Fireside Learning:  Conversations about Education

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At 10:14pm on June 22, 2009, Anna Billings said…
Thanks, Laura. This is going to sound really lame, but how do I get to the "forum page" for each group? I've tried clicking on the group and I see the list of discussions, but I don't see it laid out the same as your example and thus, I don't find the "e mail me when there is a new discussion" option. Thanks!
At 4:56pm on June 22, 2009, Anna Billings said…
Hi Laura,
I'm easing my way back to Fireside after a long time away due to a lot of traveling. I was checking the activity on groups I've joined and wondering why I haven't been notified when other group members post new discussions. Did it used to be set up that way? Seems like it would be a good way to invite folks to areas in which they've expressed an interest. But perhaps this is a glitch particular to how my links are set up? :-) Thanks!
At 6:21pm on June 21, 2009, Ellen Pham said…
Thank you, Laura. I appreciate it : ) Good thoughts help.
At 8:50pm on June 19, 2009, Maha Ahmed Ismail Issa said…
Hi, my dear you have another friend now from Egypt , you are welcome , you must try to find what the good relationship between art and mathematics , how we can draw a wonderful picture using mathematics equation , you can use geogebra to can find the answer I try too .
At 8:41pm on June 19, 2009, Maha Ahmed Ismail Issa said…
Hi, my dear
I am not good enough to do that by myself , I just try to find my way with geogebra , it is really very good program I like to work with it in mathematics class room problems.
and in art drawing , it is great ,try it
maha
At 8:38pm on June 13, 2009, Philip Dow said…
Hey Laura! No, this is the first time I have used ning. I started reading the introduction posts this afternoon. It sounds great! Barry's comments are very informative. The book came last night as well, so I'll be setting into it this weekend. Looks like a but-kicker! I browsed through the introduction on amazon before the purchase. Those German scholars are no joke!

~Phil
At 1:15pm on June 11, 2009, Jane Nordli Jessep said…
Laura,
Okay, it's me again, ever the techno-special needs student. I have a dvd of some student work I thought I might try to share. But I can't figure out how to get the stuff on the dvd into the video file on My Page. Hmm...Is it nearly impossible? Might the files be too big?
Jane
At 2:41pm on June 7, 2009, Barry Robbins said…
Yes, it's funny that you mention it. I was going to say something about in my last post and suggest looking at it some time but I forgot to do so.
At 12:46pm on June 7, 2009, Barry Robbins said…
Hi, Laura,

One more thing. Actually, I think that you are exceptionally philosophical, and, to be honest, your philosophia is what has made me so eager to be involved with this project. I suspect that at the heart of your interest "in trying to understand how philosophical discourse fits into other kinds of discourse in Greek" is a deeper interest in understanding what "human discourse" itself is. I suggest that when we finish studying Klein we tackle Plato's "Phaedrus" which deals directly with speech and writing.
At 12:31pm on June 7, 2009, Barry Robbins said…
Hi, Laura,

Since Klein's focus is on Plato, here are a couple of places to look in Plato. I think that you’ll find what you are looking for in Plato’s Meno, 82b9-85d1. One specific example of multiplication occurs in 83E7-8, but I think that you will find the entire discussion enormously interesting.

Likewise, and perhaps most simply, look at Plato’s Republic a8-b5, where Socrates talks about possible answers to the question “How much is twelve?” (Possible answers include “hexakis duo” and “tris tettara.”)
At 12:03am on June 7, 2009, Barry Robbins said…
Hi, Laura,
In his author's note to the translation, Klein makes the comment "Were I writing it today, the language would be less "scholarly"...." Nonetheless, to his credit, for the most part, when Klein introduces terms such as "dianoia" he does so in a way that does not require us to have any prior understanding of these terms. So I think that you will be delighted by his discussion of dianoia as it is discussed by Socrates in Book VII of Plato's Republic. It's usual meaning is, of course, "thinking." Socrates will use the word as the name for a certain type of thinking that he will distinguish from another kind of thinking that he calls "nous." Again, there's no need to try to form any opinions about the Greek word dianoia prior to following the discussion of it in Chapter 7B. Indeed, we use the English word "thinking" all the time without any clear sense of what we mean by it.

