Amador ledger., 1909-11-19
AMADOR COUNTY
TEACHERS INSTITUTE
Minutes Of Proceedings.

session in lone on tuesday morning
We publish the proceedings so far a:
we have been able to obtain them
Tuesday, Nov Is.
Institute was called to order by school
supern.e1d w. II. Greenhagh, a
l0I5 a. IN. After music by the com
mittee and institute, the roll was called,
nearly all of the teachers responding,
some Of those who we're absent being
sick.
Some excellent remarks we're made
by Superintendent Greenhalgh in open
ing. He stated that the schools of Cali
tornia are equal if not superior to those
of any country, and those of Amador
county will compare favorably with
those in other parts of the state In
speaking of the course Of study he said
that the change was working out well,
and that the teachers were working
diligently and in accord with the super
intendent and board of education. Steps
have been taken by which it may be
possible at no very far distant day to
introduce manual training into our
schools
v II. Kirk then spoke on "Art as a
Factor in Education. " He gave as a
definition of art : "I is the reflection of
the higher emotional and intellectual
part of man. - He spoke of the use of
pictures and sculpture in a simple way,
as the expression of human thought.
In geography use pictures of cities,
country, mountains, industries, ETC., the
first element being to have a right con-
ception of each of these things, and
make the proper selections. Take
pictures from magazines, mount them
and group them properly In history,
use pictures of great men 10 portray
character, impress it upon the minds of
the pupils. In literature, the places
described to be illustrated in pictures,
and characters of the stories to be thus
made more real. The greatest thing
in picture is not art but whether the
artist has picked out a great thought,
and given it a degree of illustration so
that one gets inspiration from it MY
thology in Marble" was named as
good book to use. He spoke of changes
that were taking place in buildings,
those of the present being more artistic
than those Of the past If the children
are taught to appreciate simple art, our
towns and cities will grow more .beauti
ful. Mr. Kirk spoke of two pictures as
examples of bringing out single great
thought, "The Angelus" and "For-
saken.
A discussion by the institute followed.
1t was brought out that something has
been done in the way of decorating the
S schoorooms in the county by putting up
pictures relating to different subjects.
After noon recess, institute was
called to order by Superintendent Green
halgh at 30
Some remarks upon temperance were
made by w. Lonergan, in which he
thought that the teachers hold the
solution to the problem.
Before taking up her subject, Mrs
Zannette w. Potter spoke of the effects
of comic supplements of our daily
papers, the discussion having been
brought up previously. The thought
seemed to be that there is both good and
bad in them. AS they have come to
stay no doubt, we must meet the con-
dition and try to overcome the bad in
huence and pick out the good. She also
spoke of art being used in every phase
of school work possible. Taking up
her subject of Compositions " she told
of her work in the Oakland schools.
She said in part: "Do not require too
much from the child Let him give out
in his own way what he has taken in.
Aim for the thought Do not put too
much stress on marks of punctuation.
The best time for composition is in the
morning from 10 10. First get an in
tcresting understanding full of
action, Something that the child under
stands Such subjects as a boy on a
bcycle being run into by street car
Ask for volunteers for the first sentence.
Get as many expressions as possible
Take as long as twenty minutes to get a
good sentence if necessary. Pick out
the best and have it written on the
board. Point out marks OF punctuation,
if necessary, by suggestion, but be
careful not TO make ii so prominent
as to destroy the thought Give month
II necessary to composition. Have il
brief and TO the point. Leave much to