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.
By listening more, teachers have the opportunity to truly build relationships with their students. If the teacher does all the talking, then the students only know about the teacher and his or her stories and interests. The teacher will not be able to learn about the students and their lives. Perhaps more importantly, the students won't have the chance to learn about each other.
Listening is the key! Teachers need to create classroom environments where listening is a priority for everyone. This is one of the first steps in building relationships.
Book Excerpt
The Power of the Socratic Classroom
As facilitators, teachers can learn how to release responsibility by listening and allowing the students to do most of the talking. They will observe and learn from the students, see the dynamics that are occurring, and track and code progress. They can diagnostically watch shy students, troubled students, and opinion bullies. They can craft questions and create goals to help challenge them as individuals. This observation time will become an incredible resource—especially for writing report card comments or narratives.
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