Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-11
NORMAL NOTES.

exclusion OF all that IS deSUitory ana I'M
material. This reporter caught the gen
eral enthusiasm and extended the quality OF
ubiguity, which he possesses in a marked
degree, TO lis utmost capacity in trying 10
be in all the classes. As we survey the
two hundred and fifteen intelligent faces
before Us in this institute we cannot help
but to think what a vast amount OF
good will be accomplished by the noble ef-
forts of our educators OF the young.
The day was well began at .:45 a. IN. by
the customary devotional exercises and
songs. after which the teachers responded
to roll call and then marched TO the re
spective class rooms TO the inspiring
strains of the organ, which filed the air
with melody and caused our hearts to leap
| with gladness. After descending an al
most perpendicular staircase into the abyss
below-which was not so bad after all. be
ing a nice cool basement-we felt like
learning the rule of three" so IN We
walked where arithmetic was being pro-
mulged, and on entering we were pre-
sumed TO be able TO expatiate upon the
principles relating TO, and the methods OF
finding the greatest common dIvlSor OF
two or more numbers. This branch OF
arithmetic was discussed in all its phases
and was evidently well understood by our
perspicacious teachers.
IL history the time was devoted to re-
view of the revolutionary war, tracing the
movements of the armies in the principle
companies and locating the decisive bat
ties. Great interest is taken in this class
and it seems that a strong rivalry exists
among several of the young men TO see
who can crowd the greatest number of
dates and statistics into his cerehrum and
even here it is very often the case that in
spite of all this craming and preparation
some demure young lady steps IN and wins
exact than he Under civil government
we had some more TAXATION and we
were compelled to ''taX" our minds 10
conjure into tangible form the crude I'M
palalelled ideas we had upon this subject,
and as teachers as a class are not owners
of any vast amount of real estate or
personal property either, it is natural to
suppose that information upon this sub
ject is rather to be classified under the
head of emperical knowledge, but with a
little assistance from Prof Larimer it was
but a few brief moments until we had
thorough perspicuous ideas of the methods
of the levy, assessment and collection of
taxes and the duties of the board of
equalization.
The class in book keeping-like the
colored troops in the late WARFARE
Fighting nobly," and is trying to
beat the record in its efforts to gain
an exhaustive view of the subject in so
l. \ nd
ledgers are posted, accounts are balanced
and questions of law are sometimes raised
in discussing notes ana bills.
In diadactics the judgment was consid-
cred. The class in the abstruse science IS
creating great and varied interest in the
minds of our teachers and much thought
is developed thereby The following are
few of the points made during this reclta-
ton: Judgment is that power of the mind
by which we perceive the agreement or
disagreement of two objects of thought by
means of comparison. The mental pro-
duct resulting is called Il Judgment which
expressed in words gives proposition.
The objects of thought compared
may be both concepts, or one may be
concept and the other a precept
ceDts was shown and it was demonstl ated
that the judgment may be both analytic
and synthetic in it's operation and it may
be neither. When part is compared to a
whole, the process is synthetic; when part
of conception is taken and compared
with another conception, the process is an
alytic and when conceptions of equal eX-
tent are compared, the process Is neither
analytic nor synthetic. The subjects of
generalization and reasoning in relation To
Judgment were also touched upon, but the
remorseless bell said that time was up"
In Grammar we had the various lenses
of the verb. They Were classified as abso
lutte and relative, each of which consisted
of three lenses. The distinction
in the use of the auxillaries-
shall and within the future
tense and first person was shown-shall to
denote pure futurity and Will TO denote
both futurity and determination. Time
flies so rapidly that we had scare COM
menced this interesting recitation ere we
were obliged TO move on to new fields yet
unconquered.
There is a class in penmanship which
meets from day to day up IN the third
story of the university, Far from the
maddening crowds ignoble strife" which
is daily improving the hand writing of
many pedagogues. Exercises are given
upon the principles. formation and analysis
of letters, upon the whole arm, fore arm
and finger movements and everything else
that pertains to a we'll regulated writing
class This class is doing good efficient
work and deserves the piaudits Of all its
members.
Under methods, Prof Pence gave an out
line for the various grades il reading,
which he had divided into three classes,
VIZ: Primary, intermediate and advanced.
Among the objects to be attained by in
struction IN reading were: The association
OF the idea with the printed or written
words: ability 20 associate the thought
with the expression; the power TO call
words at sight; the ability to learn new
words, and many others. The professor
also outlined method of instruction en-
braeing the following points: The method
OF learning the printed word should be
analogous 10 that By which the child learns
the oral word, lie, the association between
the printed word and the idea should be
direct, and the expression should
be kept in the background. Words
OF analogous sound should be used In
groups regardless Of markings, such a.
gem. stem, them, hem, etc, and the mean
ing Of the words used should be under
stood BIZ all the pupils in the class.
Particular stress WIS also given 70 the
pronunciation Of words. tie teacher esDe-
cially should be able 70 pronounce cor
"a.