Evaluating+Socractic+Circles

Ways to Evaluate a Socratic Circle: Post your ideas! 1. Check Marks: Did they "Drive the bus?" I had the privilege of observing two wonderful Socratic circles today in my CT’s AP Literature classes! While the discussion took place, the teacher sat in the circle and asked thought provoking questions, and allowed students to elaborate on each other. To evaluate their performance during the discussion, he kept a pad of paper with each students name written on it, and put checkmarks next to it as they contributed to the discussion. Afterwards, he spoke with me about his method. He said, the important thing it this, “Did their comment/statement/idea drive the bus of the discussion?” Those who only paraphrased, regurgitated, or offered little meaning in their statements did not get a check mark, and those who “drove the bus” and offered insightful new ideas got points. I thought this was an interesting way of evaluating a Socratic discussion for higher level students.