4 posts tagged “greek”

All the more reason for me to hold on to all my Philosophy books, audio lectures, and papers.  If/when I do get to experience the joys of parenthood, I can pass along all my materials to the little one(s).  HA!

When students have the opportunity to participate in “Socratic seminars” on a regular basis, a different classroom culture evolves. The students collaborate more and more voices are heard. The students develop their thinking skills in a cooperative and investigative atmosphere. This is shown in a new dissertation in Pedagogy by Ann S Pihlgren at the Stockholm University in Sweden.

The Socratic dialogue is a particular way of developing children’s, as well as adults’, thinking skills through cooperative dialogue where significant human ideas and values are discussed. By participating in Socratic seminars regularly every other week, preschool children and older students develop their thinking skills. The seminars address literature and art work, with questions such as these: is Pippi Longstocking is a good friend, is Jack is stupid or smart when he sells his mother’s cow for some beans or are we born good or evil. In the beginning the students have difficulty expressing their thoughts, but with time their ability to express themselves and to examine ideas critically and logically develops.

Socrates in the classroom develops students' thinking and changes the distribution of power

I lucked out and managed to catch Last Stand of the 300 on the History Channel, actually it's still on.  They're discussing the last stand at Thermopylae and the events leading up to it.  While watching it, I learned a couple quick fun facts.  That we get Marathon from the Battle of Marathon, which happened to be a city in Greece.  Persians landed in Greece, and Pheidippides, who was a herald was sent to Sparta for help.  The distance for the modern marathon is 26.2 miles, which is similar to the distance that Pheidippides ran.  He shouted "Nike", collapsed and died from exhaustion.  Nike was a goddess, which personified "victory". 

I'm sure this will be one of the more popular costumes this year, but what the hell, I'm going to do it too.  This Halloween I told a friend that I was going to dress as the Spartan King Leonidas from the movie 300. 

Here are a few stills from the movie:

I've even started growing my beard out for that particular weekend.  I'm undecided as to how long I'll actually keep it, but with the remaining time, it should look pretty good w/the costume.  Here's a pic of how I look w/a beard.  Well, I had cleaned it up a bit, but it's a bearded shot.

Vox 20060428