After obtaining the curriculum requirements, texts and apparatus for classroom use, the teacher turned to the day to day schedule and operation of the classroom. Some of this, such as the daily schedule was, if not mandated by law, at least strongly suggested by the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. The daily activities included the opening and closing exercises, inspirational messages and even busy work. Suggestions for the proper management and activities of the classroom were abundant in the manuals, professional journals and periodicals of the day.

Daily Classroom Schedule

The importance of the daily scheduling of a district school can not be over emphasized. With students ranging in age from 4 to 21(the ages by Indiana law that public schools must accept) in varying levels of study that covered a span of eight years, a teacher could quickly lose control of the classroom without a workable schedule of activities.

The 1881-1882 Superintendent’s Report includes a chapter by the Superintendent of Knox County’s schools in which he carefully lays out a course study for a five grade country school. He follows this with a basic daily schedule, which he feels is the basis for a successful school. He states "No school is prepared to properly carry out and enforce a course of study till it is supplied with a good clock and program."

A "Daily Programme of Study and Recitations For A District School" was included in the Superintendent’s Report of 1886. The schedule was devised by the Indiana County Superintendent’s Association and endorsed by the Superintendent and state board. The program laid out for the country schoolteacher a strongly recommended schedule for a day in a country school. This was a minute by minute schedule of recitation and individual study for the five grades of a country school. Each grade worked within each subject area singly or in-group recitation, as well as working individually on "slate work," "blackboard work," and "book work." ( "A Daily Programme of Study…") The schedule noted at the bottom that "additional branches" could be studied before 9 AM or after 4 PM, the designated hours of school.

Raub devotes 5 pages of School Management to the topic of daily programs. He begins his discussion with the characteristics of a good program, the do’s and don’ts of programming for a multi-graded classroom. (Raub: 72-76; Lind: 34-39; Welch: 41-14; 1881 Superintendent’s Report: Part I, 76-79; 1886 Superintendent’s Report: Patr I, 68-69)

Opening Exercises

Opening exercises were strongly emphasized in both "How To" manuals and the educational literature of the day. Raub and Welch each devoted space to a detailed discussion of the value of opening exercises and then went on to make suggestions as to content.

At an Indiana County Superintendent’s Association meeting in Wayne County Indiana, the Hamilton County Superintendent was chosen to present his ideas on "Opening Exercises in the Public Schools". He discussed not only the particulars of what should be included in opening exercises but the educational philosophy behind having the exercises included in the school day. Superintendent Morris’s article finishes with a letter describing thoughts on opening exercises by the Principal of Spiceland Academy, one of the finest graded schools in the state. Opening exercises were obviously a matter of great concern to all educators.

Mottoes were also a topic of much discussion in educational journals and books. Mottoes are frequently mentioned as a basic part of opening exercises. Every teacher seemed to be constantly looking for new inspirational words, passages and ideas for the schoolroom blackboard or morning opening exercises. School supply catalogs and the advertising pages of the professional journals were filled with motto books, cards and banners for sale. (Welch: 78-79; Raub: 80-82; Opening Exercises in the Public Schools; Opening Exercises and Mottoes from Indiana School Journal, etc.)

Recitations

The importance of recitation in the classroom is laid out in an article of The Educationalist. The author, probably the editor A. C. Shortridge, stresses that recitation is for the student to demonstrate his mastery of the lesson at hand not a time for the teacher to continue instructing. ( See Educationalist, October, 1873: 3)

Raub’s School Management contains a detailed outline of the purpose, and types of recitations, and even the responsibilities of teacher and student in classroom recitation. He sets out the goals of recitation and a variety of methods to achieve them. Each method is discussed as to the advantages and disadvantages of each. In reading his material it becomes clear that student recitation was the backbone of the country school educational system. Lind stays true to the title of his book, Methods of Teaching in the Country School and simply provides model recitations in his book. He provides models for history, arithmetic and grammar recitations at primary and advanced levels. ( See Raub: 111 –137; Lind: 183-198)

