Unless the teacher is on the alert some interesting evidences of successful teaching may go unnoticed. Some of the changes in the pupil's appearance come about gradually and without audible comment. Such was the case in one class. Most of the year Betty had been wearing an old 1-piece wool dress. During the winter she had worn a belt of the dress material at a low waistline, so that the belt covered the line at which the pleats were stitched to the dress. Early in the spring, and, as it happened, near the beginning of the art unit, Betty evidently became much interested in the styles that advocated a return of the normal waistlines and succumbed to the appeal of the new leather belts in the store window. For several days she proudly wore a wide leather belt fairly tight and high, with this straight flannel dress, all unconscious of the fullness bunching above the belt, the poor proportions of the dress, and the poorly finished seam where the pleats were joined to the dress. After some time had been spent on the art unit in which no direct reference had been made to Betty's belt, the teacher was very much pleased one morning to notice that Betty had taken in the side seams of her dress to remove some of the fullness and was wearing the leather belt a little more loosely and somewhat lower, so that the space divisions of the dress were more pleasing. Is there a better evidence of successful art training than that which shows that the pupil is able to adapt in an attractive way the garments of her present wardrobe so that they measure up to the individual's desire to be up to date?
A Kansas teacher reports that she overhears comments among girls before and after school which reveal evidences that art is influencing tastes. Here are some examples of these comments:
That color is too bright for her.
That particular green dress makes her skin look yellow.
Those beads harmonize beautifully with that dress.
She is one girl who should not wear her belt high. It makes her look so short and dumpy.
I have given my sister my colored scarf, which I now realize clashed with everything I had, but fits in with her things.
Better pupil contributions to class work constitute another evidence of the effectiveness of art instruction. These manifest themselves in—
1. Voluntary reports and comments of observations and experiences.