The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-09-06

terests of our schools demand either thei
retirement or their conversion to the i'm
portance ofa calling which ought to excit
noble effort and high appreciation, neve
can they become worthy representative
of our educational system unless imbuet
with the scientific character Of the wnrl
and proper professional spirit. Blu
this is not the only weak spot in GU
public school fabric. Tie control ailc
management of our schools are absolute
ly in the hands of the people. We eal
never secure the best results until all tn,
people give their hearty support to thu
administration of school affairs. W.
cannot shut our eyes to the fact thai
there are some patrons in our schoo
communities who are not in close toucl
and sympathy with up-to-date and
efficient teaching, and their lack of sup
port is doing much to interfere with well
directed efforts on the part ofsome of oul
efficient teachers and school officers. Sc
long too as educators themselves differ
widely in their views relative to a solu
ton of the problems which to some ex
tent at least are dividing our forces to
day just so long will there be confusion
and feeling of unrest among the people
| have heard the statement made and
accept its truth that the principles under
lying education are the same today that
they were in the time of Comenius and
if all of us engaged in the work were as
industrious in having those principles
generally understood and accumulated as
we are to attract a tention by devising
something new, as ambitious to uphold
and enrich the old rather than layit aside
for the new, without regard to its effects
on the physical life of the child we would
confer favor on education, have more
healthy school sentiment and our pupils
would be the gamers thereby. The tend
ency is too great toward discarding the
old when we should perhaps hold to and
improve upon it and adopt it to meet
new conditions and satisfy the demands
of the present age. If these suggestions
border on fogyism l cannot help it for l
become more convinced every year that
as educators we are still too prone to
chase shadows and be caught by the
novelty and cunning of new theories"
A discussion of the following funda-
mentals in good teaching followed:
1. Good scholarship on part ofteachers.
2. knowledge of the laws of the opera
tions of the mind.
8. The personality or high character
of the teacher.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The institute was called to order by
State Superintendent Stephens, after
which all joined in singing THE Star
Spangled Banner"
The superintendent explained the new
course of study which was recently
adopted by the State Board of Education,
making the elementary course complete
at the end of the seventh grade, and the
high school course complete at the end of
the tenth grade. By such radical changes
the child will complete his elementary
course at the end of the seventh grade in
a one room school, his high school course
at the end of the eighth grade in a two
room school and complete his high school
course in the tenth grade in any school
having more than two rooms and be
graduated theretrom.
Much contention arose among the
teachers about eliminating the eighth
and ninth grades from the one room
schools and in introducing Latin in the
seventh grade high school course.
Examiner Galbreath closed the discus
sion by informing the teachers, he would
examine the schedule very carefully, with
the assistance of the teachers, and come
to some definite conclusion i'll regard to
adopting the schedule in our county
schools.
Mrs. Elliott addressed the institute on
the First Steps OF Teaching Geography.
She gave an instructive talk on teaching
geography in the first three grades. She
said that all work should be arranged
Systematically and taught as much
as possible from real objects. Let
the child observe from nature, and if the
real can not be had use a picture and let
the child observe and imagine for itself.
Observation and imagination are the
principal points i'll teaching for the first
three grades and gives a foundation to
lead the child from the known to the re-
lated unknown.
TUESDAY MORNING.
Institute opened with singing, "Abide
With Me-" followed by scripture reading
and prayer by Rev. F. A. Kilmon. At
roll call the teachers of the first district
responded with quotations.
Miss Edwards, of Annapolis, gave an
instructive lecture on The Expressional
Side ofReading." Inpart she said, "often
the expression falls far below the mental
sensations of person and much depends
on oralexpression. Alleducationalw work
must be be based on personal expression
50 as to adjust inward and outward re-
lations. By the imagination our minds
determine our actions and expressions.
To interpret literature we must have the
power to express it in an Evolutionary
manner. Literature is the notation of
thought and feeling, which are but the
revealing of life, so the power of percep-
ton and the cultivation ofexpression are
two important factors for the teacher.
The physical, mental and emotional
sides of a child should be equally trained
in a harmonious manner. Self develop
ment is child's right and he should not
initiate his teacher in expression but
should get in touch with the author and
express his feeling.
Mrs. Elliott then continued her talk on
teaching geography in the primary grades
and said the scientific, economic and huma-
nistic sides of child should be equally
trained. First i'll teaching geography inn
press the child with facts and then lead
him to gain more information for himself
on the subject. Every teacher should
make an outline in nature study to suit
her own locality and systematic the in
formation on any subject to be taught.
The discussion on Poor Spelling" was
opened by Miss Laura Tammany. Or
biography is the representation of ones
thought in words and is of two kinds,
oral and written. Spelling is sometimes
overestimated and sometimes underesti-
mated. There is discredit in being
poor speller The difficulty in spelling is
caused by the signs of letters. Teach
spelling in connection with phonetics and
separate the words into syllables. 1t is
a good exercise to have pupils copy their
reading lessons to advance them in punct-
uation and spelling. Have each child
pronounce his word before spelling it.
Miss Healey.-We need spelling in every
profession. Train the eye, ear and hand
and let the child observe the form of the
word She has letters on cards and then
let's the child form the word by using the
correct letters.
Miss Grace Cole-Make the lesson in
teresting as well as instructive. Build
sentences using words and encourage the
child to find new words in the dictionary.
Miss Bagley The child's eye will de-
termine the correctness of a word.
Mr.. Cunningham.-Thec child must OBJ
serve each word carefully, for the eve is
the means of detecting errors in spelling
MIR. A. F. Galbreath thinks spelling has
much improved during recent years.
Miss Bradshaw advocates concert spell
| ing in rare cases to bring up slow pupils.
Examiner Galbreath.-Teach spelling