Thursday, September 16, 2010
Socratic Circles
Socratic Circles are something we will be doing every Thursday for the rest of the year. This is your chance to really take control of your own learning. I will be providing you with texts to discuss and frameworks for analyzing the text, but the discussion will be totally up to you. This site is very helpful in explaining the background of Socratic Dialog as well as some of the common questions you should ask yourself as you prepare and participate.
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77 comments:
i like socratic circles, but the only problem is when you try talking, and someone cuts you off right when your about to say something. i think that it wou;d be a little better if we have a way that people could know that your going to talk without have someone cutting you off.
i like socratic circles but it is difficult being the first person having the nerve to break the akward silence. then, when someone does finally say something, no one says if they disagree or agree with them or even comment on what they've said, still not having the nerve to break the akward silence. but, i also think we will get better at socratic circles over time.
I like socratic circles. I like them because they are a way for having the whole class to have a discussion over something. This might make people understand what is going on in the texts and also you will here everyones point of view about the text. Only some people were talking today but over time I think we will be getting better and better at them.
i like socratic circles but it is really annoying when you and other people in the group try sharing ideas and nobody response to them. It makes it awkward and makes you think what you said was wrong. I think they will get better if we keep doing them.
The first circle is always a little awkward. Couple that with the fact that we just dove in without having any strategies for interpreting and discussing and things can be hectic. I think you guys did a great job for the first time and once we make it a regular part of the week I anticipate a great experience for all!
I agree with what the other people said. Overall, I think it is a really good way to share ideas. As we continue doing them I think more people will talk. Obviously the first one was awkward but I think it will get better. Also it is a fun way of sharing ideas!
socratic cirlces are alright but i dont like how everyone is facing each other because its kinda akward..but other wise after someone breaks the silence you have a good discussion..
i think some of the circles might of been awkward because no one was really wondering. you need to question what people are saying so you can go deeper into the text.
i think that socratic circles are a great way to have a group discussion. it lets you have your own opinion on the story and lets you share it with your classmates. in the beinginning of it, it's a little bit ackward, but then it progresses to getting better and better each time.
We did socratic circles last year with Mrs. Lever, and they were fun. It was a really good way to get your ideas out, but some people didn't really know when to STOP talking... Other than that though I really like the circles. Maybe to help with all of the problems people have we can try smaller circles? I had tried this in a smaller group (again last year) and it was a lot easier and more productive than entire class socratic circles.
Socratic circles could be kinda awkward when no one talks for a good five minutes. It's hard to start because its kinda funny when it's been silent for a long time and then someone talks. I think they would work better in smaller groups too as the post right above me said.
I also like the socratic circles. Its a good way to understand the story or poem better.When other people share their opinions on the text i understand their felling towards it and it may change my interpretation. Socratic circles also help me learn to be independent. We have to start the discucssions ourselves and the makes us learn even more.
I did Socratic circles last year with Mrs. Lever, so it wasn't really anything different. The only thing that wasn't the same was that last year, a leader was assigned to lead the conversation so we could begin right away. This year, we were just told to start the conversation. I personally think that that wasn't the best idea because there ended up being an awkward silence for 2 minutes straight, causing us to start later. Like Mr. Horvath said though, the first is always the most awkward, but I am sure that each class will get better as more are done!
I think socratic circles aren't very social but i think it will get better as time goes on but i still don't think it should be a whole class period because it will get very boring and people will run out of things to share and it will be very awkward the rest of the class or people will just keep on repeating themselves.
I like socratic circles because its a good way to hear about other peoples opinions on a book. When they share opinions it helps me understand what the story or poem is about. I also like socratic circles because it helps me be able to talk in front of the class. It helps me learn to be more independent since I have to share ideas on my own, but I can also comment on other peoples ideas which is why I like it
I think that socratic circles are a great way for people to share their thoughts and feelings on readings we read in class. However, when we did one in class it was really weird and awkward because no one talked at first and then when people started to talk it was the same people sharing the same thoughts. I think that the more we do the socratic circles the more people will adjust and become more comfortable with sharing their ideas.
I enjoy socratic circles and i think they are a great way to discuss and share our opinions about a reading. I also think all the awkward silences will eventually fade away as we move along in the year. I did circles last year and it is a great way for people to interact with eachother and become more comfortable. Once we are all comfortable together the circles will flow along perfectly.
