The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-11-01
this Is The LAST DAY
Teachers Institute Will Close with
This M0rninQ's Scssioe.
MEETING or THE DIRECTORS

MEETING or THE DIRECTORS
II Was Presided Over by County Supsriu.
tcndcnt Taylor-Instructor Who Ap.
pear Before the Tesehsrs-Msr
In Sections in the Morning.
At noon today the county teachers
institute will come to q close, and the
teachers will return to their homes, re-
newed with enthusiasm for education
al work. County Superintendent Tay-
lor gave his attention to the convention
Of the County Directors association IN
the arbitration room. and the institute
was presided over by Superintendent
John ]. Forbes, Of Carbondale.
The morning session was In two sec
tions, the principals In No. 2 court room.
and the primary and intermediate
room. The principals listened to talks
on the new high school law by NJ. wv.
Cummings, Of Olyphant, and r. N.
Davis. of Archibald. DR.. Phillips spoke
on stocks and bonds.
Professor Twltmeyer In the other
section was the first speaker intro
duced, and his topic was materials for
language lessons. Teaching Language
lessons, he said. must be done by direct
ing attention to the mechanical side,
which includes punctuation, capitaliza-
and the express,onal side. which should
deal with the culture Of thought. He
spoke altogether on the expressional
side. and recommended the preparation
of lessons in written language. Ele-
mentary geography. he thought. fur
nishes a vast store of data for useful
and instructive language lessons. He
took the subject of minerals. coal, for
instance. and showed how easy 1t Is for
the teacher to interest the pupils by
means Of bringing out their knowledge
of COAL as 1t Is very familiar SUB
stance.
He has maintained in all his lectures
that things right under the eyes Of the
pupils should be brought prominently
before them, that many lessons can be
learned by culturlng the habit Of OBJ
servation.
Miss McCioskcy's Interesting Talk.
The theme that Miss McCloskey lee
tured on was valuable Silent Work,
and dealt with telling the teachers how
to keep the children busy. To find work
for the pupils to do without overcrowd-
ing their minds, Is task that requires
much ingenuity. Where there are
classes Of children 6 years of age. only
one third of their time is taken UP with
recitatlons. One thing that the teacher
should do with small children is exam
inc their work carefully and never fall
to commend 1t when deserving. Such
busy work should be given which has q
tendency to make them observing. To
set them at drawing Is perhaps the most
useful work that could be selected FOL
them; 1t increases their power to think
invent and observe, and keeps them
busy. This was Miss McCloskey's las,
lecture, and she bade her auditors
goodbye. She has endeared herself to
the teachers by her ability to present
Vage, yet withal containing fund OF
oymation. They were sorry to see
10 and hope to hear her at the next
/ Ute. She is an untirlng young
n Nd her work has been a strain
IN health.
n r Twitmyer delivered his
farA ddress also, and spoke on
''The\ School." It contained many
suggestions drawn from his long ex.
perience as a teacher. He, also, has
been q favorite with the teachers. In
variably. he began his lectures by tell.
ing some story or anecdote, or introduc.
In good humor. His lectures were
strong advocates of bringing the chill.
dren into communication with the OBJ.
jects In the natural world round about
instead of illustrating things in the
abstract.
Lecture on Habit.
Dr. Gordy's topic was on habit. There
are two kinds of habit, physical and
mental. 1t should be the aim OF every
person, he said, to acquire good habits
for they are ones second nature. The
mind has very often nothing to do with
the thingS done by the hands, for the
acts are done from force OF habit. Thus
It Is very essential to shape habits OF
life and habits Of industry to conform
with q correct basis OF department
The afternoon session was enlivened
by the presence OF Deputy State Su-
perintendent Of Public Instruction
Henry Houck. He talked over an hour
from the standpoint OF an old teacher
one who has been through the mill
and who has also observed much in his
experience with teachers and Institutes
Order is the first and highest achieve
ment obtainable In the school room
When a pupil Is told to do something
the command must be obeyei unhesi-
tatingly. He Is firm believer in the
prlNC1ple tHat " SPARE tHe IVu 10 "
spoil the child.
Notwithstanding that institute lec-
turers will appear before teachers and
will decry against corporal punishment
as q means Of enforcing obedience, ad-
vocating that the child's moral sense
should be appealed to. yet Superintend-
ent Houck maintains that the surest
way to bring children to proper disci-
pline Is to make them understand that
IL they disobey there Is punishment in
store for them. But q teacher who has
the proper conception OF what to do In
har,1ling childen will manage instead
Of discipline them.
Whom He Was Boy.
He Is shaping his views on this ques-
tion by recounting his own school days
and his home life. In the first place. he
had q stern parent who was none the
less indulgent for all that but when
Henry was told that something must be
done, Henry knew enough to do what
he was told. He had teacher who was
built on the same principle. This never
did young Henry any harm, viewed as
the matter Is now from the mind Of the
older Henry.
Miss Jay, Of Jermyn, sang a solo
pleasantly and was followed by Harry
johnson, Of Waverly, with the song,
"The Mclean Man" DR.. Philips took
the platform and spoke on astronomi-
cal geography. He answered several
T. 49,