Most of the time the teacher was the only school official seen by students. She had responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the school building. The students usually helped with maintaining the fire, cleaning the building, oiling the floors, and other duties. Sometimes the teacher would pay the older students from her own pocket for such things as cutting wood, starting the fire, and emptying ashes. The students had certain chores to do to help the teacher. Girls usually swept floors and cleaned the windows while the boys carried water and firewood.
Most teachers had a state teaching certificate requiring at least 2 years of college or normal school. Sometimes the teacher was only required to have graduated from high school or even just to be able to read or write. The school board usually required the teacher to sign a contract stating her responsibilities and the board's obligations to her. The pay during this period usually ranged from $50 to $80 per month. Out of this, many teachers had to pay board and buy many of her own teaching materials.
The teachers were usually well-liked by the students. Discipline seemed to be a small problem. Teachers were supported by parents, so most of the time a note home took care of any problems. The classrooms were often so crowded that it was hard for one person to control everything happening in the classroom. Some of the students remembered slipping out and returning later without the teacher even noticing their absence. Students said the teachers never raised their voices or fussed at them. Some teachers were said to rule with an iron hand and others were poor disciplinarians.
If the teacher did not live locally, she was required to board with a local family. They report paying from $12 - $15 per month. In one case a teacher rode a bus for several miles and then walked 3 miles after getting off the bus. When it was cold, she would stop at houses along the way to warm up and still get to school by 9:00 A.M. Another teacher had to cross the river each way in her two and one-half mile trek to school. She later married the young man who ferried her across the river.
The teacher had to supply her own teaching materials. Sometimes the school board supplied a broom and chalk. Some school boards supplied wood, coal, and oil to clean the floor. Most of the time, a teacher had to supply these things herself or depend on students and parents to supply them. One teacher said the county gave her $15 per year to purchase books for the library. The students bought their own textbooks and then sold them or handed them down the next year. The textbooks had no teacher guides.
Some of the teachers used magazines, Sears and Roebuck catalogs, and borrowed books to supplement their teaching. These were often used to give students real-life applications to future needs. For example, one teacher indicated that her school was for grades 1-5.During her first year of teaching she had a 17 year old girl who had never been in school before. She knew she couldn't treat her like the other students. She wanted to give her the skills she would need as an adult. She taught her to read, do arithmetic and fill in orders using the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
It is evident from the interviews that several teachers were adjusting the curriculum to meet the needs of the students. Another teacher heard of a girl who dropped out of school in the third grade. The teacher visited the home and asked her to come back to school, explaining that if she would, the teacher would start her in the seventh grade where she belonged. The girl came back and did very well. She later graduated from high school and from the University of Virginia with nursing degree.
The children were kept busy to cut down on the discipline problems. Many teachers reinforced their lessons by doing outside activities. For example, they would read a story about a groundhog, and then they would go look for one. Throughout the interviews, the teachers remarked about how much the children enjoyed learning. Students said they felt protected and loved in the one-room school. They were very close and felt they got a good foundation for their education and for life. Most students didn't want to leave to go on to the bigger schools.
The teachers made good use of their school hours. Most schools started at 9 o'clock in the morning and required five or five and one-half hours of instructional time excluding recess. All conferences were held outside school hours. Teachers took papers home to grade so they would not waste school time. If school time was lost because of illness or weather, the teacher was responsible for making up the time. One student said her teacher gave the students ice cream to encourage them to attend school on Saturday to make up the time she missed because her mother was ill.
One unwritten expectation for teachers was the home visitation. If the teacher lived in the community, she was often invited for dinner and sometimes spent the night. One of the teachers recalled a dinner experience. She sat at the table of one of her students. There were many family members present. The table was full of food . There was one platter of meat. Being a farm girl, she identified the dark meat as wild game. She knew she didn't want any of it. She said the meat was offered to her several times. Each time she refused. Finally, everyone at the table laughed. They admitted they were trying to fool her. The meat was ground hog. The mother went into the kitchen and brought out the good meat which was fried chicken. When asked why they would try to trick her, she indicated that many of the teachers were city girls and wouldn't know the difference. It was one way for the families to prove they knew more than the teacher.
The supervisor and superintendent rarely visited the school more than once each year. One teacher said her supervisor would visit every month and bring books because she knew that the teacher enjoyed reading stories to the class and had very few books. One student remembers a supervisor who would visit and listen to the students read. To this day, there is a reading award given to a student in the name of that former supervisor.
Administrators would visit more often if there were any problems. One teacher remembers that her supervisor would visit at the end of the week when the children were involved in plays and recitations. After school hours, she and her supervisor would hold their conference outside. The supervisor would take the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings of the school grounds. She remembers that as a pleasant time for both of them.