I agree with everyone saying when you do a couple of circles you get the hang of it. I did one circle last year for book talks and everybody was really silent so my teacher had to call on people to go. I hope it turns out as a good circle all year!
I think this is a really good idea because it helped me to understand the poem a lot better. In our class I felt that it was'nt awkward and most of the people in class shared their ideas. I did'nt do the circles last year but I like them so far and I feel like as the year goes on they'll get better and better.
I think socratic circles are a good thing because I usually have a hard time completely understanding a poem. However in socratic circles I can use some of my own ideas and other's ideas to better understand the poems. Sometimes I don't like socratic circles because you can say something that no one responds too and it makes things awkward like what gabbyn said.
I like the socratic circles sometimes but other times they get really annoying especially when i have no idea what the poem is about.
I think Socratic circles are good because it really helps people understand the poem or article clearer. I think the first socratic circle will be awkward but as time goes on more people will start to share their thoughts and eventually, it won't be so bad.
I like socratic circles because you get to discuss your thoughts with your peers. You can see what they think about poetry or what we read and discuss about. In class the conversation didn't stop. I like discussing my ideas.
I liked doing the socratic circle because it was something different. I liked how we could express our own opinions about class material and also comment on other peoples opinions. Hearing everyones opinions and comments really helped me understand the material better. I also agree that it was a little awkward at first but oncce the first person spoke, everybody started talking.
I enjoyed Socratic circles and thought they were a productive and efficient use of time. Some exceptions to this was when the majority of the people are inactive, lazy, in a bad mood, etc. This makes it as everyone else awkward and a bad use of time. I hope Socratic circles go well and do not turn out to be the latter.
they can be awkward at first but when the discoussion gets going i learn about new prospectives on the story we read and that can help me understand better
Socractic circles definitley have a purpose but for the purpose to be there and for it to be enjoyable the class needs to work as a hole. Frist of all when someone puts an idea out then people need to respone. If nobody respone then no one will talk because they won't get feedback which is what they want. Second of all everybody has to contribute. It's not fair to people who are talking alot and your only cheating yourself, and who knows? Maybe your idea is right and everybody else is completely wrong. Things like that change the circle a lot. Finaly, you need to be respectful of other people. Don't cut others off, its disrespectful and you probaly won't like it done to you. If all those things happen a very enjoyable circle and learning filled cicrcle can happen.
I think socratic circles are fun but as everyone said it was so awkward the first time. It was quiet for the first couple minutes until someone finally broke the silence and I still think that most people were nervous to say what they thought including me. I agree with KaitlynO, AntA, and Bino said about how talking like that helps you understand the writing piece better. Hopefully we all get more comfortable and as the year goes on there even better.
i like the socratic circles, but i was sad to see that everybody didnt talk.
i agree with the comments above
socractic circles can be very interesting but very awkward at first.
It is not easy to start a conversation from scratch but once someone does the rest of the time seems to go pretty smoothly
I agree. They can be interesting. I feel like a lot more poeple would have shared but were getting cut off or someone said what they were planning on saying. Sometimes to get more people involed you need to stop commenting and let others try it. The more we practice them the easier they will get.
what about the poem for this week? after i read it once it made me think of a poem i started writing because they both seem to be playing by the fact that tomorrow never comes because tomorrow is today.
i like the socratic cirle because it gives us a chance to say our opinions and when you dont really understand the story it gives you the chance to see what other people have to say about it, which i think makes you understand it better. i agree that it is a little awkward but i think over time we will get better at it and we will all be more comfortable and say what we think to each other.
Socratic Circles are good to help get many ideas about a poem other than just having your own opinion because you could have a further understanding of what the author is trying to say.
Socratic Circles are very helpful if you want to understand a poem more because you can see what other people think about it and discuss it. You can also ask questions. Socratic circles help you communicate better as well. You can also learn from the outside circle how you are doing and communicating.
I think that Socratic circles are a great way to discuss and analyze poetry. I for one have some difficulty with poetry, but Socratic circles help me better understand the poem. Other people’s ideas might clear up my confusion.
I think Socratic circles are a good way of understanding a poem better. I think this because you get to hear what other people thought the meaning was, and you get to say what you thought. After the first real Socratic circle I knew what kind of things to look for when you annotate a poem and what topics people usually talk about. Doing this every week will probably help me find the meaning of the poem and the symbolism faster.
