EDF 1005- Reflection 16

I remember always having to practice writing persuasive essays when I was in middle school and in high school. It was mostly preparation for FCAT. I never realized that they never used the term “rhetoric” to describe the style of the essay until just now, of course. Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively to persuade. This form of speech was taught to public speakers so they can give their audience persuasive speeches in order to influence the thought and conduct of their audience. It was also taught to writers. I think rhetoric can be used just about in any situation. Children use it all the time when trying to convince their parents of purchasing them something or allowing them to do something. It can be greatly used for political purposes when trying to win a campaign, or as a lawyer defending a client in court. Socrates and Plato were some of the earliest to perfect this method of persuasive speech. Rhetoric is related to Roman education because it was considered to be an essential subject to be taught to these young men. Their assignments consisted of different topics and class discussions, and a speech. Cicero and Quintilian are some examples of famous rhetoricians that came from ancient Rome. Cicero wrote letters and speeches with an array of styles and left them for us to use by example of good rhetoric writing. Quintilian worked in court and was placed in a more advanced level because of his knowledge. The teachers that taught this style in Roman schools were called rhetors. They showed their students how to give speeches on any given topic and how to debate and defend your argument to their fullest potential. The people of ancient Rome were fascinated by this technique of persuasion. They were rightfully fascinated because their emphasis on this style has made it popular enough to still be used today and I am sure for more generations to come. We sometimes use this technique without even mentioning it. For instance, when trying to convince a teacher to give us a better grade or some extra credit. When we do this without preparations or realizing that we are using persuasive language and tones of voice, it seems as if it is just a natural human thing to try to get people to understand our point of view. We all want to be understood and have people in our lives with common interests. Sometimes when the person we want in our life has no common interests, we tend to convince them to think otherwise. Their speeches and exhibitions were often presented in front of their neighbors and proud parents. Every once in a while exclusive and very persuasive students presented their writings and speeches to the emperor. I wonder if these students were master minds at getting their way with their parents.

EDF 1005- Reflection 15

Education in ancient Athenia differed from the education of ancient Rome in various ways. For starters, rather than punishment and forcing students to learn through fear, as Roman education did, Athenian education never really disciplined students into focusing on one subject over their others. They wanted the children to be educated on all the subjects. The three subjects that were taught then were grammar, gymnastics, and music. I think these types of subjects are essential when molding students to become a well-spoken character, and have an appreciation for aesthetics (of the ear.) Most importantly, however, is the promotion of good health. In my years as a student in public schools, I have never seen or had the opportunity to enroll in a gymnastics class. If they offered more classes like this, perhaps students would be healthier and in good shape. Music is not as highly respected as math or science now-a-days. Females of ancient Athenia did not go to school. They were put to stay home to learn chores. However, some parents, if they could afford it, had private teachers teach the girls in their own homes. Boys began school at age 7, and at age 14 they were sent to a higher level school. Kind of like when students make a transition from middle school to high school today! If they are in good health once they become 18 years of age, they are sent off to train for military.
In Western civilization, schools were available to everyone, but with a fee. It was not only exclusively for boys from rich families. Payments to attend this school was not as expensive, and many we able to afford it. A major difference of Roman education is that they were highly disciplined, making their learning based on fear. It was believed that if the boys were afraid to be beaten for their mistakes they would learn more effectively. Although, I do not believe in hurting my students or making them scared, I suppose if they had yet to develop such an array of educational philosophies as they have today, this was is kind of effective. I’m assuming if a student does not want to be so badly disciplined, they will try harder to learn everything correctly and do their assignments right. Unlike the Athians, there was a greater emphasis on Math for Roman education than all the other subjects. Although females were allowed to attend Roman schools, the wealthier ones still had a tutor at home, rather than taking advantage of the more affordable schools. The girls practically attended a wife-school. In order to be prepared for marriage, they were taught how to keep a home. The Athenians went to school in the morning, and were out by noon, and the Romans were in school the entire day. I believe the rigorousness between schools is the main difference. Although ancient Roman education was more available to everyone than Athinian education, they seem to have had a much difficult one.

