The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1886-08-12
The Institute.

The lnstl ute grOWsin interest o
1t progresses, and it seems to be ap
preciated By all the live, earnest
workin. teachers in tho county.
Prof. CoIer's "talk" on EnsIant
and continental Europe last Thurs
day evening, VAS very refreshing
and full of interest to all. In his
happy style he portrayed the char
acteristics OF every day life. which
was at once pleasing depression
from the conventional tale of trav.
elers, and a true picture Ct the real
life in Europe.
| Prof. Scott unfortunately missed
the train Monday afternoon, and
the Institute was deprived of tie
grand treat which he had in store
for them.
Mr.. Cherry's paper on Choosing
a Teachers Library" contained
many good suggestions.
On Wednesday, School Com
missioner Brown lectured before
the Institute, both III the morn
ing and afternoon sessions. In
his lecture he touched upon some
points of vital importance 10 the
teacher, and of great interest 10
al who are inlere> Ell in educa,
tiOn.
We will give a summary Of his
discussion next week.
On Monday afternoon Miss En-
ma Downey read paper on the
subject. 1.-The Beue6ts derived from
an Institute"
In this essay Miss Downey re.
fecied great credit upon herself as
an essayest, and as n student of the
profession she has chosen. The es
say is clear, pointed and rheto ricaf;
and we'll worth the study Of all in
terested IN sciloal work.
Below we give the essay in full
"We lenrn the methods of teach
ing, which have been really put in
to practice and the results of those
attempts. In our journals and mag
azines on education, owe read nu-
merous theories on teachingy and
frequently we meet teachers Of that
kind who have an abundant sup
ply of theory manufactured and al
ways on hand, but when called ON
to- tciI how many of thei- theo
ries they have actually practiced,
they arc not heard to respond or at
least not as willingly as might beck
pected. A noted educator has
said: "There is more genius in ex
ecuting than theorizing." Theorizing
is no more teaching than having
the bricks is building a house. The
greater part of the theory we get at
the Institute. we believe to have
passed through the hard test Of
experience; consequently it has Tire
power of commanding our interest
and attention, and if it proves TO be
good. and actual trial shows it be be
more successful than our own plans
tor carrying on the same work, we
adopt the new idea and feel conf
dent with exertion on our part We
shall succeed. In this way we gain
many new ideas which We feel able
to execute, while if we were left to
read the same theories in our journ.
ais, perhaps half would fail to read
the article aud the majority of those
peIusing it would critic,se it as
very agreeable to read
but wholly beyond their power of
execution.
Then we hear many, different
ways of presenting our work to our
classes: though sop,e pfi these are
thev arc gastlgl different !;
and while some ale .ycrse to our
style of performing the work. yet
We hear others which make us feel
that they are superior to our meth
DDS in many respects. Wo are
thus given the opportunity of list
ening to the discussions on various
on which to work, and of
noting the merits of sever al good
methods and using our judgement
in selecting and arranging them so
IS to form one new and better mod.
}! for ourselves and ION which to re-
our process of instruct
ng.
We meet here the majority of
he teachers of our county, who
how by the amount of interest
hey exhibit in this kind of work.
md the experiences We frequently
lear related, what condition our
county schools are in at the present
ime. Whether or no they are su
,erior to the schools OF past years.
Il We find greater number Of teach
'rs attending this session than ever
,efore and larger number doing
lctive work. then We must conclude
ge are advancing; If the number is
decreased, We are retrograding.-
There is no such thing as a stand