Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-03-05
Adjourned d Institute.
Reported BY Geo. W. Rine.


the Teachers Adjourned Institute
convened in tho school house in Nc
Alisterville, on Friday evening, Feb.
18th, and continued during Satur-
day and Saturday evening. Sup't
Smith called the Institute to order
at o'clock. Devotional exercises
were conducted by the Rev. W. r.
Wieand, who read portion of scrip
ture and offered prayer. Supt
Smith, then, in an effective speech,
set forth the objects of the Institute,
and invited directors and citizens to
participate in the discussions and
other exercises of the Institute. The
primary object of teachers institutes
il to gain professional skill the sec
ondary objects are mutual intercourse
and encouragement on the part OF
the teachers, and to cultivate public
sentiment in favor of popular educa-
ton. Teacher G. E Coffmsn, was O.
lected Secretary, by acclamation. The
Sup't appointed the following teach
ers to report the proceedings to the
several county papers: Juniata Her
aid, T. 7. Davis; Juniata Tribune,
Mr.. - Martin Democrat and Regis
ter, j. N. Keller SENTINEL AND Re-
PUBLICAN, Goo. W. Rins. The Meal
isterville Glee Club then rendered an
elegant selection Of music, after
which Mr.. T. 7. Davis opened dis
cussion on "Who should select the
textbooks This duty should not
be enjoined upon directors. Direc-
tors are not generally sufficiently ia
miliar with the requisites OF good
text book to detect their merits or
dement's. The question WAS eIhsus-
lively discussed by Messrs. W. d.
Knouse, ]. W. Hibbs, Edwin Davis,
j. I. Altman, Geo. W. Rine, j. n.
Keller, and Sup't Smith. The gen
eral conviction of the disputants was
that the Superintendent should be
authorized to appoint committee OF
competent teachers and directors,
whose duty it should be to select q
uniform series of textbook for the
county. The Supt said that it was
not SO important as to the Kind OF
text, as a uniform series Of some kind.
A selection of music entitled, "Rsin
Drops" was rendered by the Glee
Club. Recess or no recess was
then discussed by Messrs. Graham,
Altman, Keller, Rine, I. I. Davis,
Edwin Davis, and Sup't Smith. The
sentiment of the Institute was in "a
vor of recess, especially in primary
and mixed schools. After music, by
the Gles Club, the President announ-
ced the programme for Saturday
morning, after which the Institute
adjourned
The Institute was called to order
on Saturday morning, at $50 o clock
The forenoon session was spent in
discussing the grammatical Office oi
the word remote in the following sen.
tsnce: "A vine clad cottage stood
remote from the noise of tho busy
world" Conflicting opinions were
given by many of the teachers. Some
would dispose of it as an adverb, and
others, as adjective. The weight OF
authority, however, made it an ad
jective. On motion the time allotted
for the discussion of each subject was
limited to twenty minutes. The In
stitute adjourned to meet at l o clock.
Institute called to order at 1 o
clock. Teacher D. L. Kepner, dis
cussed at length the subject, "Geog-
raphy-descriptive vs.. map ques-
tions." Too much time is DEVOTED
to the non. essentials of geography.
Descriptive geography should re-
ceive more attention. The resources,
industries, products, commercial
routes and relations of the several
countries of the world are among the
important features of geography
The subject was further discussed by
Messrs. Altman and Keller. Gram
mar-practical VS.. theoretical was
next discussed by teacher Jno. w.
Hibbs. The gentleman illustrated
on the blackboard a method of de-
veloping practical English to begin
ners. A few valuable suggestions
were added by Messrs. Kepner and
Altman. Prof. w. E. Auman then
presented very practical method Of
teaching Decimal Fractions to begin
ners. The ability to read and write
decimals, rapidly and accurately, is
absolutely essential to enable pupils
to comprehend the subsequent prin-
ciples intelligently. Teacher G. Z.
Cotfman gave talk on Holidays y
He enumerated the legal holidays,
and discussed their use and abuse
Sup't Smith emphasized the fact that
teachers could not make up lost time
by teaching on holidays, nor end
their school terms on Saturday. The
practice is entirely illegal and should
be promptly abandoned. Music,
"Ths Bells" The question, Ought
q teacher to own o certain amount of
school apparatus :" was discussed by
Messrs. ]. N. Keller, Rine, Altman,