Go Green

Here is a picture of me with my cousin in one of my favourite green spots: the Malvern Hills in England. And here are a couple of green games I found:

http://earth911.org/just-for-kids

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/kids/space/index.htm

I was looking for an environmental film and I just happened on this one of Women's portraits which I really enjoyed so I am adding it instead.

Do I want to Wiki?

Wikipedia: free, democratic, collaborative, becoming up to date - easy to use, edited, uses uniform styles.

I actually should check what they have on Langland - in fact they do not yet have an article on the C-Text, so I should start it.

I myself have found it a useful tool - the entry on Paradise Lost was far more illuminating than the Britannica one.

Evaluate the Examined Life Blog

Finally, do you consider that you learn better using ICT or traditional methods such as pen, paper and books?

Bloom's Taxonomy

In 1956, Bloom proposed a hierarchy of thinking skills. You may have used this taxonomy in Year 7 with your Independent Research Project on Historical Novels. Asking yourself questions at the higher levels helps you to develop your thinking skills.



Some thinkers have revised Bloom’s Taxonomy to put Creating at the top.


Exercise:

Read the account of the Death of Socrates at the following website, and answer the questions.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/socrates.htm

Knowledge: When did Socrates die? What else can you find out about Socrates?
Comprehension: Why did Socrates die?
Application:
Analysis: What factors in the Athenian legal system and in Socrates’ own character led to his death?
Synthesis: Compare the death of Socrates with the death of Jesus. What aspects of the moral teacher causes them to get into trouble with the authorities?
Evaluation: Was Socrates right to choose death rather than exile when he had a wife and young children?
Creative: Write a dialogue between Socrates and Jesus.

Look at the Monty Python Skit of the Soccer Match between the German and the Greek Philosophers. Did it give you any ideas that you might like to know more about?

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

In 1983, Howard Gardner proposed that people display intelligence in a number of areas, rather than in the rather narrow verbal/mathematical/logical area that dominated IQ testing. His theories have had a huge impact on education. The four areas of the Examined Life Blog suggest activities in a number of areas. Try some of these and reflect on your preferred learning style (this may include a variety of intelligences.’

The Examined Life Blog

The Examined Life and Education

‘Education has for its object formation of character.’ Herbert Spencer

‘The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values.’ Dean Inge



As you can see from the quotations above, education is a key part of leading an ‘examined life’ or the life which considers and develops values and thus character. Socrates, who first said that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’, was a great teacher.

Death of Socrates by Jean Peyron, 1787

• So were Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, and many other leaders throughout history. In some sense anyone or anything that we admire teaches us something.
  I have always learned a lot from reading great works of literature from Homer’s Iliad (c.800 BC) through John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), to Primo Levi’s If this be a Man (1958).
  
  In preparing this Blog, I hope to give you opportunities both to think about the examined life in a variety of ways, but also to consider how you learn and what you value in learning. This is the first time I have done something like this – in other years, I have just looked at students’ journals in hard copy. But as this is the digital age, I would like you to consider some of the following ideas about how you learn, explore some of the exercises in the four areas of the Blog, and then write a reflection on how you learn best. You may submit your reflection in the Blog or by writing in your journal or in any other form (such as a skit or comic strip) that you think is appropriate. I would like you to try to answer the following questions:
  
  Did you find the Blog better than other forms of developing your ideas, or do you prefer other ways? Why?
  What are your strengths and weaknesses as a learner (See Gardner’s Multiple intelligences below and remember that you may have strengths in several areas)? Give examples.
  What kind of questions are you asking yourself in your Examined Life Project? What levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are you using?
  Finally, do you consider that you learn better using ICT or traditional methods such as pen, paper and books?

Due Date: Tuesday 5th June 2007

King Lear

Inspire me