St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1903-11-04
TEACHERS CONVENTION.
rContinued tom Thil d Page. |

The number conference was held IN til
auditorium of the North church unde
the general charge of Principal Ager @
the Johnson Normal school. Miss Wood
ruff OF St. Tohnsbury opened the confer
ence with helpful and suggestive pape
on the practical applications of arith
metic, Mss Dickinson OF the johnson
Normal school spoke of the advantage
of agebr and geometry in the grades
and Prot. Shaw OF Norwich UNIVERSITY
discussed the metric system. Prncipa
Alger had prepared a series OF suggestive
questions and these were discussed by
various teachers present, the discussion
beirg opened by Supt. Dempsey.
The MUSIC conference, with h
Humphrey, director OF music in thee Bur
liugton schools, as chairman, was full o
interest. Mss Alice H Jackson gave &
very practical and interesting talk or
"monotones," which called forth some
questions and discussion from those who
attended as did also the other papers
and talks which were on The Boy
Voice in the Public School," by NJ s.
Minnie Allen This was SUBJECT which
confronts all teachers and which IN many
cas- S is quite a difficult one especially at
the tine ~ hen the boys voice is chang
ing " The Use Of s. llables " was pre-
scented by Miss Edith NJ. Nicho S. who
told of the origin of the names OF the
syllablcs and the changes made in
their use from time to time.
1.-THE Nus Teachers Equipment" was
the subject OF an interes ing talk by Mss
MI A Rovce; Obstacles to the Intro
duction of Music" was presented by
Principal NJ. D. Chittenden and. The
Supervisor" as seen through the eyes OF
the superintendent was presented by
Superintendent H. o. Wheeler, and as
seen tn ough the eyes OF the grade teach
er. bv Miss Jeanette Smith. This was
one OF the most interesting conferences,
led as it was by former esdent here
and one so well known, and being enter
ed INTO with so much interest.
Friday afternoons exercises opened
wi h an address by Hon. w. b. Ranger,
state Superintendent OF education. his
subj, ct was Educational Progress III
Vermont" and he first called attention
to some progress made in the state IN
the mast. He SAID Vermont was iortu
nate IN it's state system as compared
with many other states. We nave some
OF the best laws, but we need at times
better administration OF The m There
has been a steady increase in the local
tax rate from 20 cents in the beginning
to SO cents TODAY. The certiticatlon OF
teach, RS, tlee text books, the town sys'
TEN, and the steady increase IN lsngth OF
the required school year, all mark prog
ress
Educational progress gees on through
the experience of the people here
should be greater equality in school
privileges. About one-halt of our pupils
are beng taught in good schools; one
fourth in schools that can be tolerated,
and The last quarter in schools that
ought not to be tolerated. Ii the towns
cannot help The last quarter then we
ought to have state aid. Again, we
must have better teachers and higher
salaries. There is also need OF skilled
supervision. This association should
stand tor educational leadership. 1t
should stand for a definite democracy.
l am glad to say that this is the largest
convention we ever had. Let us not be
satisfied until the attendance reaches
1000 Let us keep our interest through
the year and have teachers meetings all
over the state. Let us start crusade
for better schoolhouses.
TIE science conference met at O'Clock
Friday in the chapel OF the N nth Con-
gregational church with {. IL. Morrill, IN
the char. The conference was well at
tended by science teachers. Prot M. F,
Merrill OF the U. V. M, opened tie meet
ing with a very interesting and help II!
address on "W hat work should be done
to prepare students for the college work
in Oh mistry." Prot. Daniels of he q
Y. Nj. Ia II followed with spcy and
wise talk on phys cs. The suhJe> is were
thin submitted to the conference tor free
discussion. The following took active
part n he discussion: Prin. H. Dressell
OF Spuug6 II, Prin. Watson of Woo Il
stock, Prin. Bowditch OF The tord, Mr.
Hunt OF Bakersfield. The conclusion
agr eed upon by those present was that
the ideal course in science III the secon-
dary school should preserve care ul
balance between instruction and )abora-
tory work; should produce definite and
well written NOES; should include only
such experiments as may be expected to
yield fairly accurate result; should have
obvious and interesting aims; should
have tangible relation to real lite aud
the arts and manufactures; should culu-
vate the powers of observation; should
be based upon a foundation Of knowl-
edge OF great principles and theories.
LOUIS p Nash introduced the subj ct
OF geography at this conference, Which
was held III the auditorium OF the church,
and predicted what atterward came To
pass, but in a mild form. that there
might be trouble before the conference
was over. This resulted from the dl
ferent opinions expressed by Superintea
dent b. Z Merriam of Bellows Fal S
Miss Clara Carpenter OF Morrsvile
PRINCIPAL W. II. Botsiord OF Bristol
Mis- dora Hodges OF Burlington and
Miss Mabel Kidder OF Protor, which lea
to interesting and somewhat lengthy
discussions, some questions having to bt
dismissed before all phases had been dis
cussed, because OF the lateness OF the
hour
The nature conference in the Museum
class room proved the most popular OF
ALL nearly $50 attending. Miss Griffin
the curator at the Museum, had charge
and opened with elptul address on "A
Vital Idea in Education" She spoke O
the various ways to arouse the chlld's
interest in the schoolroom. she spoke
of the practical side of nature study. the
relation Of birds and insects to agricul