Practical Paideia

Making Pedagogy Palpable

Where Paideia starts to feel possible…

  • Gazing…and Aristotle’s Five Common Topics

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) Incorporating Aristotle’s Five Common Topics into a lesson on gazing Painting: Flood Panel on the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo Step 1: Provide students with a brief bio of Michelangelo as well as a brief summary of the painting itself.  Bio: Michelangelo was an italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. He… Read more

  • Sample Lesson Plan – Speech

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) Lesson Overview Homework Objectives/Standards Organizing a speech-the six parts of speech organization according to Cicero Read Chapter 8 in textbook for Monday SPCH 1.6 – Establish credibility and build rapport with the audience Enduring Understanding: Effective communicators must establish trust, rapport, and credibility with their audience. Unit Essential Questions: How does skill in… Read more

  • It’s all well and good…

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) One of the things I find myself often correcting my students (and my own kids) on, is their use of the word ‘good’. Frequently they say things like, “I think I did pretty good on that math test” or “practice went good”. I always remind them that they’re using the… Read more

  • We’re at our best when we’re not teaching at all…

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) Today I substituted for 8th and 10th grade Latin. I actually don’t know any Latin (it was not a course option for the Upper School back in the day), so I went into it thinking that because I didn’t have the skills needed to teach the subject, the students would probably… Read more

  • Virtue Based Participation

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) See below for a rubric that connects class participation with the four cardinal virtues. Read more

  • Screwtape Letters Meets Professional Development

    Lindsey Ralls (Summit Christian Academy) Viridis,You are correct. While it’s helpful to understand the purpose of what you are doing as a classical teacher, it actually leads to more questions rather than answers. Now you find yourself asking ‘how’. How do you teach in a way that instructs your students to love what they ought… Read more

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What We’re All About

Pai·deia (noun) – The upbringing of a child

Prac·ti·cal (adjective) – Concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with simply theory and ideas 

Post of the Week!

Gazing…and Aristotle’s Five Common Topics

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