By the way, I do think that it would be a huge, huge, huge mistake to attempt to understand any of these terms prior to attempting to follow Klein's account of them. Our inclination to do this is, I think, a most interesting result of the very change that Klein argues has taken place in our "modern" way of thinking. Also, let me point out that Plato does not use any "technical" vocabulary. Aristotle is the first to do so. In Aristotle's writings, words like "hyle" and "dynamis" have definite technical meanings which, while not opposed to the ordinary sense of these words, are used by him in a limited and precise technical sense.

Klein is very very good at letting the words speak for themselves. He does not require us to be versed in the "arcane language of philosophy." Far from it. Again, I am convinced that it would be a huge mistake to turn away from Klein's text for assistance in understanding any of the words that he refers to. He gives us everything we need.

Barry
At 5:58pm on June 3, 2009, Kiki said…
Hi Laura,

Sorry for the late reply - I did not check the site for a while, and strangely enough, I did not get the usual email notification.

Anyway, thanks for telling me about the reading group - the book looks quite interesting, I'll check it out. My Ph.D. advisor who was just here to visit me and happens to be Greek, knows a lot of this stuff (I myself am not that well versed in the history of math, I am ashamed to say). He is also fascinated by all things Russian, and we had a number of "pseudo-linguistic" discussions with him about the Greek origin of some Russian words etc.

Have a great summer & let's keep in touch,

Kiki
At 2:30am on May 31, 2009, Diane Bouvier said…
Have you read Elizabeth Barber's _Prehistoric Textiles_ ? Lots of early Greek stuff.
At 6:24pm on May 30, 2009, Jane Nordli Jessep said…
Laura,
First of all, excuse me for being so ignorant. At least I am on the path out of darkness, right? I wanted to embed, I think that's the right word, a video from TED. They've made it more difficult to do that now. What would be the best way to accomplish this? Through Delicious? I haven't done that yet, the whole Delicious set up, I guess I should.
At 2:36am on May 30, 2009, Diane Bouvier said…
Never too late to start again!

Currently mostly spinning and weaving. Had the opportunity to hear Elizabeth Barber speak to a spinning guild meeting about the history of spinning. She was very happy not to have to explain basics, as she looked at her audience all spinning exactly the same way Penelope did.

The history of weaving fascinates me. Much of it in Classics is written by men who never saw a loom. Fortunately the Classics Dept at CSULB has excellent teachers who are willing to put up with a lot from me. Not sure if they will be willing to learn to spin.

One guy (the best writing teacher ever) does put up with my genealogy nut persona, and we have an enormous site on the Genealogy of Greek Mythology.

There is a group of math/needlework fanatics at Ravelry. I posted about this group and may get some takers.

I have no philosophy background at all, and this really slowed me down trying to read Jacob Klein. Hope that everyone will be patient with me.

As you may have noticed, I like to learn new things.
At 5:29pm on May 27, 2009, Barry Robbins said…
Hi, Laura,

I use Chase & Philips along with Machen's New Testament Greek for Beginners, but bring in lots of passages from the Greek New Testament and from Plato's works, including some that Klein looks at in his book.

Barry
At 10:58am on May 26, 2009, Gary Bishop said…
I love your book The Cat and Venus. The simple text is, I think, just right for our target audience. I added the Caution flag to warn teachers that young students might be shocked at the pictures of the cat eating the mouse.
At 7:43am on May 25, 2009, Gary Bishop said…
Latin now ranks second among non-English languages on Tar Heel Reader! Only German has more books. 69 books in less than 3 weeks.
At 10:04am on May 24, 2009, Evan Millner said…
Laura,
Your latest book about the kid and the wolf, is wonderful.

I wrote a book yesterday, I was previewing it, and accidentally pressed the 'refresh' button, and my work evaporated.

I will re-do it another day.

Evan.
At 4:26am on May 22, 2009, Evan Millner said…
What you will do, it introduce a whole generation of students to this ancient tradition, which has fallen out of the curriculum.

Aesop's fables, to an extent, are an important part of our western cultural heritage - so many references to them occur in texts and language - knowing them makes life so much richer.

I will be very interested to see what you come up with.
I also agree that the old beginning readers are too difficult. Most of the new ones are too.

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