of his voice.  Many of our church schools of the present day remind one of this ancient method.  The church building being planned primarily for adults, not enough classrooms are provided for the children, and it is a common thing to find half a dozen classes grouped in the one room, each constantly distracted by the sights and sounds that so insistently appeal to the senses.  It is wholly impossible to do really good teaching under such conditions.

Every church building should provide classrooms for teaching its children.  If these cannot be had in the original edifice, an addition should be made of a special school building.  As a last resort, a system of curtains or movable partitions should be provided which will isolate each class from every other class, and thereby save at least the visual distractions and perhaps a part of the auditory distractions.  To fail to do this is to cultivate in the child a habit of inattention to the lesson, and to kill his interest in the church school and its work because of its failure to impress him or attract his loyalty.

Planning routine to prevent distractions.—­Not infrequently a wholly unnecessary distraction is caused by a poorly planned method of handling certain routine matters.  The writer recently observed a junior class get under way in what promised to be a very interesting and profitable lesson.  They had an attractive lesson theme, a good teacher, a separate classroom, and seemed to be mentally alert.  Soon after the lesson had got well started an officer appeared at the door with an envelope for the collection, and the story was stopped to pass the envelope around the class.  It was not possible after this interruption to pick up the thread of the lesson without some loss