Evening journal., 1889-11-07
TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
OPENING SESSION AT THE HIGH
SCHOOL THIS MORNING.

The Wilmington Teachers Institute
opened this morning with an attendance
of 800 The cosy assembly room was well
suited for the purposes of the Institute
Dr. Schaeffer stated in his opening re-
marks that the room'was the most suit
able for an institute that he ever had the
| plea sure of seeing.
Rev. w. l.. S. Murray presiding elder
| of the Wilmington district OF the NJ. e.
Conference made the opening prayer
David w. Harlan, superintendent of the
! public schools, presided Dr. Schaeiier
and Professor A. II. Berlin were also
seated on the platform.
Chairman Harlan in the opening ad-
dress ssid This is am era when all
thoughtful people are on the alert TO
make improvements, and we belong to a
! profession in which more progress has
been made in the last two decades than
in any other. Let him who doubts this
look at the educational papers and maya
zines, the books on pedagogy, let him
note the number Of teachers Institutes
OF summer schools Of methods, Of county,
city, state and national educational asso.
Citations.
Most Of yen were educated in the
schools Of this city-in the schools OF
1 WHICH NOu dit lththtEe. Niufe You ne-
came teachers you have little opportun-
ity to travel and inspect the schools of
other places. You have not come much in
contact with educators Of other states.
Hence ii was eminenly wise and proper
that the Board Of Education should make
provision for this institute and that
most Of the instructors should be from
other states.
If in the course Of the institute IL
should become evident &c some of you
that the traditional discipline in the
schools OF this city tends too much TO
constrain and repress, | suspect that no
harm will come from your change of
view" President Charles e. Baird made
few remarks.
Dr. n g. Schaeffer, principal Of the
Kntztown State Normal School, Pa,
made the first lecture Of the Institute on
Geography" DR.. Schaeffer is tall and
well proportional. His hair is dark brown,
and his full beard is the same color. He
wears eye glasses and talks in conversa-
tional tone He discussed the new edu-
cation which he said, was not always
an improvement over the old. He
thought the system of teaching geogra.
ply solely by the book unsatisfactory,
when the geography of material things is
neglected The chief idea OF geography
is on the side OF understanding aud i'm.
agination.
|, He then talked about the earth sin shape,
round like ball, round like an orange.
round like a guard Motions-On the
! axis, around the sun, like top, through
space. The revolving of the earth like 3
top is making change in our relations
to the North star In ~, 600 years thG
! present North star will be the North stal
, no longer then the stal
Vega will be the North star
Q Ii you do not know where Vega is tn,
9 next moonlight night you are out, instea,
? of paying too much attention to the sta
g at your side, II you willie up into tn
2 sky you will zee Vega directly over you
}, head.
= Geography books speak of day an,
q night, and Of 365 days In a year. Tn,
. latter day means Of course, twenty-foui
y hours, which is our measure Of time. Bu
. day on the surface of the earth lasts
fiftYsix hours and forty minutes, SO tha
2 if you were an angel in the Heavens yoI
q could hear all that was said on the eartl
o you would hear Christmas bells ringin,
q for hfty-six hours and forty minutes
q When Christmas Day ends on Easter
Island. it begins in Colorado, and by thi
It time it is ended in the extreme west
5 fifty-six hours and forty minutes hay
passed since the day began in Easte
'e Island
"In regard to the seasons the earth /
u nearer the sun in winter and farthe
q away from the summer In about IL, 90
l, years the north pole will be towards th
3 sun when we are nearest it and summe
z will be hotter than it is now; when W
are farthest from the sun the northpol
Is will turn away from the sun and winte
e will be colder
q Professor L. w. Miller, principal Of th
~ Pennsylvania School OF Industrial Art
Philadelphia. entered "a Plea for th
= Blackboard de said he did not wan
:, more blackboards. but rather that tb
. present boards be used. 1T is not neees
y sary that teacher be an artist to Illus
~ trate q subject, for the rudest illustrf
tions will carry the most importan
y ideas. A graphic description
= makes lasting impression an
= awakes living interest. A statemen
4 cannot make the subject as clear as
drawing. Its no matter If you canno
draw q straight line. you can make
Y drawing suited for the purpose All ou
= standards are wrong, drawing is no
4 | merely plcbuic luthAlS. we Cdu ltalu
y talk with our fingers and make OF
= blackboards echo with our sen
= timents. We call attention {
things by relative proportion
= Of their lengths. ANY thing you ma
y draw is better than a prepared char
y Now ss TO helps one way is TO think OF
geometrical figure which is proportional
to the object. To draw with both hand
. gives rapidity and clearness The Law
u y Of force and physics cannot be better e.
~ planned than by illustration. | plead fc
= more Of this work to supplement tn
= regular text books"
II II The speaker illustrated his remark
a There was then a short intermission, M
- teachers became acquainted.
- DR.. A. n Raub. president Of Delawai
~ College, spoke on Educational Ps,
of chology." 1.-The psychology for teacher
~ has never been written. We need IL
"A principle solely What is psycholog,
Simply the science OF the human mind {
the human soul We have certain power
five senses, through which comes our fr
- knowledge. We have, as it were,
= store house to keep this knowledge v
~ can take this knowledge and reprodul
y. it in an ideal form. The three make q
,;S understanding. We have power Of gai
= ing things not obtained through perce
=. ton, memory or imagination, that is q
"a fifth power, intuition.
20 Or. Z. Dram Lyte, principal Of Il
ne / WillerSville State Normal School Pf