Monday, April 29 - AM Advanced

We continued our unit on ancient Greek civilization. The opening conversation centered on what we already know about the Greeks. 

I showed the class some pictures I took during my last trip to Greece.

I then gave the class a lecture on ancient Greece. I gave them the outline of my notes; they practiced taking notes of their own. We covered a lot of territory: Greek legends and myths, attending primarily to the epics of Homer; the polis, centered around Athens and Sparta; the geographical features of the polis, namely the acropolis and the agora; Greek theater and drama; and the the Peloponnesian War. 

We then had a conversation about the myths, legends, and folklore of our native countries. 

Opening conversation: If you were a Greek god or goddess, who would you be?

I then introduced the class to our learning objective for the term: speaking using the past perfect tense. I distributed an information handout on the subject; we then did some practice exercises.

I gave a presentation on Plato and Aristotle. I introduced the class to some main ideas in their philosophies. Specifically, we discussed Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” as well as Socrates’s attitude toward death; we also explored Aristotle’s notion of the good life and the golden mean. 

We concluded class with what one student described as “heavy thoughts”: What is the purpose or goal of life? What do you want to be your legacy?