EME 2040 - Reflection 7

Digital stories are composed with the following important ingredients: images, narrating voices, and music. A digital story is similar to a audio book in the sense that the story is being recorded and read to the listener out loud. However, along with the audio story, images and illustrations are accompanied along with it to help give the viewer a better understanding of what is going. Images along with words are a perfect way to describe and physically show the story. Similar to the illustrations of a children’s story book, except the images are passing by like a slide show and the words are able to be heard. This is great for children who are more visual learners. This will give them a little extra help to understand the lesson or story. It is also a great way to learn how to read when you are able to hear the narrator reading the word and at the same time see the word on a screen. This can help the student learn how to spell and pronounce words properly. In turn, assistance with spelling and pronunciation can also help a student to communicate more effectively. Images can help a student get a general definition of what a word they don’t understand can mean, as well. These digital stories can have music added to it. Music will give the viewer/listener an idea of the mood of the story. If they are at an angry part of the story, the music can be intense and music does a good job at alternating one’s moods. Creating your own digital story can be fun and even helpful when needing to get some things off your chest. Sometimes, it is good for your soul to record your digital story even if you decide to not have an audience. This is similar to that exercise they have often taught us about, that when we are angry at someone or about something to write a letter to that person but never send it. It helps to let out your emotions and get these negative feelings off your chest. When deciding to have an audience it is important that the appropriate context is used for the corresponding viewers. It is also very important to feel comfortable when recording so that your message is clear and understandable. Try not having a monotone voice so that the audience can get the feeling of the story. If you can, practice and record over and over until you feel you have it right. Storytelling has always been incorporated in classrooms, and making it a little more visual just adds that extra oomph! It helps to grab your audience’s attention, rather than just boringly read a story to them. All in all, if done right, digital stories are an effective way of teaching and a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom. It can also encourage students to be creative and not afraid to share their own stories.

EDF 1005- Reflection 14

Aristotle has been called “The Great Philosopher” because he was the first to have laid out logic and utilize it to articulate and communicate. Not only was he the first to formulate logic but he also started writing for academic purposes. Aristotle also made his own school, like Plato did. He started the Lyceum. Aristotle was influential because he brought many ideas into our minds. He founded Western Philosophy and showed us how we are different from animals by giving us the idea of a chain in which humans are the highest and strongest link. We are different from animals because we can reason. Aristotle also believed that the penis in men made them able to reason better than women, and therefore have stronger will. He believed men could reason to conclusion to have a stronger will. He did believe women could also reason to conclusion, but that passion would get in the way, making them unable to reach a conclusion. For this reason, Aristotle believed women were of a different species. Aristotle brought up the idea of Eudemonia, which means the highest level of happiness. He believed that eudemonia cannot be reached while on Earth. Aristotle and Plato had many debates over their beliefs. Aristotle critiqued Plato’s ‘Word of Forms’ by asking what does language such as ‘resembles’/participates in’ mean? Plato has always defined resemblance between objects as those objects each resembling something further, in the world of forms. Aristotle argues that this view would go on and on ad infinitum. To reduce this absurdity, there would have to be something that the world of form also resembles. Plato made his stopping point by saying the form of the good is what everything resembles and it doesn’t resemble anything else. Aristotle believed that form and matter equaled sensible objects. He believed that forms are in the objects themselves but should not be understood as separately existing entities. He believed that form is just the shape that matter takes. Aristotle believed that for all things there must be a cause. While Aristotle argued that Plato’s ‘World of Forms’ went on ad infinitum with stopping point, Aristotle’s view also went to infinity with no STARTING point. In order for Aristotle to make sense of his chain of causes that could end ad infinitum, he must identify ‘first cause.’ This is how the idea of Aristotle’s ‘Unmoved Mover’ arose. The Unmoved Mover is that thing which causes itself and is not caused by anything else, and sets the universe in motion. Both the world of forms and the unmoved mover are God-like concepts that have been brought into our world today.

