Socrates and Excellence

            Today in class we talked about the Greek terms we had to define on our previous blog, like arete, Socrates, The Socratic method, 508 b.c, Socrates death, and polis. But the main things we talked about was Socrates, arete and, without really knowing at first, the Socratic method. We learned how Socrates thought and how he thought critically and tried to get other people to think critically. Socrates discovered scientific breakthroughs and realized why certain things were happening while everyone else presumed that these things were happening because of the gods. He walked the streets and had many young followers that seeked his wisdom and told them his reasoning. So, he received punishment for doubting the gods and their power and corrupting youth by telling them the same thing. He was outvoted the death penalty 280-220. Socrates had believed strongly in democracy so since he was voted guilty he did not resist his punishment.

Massage to Garcia

          Today we discussed the passage written by Elbert Hubbard, A Message to Garcia. This passage, basically, was about how most all people are just plain lazy. He said that when you ask someone to do a simple task, most people ask a question about it, tries to get someone else to do it for them, or doesn't even do it. In the passage, a man named Rowan is told to send a message to Garcia and no one knows exactly where Garcia is. When Rowan is told to send him the message, he doesn't ask questions, he just goes. This shows that there is that one person who will do what he is told, get it done and do it right. Mr. Schick shared this to us (I believe)  so we could be like Rowan, do all our tasks to the best of our ability no matter where we are, in school or not. This will help us in future life experiences and motivate us to do things we are told to do.
        Arete - virtue or happiness
        Polis- city-state
        Socrates- Greek philosopher who changed philosophy
        The death of Socrates- was accused of corruption of youth and refuse to recognize the gods recognized by the state and recieved death penalty.
         Socratic method- a method of teaching by asking series of questions
         idiot- in ancient Greek an idiot is a person who does not vote
         agora- market place and meeting place
        508 bc- Kleisethens establishes democracy 
        

First legitimate day.

               Today in class we discussed the class syllabus. We went over all the rules of the class, materials that will be needed throughout the year, the grade scale, late policies, and where we can go if we need Mr. Schick throughout the day. We also learned that we will not be taking notes on our tablets because of temptation. Temptation of playing games or doing other activities when we should be paying attention to the lecture or information being given to us and writing it down. Some other things we did was go over nicknames of each other, which started to get interesting, I'll leave it at that... But today was a very important day for the rest of the year because we learned the rules and expectations of the class and how it will help us prepare for college. So, overall I think I will enjoy this class very much this year. (And I'm not just saying that Mr. Schick!).

My first day at John Carroll

          On my first day at John Carroll I was a little nervous about it being my first day at not only a new school, but it was my first day of high school too. The first thing I (and everyone else) did was go to the meeting in the auditorium, there we discussed basic information about the school. Then I went to the cafeteria for a snack and listened to what some of the staff members had to say. After that, I went to my advisory and met my advisory teacher. My advisory teacher's name was Ms. Reyerson, she seemed like a very nice teacher and I think I am going to enjoy having her as my advisory teacher throughout the four years. Next, I went to three other locations in the school, the library, the brown room, and the upper gym (for pictures). Then I went to lunch and ate pizza with some of my friends I met from the soccer team, which eased a lot of the nerves because I was around people I knew. After that I went to all of my classes that I will be having throughout the semester and met my teachers and some of my classmates, Overall I think I am really going to enjoy this school and I'm excited to see what opportunities it brings me.