Busy Work

Busy work was a matter of great concern for the country schoolteacher. A classroom with as many as eight different levels of learning was a great challenge to keep quietly occupied. The problem was especially critical for the lowest learning levels in the room. These young students, five and six years old, were not proficient enough in either reading or writing to keep occupied for any length of time with a text book or a slate. Therefore, the viable curriculum item "Busy Work" was created. Welch spends a page in his How to book discussing the necessity of busy work. Although Raub doesn’t refer to busy work per se he does talk about the necessity of keeping younger students busy and suggests blackboard drawing. Busy work ideas even appear in the Indiana School Journal and the Educationalist. (Welch: 77; Busy Work articles)

Holidays and Special Activities

The professionals understood the tedium that could be experienced in a classroom of 40 to 50 students of varying degrees of age, size and education that must all be instructed at different levels simultaneously. Great emphasis was put on making certain days special. Thanksgiving and Christmas were natural days of celebration. But Lincoln’s birthday, Washington’s birthday and even the birthday’s of famous authors or composers could be the excuse for special activities and recitations. Special program and curriculum ideas for these holidays and more were found every month in the professional literature.

First day and last day of school
For new teachers nothing was more terrifying than the first day of school. Mary Bradford, who began her teaching career at the tender age of 16, writes of several "first days" in her Memoirs. Mary’s first, "first day" was spent cleaning a filthy, dilapidated log cabin but the professional pundits had more lofty goals in mind when they wrote plans and ideas for the teacher. Welch laid out the necessary preparations for an organized and impressive first day of classes as did several authors of articles appearing in the School Journal. ( Memoirs of Mary D. Bradford: 131-135; Welch:11-12; First Day articles)

The final day of the year was also important but more appears in memoirs and reminiscences than in the professional works of the day. Arthur Brasted was born in 1880 in Kusciusko County and attended school there from the age of five until his family moved west in 1888. He recalls that the last day of school in the spring was a huge celebration with food brought by the students. He commented his favorite were the cakes and pies but the meal included hams, chicken, pickled eggs, bread and butter and home-made vanilla ice cream. After the outdoor meal, Arthur recalled a program in which every student recited or sang. He remembered at the age of 91, one of the poems from a McGuffey’s Reader that he recited:

We live for those who love us,
Whose hearts are kind and true.
For the heaven that smiles above us,
And awaits our spirit, too. (Brasted:23)

Mary Bradford writes of two "last days" of a school term. One included an elaborate play devised by the children as an exhibition of their talents. She recalls purchasing decorated Merit Cards as a last day reward for her students. Marshall Barber and his friends brought autograph albums and memory books to school for the final day. (See Bradford: 139-140, 161-162; Barber:21-23; Beeman: 6)

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was the first truly American holiday and was made much of in the nineteenth century. It celebrated both the American experience from its beginnings and the pioneering and independent spirit that Victorian Americans found so inspirational. Thanksgiving played out in reality the classic American fable of humble beginnings overcome by hard work and faith, much like the Horatio Alger stories so popular at the time. Thanksgiving and the story surrounding it was a perfect for a long study of early American history, Pilgrim faith, Indians, ancient history and the triumph of good that culminated for the Pilgrims with a feast and the schoolroom with a celebration.

The professional literature suggested everything from academic studies of the Pilgrims and the origins of the holiday in early Greece and the Jewish tradition to elaborate programs celebrating the day. The public schools of St. Joseph County were provided with a special program to be used in the schools. It was copied from a program that had appeared two years earlier in the Educational Weekly. Even the Indiana School Journal contained Thanksgiving activity suggestions.

Christmas
The holiday traditions that we look on as the "old fashioned" celebration we love today, Santa Claus, decorated trees, gifts, special foods, and music, were just being firmly established in American culture. Many recent immigrants had brought new Christmas traditions to America with a centuries old love of the holiday. Educators took up the holiday celebration in the classroom too. The supplemental periodicals carried Christmas stories for all age levels. Classrooms were decorated, entertainments given and schools were closed for a holiday. The holiday was used for teaching moral lessons and giving to the poor was encouraged by the teachers. In memoirs, many authors who were school age during the last quarter of the nineteenth century remembered fondly the school programs, teacher gifts and a holiday from classes for at least the day before and day of Christmas.

