About four years ago I decided to “flip” my traditional classroom. I moved myself away from being the center of the room. I used to stand at a podium and offered 5 lectures a week. Instead, I shifted to a more student-centered classroom. This was not something I did overnight, however my first transition into the student centered room was via the Socratic seminar.
I first heard about Socratic seminars in grad school. I had never practiced them as a student but as I learned about them I saw the value in using text and evidence to support student reasoning as opposed to issuing opinions. Interesting, often controversial texts, are required for the best seminars. Socratic seminars are a form of debate, but should be used more to clarify a text then having a screaming match of opinions. Continue reading “The Great Debate (Socratic Seminars in the Classroom!)”
