Showing posts with label logic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label logic. Show all posts
Monday, December 01, 2008
Logic
So knavery puts on the face of justice; hypocrisy and superstition wear the vizard of piety; deceit and evil are often clothed in the shapes and appearances of truth and goodness. Now logic helps us to strip off the outward disguise of things, and to behold them and judge of them in their own nature. -- Isaac Watts in his book Logic
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Red Herring
I have yet to try Dishwasher Salmon. Not having a dishwasher myself has proven more of an obstacle than I had originally thought. I do so very much want to attempt it soon though, so keep your hopes up and I will post as soon as the experiment is executed.
On a slightly different but terribly similar note, I should like to report that I did try zip-lock-microwave salmon in my Logic class yesterday. My students found it a bit unbearable in smell and extremely revolting in appearance. I am sure that is only the case because I neglected to "dress it up", if you will, with any herbs, veggies, and the like. At any rate it was a jolly fun endeavor. We were learning about Red Herring fallacies so I told them about the horse riding hunting trips of yore when the hunters would take their trained dogs and galavant all through the woods in search for foxes. To train their hounds, hunters would wave dead fish (red herrings) across the fox scent to get the dogs off track and then in turn teach them to stay on track. So, we set out on a lemon hunting expedition in class yesterday while the wafting scent of microwave salmon lingered in the air threatening to detract them from their common and proper search. Ah, the joys of teaching!
On a slightly different but terribly similar note, I should like to report that I did try zip-lock-microwave salmon in my Logic class yesterday. My students found it a bit unbearable in smell and extremely revolting in appearance. I am sure that is only the case because I neglected to "dress it up", if you will, with any herbs, veggies, and the like. At any rate it was a jolly fun endeavor. We were learning about Red Herring fallacies so I told them about the horse riding hunting trips of yore when the hunters would take their trained dogs and galavant all through the woods in search for foxes. To train their hounds, hunters would wave dead fish (red herrings) across the fox scent to get the dogs off track and then in turn teach them to stay on track. So, we set out on a lemon hunting expedition in class yesterday while the wafting scent of microwave salmon lingered in the air threatening to detract them from their common and proper search. Ah, the joys of teaching!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
"I love it when a plan comes together!"
I think it was Hannibal from the A-Team that said that. He had a good point. There's something encouraging about seeing things fall into place the right way. I was particularly reminded of this yesterday in my Logic class when everything we had been talking about for a couple of weeks now was able to come together to help address an issue among the students themselves.
The last several weeks we have been talking about why you believe what you believe, and why you do what you do. We have looked at the fact that behind every idea there is a person or group of people propelling that idea. That every belief they have can more than likely be traced back to a point in time when someone shared that belief with them and it became their own. Similarly, why you do what you do is a direct result of why you believe what you believe and is thus often springs from the influence of an individual as well. Over Thanksgiving break I had my students create a "Memory Board". Basically, I wanted them to come up with a timeline, a creative representation of each year of their lives—from 0 through to their present age—and attach one or two people to each year of their lives. The person that they remember most at that point in their life and what they remember about them. Obviously they had to dig deep and ask family members about their early years, because who could remember what person influenced you the most at age 0! So I told them a good place to start was to ask who all changed their diapers in addition to their parents!
Yesterday the memory board projects were due. At the beginning of class we have a "Pensive Session", a.k.a. journal writing time. I gave them this assignment, "Write all the good things you know about the following people," and then listed 4 members of our class. My reason for doing this was because there is one student in particular in our class who gets picked on quite a bit because he is “different”. I threw in his name amongst one popular, one quirky, and one shy student to force the kids to stop and think about the good qualities they saw in this young man. Two minutes into the assignment, I had several students ask, “What if we don’t know 2 or 3 of these people?” My first reaction was, “Wow! We have been together in this class from August until November, the students share more than just this one class, and we can’t come up with a few good things to say about 2 or 3 specific people.” It made me wonder about the people they didn’t share a class with. I told them to use the great skills of logical observation and come up with at least one thing per person. That gave me some time to stop, pray, and think about where to go next.
When they were done I told them that in my English class the previous period we had talked about being observant and how that often requires effort. I told them that there are times when I can be half way through a day and not be able to recall what I did up to that point. There are times when I am driving when I have gone several miles and couldn’t recall a single thing I passed and barely remember where I’m going. I told them that I started an exercise to help me be more alert and observant. For instance, when I am driving I look for VW Beatles and point them out in my mind. They serve as markers for what I am driving by, and points to notice my surroundings. After doing this for a while, it’s hard not to pass a VW Beatle and not shout out—whether mentally or audibly—“Punch-buggy!” So it is with people. We can walk through the halls at school every day for months and not think about the people we are passing by. The fact that they are people. The fact that they have a story. It takes effort to get beyond that. But often it can start with a little effort, like stopping to ask someone how their Thanksgiving break was. Even if all they say is, “Great! My family from Wisconsin came to visit,” then that’s one more thing about that person that you didn’t know before—that they have family from Wisconsin.