I think that socratic circles will deffinetly help us understand a story/ p[oem more. instead of one upion,you now have a class of opinions, i look forward to thursdays now
After my socratic circle experiance i thougt it went over whell. since it was the first one the conversation didnt flow and ther was alot of silences. but i thing the mor we do them it can actualy be fun.
i don't really like socratic circles because i dont like when people are looking right at you. also i dont like to talk alot
I definitely agree with srichard, I really look forward to Thursdays now and the class talking about the poem helps me understand the poem better. I also love how we can just spend a class discussing our ideas and just being able to sit there and share. I understand what katie s means also, it can be a little intimidating to be sharing your personal thoughts with others in class, and I was like that last year when my class did circles, but personally the more you talk the more enjoyable circles become and you understand a lot more of the poem
I like socratic circles because not only do they help us better understand the piece we read, but they are a different way of learning and they arent boring at all. I like being able to share my ideas on the piece of writing, and listen to my classmates ideas as well. I look forward to Thursdays class now because we can figure out the meaning of a poem as a group instead of by ourselves.
I like Socratic circles because I usually get my best ideas when I can hear everyones input as well. However, I'm never sure if I have talked too much or too little, or if what I said contributed to the discussion, which always makes me a little self conscious.
I like socratic circles because, it makes us more comfortable talking in front of people. Also, both poems I didn't really understand but when we got into the circle and all talked and told each other our opinion. It made me have different thoughts about what the poems really could mean. I like how we can just talk and don't need to raise our hands.
Mr. Horvath explained to us this week in socrartic circles that there is an ackward silence and a thinking silence- the room is silent but people are thinking. I think this helped deciding whether the inside group was having ackward silence or thinking silence.
I really like socratic circles because I like believing in what I think of the poem but still being able to compare and contrast other peoples' opinions to mine. Even if you disagree with someone's comment during the circle, you can still build off of it. Again, I agree with some people that it may be akward in the begining, but I think we'll get the hang of it eventually.
I love the idea of socratic circles. It really helps everyone understand the topic and discuss it. A lot of people said their socratic circles were a little awkward, but period 8's were not at all. Sometimes someone would say something, and I would want to follow up with it but another person would say something before me. Then, they would change the topic and I would forget my idea/thought. Also, when I said something I got really nervous because everyone was looking at me. I'm positive that as the year goes on we will get better at sharing ideas and I will become more confident/comfortable in speaking.
I like socratic circles. I like them because it helps everybody to share their ideas on the topic. It is a little bit awkward in the circles. But i think that once we get used to them, they will be a lot less awkward. So, as the year goes on we will have a lot better socratic circles.
Socratic circles are great because when I don’t understand what the poem is about, I listen and then when we are talking about a subject on the poem I could pick up on what everyone is talking about. Then at the end I understand what the poem is about.
I like socratic circles because we are able to share our opinions on the poems and like other people said we can understand the poems more when we hear other peoples opinions. But also, I don't like them cuz we could have an idea and then someone cuts you off and then you might forget the point you wanted to make. Also the subject could change before you get to say what you want to say. And then its awkward to bring it up in the middle of another subject.
I like these circles because we are able to share our ideas about the poem and get feedback to help figure out what we don't understand.
The socratic circles are helpful to me because when i don't know what the poem is about i get every ones point of view on what they think.But the thing i don't like is that when there are a few people who are talking the whole time, they don't give anyone else a chance to say something. But overall i like doing the socratic circles every week
i like socratic circles the are a very good way to go over poetry. the one thing that are group was bad at was that in the beginning there was a very long silence. Other than the silence the circle went pretty good and i heard some good ideas
I like socratic circles and they are a good way to discuss things, but it gets kind of weird at times when no ones talking and when no one agrees with you
Today we got the nonfiction piece for discussing, which I think will be interesting. I'm finding it difficult to annotate, because I understood most of it. I am hoping this makes us think more critically and have a better discussion. On another note, I don't think our socratic circles have been successful. Many people talk occasionally , but when they do, only say something like, "I agree," or "Yeah. I think he's right." This doesn't help at all. I'd rather someone disagree and back up a point than agree with me.
