Socratic Seminar Reflection and Evaluation

Evaluation

I am a huge fan of the Socratic Seminar and I can't wait to use it in my class this year. I believe I was able to adequately use the model with the class by having them compare our "typical" discussion with the Socratic and then having them actually complete a very brief "mock" seminar. The videos helped me demonstrate the seminar. I was glad that the others in the class noticed the ages of the students in the videos. I think often we feel that "only the older kids" can handle something like a Socratic seminar, but these little ones proved that wrong! The other members of the class told me that they weren't too familiar with the method prior to the discussion, but that they learned a lot about it, which tells me that I was able to present the model accurately. There is SO much information about the seminar: the procedures, norms, questions, etc. that it's hard to condense and not overwhelm people. I think that had we had a class that was a tad bigger, a live demonstration would have been great. I feel that my handout provided the students with a lot of details. Their discussion was fantastic at the end! I appreciate the different points of view and their sharing the ways they would implement the strategy in their classrooms. 

Reflection

I was already familiar with the ins and outs of the seminar prior to the assignment. However I hadn't run my own before. When I stopped to think about all the prep that goes into this discussion, it really floored me. I found particular value to the point Dr. Grant made about keeping ALL the steps whether we think they're important or not. The seminar is the same no matter who has presented it to me, and that makes it easier for me to learn and implement (hopefully). I really enjoyed seeing how it ties in with the other strategies, models, and research we've uncovered. Everything kind of goes hand in hand; the Socratic seminar is student led and, to me, is a reflection of a flipped classroom. I wish I had been given the opportunity to participate in a Socratic seminar when I was in school. I can see so many benefits to it, not only from an academic perspective, but from a social one as well.