Hart District PD - "Socratic Seminar" and "Resources, Resources, and More Resources"

SOCRATIC SEMINAR

Our goal today is to:

1. Understand how Socratic Seminars support brain research, the 21st century learner, and CCSS
2. Apply the FIVE EASY STEPS to conducting our own Socratic Seminar

Why use Socratic Seminar?

1. People generally remember emotion
2. Socratic Seminar helps tap into the affective domain
3. We learn the most when we discuss, we experience, we teach

"To teach is to learn twice." - Joseph Joubert

It's less about what the teacher has to say, and more about students drawing their own conclusions, making up their own minds

As part of the CCSS, students must draw meaning from their reading and create meaning through their speaking and interaction

The example used is Urban Academy in New York City

http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/today14.html

Five Easy Steps to Socratic Seminar!

1. Create a "big" question that covers your entire unit.
2. Write a list of prior question.
3. Sit at the student's level with a notebook and a pen (for me, with a laptop).
4. Explain the basic guidelines.
5. Ask the first question.

Socratic Discussion Norms

1. Answer every question in your notes.
2. Raise your hand to be added to the speaking list.
3. Wait your turn until speaking.
4. Take notes on what others say.
5. Be respectful and tolerant.
6. Use evidence to support and develop claims.

Loni Pennay uses ClassDojo to keep track of kids.

Q: How often do you use Socratic Seminar? A: Once every unit.

What is learning?

To learn is to change the way you think about, or perceive, the world around you. Learning can be done either with new skills and knowledge, OR learning can be previous knowledge that has been improved, reinforced, or reshaped.

- Acquiring and applying knowledge

- Acquire, connect, reshape, express

What significance do questions have to learning?

They help you build and process, broaden the field of inquiry

An essential question is NOT Googleable

Where do I get the questions?

1. Standards
2. Desired understandings
3. Overarching themes
4. Specific topics

Essential Questions in American History (from Gilder-Lehrman)

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/resources/essential-questions-teaching-american-history

RESOURCES, RESOURCES, and MORE RESOURCES

How do we think about the world around us?
We are trying to get students to think more critically about the world that we live in

What does it mean to be a literate person in the 21st century?
Use research and technology to sift through the staggering amount of information available and engage in collaborative conversations sharing and reforming viewpoints through a variety of written and speaking applications

Part of the motivation behind the interdisciplinary approach to literacy promulgated by the standards is extensive research establishing the need for college and career ready students to be proficient in reading complex informational text independently in a variety of content areas.

The focus is shifting to literary nonfiction
By Grade 12, 70% of the texts that students are reading should be informational
"Informational texts" does NOT mean read the textbook more; it means helping them to read things they are actually going to read out in the real world

Students should be able to make a claim, and then back up that claim with a text
Textbook complexity has gotten easier over the past 50 years, while real-world documents have gotten more difficult

Cool Resources:
http://www.newsela.com/ - will adapt the article to different lexile levels; awesome!
http://www.commoncoreconversation.com/ - easy to find subject-specific resources