these suggestions not apply to the teacher as well as to the
child? Why should she not express herself, the interests of school life
and of the pupil in the same free, natural way?

Upon entering a schoolroom the teacher finds the blackboards bare and
dull. There is little in the line of decoration in the room and in order
to relieve this monotony she stencils a border, the picture of some great
hero or well-known author, draws with colored chalk the inevitable flags
crossed at right angles or puts upon the board some design which possibly
may or perhaps may not have relation to the needs of the children, their
life and activities, or the industries of the school.

When the drawing on the part of the child becomes the natural and free
expression of the activities and interests of every-day life, and the
teacher uses this graphic language in the same manner, the blackboards
will be found constantly in use and upon them an ever changing series of
drawings. These drawings should be illustrations of the geography,
history, literature, nature work or any other line demanding their aid.
Let them be drawings upon which a few moments of time are spent, a free
sketch illustrating the object or topic as a means of making the subject
clearer in the minds of the pupils, not a picture produced by the labored
use of chalk and eraser, to be kept upon the board indefinitely as a bit
of decoration.

[Illustration: Plate 1]

[Illustration: Plate 2]

Let me suggest the practice of the following strokes and later we will try
their application in various drawings recommended by teachers from several
schools. In these illustrations use about two-thirds of a stick of soft
blackboard crayon, using the large end and drawing with the side of the
chalk. This use of the crayon will produce any tone from white to neutral
gray.

No. 1. Place the chalk in a horizontal position and try a smooth even
stroke one or two feet in length.

[Illustration: Plate 3]

No. 2. A similar stroke in a graded scale letting the pressure become less
and less toward the lower end of the stroke.

No. 3. Reverse No. 2 hardly touching the board at first and increasing the
pressure toward the lower end.

If charcoal is used for the lower tones, a very satisfactory scale may be
produced as in the last illustration on Plate 1.

No. 4. Combine No. 2 and No. 3 in a single stroke. Try all these strokes
again and again in a vertical, horizontal, oblique, and