A Great Philosopher

 He was born in Athens in 469 BC  He was not from a rich family  His father was a stone carver and his mother was a midwife  He was rumored to be UGLY! UGLY!

 He was a pretty bad sculptor for a while and THEN…  He began to question the world around him.

 What is piety? What is beauty? What is the right thing to do? What is wisdom? He knew that these questions were hard to answer, and he thought it would be better to have a lot of people discuss the answers together, so that they might come up with more ideas.

Piety (“dutiful conduct”), was known as Eusebia. -how men and women interacted, -how a master should speak to a slave, -how one addressed a seller in the marketplace -how one conducted oneself toward the gods.

So he began to go around Athens asking people he met these questions, "What is wisdom?", "What is piety?", and so forth. Sometimes the people just said they were busy, but sometimes they would try to answer him. ?

try to teach them to think better by asking them more questions which showed them the problems in their logic. Often this made people angry. Sometimes they even tried to beat him up!

Socrates soon had a group of young men who listened to him and learned from him how to think. *Plato was one of these young men.

But in 399 BC,BC some of the Athenians got mad at Socrates for what he was teaching the young men. They charged him in court with impiety (not respecting the gods) and corrupting the youth (teaching young men bad things).

Socrates had a big trial in front of an Athenian jury. He was convicted and sentenced to death. He died - the guards gave him a cup of hemlock (a poisonous plant) to drink.

 Socrates believed that enabling students to think for themselves was more important than filling their heads with “right answers.”  In a Socratic Seminar, participants seek deeper understanding of complex ideas through rigorously thoughtful dialogue.  A Socratic Seminar fosters active learning as participants explore and evaluate the ideas, issues, and values in a particular text.

The purpose of the seminar is to expand our ideas and deepen our thinking, not to come to a particular conclusion or any conclusion at all.

Dialogue is... collaborative about understanding listening for deeper meaning re-evaluating assumptions keeping an open mind Debate is... oppositional about proving others wrong listening for flaws defending assumptions close-minded

Dialogue is... about temporarily suspending beliefs searching for strength or validity in all ideas about respecting all participants exploring different possibilities open-ended Debate is... about defending beliefs searching for weaknesses in ideas about belittling or demeaning others having one right answer demands a conclusion

Objectives:  To examine a text  To listen to new ideas  To explore ambiguities and multiple meanings  To make meaningful connections between a text and the rest of life

Listen  No one can speak while someone else is speaking. Build  Speakers must try to build on what others say, not debate their views. Refer to the Text  Speakers must refer directly to the section of the text from which their ideas come rather than making general comments or observations.

 R espect Each Other’s Thoughts and Opinions  U nderstand the text by reading and discussing carefully  L isten carefully  E ngage in the Conversation  S mile and have fun

1. Round One (10-12 min.) 2. Pair Feedback (3-5 min.) 3. Round Two (10-12 min.) Inner and outer circles switch seats. 4. Last Word (5 min. to write, reflect then share) INNER CIRCLE OUTER CIRCLE 8-10 students engage in thoughtful dialog about a common pre-read text Group A Group B 8-10 students observe seminar HS

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

Comedian, Red Skeleton gives us a glimpse…. ed_Skelton___Pledge_of_Allegiance&video _id=138282