The Portland daily press., 1873-11-14
Teachers Institute.
FOURTH DAY.

by teachers in the exercises seems to be on thu
increase
The exercises of the afternoon were opened
by Mr.. Corthell with prayer and with the read
ing of scripture.
Prot. Allen then professed his readiness to an.
swer any questions in regard TO matters al
reaoy treated of during the progress of the In.
srltute. 1t was asked at what age of papi
the question why" the reason for things
should be asked. Mr.. Allen thought it should
not be asked until the pupil developed a de-
sire TO know and to examine the grounds upon
which an assertion is based. The tendency is
to force" the scholar in this regard. This ten
deDcy should be Carefully guarded against.
Some pupils are so stolid that curiosity and de-
sire to learn must be awakened but never
forced
Mr. Wentworth wished to learn Prof. AL
lens views on the suggestion in the morning s
PRESS in regard to the study of mental arth-
metic. Prof Allen replied that the only mat
ter necessary to be remembered is the process
in arithmetical operations. BY means of this
the business man performs the most intricate
operations, and concerns himself not in the
least with the reasons. The arithmetic max
ers have feartully muddled the matter There
is much verbiage in the books. Arithmetics
should bc thrown out of the school, and teach
ers OF arithmetic put in their places When a
pupil knows how to add and subtract, multi
ply and divide whole and fractional numbers,
| he knows the whole of arithmetic proper. Ra-
ito and proportion have no place in arithmetic
They belong to geometry. If you wish to know
of them study DR.. Hills little book which is
worth its weight in gold but the merits of
which have been strangely ov, rlooked,
Prof. Allen then took up the subject of the
afternoon, Conducting Reoitations," and
dwelt at first upon the teachers preparation
for the recitation, which he judged to be usu-
ally all too small The teacher should never
go before class unless she has something new
and fresh to present Lot combined in the book.
Ii it only be lesson in spelling you ought to
be able to give at least one fact beyond the
mere definition of the word. Teachers should
read upon the subjects which they teach, not
text books merely, but the literature of the
world He then insisted that the teacher
should have plan or aim in each recitation,
and not be rigidly bound by the rules
OF the text books. 1t is not at
all necessary that the cut and dried lessons of
the book makers should be given in their es-
tabl shed order. The teacher should under
stand his subject, independent of his books.
what folly to treat of the cases of nouns before
the pupil knows aught OF the transitive verb or
the proposition 1t is conducting him along a
blind path Again, the teacher should know
how to question, how to lead his pupils to tell
al they know. The merits of individual and
class questions were discussed aud the obiec-
tions to them torcibly presented. The teacher
should work RAPIDLY, should strike when the
iron isbhot, should magnetic her class. should
keep them under a red-hot fire of shell, should
work.
recess was then allowed, after which Mr.
Corthell resumed the subject of words and
their uses" taken up the other day. Children
should be taught the correct use, the powers and
beauties of the English language at home Tho
habits OF speaking correctly and readily mus
DE- acquired before the sixteen, else it will be
found very difficult of requirement. The ora
tor a1d the grammariau must b. formed in the
cradle. Care should be taken that the culture
OF the home be not lost on the pla, aground
1t should be borne i'll mind that evil communica-
tols corrupt good speech as well as good man.
ners. The study of language in our schools
should begin in the primaries We should not
wait TIL he comes into the higher grades. BY
this time the child should know how to speak
well and to write WELL Then no time need be
lost in the correcting of INDUCED errors But
how is the Eight use of language to be taught?
Most eifectually by example La the primaries
example is CT much greater use than precept
+ hot. t,,l1r ~
unconsciously, initiate her. By frequent con-
versations with scholars, unofficial be it remem-
bered, much good in this regard can be accom-
pished. The teacher who is master of his art
can draw out" children, can ascertain and
take advantage of their modes of thinking
Composition should be required at an early
aye. The Child, properly managed, will de-
light in the employment, aud will soon learn to
write easily and correctly. TIE great est care
should be taken to Immediately correct all
forms of speech, IN pronunciation in grammati-
cl form, in taste. There are s)me errors very
prevalent in all schools and all groups of chill
d.en. These should be seized upon at once
I'd exposed. The exercise of correction can be
made very interesting You must make the
children themselves critics of language. You
NV Ouiy ocusut buSLl IL yOu ututub LuSir
households, for into each of them you introduce
merciless little critic who detects and exposes
every error of speech and thereby is of much
benefit. When children have learned to Use
the words they possess their vocabularies must
be enlarged. To do this famliarize them with
the best of English literature. That is not of
necessity, the most profound for some of the
sweetest things written are in the language of
children. These should be copied aud re-copied
until the children make the words their own.
Prof Allen then resumed the subject of
Rotations, and spoke of the necessity of estab-
lIshing proper relations between teacher and
pupil Ease should exist, and stiffness should
not be allowed A mutual confidence should
be cultivated. The receiving of answers is an
oher important point in recitation. When
you after principles. as geometri
cl, theories fer example, where
every word is a coined idea, the very words of
the book or the teacher must be given. In
other cases the largest liberty and individuali
IT, IN answering should be allowed. If the an
swer given be part truth and part error, give
credit for the truth so the error may be the
more marked. Encourage independence and
thoughtfulness and thoroughness in answers
If pupils have any ideas outside of or beyond
the text books, encourage their presentation.
The professor referred to Mr.. Beecher's lect-
ure, and intimated there were wastes and blum
ders in the school room which should be done
away with Prof. Allen concluded by saying
that the efforts of teacher should be measur-
ed, not by the five or ten of her class pushed
ahead. but by the plane to which she has ad-
| vanced the whole class.
| There will be no session of the schools to-day
| aud the exercises of the Institute will open at
nine O'clock this morning. A full attendance
| is looked for.
Railroad Manual.
| Mr.. Edward Vernon, long and well known in
rais ~ ~