I am a little embarrassed by what I am about to say... in my 7 years as an English teacher, I had never held a Socratic Seminar until this past week. Sure, my students engage in class discussions, similar to the Socratic Seminar, but I had never held an official Socratic Seminar. Why? I had never taken the time to really figure out how to run one because, above all else, I didn't think there was any way I'd be able to form a circle of 40 desks - or even an inner and outer circle of 20 desks each - in my classroom. However, it was always something I felt a little guilty about; after all, the Socratic Seminar is a regular activity in most English classes.
This last week, my 11th graders finished reading The Great Gatsby. In my 1st period class, I really focused on making the unit as student-driven as possible: I had the students focus on finding "difficulties" in their reading (as I discussed in my Week 23 post), and our class discussions centered on students sharing out those difficulties, figuring them out in small groups, and then discussing their thoughts with the entire class. All of our discussions were driven by what the students determined as key ideas and questions in the text.
As I thought about preparing my class to write a literary analysis on the text, I was faced with a couple dilemmas: 1) I had to figure out exactly what I wanted my students to write about, and 2) I had to figure out what I could do in 1 or 2 class periods to prepare my students to write.
Originally, I planned for the class to write the analysis on Thursday, but, as I began planning out the details of the week and thinking about some of the things we still had to complete (such as a reflection for a study we are part of), I realized that it would be better if they wrote on Friday. I knew I could put something together in regards to structure of the essay or give them the prompt early and have them create an outline, but, since we've done a lot of writing practice and preparation throughout the course of the year, I didn't really think they needed either of those things, and, more importantly, I felt we still needed one more day to discuss the novel as a whole. As I was planning, I decided a Socratic Seminar made the most sense, and we would just make it work.
I did some research on how to run a Socratic Seminar, and the very first link I clicked on provided me with an entire packet on setting up the Seminar, including questions to ask and handouts for students; it was perfect! (Isn't the Internet wonderful?)
I decided it was probably best to try for inner and outer circles, as opposed to one large circle, so what I really liked about this particular packet was the handout included for students in the outer circle called "Socratic Seminar Discussion Partner Evaluation." Prior to getting into the circles and starting the Socratic Seminar, you have students partner up. (I did this based on where they were sitting in their original table groups.) Then, when you form the 2 circles, 1 partner sits in the inner circle, and 1 partner sits in the outer circle. The students in the outer circle are tasked with paying attention to their partners' participation in the discussion taking place in the inner circle and evaluating that participation using the handout. Halfway through the time allotted for the Seminar, you have the circles switch, so the students in the outer circle have a chance to discuss the topic as well. After both groups have had the opportunity to have a discussion, the partners meet and talk about their participation in the discussions. This type of reflection is extremely beneficial for Socratic Seminars that are held early in the year, because it will help students improve upon their participation in the discussions as the year progresses. Despite the fact that we only have 3 more weeks of school, I still felt as though this particular component of the activity would be useful for my students.
My class finished reading the book on Tuesday, and we discussed the difficulties from the last chapter on Wednesday. At the end of the period on Wednesday, I gave them the handout called "Open-Ended Questions for a Socratic-Seminar," and I asked them to complete the sentence starters to help them prepare for the discussion the next day.
On Thursday, when the students got to class, I went over the norms for the activity. Then, I confessed to them that I had never done this particular activity before because I didn't know how we would make the desks fit. However, I told them I believed they could make it work. I gave them 1 minute to move the desks, and they managed to move the desks into 2 circles in that amount of time; it worked!
I sat in the outer circle with my Chromebook, and I kept notes on the main points and questions that were brought up. The first group in the inner circle was dominated primarily by two voices, but other students were able to contribute as well. Halfway through our time, I had the circles switch, and the second discussion featured more voices than the first discussion. It also ran more naturally than the first discussion; there were a few times during the first discussion when I had to ask them questions to promote further discussion, whereas with the second discussion, I never had to speak up, because the students propelled the discussion along themselves.
In the last couple of minutes of class after we wrapped up the second discussion, I reminded the students that they would be expected to write an analysis the following day. I told them I would post my notes from the Socratic Seminar on Google Classroom, so they could look over them if they wanted to use them in preparing for the writing assignment the next day.
In constructing my writing prompt that evening, I struggled. I wanted to phrase it in a way that would promote student thinking, rather than just a regurgitation of information. I wound up asking them to write an analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald's message in the book, but, beyond that, I left it up to the writers. I offered some guiding questions and some reminders about what to include, but I did not go into specifics. Here is what I came up with.
On Friday, in assigning the analysis, I told the students that I wanted them to try to write for the entire period, as opposed to saying I wanted them to write X number of paragraphs and/or pages. Usually, when I tell them I want at least 5 paragraphs, I get only 5 paragraphs, and some students turn in their assignment within about 20 minutes. Yes, they structure their essay well, but they don't really progress in their thinking. Since I am really interested in their thinking on this assignment, I decided I didn't want my students to worry too much about structure or length. As it was, the first student to turn in his assignment did so only 10 minutes before the end of class, which means he worked for a good 45 minutes prior to turning it in. As I walked around the room during the period, all students seemed to be working the entire time. I have only had a chance to skim a few of the essays they turned in yesterday, so I can't really make a judgment on the final product; however, I was pleased with the process.
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Ease of use: Implementing the Socratic Seminar actually wound up being very easy. If you don't know where to start, I highly recommend that packet that I discovered online. If you don't like the packet I shared, you can just Google "Socratic Seminar" and look through the resources for something you do like.
Would I use this again: Starting next year, I am going to try to incorporate Socratic Seminars on a regular basis - at the end of each unit or even more frequently.
Downsides: You need to make sure students have read and understand the text. By holding the Seminar at the end of our unit, I knew my students already had a good grasp of the text. Also, it takes an entire period, and even then, you might feel as though you have to cut off the conversation because the bell is going to ring. (But, then again, I guess that's not necessarily a bad thing...)
Applications: I feel Socratic Seminars are most appropriate in English classrooms and with higher level students. However, I might just be biased because those are the only places I've seen them take place. If implemented properly, with an appropriate text or topic, I think they could be beneficial in history, science, and even math classes. I also think they are possible with younger students; it might just depend on the group of kids.
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Do you have any resources that you really like to use with Socratic Seminars? If so, please share them in the comments; I'd love to get more material to use in the future.
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