Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1880-04-14

Or public building. II wa affirm
ed That school rooms if less than
twelve feet from floor 70 ceiling
should only have seats enough TO
accommodate one scholar to every
twenty square feet Of floor room in
the house. Ventilation by windows
was condemned. The school room
should be constantly supplied with
pure warm air by use Of : jacket
stove to fill the room aud air shaft
for escape Of the poisoned air or that
which has been most used. Win
dows should Be large and placed
high and if possible the light should
be received at the real and left side
of the room. Gen. Beadle closed
hin labors in the institute on Thurs
day forenoon by instruction in
school economy. He discards cor
poral punishment, affirming that it
Is productive of much harm and lit
tie if any good. The teacher said
~self-respect is the strong anchor Of
character; cultivate it in your schol-
ars. Be discreet in using all oppor-
tunities to make friends Of them.
His visit and lahors will long be re-
membered and appreciated by the
institute.
In the afternoon Prof. Wernli con-
Quoted the language recitation, tax
ing ur the classification Of sentences
their forms of construction and use,
and while effectively teaching the
principles belonging to the sentence
and art Of the language, he taught
how to gain the attention Of our
scholars and to present this subject.
After recess the Prot. introduces q
blackboard exercise which he be-
lieYeestp be Of the greatest impor-
lance in all our common schools. In
this Introductory exercise he presen-
ted q lesson in physiology illustra-
ting the movements of the arm, and
closed this recitation by assigning
work to most members Of the insti-
tute upon the blackboard.
April 9th the institute was opend
ed as usual. Misses Alice Walp and
Mary Fennesey read journals Of the
proceedings Of yesterday, showing
good attention and care on their part
as journalists. The arithmetic exer-
cises Of this morning included min
ute exercises in solving questions,
requiring knowledge and skill in the
combination of numbers, finding
prime and composite numbers, null
tiples, divisors, etc. Penmanship
was next presented in excellent
manner showing the necessity of
never yielding in our schools until
we can completely command the at
tention of every scholar at the mo-
ment it is wished He showed that
the foundation of graceful writing
was laid by securing first q uniform
movement Of the forearm. After
recess language was resumed, and
the subject of the sentence consider
ed, every member taking part in
work, and closed with written exam-
Piles Of work by each teacher to be
examined by the Prof. and marked
as their merits require.
In the afternoon reading was the
first study. The advantages Of the
reading-writing method was presen-
ted, suggesting that q child will
learn to write a letter on o slate or
with a pencil as quickly as it will
its form only, and that children may
be taught to write in connection
with their reading, without being
retarded at all in reading, and that
it is much pleasanter for the child.
In photography a recitation wa
next made as far as the letter &C."
II was amusing and productive of
thought. There was found to be
many thing that pertain to the al
phabet and that it is not every one
that knows the English alphabet well
even in a institute Of teachers. An
exercise in writing was performed
upon slips of paper, to be inspected,
~ y
marked and q record kept.
After recess came the blackboard
exercise during which several teach
e1 presented to the institute the
subjects their drawings were intend
ed to illustrate, in quite q satisfac-
tory manner. We deem this one Of
the most important points that the
Prof. has presented, and teachers are
engaging in it ~zealously, and / ex-
pect to see this feature much more
prominent in our schools in the fu-
ture.
April 1Oth.-The institute opened
as usual. T~hirty-two members en-
rolled. Thirty present at roll-call.
Misses. Sherman and Hoyt read
very good journals of preceding days
work. In the arithmetic recitation
was presented the subject of writing
numbers, which showed that we
may write well with plenty Of time,
but u schools should be drilled to
rapid writing. The teachers were
led 10 illustrate proper methods Of
teaching addition and subtraction
and several showed q good degree Of
skill, and the exercise developed the
idea that to teach the first rules cf
arithmetic. well requires much prep
aration and that the too common
saying, anybody can teach our
schools" is untrue.
At the commencement Of the rec
itation in penmanship, the Prof. said
that two things were TO be consider
ed-exercise or movement and writ
ing which was illustrated by practi-
cal exercise. Reading, Language
and the usual programme Of the day
ssssived SnttenSi0n, but being called
away, can not report the work.
Thus has passed The first weeks
work in the institute Of 1880. Al
though the attendance has not been
large it has been excellent IN other
respects. The teachers have been