The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-04-05
Named Chairman Of Executive Com
mittee at Teachers conven-
ton Held at Bur
lington.
WILL BE PRESIDENT.
Custom Of Teachers Association 20
Name Chairman President for
the Next
Year.

"a
Southeastern Iowa Teachers associa
ton which opened at Burlington
Thursday evening, closed yesterday
/ after one Of the most successful meet
| ings OF the association had been held
! Several local teachers took q promi-
| nent part in the convention at which
over one thousand teachers were pres
ent
| William Aidrich, superintendent OF
the local board OF education was Sc
! lected chairman of the executive COM
mittee which arranges the programs
| for the conventions. At is has been
the custom in the past to elect the
chairman of the executive committee
president of the association at the
conclusion OF his term, it is to be as
sumed that Mr.. Aldrich will be at the
head of the association during the
year OF 1916. Mr.. Aldrich is recog-
nized generally as ons of the most
able educators in this section OF the
country today, and the honor paid him
by the Burlington meeting is one that
reflects great credit upon the school
systa OF this city
R. L. Reid, principal of the Keokuk
vention and was made a member OF
the nominating committee. Other local
teachers pres sent at the convention
were e. S. Paterson. who lead the
round table discussion among the
grammar and intermediate teachers;
Miss Marie Kiedaisch who read
paper on Shakespeare versus the
ers round table. and Miss Minnie v.
Bindell who read a paper on the sub
j=ct. The Influence OF Environment
on the Study OF Geography
A part of Miss Bndelrs paper,
which was reproduced in the Burling-
ton Hawk-Eye yesterday. follows:
In accordance with the leading
teachers and scholars in the sciencs
of geography, the field for our study
Is the Earth in It's Relation to Man.
The study of life consequences leads
to that of earth causes. The funda-
mental principle. then, is casual mo-
ton. Facts that are worth learning
are those that may be explained by
physical causes. Teachers have looa-
facts which could be memorfzed; and
if action, rather than speech, can be
taken as a reflex thought, many still
maintain this conception.
THE slowness Of the progress OF
educational ideas is realized when we
read what Comenius said more than
three centuries ago: We know the
elements OF geography when we learn
the nature of the mountains, the
plains, the rivers, citadels, or states.
according to the section of the place
in which we were reared A century
and half later, Rosseau said: Let
him learn his first geography in the
town he inhabits, stimulating his
Imagination by expressing wonder as
to natural phenomenon Then Pesta.
lozzi, teaching in Switzerland, took
his students on walk to view the
surrounding country, and then they
made relief maps out of clay until the
students has grasped the ideas pictur.
ing nature we'll enough to pass to the
fiat or colored map with a clear I'M
Outstanding of 1t.
The work of Arnold Guyot as pro-
fessor OF geology and physical geogra-
ply at Princeton university was the
starting OF the reform in geography
teaching in this country Before this
geogrphy was taught by rote. Les
sons sometimes were sung to max the
memorizing less hatztul, but no atten-
ton was paid to the subject az a
science.
The definition OF geography comes
from two Greek words. meaning earth
and writing In the study of It there
is a demand for the training Of all
the senses Reason wac thought TO be
the function OF maturity, while the
faculty of memory characterized the
youthful mind. II has been proven
by test that the majority of chfllr N