“I freely confess: It was the objection of David Hume which first, many years ago, interrupted my dog-matic slumber” (Philosopher Immanuel Kant)”
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*** Star Wars offers the image of the Teacher: Think of the wise, respected, and mysterious martial arts Teacher, and the focused, eager, and respectful student/learner.
Dear Teachers:
One of the difficulties in teaching citizenship, multiculturalism, and pluralism is integrating into lessons resources that are effective at encouraging differentiated instruction and fostering creative and critical thinking while being truly cross curricular and engaging. I think you will find a springboard for all those things at this site as a whole. Our goal here is not simply to provide set units and lesson plans, but rather offer a springboard from which lessons and rubrics can be drafted with students, grade/division teams, etc.
There are a wealth of freely available creative and critical thinking resources from school boards and the web, so it is just a question of integrating them into lesson and unit building. If students are to be assessed on their creative and critical thinking skills, these need to be explicitly taught and modeled.
Darth Plagueis The Wise: Teacher of Darth Sidious
*** image fair Use Wiki: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Plagueis?file=DarthPlagueisHS-SWI130.jpg
Here are some of my favorite Lesson Building Resources:
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(6) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
Adam had stayed in his seat after class looking depressingly out the window. “Alakazoo” shouted Mr. Bob, as in a puff of smoke he transformed a closed can of Sprite into an open one and handed it to Adam. “Thanks,” Adam said. “Just having a bad day today.” “Nonsense,” Mr. Bob claimed. “Every glass is…
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(5) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
“Today’s Magic Class is going to be a little different,” Mr. Bob said. “We are going to try some word magic. Who thinks words have to make sense for them to give us ideas?” All hands went up. “But what about this poem by Lewis Carrol, author of Alice in Wonderland? Jabberwocky ’Twas brillig, and…
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(4) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
“And now,” Mr. Bob said in his most Mr. Bob-ish way possible, “All suits are red!” He turned over the deck of cards in his hands and to the student’s amazement, the suits of all the cards had turned red! “They must be happy,” Suzy remarked. “Why?” asked Mr. Bob. “Well, when I’m happy everything…
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(3) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
One thing cool about Mr. Bob the magic teacher is he always did a class participation warm up. For example, one time he tore a sock in half and asked the class what happened? “Its ‘wholeness’ was destroyed” Marty said. “Exactly” said Mr. Bob. “And I bet you didn’t even notice the sock’s wholeness was…
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(2) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
Mr. Bob taught magic class at the school. He tried to switch things up by explaining how the trick works before doing it. For example, he showed how a hat has a hidden compartment to pull a rabbit out of. This should have been boring but wasn’t as he went ahead to accidentally pull a…
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(1) Story: The Secular Web Kids and Magic Class
If it so happens, as it sometimes does, that you walk along Magnetic Creek (which flows up rather than down) early in the morning and cross the endless woods, you may come into a little clearing where a very old schoolhouse has stood from time beyond memory. If it is the right day and time,…
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Hide and Seek
Have you ever known someone who both can see and can’t see at the same time? We all are like that sometimes. Did you ever have a friend who really wasn’t a very good friend, but you didn’t really notice until later? May they only wanted to hang out because you had an Xbox and…
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Learning About Heraclitus
(Wiki: Possible bust of Heraclitus, from the Hall of Philosophers in the Capitoline Museums) Heraclitus ( c. 500 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Persian Empire. He has a wide influence through the works of such later authors as Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Marx and Heidegger. One…
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What Makes Life Meaningful for You?
Friedrich Nietzsche, circa 1875 (Wiki Friedrich Hermann Hartmann – https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/04/10/0b/04100baec90c105729b47f33c371476b.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche famously wrote, “Without music, life would be a mistake” in his book Twilight of the Idols, published in 1889. This line appears in the section titled “Maxims and Arrows” which is a collection of sayings Nietzsche often reflected on the profound role of…
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Where did Everything Come From?: A Short Philosophy Novel for Kids
Join young Billy and Beatrice, squabbling siblings, as they visit imaginary neighborhoods in different time periods, and even blast off into outer space! Engaging with oddball characters like Mr. Whom (a balloon), Mr. Sour Hour (a vulture) and Mr. Darwinkle (a bearded moose), they come to grips with Big Questions, like the nature of God,…