The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-10
helpful DAY At INSTITUTE
Many Addresses Which Aroused the
Interest Of the Teachers.
LAST SESSION THIS MORNING
Institute WIN Adjourn Finally ut Noon
Afternoons Topics Reached the
Fundamental Principles Of Scien.
tific and Successful instruction.


Afternoons Topics Reached the
Fundamental Principles Of Scien.
tific and Successful llnstruc,ion.
Yesterday was The last day but one
of the teachers institute. The morn
ing session opened with an invocation
by Rev Hugh Davis. of the Welsh Cal
whistle Methodist church. of the West
Side DIR. Brumbaugh' was the first
speaker and he began with humorous
mien which was not soon forgotten
but served to keen the teachers very
susceptible to any funny incident
throughout the session. His topic was
Geographical Concepts"
DR.. Brumbaugh began by a compre-
hensive reference to the position
New York city occupied as an interna-
tional. worldwide mart. He de-
scribed its imports and exports. its
great money exchange and then COM
pared il with Liverpool and London.
The English cities suggested Engiand's
stupendous shipping interests and
caused the speaker to deplore the lack
of ii in this country which Is better
equipped to build vessels of all kinds
and to maintain the greatest navy in
the world than any other nation. He
great consumption of food supplies In
London.
Soon after II o'clock the primary
teachers retired to the main parlor of
the building where they were addressed
by Miss McMollan on Each pupil his
own discoverer"- She advocated per-
mitting the young mind to be given rea-
sonable scope in its peculiar child-im-
agination. .....F .t;.,
Meanwhile in the hall Professor
John U. Wagner, OF the Scranton High
school, discussed "Electricity." He
elaborated on two points. the battery
principle and the y rays. Thought
Getting" was the subject of Superin-
tendent Coushlin, OF Wilkes Barre. His
| subject matter was practically an in
! PRODUCTION to his afternoon address
| which appears in substance below. He
emphasized the necessity of placing the
child under the proper mental condi-
tions with the same precision and thor
| oughness that piece of delicate ma
chnery is prepared for work peculiar
| to itself. Pupils. especially the young.
must be in harmony with their work.
DIR. WINSHIP's TOPIC. -.
! Dr. Winships topic was History"
| 1t was a subject dry and devoid Of in
terest to a greater number than 1t fas-
! cinated, consequently the teachers aim
| should be to make the study attractive,
"Evaneelne" was a history poem, but
| the history was concealed in such u
| subtle ana maSteriul way by Longfel-
| low that its benefits were received by
| the reader without being conscious OF
! the concealment Instructors cannot
| be Longfellows but in teaching history
they can make the dry, but neverthe-
less important event, the pivot about
which interesting and connecting but
| unimpOrtant matters cluster Thus the
| scholars enthusiasm would be ap-
| pealed to. Dates or epochS are the
| hubs of accurate history scholars and
they should be surrounded by some fas-
| cinatins feature of historical study
| which win impress the date as well as
the feature Oh the scholars mind.
The afternoon session was distin-
guished for the subject matter and
thought of tGree addresses which
merited and probably received more
| attention and careful consideration
than has been suggested by any SINH
! lar number of lectures during the In
stilute Apparently the afternoon y
subjects We're planned with the idea Of
presenting In theory the substantial
facts which ii grasped would do much
toward making the teachers vocation
easier for her and more valuable TO
| pupils.
The lecturers were Dr. Brumbaugh.
Superintendent Coushlin. Of Wilkes
Barre. and Dr. Winship. and their re-
spectir- topics were Typographical
Concepts" Il continuation of the morn
| ing lecture: Tests uf knowing" and
| The Teachers Reading" The former
was of u nature Of geographical infor-
nation and comparison. and the other
addresses served respectively to make
n'ain the fundamental principlea of
md the object of proper read
ing.
DIR. BRUMBAUGH'S METHOD.
What Dr. Brumbaugh said was not
OF more Importance than his ingenious
way of saying it. He gave fund oi
valuable information about China. ia.
pan and the South American countries
facts suggested to teachers and pupils
--. -.-.-., "a geography, but which
are not generally known among the
former and of which the latter are
wholly ignorant. He explained many
facts and things peculiarly distinctive
of the countries under consideration
and made himself clearly understood
by method of comparison. lnven.
tions and modern ideas, he said, were
: working rapid changes in everything
and absolute reliance could not be rest
ed upon any geography except In its in
formation as to area and Topography.
Superintendent. Coughln's lectur,
served to show that correct recitation!
do not necessarily mean correct knowl
edge. Knowing what words mean Il
one of the most essential elements o
. study and thought. This knowledge
, If only half obtained. will bring about ,
: relation between the definition and tn,
,, thought expressed A selection com
mitted to memory is useless unless th
person has knowledge of the thought
. Giving correct answers Is not getting
, correct education. In this connection
. the successful teacher is one who de
f tects what the child does not know. bu
!. ought to know. Children may commi
! to memory, may recite to you correctly
but may not have knowledge. A knowl
edge of what words mean IL the foun
dation of thought and knowledge itself
You may drill and drill child on BAN
discount. but what is the gain If tn
little ones do not know what ban
discount" means. In geometry. for in
stance. ii may be learned almost a
easily from the proper understandin
] of the proposition and diagram as fror
! the actual figures.
MEANING OF WORDS.
l knowing what words mean is an ali
solutely necessary fundamental knowl
3 edge to any kind Of study. The youn
should be educated to see and think aC
curately. The foundation in the cor
crete is careful observation: then come
comparison which does more to impres
fact on the mind and make 1t thor
oughly understood than the mechanica
and arbitrary working out of the thins
Analysis Is the next step. A propos
tion which is understood in only POI
tion of its parts will by the chain c
Ia..A, Ca l.. l..