Week One & Two : Socrates and the Socratic Seminar

• Introducing Socrates, the Socratic Method and Socratic Seminars
  • Who was Socrates?
    • 8-bit Philosophy
    • NPR Ed's 50 Great Teachers
  • ​You can access the class presentation with your Office 365 account here.
• Read the article for our first Socratic Seminar here.
• Find the Socratic Seminar Guide for Participants and Observers here.
• Submit questions for our next Socratic Seminar on Teams, in the English channel!
• Our next Socratic Seminar Topics:
  • The video I was showing you about Scoractic Seminars in the classroom is here.
    • Do tests really represent student learning? Articles here and here. I have also found an interesting video that you can watch here.

  SHARING YOUR ENGLISH PORTFOLIO

• In your English portolio on MyBlueprint: 
  • “What You Should Know” (Final Draft) 
  • Writing reflection for “What You Should Know” (photo)
  • Writing goal (text or recording) 
  • “Descriptive Text” (Final Draft) Writing reflection for “Letter of Introduction” (photo) 
  • Writing goal (once you have received your evaluation rubric from me)​

 

• How to share your portfolio with your parent(s) or guardian(s): 
  • Sign-in to MyBlueprint. 
  • Go to your English portfolio. 
  • Click on “Share” or “Partager” in the banner at the top right. Generate a link and copy it. 
  • Go to Outlook. 
  • Send the link to your parent(s) 
  • If you would like to share the link with a friend, or another family member feel free.

 ​
Week Three & Four: Putting the Socratic Seminar to work for us

• Reviewing what we know about Socratic Seminars, and reflecting on what we can do better.
• OUR NEXT STICKY QUESTION: "WHAT IS A GOOD EDUCATION?"
• Addressing the next "sticky" question:
  • What do you already know about the subject?
  • What questions might you ask to gain a better understanding?
  • How will you go about finding the answers to those questions?
    • ​Here are some suggestions for articles to get you started:
      • ​What Do We Mean by a Quality Education? | HuffPost
      • Education – United Nations Sustainable Development
      • Education | UNICEF
      • How do you define a good education? – Lisa Swaboda is Atlas Educational (wordpress.com)
      • What makes a quality education? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
  • I have produced a new version of the Socratic Seminar Guide for you this round. You can find it HERE, or simply use the questions you find below:

Socratic Seminar Guide V 2.0

Preparation Part A: 

• ​What is the seminar question? 
• What do you already know about the subject? 
• What do you need to know in order to better understand the subject of the seminar? (ie: what questions do you need to answer in order to be able to take and defend a position?) 
• What sources will you consult in order to prepare for the seminar?​​

Preparation Part B 

• Answer the following questions for each of the sources you consult. 
• Who is the author, and why are they a reliable source? 
• What is the author’s main idea? 
• What arguments/evidence does the author offer to support their idea? 
• Which rhetorical appeal did the author use to make their point? (ETHOS, PATHOS or LOGOS) 
• What counter-arguments might you offer to the author’s opinion? 
• Do you think that the author was successful in making their point? Why, or why not? 

Preparation Part C 

• What is your opinion? 
• What arguments/evidence will you use to support your idea? 
• What counter-arguments do you think the other participants might make? 
• Which rhetorical appeal will you use to make your point? (ETHOS, PATHOS or LOGOS)