Then we had our project presentations. I’d like to think they were more attentive than normal as each student shared parts of their past and pieces of their story. Maybe they were. But I do know that when that one particular boy who stated all my thinking and praying in the first place got up to present, there was a change in the class. Not dramatic, but it was evident. There was slight snickering at first when he got up, then an occasional perking of ears when the boy said something about his father’s “period of indifference”, and then inquisitive glances back at me when the boy mentioned that his name had changed after his mother’s second marriage. His was the longest presentation of the day. I let him talk. I let the class listen. It was a moment that cannot be written in to lesson plans, given as a homework assignment, or conjured up through brainstorming. It was a moment when their lessons and learning were applied and embodied in something, in someone, tangible. And that kind of lesson no teacher can take credit for, however good his or her teaching techniques.
My goal for next semester is to move my students towards being able to debate. But before I teach them the structure of debate, the fallacies, the art of argument, I want them to realize that behind every position there is a person. While they should not attack the person, they should seek to know the person. And while some event or circumstance of a person’s life cannot be an excuse for their belief, it sometimes can be an explanation. The better you know the person, the better you understand where they are coming from on an issue.
Behind every idea, behind every belief, behind every action there is a person. Behind every person there is a story.
The last several weeks we have been talking about why you believe what you believe, and why you do what you do. We have looked at the fact that behind every idea there is a person or group of people propelling that idea. That every belief they have can more than likely be traced back to a point in time when someone shared that belief with them and it became their own. Similarly, why you do what you do is a direct result of why you believe what you believe and is thus often springs from the influence of an individual as well. Over Thanksgiving break I had my students create a "Memory Board". Basically, I wanted them to come up with a timeline, a creative representation of each year of their lives—from 0 through to their present age—and attach one or two people to each year of their lives. The person that they remember most at that point in their life and what they remember about them. Obviously they had to dig deep and ask family members about their early years, because who could remember what person influenced you the most at age 0! So I told them a good place to start was to ask who all changed their diapers in addition to their parents!
Yesterday the memory board projects were due. At the beginning of class we have a "Pensive Session", a.k.a. journal writing time. I gave them this assignment, "Write all the good things you know about the following people," and then listed 4 members of our class. My reason for doing this was because there is one student in particular in our class who gets picked on quite a bit because he is “different”. I threw in his name amongst one popular, one quirky, and one shy student to force the kids to stop and think about the good qualities they saw in this young man. Two minutes into the assignment, I had several students ask, “What if we don’t know 2 or 3 of these people?” My first reaction was, “Wow! We have been together in this class from August until November, the students share more than just this one class, and we can’t come up with a few good things to say about 2 or 3 specific people.” It made me wonder about the people they didn’t share a class with. I told them to use the great skills of logical observation and come up with at least one thing per person. That gave me some time to stop, pray, and think about where to go next.
When they were done I told them that in my English class the previous period we had talked about being observant and how that often requires effort. I told them that there are times when I can be half way through a day and not be able to recall what I did up to that point. There are times when I am driving when I have gone several miles and couldn’t recall a single thing I passed and barely remember where I’m going. I told them that I started an exercise to help me be more alert and observant. For instance, when I am driving I look for VW Beatles and point them out in my mind. They serve as markers for what I am driving by, and points to notice my surroundings. After doing this for a while, it’s hard not to pass a VW Beatle and not shout out—whether mentally or audibly—“Punch-buggy!” So it is with people. We can walk through the halls at school every day for months and not think about the people we are passing by. The fact that they are people. The fact that they have a story. It takes effort to get beyond that. But often it can start with a little effort, like stopping to ask someone how their Thanksgiving break was. Even if all they say is, “Great! My family from Wisconsin came to visit,” then that’s one more thing about that person that you didn’t know before—that they have family from Wisconsin.
Then we had our project presentations. I’d like to think they were more attentive than normal as each student shared parts of their past and pieces of their story. Maybe they were. But I do know that when that one particular boy who stated all my thinking and praying in the first place got up to present, there was a change in the class. Not dramatic, but it was evident. There was slight snickering at first when he got up, then an occasional perking of ears when the boy said something about his father’s “period of indifference”, and then inquisitive glances back at me when the boy mentioned that his name had changed after his mother’s second marriage. His was the longest presentation of the day. I let him talk. I let the class listen. It was a moment that cannot be written in to lesson plans, given as a homework assignment, or conjured up through brainstorming. It was a moment when their lessons and learning were applied and embodied in something, in someone, tangible. And that kind of lesson no teacher can take credit for, however good his or her teaching techniques.
