Thomas C. Blaisdell

              President's Office Alma Collegr Alma, Mirhigan
My Dear Superintendent: —In your Teachers' Institute you wish instructors who will inspire every teacher to do more efficient teaching.  Whenever I have the privilege of speaking in an institute, my aim is, not to entertain, but to help,—to strive to render each teacher a stronger influence in developing the character of boys and girls and in making his community a better place in which to rear children.

I have been an instructor in more than fifty different institutes in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.  To about half of them I have been recalled.  In several I have been three different times.  As to my success I refer to any teacher who has attended an institute in which I have spoken, or to any county or state school officials who know my work.

I have taught all grades of pupils from primary to post-graduate.  I know the teacher's problems from many sides.  I have made or helped to make a half dozen widely used text-books.  Long service in a normal school helped me to do this, as it helps me to render real service in an institute.  The fact that I have given about a hundred and fifty public addresses during the past year suggests that I know something about platform speaking.

My specialty is English.  I like to give instruction along any of its many lines.  But practical school room methods, the teacher's community interests, the development of citizenship, and above all the making of worth-while men and women out of every-day boys and girls,—these are subjects which I am glad to treat in the institute.  Will you not look over the groups of subjects given within?

If you feel that my work would help your teachers, I should like to hear from you.

Very truly yours,
Thas C. Blaisdell



GROUPS OF INSTITUTE ADDRESSES
BY THOS. C. BLAISDELL, ALMA, MICH.

For Lyceum and Commencement*—

The Making of Men
The Candle and the Crown
Laughing and Lifting
Lincoln
The New Patriotism



For Church, Y. M. C. A., Etc.*—

The Wrestlers
Your Boy and Mine
The Church and the Community
Education for Leadership
Giving One's Self
The Power of the Spirit
A Living or a Life



A Teacher's Five Book Library*—

The Teacher Measured (Hyde's Self Measurement)
The Teacher Trained (Bennett's The Human Machine)
The Teacher Tested (Eggleston's Hoosier School Master)
The Teacher Triumphant (Smith's The Evolution of Dodd)
The Teacher Crowned (Watson's Domsie)



Training the Senses*—

Observing Accurately
Recording Correctly
Inferring Justly
Expressing Cogently
Trained vs. Untrained



The Teacher's Power*—

The Teacher and the Pupil's Health
The Individual Touch
Paying the Fiddler (Punishment)
The Day's Play
The Day's Work




English in the Grades—

Vitalizing the Teaching of English
Applied Grammar
The Power of Pictures*
Language Work from Literature
Literature from Language Work



Making English Interesting—

The Educational Cornerstone
Words We Wrong
The Story in the Schoolroom*
The Play's the Thing*
The Poet's Power*



Vital Problems*—

Agriculture, the State, and the School
The Forest and the Nation
The New Temperance
The Efficient School
Conserving Rural Life



World Wanderings*

Scotland and Scott
England's Glories
Alluring Italy
Spanish Bullfights
Our Western Wonderland



Literary Stars*

Irving, Early Enchanter
Longfellow, Sweet Musician
Whittier, Poet of the People
Parkman, Master Historian
Kipling, World Genius



Reading between the Lines*

The Lyric's Melody
The Story's Flash
The Drama's Rise and Ebb
The Essay's Heart-Touch
The Novel's Power



*The star indicates that any address mentioned in the starred group or the individual address starred is suited to the general audience.






Pres't Thos. C. Blaisdell, Ph. D. ALMA COLLEGE Alma, Mich.