The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Education & Reference

synopsis

Synopsis

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.

bio

Author Biography

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.

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Author Insight

Seminar Jobs

I have often made the mistake of giving students jobs to do during seminar if they were simply enthusiastic enough. It always seems like a good idea at the time. However, enthusiastic students without enough direction and focus can seriously derail Socratic Seminar conversations. Eventually, I appreciated that "slow and steady wins the race." It is much more effective to gradually release responsibility. Now, I often train one student to do a particular job and then have that student teach someone else. In the meantime, I can be teaching someone else a new job. In this way, the integrity and quality of the seminars can be upheld.

Book Excerpt

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

There are a few important things to remember about seminar jobs. The first is that the students should rotate having various jobs, so that they all can practice important skills. In sports, coaches use drills to practice specific skills, but then try to put them all together in scrimmages and games. The same situation exists for Socratic Seminar. The students may practice specific skills, but eventually they need opportunities to put everything together. Some students may already be good at certain tasks, so it would be a good idea to do some kind of skills assessment ahead of time. This way students could test out of certain areas and practice the specific skills they need as individuals.

The second thing to keep in mind is gradual release of responsibility. With all of these skills, students should eventually be expected to do them on their own. Obviously, teachers are likely to have to model some or all of these skills, but they can release responsibility with the “I do,” “we do,” “you do” model or something similar.

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Charles Ames Fischer

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Seminar Jobs

Book Excerpt

The Power of the Socratic Classroom

Comment on this Bubble