Lincoln’s Birthday
Earlier in the century Washington’s Birthday had ranked with the 4th of July as the most important American holidays. The Civil War had elevated Lincoln, "The Savoir of the Union" to the venerated position that Washington had previously held as the "Father of Our Country." Lincoln’s Birthday was an event in every classroom in America. Poetry and prose celebrated his life and his part in defending the Constitution and reuniting the country. So great was Lincoln in the eyes of the people that even his death anniversary was cause for remembrance. (See Indiana School Journal, April 1885)

Arbor Day
Much discussion took place in the education journals of the late 1870’s and early 80’s about the need for a state Arbor Day. Other states had initiated a day in conjunction with their schools in order to plant trees, shrubs and flowers to beautify the school grounds and other public areas. The City Beautiful Movement was in its infancy in America and people were becoming more aware of the landscape around them. Suburban, landscaped communities were being introduced and central Indiana had two, Woodruff Place and Irvington, both east of the city of Indianapolis. Arbor Day was seen as a way to combine beautification and the public at large, especially school children. Most school grounds, urban and rural, were ill-kept and barren. With the institution of Arbor Day around the state, school grounds could be improved and nature could be celebrated. In April 1884, Indiana Governor Porter and Superintendent of Public Instruction John W. Holcombe officiated at the first Indiana Arbor Day celebration. In December of 1883, the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Horticultural Society had voted to initiate such a day. The city and county superintendents were asked to support the activity and April 14th was appointed as Arbor Day for 1884. The full proceedings of the day was reprinted in the 1883-1884 Superintendent of Public Instruction Report and Arbor Day was added to the days of celebration for Indiana school children. Immediately there was a call for a fall Arbor day because so many country schools had closed by the April date and educators across the state felt that all children should have the opportunity to participate in Arbor Day activities. (See attached 1883-1884 Report: Part 1, 120-145; Educational Weekly and Indiana School Journal articles.)

Entertainments and other school festivities
Teachers usually had the authority to create special days, events or entertainments for their classroom. Entertainments were beneficial to the teacher for they provided an opportunity to show her teaching prowess to parents, trustees and even the county superintendent through poetry and prose recitations, debates, plays and even spelling or arithmetic bees. Entertainments were usually held in the evening and refreshments contributed by the students were not unusual. Students dressed up, as best they could, and proudly showed off their newly acquired educational skills. Sometimes money was charge for the evening’s festivities and used to buy books for the school library, apparatus or supplies for the school. Fundraisers for the needy in the community were also arranged. Also, at this time (1886) pennies for the base of Bartholdi’s statue were being collected at schoolhouse entertainments all over the United States.

Bibliography

Barber, Marshall A. The Schoolhouse at Prairie View. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1953.

Beeman, Larken. The Life and Times of the Elisha Cragen and Catherine Luca Beeman Family. Unpublished manuscript.

Boone, Richard G. A History of Education in Indiana. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1892

Bradford, Mary. "Memoirs of Mary Bradford". Wisconsin Magazine of History, September 1930 - December 1932.

Brasted, Arthur, Unpublished manuscript, 1971. Indiana Historical Society

The Education Weekly. Indianapolis: 1884-1886.

The Educationalist. Indianapolis: 1873-1874.

Fuller, Wayne. One-Room Schools in the Middle West. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1994.

The Indiana School Journal. Volumes 1881-1886. Indianapolis.

Lind, G. Dallas. Methods of Teaching in Country Schools. Danville, Indiana: The "Normal Teacher" Publishing House, 1880.

Raub, Albert N. School Management. Lock Haven, PA: E.L. Raub & Co., 1885.

Report of the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. Volumes 1881-82; 1883-84; 1885-86. Indianapolis: Department of Public Instruction.

Welch, A.M. How to Organize, Classify and Teach a Country School. Chicago and Omaha: W.M. Welch Publishers, 1886.