I like socratic circles. I like that we are able tell what we thought about the story and be able to hear different thoughts from others telling what they thought the story was about. One thing that i think would make the socratic circle 10 times better is if everyone told what they thought and no one was left out!
i like socratic circles beacuse i usually don't get the meaning of poems so when we do the socratic circle i get to here everyone else's view on the subject and then i can come up with my own meaning. One thing that can be improved though is that everyone gets a chance to talk and the same people aren't carrying on the whole conversation.
i like the socratic circles because i get confused alot on poems, and its a good way to help find out what everyone thinks it means. also, i think that its a good way to have people participate more, and for them to get a chance to say what they want about the poem or piece of writing. the circle is always awkward at first, especially the first one, but as time goes by this will get better.
I enjoy the socratic circles but the main problem is for people to speak up more. I think we should try a different technique such as evry person goes in order around the circle saying something and then when you reach the person that started it off, anyone can comment lik we do now. Therefore, everyone says atleast one thing.
I think socratic circles are a good way to get us ot think about the poem. We really have to look into the words and find many things such as what the poem is about, symbols, meanings, and feeling of the poem. Without the socratic circles we wouldn't be looking into the poem that thouroughly.
I like socratic circles because i ually dont understand poems and when we all join our ideas together we come to a conclusion and it makes me understand it better. It is a good way to get are brains thinking, and helps us with speaking too. when your in the middle you have 10 or more people looking at you therefor youll have to talk atleast once to get a passing grade.
i very much enjoy the Socratic Circles because it think it help us understand storys by descusing it as a class
I like Socratic Circles because we can get to discuss the story together and get to have our own opinions
Socratic cicles are great. You can get thoughts about something not just from yourself but from others. You learn to discuss things with others. Also, this is more of a discussion to. Not a debate.
Socratic Circles are okay. There are frequent silences, and it can get awkward. I do talk, but not as much as I would like. Also, if I do start to talk, we have to stop and I don't get to share my idea or opinion. Getting cut off is a problem too. I or someone else would start talking and they would get cut off by someone else. I do like doing the socratic circles though. We didn't do it last year, and it's something new. We could express our opinions and ideas. Hearing what other people had said did help. If i didn't get it at first, hearing what they said made me understand it. I like hearing what they have to say. What is good though is that when people state something, they either say if they agree or disagree and base what they have to say on top of it. Overall, Socratic Circles is a great learning tool.
I think socratic circles are a great way in stating your opinion and ideas and seeing what your other classmates think about them. Also, most of the time everyone focuses on one specific part of the passage/story/poem, which needs to be improved so that everyone focuses on the whole poem overall and the bits and pieces throughout the text. Therefore, i think socratic circles are great.
I like Socratic circles because you get to state your opinion and what you think about the writing. Also you get to see what your classmates think on it too. And all of that combined helps you and your classmates understand the poem or story. I think everyone should take turns, but in a ordinary fashion. For example one person should start on the theme and go around counter clock wise and let everyone else share their theme next. And not just the theme, it could be any ideas or conversational things.
I am not a fan of Socratic Circles. I think that you are put under too much pressure because you have to say something. I think that we should just discuss the book with 1 other person so we feel more comfortable and are more willing to share what we think about the story or poem. I also think that the "grading" in the outer circle is kind of rude and not needed because the person already knows what they did right and wrong so i don't think that they need to be embarrassed in front of the rest of the class.
I really like socratic circles its a great way to share your thoughts, but the only thing i dont like is that sometimes in the begining of the circle its kind of akward because no one jumps in right away and talks immediately it usually takes some time. But overall i really like it :)
I like socratic circles. They help me compare my ideas. They help me see what other people thought about the story and maybe come up with a better understanding of the text.
Socratic circles are helpful to me because after I read a short story or a poem I like to make sure that I understand it, sometimes when I don't, I like hearing other people's opinions and then I understand it more. Also I enjoy the devils advocate because if it is used correctly then it will really get people to think. The only problem I have with them is that it is hard to get in one because you get cut off a lot. Overall I like them.
Socratic Circles is one of my favorite things to do in class because you get the chance to discuss with the class the idea's of the piece of writing you read, and also someone else's idea can actually make sense to you and then finally make you understand better.-Briana Moniz
i like how this week you gave us a list of questions to think about for the circle because most people are used to talking about poems or short stories in a socratic circle but instead we get to discuss several questions
ok this was one of teh best Socratic Circles of the year since it got more people to get into the conversation because of the "what if" ss due Wednesday
The socratic circle discussions are getting a lot better. I think more people are getting into them and talking more and prepare more for it.
The socratic circles are becoming a lot better. I think this because more people are talking and people are preparing more.
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