lost in a mass of irrelevant or monotonous material of
little value.

Lack of movement in recitation.--Some recitations suffer from
_slowness of movement_ of the thought and plan of the lesson. We
sometimes say of a book or a play or a sermon that it was "slow." This
is equivalent to saying that the book or play or sermon lacks movement;
it dallies by the way, and has unnecessary breaks in its continuity, or
is slow in its action. The same principle applies in the recitation.
Pauses that are occupied with thought or meditation are not, of course,
wasted; they may even be the very best part of the lesson period. But
the rather empty lapses which occur for no reason except that the
teacher lacks readiness and preparation, and does not quite know at
every moment just what he is to do next, or what topic should at this
moment come in--it is such awkward and meaningless breaks as these that
spoil the continuity of thought and interest and result in boredom. We
must remember that every pause or interval of mere empty waiting without
expectancy, or without some worthy thought occupying the mind, is a
waste of energy, time, and opportunity, and also a training in
inattention.

Low standards.--The acceptance of _low standards_ of preparation and
response in the recitation is fatal to high-grade work and results. If
it comes to be expected and taken as a matter of course both by teacher
and pupils that children shall come to the class from week to week with
no previous study on the lesson, then this is precisely what they will
do. The standards of the class should make it impossible that continual
failure to prepare or recite shall be accepted as the natural and
expected thing, or treated with a spirit of levity. The lesson hour is
the very heart and center of the school work, and failure here means a
breakdown of the whole system. The standards of teacher and class should
be such that probable failure to do one's part in the recitation shall
be looked forward to by the child with some apprehension and looked back
upon with some regret if not humiliation. In order to maintain high
standards of preparation the cooperation of the home must be secured, at
least for the younger children, and parents must help the child wisely
and sympathetically in the study of the lesson.

1. To what extent are you able to hold the attention of your pupils
in the recitation? Is their attention ready, or do you have to work
hard to