Do You Have 21st-Century Skills to Help Your Students Succeed? Do Your Students Have 21st-Century Skills to Think for Themselves? The Power of the Socratic Classroom has the answers you are looking for—answers that will supply the strategies to show students how to succeed into the future. A future that has unknown products, unidentified jobs, and unanticipated challenges. In Socratic Seminar, teachers shift to the role of facilitator, where they help their students develop the collaborative interpersonal skills, the critical and creative thinking skills, and the speaking and listening skills to face the upcoming challenges of the 21st century.
Charles Fischer has taught in public and private schools in a variety of settings, from rural Maine to inner city Atlanta. In the past 20 years, he has worked with a wide range of students from 4th grade to AP English and has been nominated for Teacher of the Year four times. He has his Master’s degree in Teaching & Learning from the University of Southern Maine, and received his B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Binghamton University. His latest book, The Power of the Socratic Classroom, has won four awards, including the NIEA Best Education Book. His first novel, Beyond Infinity, won a 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award bronze medal (YA fiction). His areas of expertise are Socratic Seminar, Active Listening, Inquiry, Teaching & Learning, and Critical & Creative Thinking. He is currently working on a book of poetry, a short story collection, and several novels.
I have found that a little bit of ceremony makes a huge difference with students. A small change in routine for something like Socratic Seminar creates a whole other level of seriousness and focus
Book Excerpt
The Power of the Socratic Classroom
To help students prepare mentally, change your classroom routine for Socratic Seminar (a standard change is that students do not raise their hands). Sometimes just forming a circle with the desks or chairs and breaking out of rows is enough. Some teachers like to have the students sit on the floor, or change the lighting by turning off the fluorescent lights and using soft light lamps instead. Others put up specific posters, use name tents, or even change clothes (put on a thinking cap or take off a tie) to mark the occasion.
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