The HS Spanish II class have been participating in Socratic Seminars. What is a Socratic Seminar? The Socratic seminar is a formal discussion, based on a text, in which students ask open-ended questions. Within the context of the discussion, students listen closely to the comments of others, thinking critically for themselves, and articulate their own thoughts and their responses to the thoughts of others. They learn to work cooperatively and to question intelligently and civilly. In our Spanish class, we have two rotations. On the first rotation the inner circle starts the conversation and students in the outer circle take notes and at the end of the first rotation, they give their peers feedback and their observations. The students change roles and the same process takes place. Socratic Seminars are a terrific way for students to conduct intelligent conversations and prepare them for higher education.