My goal for next semester is to move my students towards being able to debate. But before I teach them the structure of debate, the fallacies, the art of argument, I want them to realize that behind every position there is a person. While they should not attack the person, they should seek to know the person. And while some event or circumstance of a person’s life cannot be an excuse for their belief, it sometimes can be an explanation. The better you know the person, the better you understand where they are coming from on an issue.
Behind every idea, behind every belief, behind every action there is a person. Behind every person there is a story.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Reasons: Thoughts from a Logic Teacher
Our favorite word in Logic class is "tangible". Not because it seems to contradict what Plato is known for, but because it best describes our worldview in teaching logic. I want my students to be overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of the world of thought. But in the end I want them to have such a practical grasp of the scope of thought that it prods them into deliberate awareness and attentiveness. In other words, I want them to think about what they are thinking about and act accordingly.
Our second favorite word is "obstreperous". Not because it seems to contradict the lessons of "tangible", but because I was once called that by one of my teaching mentors who happens to be of Welsh birth. I want my students to see me modeling tangibility. I have come to be more aware than they are about themselves at this point of who I am, why I do what I do, and the people that have helped shape that awareness most. And now I want to share that realization with them. Do they know at the beginning of the school year why I use the word "obstreperous" so much? No. But that too is intentional. I want them to be curious about the word, to be annoyed by my frequent use of the word, to call one of their friends "obstreperous"—after they have used our class dictionary to look up the word—and then I will share my Welsh "obstreperous" story.
Everything in life has a meaning. Everything a purpose. As teachers, we must be deliberate about thinking through such things ourselves then walk with—and sometimes pull along—our students as we discover together.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Logical Thoughts
I've been thinking a bit about logic lately. 1) Because I'm concluding the first year of, what I hope will be, my teaching career, having done so as a 7th and 8th grade logic teacher, and 2) Because I've just committed another year of my life to the same subject. I have been wrestling with a good many ideas of what logic is or should be, all in anticipation of the question I know my students will ask me at least once more before they walk out of my classroom for the last time: "What's the point of Logic again?" I’m struggling with a good answer primarily because I am struggling with the nature of logic itself and how it should be taught. Here are some of the things I’ve been thinking about:
• Logic cannot be used to answer all questions.
• One of the goals of logic is to show that everyone has "common sense", and then to instruct on how to use it.
• Logic should not be approached mechanically—it should not, does not, operate on fact alone. There is no neat clean category in which all things can be placed simply because we do not live in a neat clean world—we live in a fallen world.
• As Christians we know that people matter. Yes they are messy because of sin, but that does not mean we are to discount their intentions or callings because of a difference of opinion or worldview.
• Some say that passion is all that matters. Some say that it is the intention of the heart. Some say it is what you do that counts. Are any one of those things enough? Yet can we do any more than any one of those things on our own?
• Christ gives us a three-fold witness (John 5) because He knows that there is more to a person than just the ability to reason. We must also take into account feelings and experiences. No one of these areas alone can support the weightiness of truth, but together provide the objectivity that truth demands.
• All of the fallacies my students will study in high school with Dr. Grant will just focus on one of the three characteristics of man. The really appealing and persuasive ones may focus on two. But no other religion, no other way of thinking genuinely addresses and acknowledges all three and attempts to give an answer for each.
• We are not all made the same. Because of that, a really affective argument (i.e. discourse or apologetic) must incorporate and apply the three-fold witness.
• It should be only natural…but it’s not. But it should be—especially if our goal in this poor fallen world is to build up and mend rather than tear down.
• Logic cannot be used to answer all questions.
• One of the goals of logic is to show that everyone has "common sense", and then to instruct on how to use it.
• Logic should not be approached mechanically—it should not, does not, operate on fact alone. There is no neat clean category in which all things can be placed simply because we do not live in a neat clean world—we live in a fallen world.
• As Christians we know that people matter. Yes they are messy because of sin, but that does not mean we are to discount their intentions or callings because of a difference of opinion or worldview.
• Some say that passion is all that matters. Some say that it is the intention of the heart. Some say it is what you do that counts. Are any one of those things enough? Yet can we do any more than any one of those things on our own?
• Christ gives us a three-fold witness (John 5) because He knows that there is more to a person than just the ability to reason. We must also take into account feelings and experiences. No one of these areas alone can support the weightiness of truth, but together provide the objectivity that truth demands.
• All of the fallacies my students will study in high school with Dr. Grant will just focus on one of the three characteristics of man. The really appealing and persuasive ones may focus on two. But no other religion, no other way of thinking genuinely addresses and acknowledges all three and attempts to give an answer for each.
• We are not all made the same. Because of that, a really affective argument (i.e. discourse or apologetic) must incorporate and apply the three-fold witness.
• It should be only natural…but it’s not. But it should be—especially if our goal in this poor fallen world is to build up and mend rather than tear down.