The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-01-14
Cash in Treasury............ 1882 96
$18, 8,7O5.7O
LIABILITIES,
Bills allowed and unpaid. ......$ LABS. 80
HAcess VI resources over liabilities 17,267 50
............ 10, ,Ss2. 96
$1s,7o5.7o
$18,7O5.7O
TEACHERS MEETING IN LIBERTY

$18,7O5. 70
TEACHERS MEETING IN LIBERTY
meeting OF teachers was held in the
High school room, Liberty, FRIDAY after
noon, Jan. 8th. Every teacher was present
and had part in the program. Besides
the teachers there were number of citi-
zens interested in education, and some
High school pupils The meeting was
called to order by the Superintendent.
The first number on the program was nv
Miss Mary A. Brown, who illustrated the
phonetic method of teaching reading by a
class exercise Miss Brown is a graduate
of the Castine Normal School and of the
Bridgewater (Mass.) Normal School. She
has had over twenty terms experience in
the school room and has made special
study of the phonetic method of teaching
reading.
Mr.. Charles NJ. Howes illustrated the
diagram method of analysis. In prefacng
his work he said that in all branches illus
trating by pictures had come into general
use and so the plan of illustrating analysis
visually had come into more general use in
the past few years. Then with bright
class of girls he showed how sentences
were diagrammed according to his method,
beginning with the simplest forms and ad-
vancing to the more complex. He gave the
teachers complete outline for the dia-
gramming of the chief constructions usually
met with. Mr.. Howes is a man of about
forty-fve years, an eX-superntendent of
schools, and is second selectman. He has
large farm, but on account of his love for
educational work prefers to teach term
of school each winter.
Mrs. Ida L. McLain read paper on the
first steps in teaching reading. She ad-
vised the phonetic and word method with
the A B c method. 1.-THE latter she said,
"must be taught at some point near the be-
ginning that the pupil may be ableto SPELL"
She urged that teachers early have the
child learn to express his thought orally by
describing pictures and telling in his
own words what he reads.
Mrs. Lolie A. Powell has done some
special study along the line of Physiology
and she gave some valuable hints on the
teaching of Physiology She laid special
stress on instilling into the pupils mind
the rules for personal hygiene.
Mrs. c. NJ. Aver illustrated the way to
teach the writing and reading of numbers
with bright class of boys and girls. She
began by having the class explain the
meaning of the terms rotation and numer-
alton and their origin and early meaning.
She gave her hearers good model for the
proper method of teaching this important
topic. Mrs. Aver received her early train
ing in Castine Normal School and has had
over forty terms in the school room.
Miss Ethel NJ. Howes, fresh from Cas-
tine Normal school, was full of new ideas
on the teaching of Geography. She advised
the learning of fewer facts and urged the
teacher to stimulate thought on the part of
their pupils by comparison. She outlined a
plan for the study of Geography on the
blackboard. which called for the learning of
very few isolated facts but which required
large amount OF thinkin ng and comparing
by the pupil.
Mrs. Alice NJ. Jones, who teaches in
South Liberty, explained her methods and
aims in teaching history. An important
pau VI mel HelIou wis 10 Iedu tUe lesson
in advance with the pupil, indicating the
important points, then on the next day
have the pupils explain these points. She
would use the topical method, but would
make each topic include as much as possi-
bic. She argued against using the printed
topics given in many books which leave
ma ny important points of the lesson un-
mentioned. Her aim was not so much to
accumulate a large number of historical
facts as to give an understanding of the
spirit of the period studied. She moved
that teachers give more time to studying
the lives OF the great men and to observing
how the times were influenced by them and
how they Influenced times in which they
lived.
Mrs. Edna L. Knowlton, teacher of the
Sherman's Corner school, wrote ON the
topic, "Composition Writing in Country
School," She believed that daily work in
composition should be required in every
school and that only by constant and con-
tlnued practice could pupils become pro-
the pen She found in her own experience
that she got poor results at first, but by con-
tlnuing the practice and requiring pupils to
correct their own errors, good results were
accomplished in a short time.
Supt. Harry A. Brown read State Super
lntendent StetsOn'S article, 'sSome Things
the Common School Should Do for the
Child" and a general discussion followed,
participated in by Mr.. Howes, Mrs. Aver,
Miss Brown, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Powell and
the Superintendent. Darkness was begin
ming to settle down when the meeting was
adjourned
Civil Service Examinations.