EDF 1005- Reflection 13

Socrates was not the type to record his lessons so unfortunately what we do know about his teachings is only what his student, Plato recorded. Plato has a pretty good collection of Socrates' teachings and dialogues. Therefore, everything Socrates has taught during his time we know because of Plato. Plato has played a great influential role in modern western civilization. Plato opened the first academy in Athens and taught young Athenians of philosophy. He brought many different ideas during his time and one of the most famous ones has been his world of Forms in which he believes that our world is only trying to mock a more perfect world. Plato brought up one of the most fundamental questions of metaphysics; Is reality truly as we perceive it? He gave people an idea of what reality was vs. human perception. He believes that in the world of forms, the forms are unchanging and are the perfect counterparts to our imperfect perceptions. He called our world the world of becoming, and the world of forms the world of being. In one of his illustrations, The Myth of the Cave, he describes a group of people chained together in a cave. There is a fire in the cave in which unchained people are walking around of. They are holding different symbols and these symbols are being shadowed on the wall in which the prisoners are facing. All they see is the shadow of these objects. It was written in the story that if one of the prisoners were to break free and voyage outside of the cave that the light will cause pain in his eyes and cause them to look away, however, their eyes can adjust to become enlightened of the real world. When once escaped and returned to tell the rest what he had seen and try to encourage them to be enlightened with him, the prisoners would fear what would happen to them and refuse. He is clearly illustrating how we can only appreciate the world and know after experiencing it. The objects being held around the fire represented the real world. The fire represents the sun which causes the shadows. The shadows represent the prisoner’s perceptions/ideas/impressions of the world. The hole leading up out of the cage is a journey into the intelligible world. And outside of the cage is the world of forms/ forms of good, which is a Platonic heaven. I believed that the escapee might have been a representation of Socrates. The chains might represent us tied down to impressions and we cannot get outside of our own minds to see how the world really is. Plato was an idealist, not a humanist. He felt that the only way to know truth is through experience and inquiry. Because he believed our souls are immortal they have been alive forever, even before birth so he also believed that we have all had contact with the perfect forms and ideas however, when we were brought into the world it was up to us to be curious and re-discover what he believed we had once encountered. Life and death are two complete opposites. Because of this, he believed that the soul is the life to our body and it can never die.

EDF 1005- Reflection 12

I believe that the launching of Sputnik changed United States education into a better turn because of the array of subjects that arose from it. When Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States, naturally, got a bit jealous and decided we should explore space as well. Curriculums throughout the country became more rigorous in order to place an emphasis on learning to think as scientists and mathematicians, along with the learning of foreign languages. Their goal was to make students develop thinking skills and not just memorize their lessons. Learning how to read and write is not sufficient enough in today’s world. With these new types of classes, students were able to graduate with a general knowledge on more than just reading and writing. Today’s technology is proof that reading and writing are not the only important types of knowledge in the world. Many advances have come about by learning other subjects. Students graduated with knowledge on science, and math. This is great for jobs. Now students can prepare to be more than just a priest. Students have an array of choices of how they want their career path to go, engineers, scientists, architects, etc. Instead of memorizing a lesson and passing an exam, students were now required to be able to think for themselves and use critical thinking skills to solve problems on their own. By enhancing these skills, education has become better and has benefited the society. Students in the United States are now able to communicate with people around the world who don’t speak English. Of course, who they can communicate with depends on the language courses they chose to take. Exposing students to this array of subjects and careers assists them in gaining experience and aware of the choices they can make when choosing a career. Also, exposing children early will help them develop their decision making skills because when the time comes, hopefully, they will know enough to decide what job is right for them. I believe that Sputnik sparked the competitiveness in the United States and made them realize that they have to catch up with education and breakthroughs. Initially, the United States was upset by the fact that the Russians were ahead of the game when it comes to space exploration but in the end it turned out to be a positive thing in United States education. Students are graduating with the knowledge they need to be able to make it out there in the career field they choose and maybe even have better ideas than Sputnik.

