Do You Have 21st-Century Skills to Help Your Students Succeed? Do Your Students Have 21st-Century Skills to Think for Themselves? The Power of the Socratic Classroom has the answers you are looking for—answers that will supply the strategies to show students how to succeed into the future. A future that has unknown products, unidentified jobs, and unanticipated challenges. In Socratic Seminar, teachers shift to the role of facilitator, where they help their students develop the collaborative interpersonal skills, the critical and creative thinking skills, and the speaking and listening skills to face the upcoming challenges of the 21st century.
Charles Fischer has taught in public and private schools in a variety of settings, from rural Maine to inner city Atlanta. In the past 20 years, he has worked with a wide range of students from 4th grade to AP English and has been nominated for Teacher of the Year four times. He has his Master’s degree in Teaching & Learning from the University of Southern Maine, and received his B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Binghamton University. His latest book, The Power of the Socratic Classroom, has won four awards, including the NIEA Best Education Book. His first novel, Beyond Infinity, won a 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award bronze medal (YA fiction). His areas of expertise are Socratic Seminar, Active Listening, Inquiry, Teaching & Learning, and Critical & Creative Thinking. He is currently working on a book of poetry, a short story collection, and several novels.
Keep in mind that speaking once is a monumental achievement for some students. Large conversations are extremely intimidating to some participants, so even once can be challenging. The goal is to help students find their voices, to help them face brave conversations where they can solve problems, ask questions, and advocate for themselves. These are skills they will need in almost any circumstance.
Book Excerpt
The Power of the Socratic Classroom
SOCRATIC SEMINAR STUDENTS must conduct themselves as indicated by the norms, expectations, and procedures established for the classroom in general and seminars in particular. Participants must stay engaged by actively listening, posing questions, drawing conclusions, summarizing and synthesizing information, and much more. All of these may seem intimidating in terms of where to begin, so I usually start by telling my students that they simply need to participate in the conversation at least once.
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