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I have already said that boys watch their teachers' faces to see if they
are in a good or a bad mood. If the teacher is always cheerful and
loving, the boys will no longer watch him, for they will have learned to
trust him, and all anxiety and strain will disappear. If the teacher
displays constant cheerfulness, he sends out among his boys streams of
energy and good will, new life pours into them, their attention is
stimulated, and the sympathy of the teacher conquers the carelessness of
the boy.
Just as a boy learns control of action on the play-ground, so he may
learn there this virtue of cheerfulness. To be cheerful in defeat makes
the character strong, and the boy who can be cheerful and good-tempered
in the face of the team which has just defeated him is well on the way
to true manliness.
5. _One-pointedness_. One-pointedness, the concentration of attention
on each piece of work as it is being done, so that it may be done as
well as possible, largely depends upon interest. Unless the teacher is
interested in his work, and loves it beyond all other work, he will not
be able to be really one-pointed. He must be so absorbed in his school
duties that his mind is continually occupied in planning for his boys,
and looks upon everything in the light of its possible application to
his own particular work.
One-pointedness means enthusiasm, but enthusiasm is impossible without
ideals. So the teacher who desires to be one-pointed must be full of
ideals to which he is eager to lead his school.
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