EME 1005- Reflection 11

Socrates was not one to record his philosophies and teachings; he believed learning was living it out instead of writing it down, therefore what we know of his impact come mostly from Plato’s notes. I find this a bit unfortunate because it would have been great to be able to learn and read about his ideas and philosophies in his own words and writings. Although there has been some confusion floating around about what is originally Socrates’ ideas and Plato’s idea, it is still a well known fact that Socrates as Plato’s teacher greatly influenced his ideas. It would make sense for Plato’s idealism to come from his favorite teacher, Socrates. People believed everything Socrates had taught and followed it throughout their life. Socrates tested people’s minds to become strong in what they believed. Moral virtue equaled happiness and moral virtue was absolutely needed in order to be happy. It was believed that a person who did evil things were a bad person and that they would be better off dead than to be alive and evil. Socrates gave the people of this time an example of what was considered to be a worthy lifestyle. He believed a worthy life was one that was examined. Socrates pushed people to have their own minds and to have valid arguments for their beliefs. Socrates taught his followers his idea of afterlife and that higher power did find good and evil relevant. I believed that moral beliefs and values would always matter and there could not be a world without them. As you can see, Socrates did not care too much about factual information but was more worried about being a good person and making sure his followers learned to think for themselves and also be brought up with good morals. He set a good example for this civilization to act right, and not wrong. Because he taught his students to put up valid arguments when discussing theories, I think he sort of brought the idea of harsher, well thought out debates into this world. Unfortunately, Socrates was poisoned for his teachings. His students offered to help his escape before they forced him to take the poison but Socrates was very loyal and showed a strong pride in his belief and chose to take the poison. I have told my mom that teaching is a passion career, not a money career. This moment at the end of Socrates’ life shows a strong flowing passion for his love of teaching his ideals; a passion so strong that he was willing to give up his life for it. Many, many years have passed but his theories are still widely taught and known in today’s society.

EME 2040 - Reflection 6

Telecollaborative learning arose when they began a project for students in Israel called "We The Children." They wanted to be sure that the students felt save in their environments, which in turn would help them to learn better. I believe that there are two places where a person should always feel save. Your own home, and your school. Your home is your shelter and if you don't feel safe there, where can you feel safe? Children are in school the first half of their day. It is almost like a second home to them. Usually, children in schools are told to trust their teachers and other school authorities. People we trust are people we feel protected by. If we don't feel safe in a place full of people we are told we should trust, then once again, where can we feel safe? I can imagine that when a student feels unsafe they are nervous and on-edge. It must be hard to properly learn under those conditions. People conducting this project asking the students to describe what thwy considered to be a safe classroom. This information helped them to compare the student's idea of a safe classroom and their current situation to see whether it was ideal or not. Many of the students in Israel felt that they weren't safe in their environment. They were scared to go to places even if they were protected by security, such as the movie theater. And even if they did feel safe going to see a movie with their friends, they felt as if they weren't safe enough to use public transportation to get there! Just about anyone can use telecollaborative learning by gathering a students in groups to help each other solve a problem by using the internet and other resources. This approach will assist the student develop critical and creative thinking skills and even have them get comfortable with the usage of technology. This project had Israeli students and Canadian students e-mailing each other back and forth. They found that the topics they spoke about were of what normal 13-14 year old teenagers are interested in, music, sports, weekend activities, and fashion. They were able to only see the difference when the Israeli students described their unsafe environment in the poems they were assigned to write. One student even wished they lived in Switzerland. The interaction between the very different worlds amongst these adolescence helps them to understand the terrorism going on around them and helps the slightly more privileged students to appreciate the safety that they have in their country. Telecollaborative learning can give the student a better worldview and compassion.

EME 2040 - Reflection 5

Cooperative/collaborative learning is when the instructor teams their students together to learn and work on projects or activities together. Students sitting in groups discussing the chapter of a lecture is an example of collaborative learning. Students can even use collaborative learning at home, online by discussing with their classmates, or even students in different schools the topic. In cooperative learning, the students should be graded for their individual work, as well as the group's ability to work as a whole. Not only does this help each other to understand other points of view but it gives the student some experience with team work to help them prepare at a job environment later when they are adults. In these groups the student can share what they know and their strengths with their friends and also receive feedback and tips for their weaker skills. The student will also develop skills to come up with agreements when one of their cohorts develop a conflicting ideal. There are three things that are necessary for the ideal cooperative learning environment. First, the student should feel safe amongst their peers, but a big of a challenge is needed to spark that competitiveness in them. Second, the groups shouldn't be too big. This way it is easier for everyone to contribute. Third, the instructor should clearly define the assignment so that the student actually knows what he/she is doing. I have noticed in my experience in school that sometimes one students will put in more work and effort than the others in group work. I believe that in order to avoid this, the instructor should individually assign to each student a sub-subject to make up the whole subject, while still preserving the encouragement of sharing thoughts and ideas with each other. It would be best for the instructor to follow up with the groups to make sure everyone is doing their work as assigned and not taking advantage of the more invigorated one. When properly done, cooperative/collaborative learning is a very efficient method of better understanding the topic, and developing social skills.