Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 242, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 October 1912 — SECOND DAY AT THE TEACHERS’ INSTITUTE [ARTICLE]

SECOND DAY AT THE TEACHERS’ INSTITUTE

Enelid Hale Quartet'Furnished Music —Sessions Horning, Afternoon and Again at Night. The teachers of Jasper county again assembled Tuesday morning at the M. E. church for the second day of their county institute. Opening devotionals were conducted by Prof. L. A. Pittenger, who, taking as a text; “The Lord’s Prayer,” spoke of the three prayers which we all, who would fully realize ourselves, must pray. The first prayer he said is prayed by all animals, and. is '“Give us this day our daily bread.” The next prayer expresses the hope of man for something better, “Lead us not into temptation,” and the third prayer, the one that all who would be great must yield to is “Thy kingdom come, Thy Will be done.” Following this, the Euclid Male Quartet, which so delightfully entertained Monday evening, consented to give several numbers. Agiong these selections were Monday night’s favorites, “Daddy,” and “Melody 'of Love,” and “America,” which latter two were played upon the chimes. At 10 o’clock Prof. L. A. Pittenger opened the regular work of the institute with his lecture on Composition. Prof. Pittenger discussed the teaching of this important subject in the schools of Indiana and pointed out that the poor work done is from two main reasons: First, because of the poor English used in the home, in the Community and often in the school; and second, because of the poor organization of the Work itself in the schools. He showed how better work might,, be done by t&king up the subject in its logical sequence, as follows: First, the mechanics are to be learned; second, the whole idea is to be developed; .third, the single instance is to be enlarged; fourth, the four forms of discourse to be studied; fifth, the study of the story form; sixth, of the essay; seventh, of the poem; and lastly, of the drama. .e rest oi the forenoon time, Prof. Betts discussed the school problems las a whole. Enlarging upon its purpose as an institution and the purpose of each factor, he pointed out some of the avenues of wasted energy, and discussed the significance of the fact that the average attendance of our schools is only sixty per cent Prof. Betts’ lectures are inspiring and give a’ larger view of the teaching profession as a whole. Following the opening songs of the afternoon session, Miss Votaw, the instructor in music, gave a short lecture on “Music as a Means of SelfExpression.” Among the instructive suggestions brought out was the advice to pronounce the in vocal music or else leave the Selection to the sphere of instrumental music. Prof. Pittenger next opened his lecture by'answering one of the questions of the “Query Box,” to which all are requested to contribute questions concerning the profession. The able instructor then continued his general topic of English work and gave many valuable thoughts and instructions in the teaching of composition. He told of the development of the story, of good and bad criticism, and of errors, their kinds and causes. His conclusion was to emphasize the point that‘the purpose of composition is to write so that somebody else can understand the thought, which purpose can be realized by the teacher if the proper steps are followed. Prof. Betts next continued his lecture on the problem"'of the teacher in

the actual work. He showed the function of the teacher to be three-fold, namely: organizing, managing and teaching. He followed this discussion with an explanation of the purpose of the recitation. This purpose was seen to be complex, including both the testing and the teaching purpose beside the actual drill. Before the afternoon lectures Supt. Lamson called the roll of the different normal schools to see how they were represented by Jasper county teachers. Indiana State Normal leads with 33; Valparaiso University next with 25; Indiana University 11; Marion Normal 9; Winona College 6; DePauw, Angola, and Indianapolis Teacher Training School, each 4; Purdue 3; Butler and Danville, each 6; and those from outside the state, numbering 4. The Tuesday evening session opened with singing led by Miss Votaw. Prof. Pittenger chose for his topic to discuss the purpose of teaching the selections found in the Howe Forth and Fifth Readers, adopted by the state. He showed clearly, by vivid illustration that there are different types of literature and consequently the purpose in teaching and methods pursued must of necessity vary. He also mentioned several stories which he recommended to be read by teachers, among which stories are “Put Yourself in His Place,” and “The Revolt of Mother.” After this lecture Mrs. J. A. Dunlap delighted the assembly with a vocal solo.. The last lecture of the evening was given by Prof. Betts on the “Art of becaming more pleasant and better looking.” After an introduction setting forth the power of a personality, he established the thought that everyday thought lies back of the personality and therefore the making of a pleasing personality is within the power of all who will but give attehtion to the state of mind.