Claudine Caluza

Mrs. Storer
English 3
Block 5
September 23, 2019
Socratic Circle Reflection on The Crucible
Individual Performance:
I have different ratings for each of my sessions of the Socratic circle, because for the first
session, I was quite shy and did not have a lot to contribute into the circle. I give my first session
a five out of ten. Once I was comfortable, I easily had a lot to contribute, and I was actively
participating. Overall, I give myself a nine out of ten, especially since I am very proud of myself
for inputting the articles. I would rate my contributions a ten out of ten because I referenced the
book passages and even the articles. Even though I would mess up a little, and occasionally
throw in an “um”, I believe the point that I wanted made was clear to my peers, and I would
introduce new answers or build up on what my classmates would say. I rate the quality of the
feedback of when I was on the outer circle as ten out of ten, since I encouraged my partners to
also speak up and reference the book more. I followed along with the inner circle when I was on
the outer circle, flipping through the book when one of my classmates mentions a quote in the
book in order to read along. The teamwork I shared with my classmates inside of the inner circle
is a ten out of ten because we all knew where the conversation was going, we mostly had the
same ideas except there would be some disagreements which led to very interesting discussions.
Personally, I think the way I can improve during a Socratic seminar is to be less shy during the
beginning, so that I can go straight to discussion, instead of staying quiet to warm up. The goals I
have for my next Socratic circle performance is to utilize my resources even more so that I can
enhance my discussion with my fellow classmates.
Group Performance:
I rate my group’s preparation for the Socratic seminar an eight out of ten because I do not
recall some of my group mates contributing as much, and unfortunately implies that they were
too shy or not prepared at all. I know most of my group mates, such as Samantha, was prepared
and always had an answer to the discussion questions. Personally, I know that all my group
mates have a lot of potential, and it would be great if they talked more. I rate the quality of the
overall conversation of my inner circle a nine out of ten because again I want a few of my group
mates to talk more. I had a lot of conversation with my other group mates, and we always made
the conversation flow. The only pauses were made to transition my group mates to another
question. I believe that there was never an awkward pause, where nobody had to contribute, it
was only the pause before to introduce the group to a question, and a slight pause after to have
the group think about the question before someone steps in and gets into the actual discussion.
The level of teamwork that my group displayed is a seven out of ten. At times even though the
conversation may flow, some people just would not really reference the book, and with a solid
point, I believe that evidence should be presented in order to back up what they say. I rate the
quality of feedback that my group gave in the outer circle a ten out of ten. They were really
encouraging and helped me boost my confidence.
Reflection on Content:
The meaning and importance of the ideas selected inside of the text is to show how when
more people contribute to a discussion, the conversation becomes more interactive, peers become
more comfortable, and it strengthens the debate skills in everyone.
The main points I would make is that people began to be more comfortable when their
classmates contributed to the talk, because seeing their friends talk influenced them to join in on
the discussion. Since many people contribute, they become more interactive because people are
actively participating and sharing their thoughts. The more people that join encourages others to
be more comfortable, and since people are comfortable, the ability to defend and provide
evidence is enhanced.
In my experience, where people are forced to participate, the discussions are more
awkward, and people usually answer carelessly in order to get their credit. Sometimes, the
classroom would go quiet, and my fellow classmates would have a hard time getting the class to
go talk again. The discussions that end up like this would never help me, and honestly, I never
would look forward to seminars like that. Unlike this discussion where nobody was forced to say
certain things, we just did it to share what we thought with our classmates, not to earn credit. I
even got more familiar with my classmates, seeing where they stood on certain things and what
perspective they have.