M. Copeland, Socratic Circles
Styslinger and Pollock, The Chicken and the Egg
Styslinger and Overstreet, Strengthening Argumentative Writing with Speaking and Listening (Socratic) Circles
Probst, Response and Analysis
Probst, Tom Sawyer, Teaching and Talking
Say:
Milner and Milner note the importance of an oral foundation for the students because talking is the basic foundation for everyone that interacts and communicates in the world. Speaking and listening should be a part of a teachers curriculum, whether it is blatant or in there hidden curriculum because I feel that adolescents have so much to say, yet they are unable to articulate it. Implementing strategies that involve speaking and listening as way to foster talk around literature only helps the students become better critical thinkers and life long readers as well as all around articulate young adults. ( I don't mean that students need to convert to standard English, but this kind of articulation and formulation of thoughts involves native languages).
The Socratic Circles article was enjoyable and also helped me to visualize how this would potentially work in a classroom. I really like the idea of using Socratic Circles in my classroom one day. This kind of strategy makes the English major in me happy because it reminds me of the discussions I had in college and it fostered my love of reading even more. I think it is important for students to have this kind of experience; however, to achieve an amazing Socratic Circle the teacher must scaffold and guide the students to explore there own potential and ability to talk about literature. The article Socratic Circle article gave several examples as to why this strategy directly promotes independent critical thinkers and I like the idea of giving students ownership of discussions. One of the things that stuck out to me was the act of listening, which as we know is hard for young adolescents. Students are learning simultaneously to speak as well as listen carefully others. The article notes that this strategy helps them develop the ability to listen with their mind and translate the information that is being spoken while analyzing it. That is such a hard thing for anyone to master, but I really love it because I think it is such a fundamental part of being a critical learner/thinker. I definitely think this needs to be scaffolded into the classroom and heavy instruction on process, expectations, and guidelines need to be in place for students to truly benefit from the experience, but I also see these elements intertwining into different aspects of my classroom.
Styslinger and Overstreet's article was great in highlighting the ways to use it for argumentative writing. I liked the idea of utilizing socratic circles for the purpose of getting kids to debate, make claims, and give evidence that supports it. I saw how difficult those concepts were for 9th graders and I think socratic circles would be a great scaffolding technique to get them thinking, speaking, and listening to claims surrounding a text or a theme. I have also noticed that students rarely ask questions that further the discussion so socratic circles can be used to teach them how to ask those questions that are a counter point/claim to something someone has said. Instead of teaching students the outline or guide to writing an argumentative paper Styslinger's and Pollock's article was also insightful in helping me understand the nature of talk and its importance in the classroom. I appreciated that they noted what did not work with students and I really connected with the student who stated that he liked it when everyone talks, but he doesn't want to be the one talking. That was me as a student so I can relate; however, I never experienced Socratic Circles in my high school classes so perhaps it would have at least made me become more open to the idea of talking in class discussions. The article also notes that teachers need to talk to students about talking, which I can see being super beneficial because I don't think they realize that talking is a tool to sort through problems. Like the article mentions, students often feel like they need to know or understand the text before they can talk about, but I really want them to know that this is a space for questions of misunderstandings, thoughts and opinions for talking about a particular text and theme. Also, there suggestions of picking a smaller text or broad theme was helpful because I saw my teacher do a socratic seminar with her English II honors in which the simple question was what is an American? The students had a hard time starting off, but once they got the ball rolling they wouldn't stop! I think it was a perfect way to get them in that kind of space because it was a broad topic that could go in so many directions, which I think ultimately allowed everyone to feel comfortable to say at least one thing on the topic.
I think all the articles we read can be summed up with the analogy that Probst used in Response and Analysis. That feeling of going to a movie and discussing the movie afterwards with someone is something we all have felt and enjoyed. I think this also correlates with Probsts analogy to Tom Sawyer in Adolescent Literacy. He mentions that teaching would be easy if we could get students thinking that they want to speak/write/learn, could in fact do those things, and find out that they would do it. Motivated students to do anything is key, but I think tapping into the fact that kids do like to share and talk is a way for us to get them motivated and then scaffold those conversations into potential higher level critical synthesis. I am wondering how to incorporate those formal analysis, critical synthesis kinds of questions into the socratic circle, considering that the teacher is suppose to be in the background as the kids drive the discussion. I mean I like doing reader response as a way to get them talking about the text, but I also want them to push themselves into critical thinking so if students are not necessarily going down that path, how do I get guide them there without taking over the circle?
