The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-22
THE NORMAL INSTITUTE.

Yesterday closed one of the most profit
able institutes ever held in Sedgwick coun-
ty, or in any county. The work on the
part of both instructors and students has
been remarkably painstaking and thor
ough. The teachers have been earnest, in
dustriOus and deeply Interested The in
StructorS have done everything in their
power to make the work attractive and
profitable, and the county superintendent
has spared no effort to give the teachers
superior advantages by securing for their
use the best talent the state affords The
closing day showed a full attendance and
the presence of large number of visitors
was observed.
The arithmetic class having followed
closely the subjects outlined in the course
of study during the four weeks work, the
last lesson was devoted to some of the diff
hculUIes teachers have found arising in
their class work. Some one resurrected
allegation from the obscure pages of his
text book, but the class voted it down.
thinking their time too precious to spend
on such an Improbable subject Stocks
and bonds, commission, division of frac-
tions, and other commonly used operations
occupied the attention of the class.
The class in geography took a general
view OF the commerce of the world dis
cuSsing the subject under three heads: l.
Causes leading To the location of great
cities. ,. Influence of sea coast and great
water courses on civilization. 3 Changes
which railroads are producing In tracing
the progress of civilization five stages are
marked, viz l. State of nature > Hunt
inc IN s
arming. ;. Historic stage
In the grammar class some of the mem
bers thought that figures Of speech should
have no place in a textbook of grammar;
but most of she class favored teaching a
few of the simple ones at this stage Of the
pupils education, such as metaphor,
smile, persOnitiCtion, etc.
The primary reading class decided that
emphasis and expression should be taught
as soon as the child could read sentence
In fact. everything taught in the public
schools should be begun in the primary.
The psychology class defined education,
giving both the old definition-the act of
leading forth. and the newer one-the act
of building up. The child has four sides,
or four natures TO develope: the physical,
the intellectual, the moral. and the social,
and fifth NAV be mentioned as a separate
spiritual The best teachers
are needed in the primary. This and other
well known educational principles were
discussed.
The class in history talked about how to
teach the history of recent events, and how
to show their relation TO past history. This
class advocated training children to read
the newspapers-and read them judic-
iou>ly.
The constitution class had the subject Of
city government under consideration.
They named the city officers, their salar-
les, length Of term, mode OF election, pow
ers and duties
In the physiology class the respiratory
organs and their functions. the nervous
system and the special senses were each
described in a very clear and thorough
The hour for school organization was
given up TO the closing exercises and fare
well speeches. The worthy conductor and I
his corps Of able instructors, each N turn. |
made a few graceful and appropriate re
marks, thanking the teachers for the kind |
ness and courtesy with which they have |
been uniformly treated, and Offering help |
ful words of advice, which the teachers !
viii certainly remember and endeavor to /
act upon. The superintendent excused /
himself from making a speech, as that Is /
not his forte, but thanked the teaches for |
shown him and then made some /
concerning the examina- /
ton
The teachers expressed their interest and /
appreciation of the work done for them bY |