2002-11-01
Socratic Disc: Inner/Outer circle, posted at 10:13 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I just tried my inner circle & outer circle version of a Socratic Seminar, and it went so well! I selected ten students for the inner circle, and the other eighteen kids in the class had to either specifically evaluate one student on their comments/contributions or analyze the entire group based on what level of the Bloom's Taxonomy the different comments fell under. It was one of the best times I've had in the classroom for a while; the kids were so calm and insightful in their comments. It made me happy to be a teacher.Let's just hope it goes as well in my 4/5 period class (not too worried) and my 7th period class (not a chance in hell will it go as smoothly, but I'll do my darndest).
Here are some of the kids' reflections on how it went:
"I think the discussion went very well for the first time. I think they need to look at each other and not at you. They also need to talk louder."
"I think this is stupid. We should stick to the regular socratic seminar. If we continue this, I'd rather be on the outside of the circle. You should let me switch places with someone who actually wants to be on the inside circle." (This one made me laugh. He's a funny kid, very smart, one of my favorites. As soon as he handed to me, I glanced at the first sentence, and said, "Woah! Tell me how you really feel!")
"I think that the inner circle did okay today with it being the first day. Everybody got to explain their comments or questions. We could give more examples or details to better do the circle."
"I think it went very well because everyone had at least two or more things to say and I was talking a little more and I like it this way."
"I think it was okay. Next time, I think anybody should be able to ask questions, not just the leader. I really like this way though." (Yeah, I was wondering about this too. Does there really need to be a leader? Hmmm...)
"I think that it went very well because (the group leader) gave interesting questions to discuss, and everyone had good information. But some people need to gather their information, and they have to stop agreeing with people so much."
"This inner circle and outer circle went good. I wish there was a way for the outer circle to join. Something could be for halway through the circle should switch, you should ask the questions." (I was thinking about this, too. Perhaps I could incorporate some sort of "note-giving" system.)
I like having more members in the discussion. I think we should have two small group discussions. I like making comments and there were a lot of comments that I wanted to make but couldn't." (I worry about this too. Two small discussions would be too much, I think. I like that half the class is observing, though I've got to figure out how to involve them in a different way because I don't think they could make it that long.)
"I think the group did a great job. Not everybody but enough people said things to make the conversation good."
"I feel that this first discussion went smoothly. Everyone talked but I think they should go in order or at a slower pace. Mayber there should be hand-raising, or just a more organized order."
I will continue to study how my students do on this all day, and fiddle with the format a little. It's all about making myself a better teacher. I had a lot of fun today, though, that's for sure.
Maybe I'm just in a good mood because it's Friday, it's sunny, and I actually made it to the gym yesterday. And that day off on Tuesday for Election Day is pretty exciting. Days off are so cool. I just hope it's a happy day off and she wins.