Say:
I really liked Probst's strategy, Finding the Poem. I thought this was a clever way to do an ice breaker and have the kids feeling comfortable with talking to others as well as discussing a small poem/text. I could see this being adapted in a lot of ways and I don't think it necessarily has to be a group of poems. I would use this for a unit on Night by Elie Weisel, which I will probably teach next semester! (super pumped) I have heard of these poems below for Holocaust poetry and they are really good! I could cut these up and have the students try to find their pairs. After the students are comfortable with their groups, I would like to have mini socratic circles for each group where they can discuss the poem in detail. The discussion would mainly be about the poem itself and then continuing into the following days, I would have groups combine, which would form a outer/inner circle. This way students feel comfortable speaking and listening so in the future, combining a whole class socratic circle won't be as daunting.
| Primo Levi | Shema | The importance of telling future generations |
| Hayim Gouri | Heritage | Jewish identity |
| Paul Celan | Psalm | God and man |
| Pavel Friedman | The Butterfly | A ghetto poem |
| Wisława Szymborska | Could Have | Fate and empathy |
| Dan Pagis | Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car | Multiple themes |
| Martin Niemöller | First They Came for the Jews | Bystanders |
I especially agree that we need to teach listening skills, and that is one part I like about the Socratic Circles. The outer group, by being denied the opportunity to speak, has I believe an easier time focusing on listening. I know from my own experience, if I am in a situation where I know I will not speak at all, I find it easier to focus on the speaker and what is actually being said. It boils down to the difference between listening versus waiting to talk; if I know I will not talk I do not have to spend that mental energy planning what I am going to say instead of listening to what the speaker has to say.
ReplyDeleteI like Socratic Circles even more after we practiced it Monday night. Not only does it teach listening, it also teaches us to be graceful, or at least aware of our reaction, when others disagree with us. It teaches us to consider other opinions on their logical bases without being defensive. Initially I thought Socratic Circles could only be used to analyze literary works, but after further reading and Allyson’s feedback, I now realize I can use them to teach more basic reading skills as well.
Yes, they teach us how to ask questions, and how to disagree. I also realized Monday night that I learned a ton about stem cells (content) simply by discussing a controversial issue with classmates. I have to constantly remind my students that being “right” in class is not important; it is better to learn the material in class and be “right” later on a n assessment than to look good in front of classmates, and the acts of talking and listening can help us learn.
Yes, we need to use their strengths to improve their weaknesses, and talking is definitely one of their strengths. I wonder if we could build formal analysis into a grading rubric for the circle performance, and maybe have it as one of the things the outer circle would watch for? The teacher could also mention whether it was present, or not, when she gives feedback at the very end. It may take a time or two of not moving in the formal analysis direction, and having it brought up by the outer circle and the teacher, before students remember to focus on the text.
I especially like the Niemoller piece. A good teacher friend of mine at DJJ had a poster of it in her room. I use it often to try to teach tolerance and that we are all in this together.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the "Do" you have created! It is such an ingenious way to introduce socratic circle "taste-by-taste". It isn't too overwhelming, but it's still an authentic experience. Your "Do" also is a great way to begin teaching those communication skills you had elaborated on in your "Say". Although, you would hone in on those skills in smaller environments, the skills may be better adopted that way. I especially think this is true because it can be overwhelming to participate in a large group discussion for anyone at any stage in life. For one, it's a lot to process, it's a lot of waiting your turn and it's a lot of different perspectives. That can be information overload. However, your "Do" takes into consideration those potential issues. Then, it doesn't just plateau there, you build upon it! You begin to add new members and start to expand it to access more students. I love this "Do" for the purpose of enhancing communication skills! Great job, and thanks for sharing!
I agree with Alyssa--this DO is such an authentic application of the reading and indicative of the critical reading and thinking you have done across the readings this week. I am sorry you never experienced a Socratic in high school--check out clips on YouTube with high school students--they are a great way to introduce the structure to students--which brings me to how you began this Blog entry--I am glad you mentioned old Milner and Milner because they are foundational here--students need to learn how to talk before they can learn THROUGH talk--and listening is an important component of this as well.
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