Please answer all of the following questions in a few thoughtful paragraphs. Weave your answers together in a coherent and logical manner.
What did you think of today's seminar? Did you like your role? Could you have participated more? What suggestions do you have for the next seminar? What was your favorite topic covered during the discussion? What other questions do you have about the reading? Did the seminar help you to better understand the comparison between Rome and America...why or why not?
I think today's seminar went really well in relation to other socratic seminars in which I've participated. Although there were several awkward silences, we did a good job of responding to each other's comments while also expressing our own thoughts and opinions about the comparison between modern America and ancient Rome. A lot of insightful and thought-provoking comments were made - mainly by a core group of people - and sparked extensive discussions among the group. I liked paticipating in the discussion in the inner circle because it allowed me to present my ideas about the comparisons between Rome and America and provided me the opportunity to respond to and answer questions that other students had about the topic. I think I definitely could have participated more, but I wasn't looking to dominate the discussion as much as I was interested in hearing what everyone else had to say. My favorite topic we discussed wasn't really a topic - it was Michaela's question about the significance of the destruction of vineyards and the subsequent increase in the price of wine in ancient Rome. The discussion her question sparked produced another comparison between America and Rome that had not yet considered: the destruction of vineyards to raise wine prices in ancient Rome is much like the rationing of oil to raise gas prices in America. I find this comparison to be very interesting because it is a situation that we as American citizens understand and care about; I think this particular discussion made the problems in Rome more relatable to the problems we have here in modern America.
ReplyDeleteTo go back to the awkward silences, I think if the mediators had been selected in advance they would have had the time to prepare material to avoid such lulls in the conversation. Not that it was the mediators' fault, just that it might have gone a little smoother had they been forewarned of their role in the seminar.
Lots of really good ideas were exchanged during the seminar, many of which broadened my understanding of the comparison being made and made me consider a number of questions about the similarities between Rome and America that I wouldn't have come up with on my own
I thought that today’s seminar was really interesting. I have never participated in a Socratic seminar before so everything was completely new to me. There were a couple of awkward silences but those were when we were just starting out so I think that it was acceptable for our first seminar. I liked participating in the seminar; I do not think that I would like to be an observer. This is because if I have something to say I would want to say it and not be just an observer. Also if I wasn’t directly involved in the discussion then I would probably get bored and start to not pay attention.
ReplyDeleteFor the next seminar I think that the facilitators should get a chance to prepare "talking points" instead of being put on the spot like Monica and Bobby were. I also think that we should have the participants sit in a circle without desks because there are too many of us to sit with the desks in the circle. I could not see everyone that was talking from where I was sitting.
My favorite topic during the discussion was religion. This is because I am not religious and I do not come from a religious family so it was interesting to hear different opinions from people who are more religious than I am. The seminar definitely helped me understand more about the comparison between Rome and America. Everyone in the class thinks differently and has different ideas so it was cool to hear different opinions about the topic.
I think that this socratic seminar went fairly well. It was slow at the beginning but as we got used to each other,and the flow of the conversation it got better. For this seminar, I did not enjoy my role, although, I have been a facilitator before and I had a good experience. People always looked at me during the awkward silences and I didn't have many interesting questions prepared. The second facilitator (Bobby) threw me under the bus and didn't help at all :). If I had some notice in advance I would have found some interesting quotes in the reading and made some questions. I think I could have participated more, and I would have liked to, but my mind was constantly thinking about what to say during the awkward silences. So my suggestion for future seminars would be to notify the facilitator before the seminar, so they can prepare.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite topic of the seminar was the last one, about if the US really did fall, what would it look like. I think that we can easily talk about the factors that would/wouldn't have an effect on the fall of the US but we don't even know what life would be like if we "fell".
I don't think the seminar helped me learn the similarities and differences but it really opened me up to many different opinions. Its really great to get to hear all the opinions of the people in class. Hearing the opinions made me change my opinions on some of the topics and also made some of my opinions stronger.
I think that the socratic seminar today went really well. I've never participated in one before, so the whole experience was new to me. I liked having the ability to voice my opinion in a different way. Rather than just sitting in groups and letting the teacher lead the discussion, it was kind of cool to have the ability to do it on our own. By the end of the seminar, we were asking our own questions, bringing up our own points, and having full on discussions. Aside from the number of awkward silences, the it was impressive for our first time. I took part in the inner circle, which I liked. I was able to project my opinion on things and also see where other people were coming from. I wouldn't have liked to be in the outside circle listening in because I wouldn't be able to talk as much like I did on the inside. I also probably would have lost focus not being able to take part in the conversation. A majority of people had something to say which was good because I was able to hear everyone's differing opinions on the topic of Rome vs America.
ReplyDeleteFor next seminar, I feel like the facilitators should be chosen ahead which would give them more time to prepare their questions. This would eliminate a lot of the awkwardness between topics and add more of a flow to the discussion. Also, to get more people involved, the facilitators should be able to call on people every once in a while to hear what they have to say.
My favorite topic during the discussion was the one Heleena brought up that had to do with religion. Rather than the same "spread of Christianity" stuff all the articles talk about, we ended up talking about the other end of the spectrum, people who don't have a specific religion. I liked the fact that we were able to discuss a topic that hasn't been discussed before. I also liked when people disagreed with eachother and we were able to debate about it.
The seminar definitely helped me with my understanding of the similarities between Rome and America. Everyone in our class has different opinions, which I enjoyed hearing. With the different topics being brought up, my opinions grew and I was able to get a sense of what everyone else thinks too.
good- Tom
ReplyDeleteOverall this seminar went well, especially for our first one in the class. I was satisfied with my role and glad I could input my thoughts on the conversation. At the beginning I was not expecting it to go as well as it did so I was surprised. One suggestion I would make for next time is to, like others have said, know the facilitators before hand.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite topic covered during the discussion was was about religion. That was the topic that got many people talking and a lot of opinions. The seminar definitely helped me understand Rome and America more because hearing other students talk about their ideas made everything more clear.
I think that the Socratic seminar went really well especially considering it was our first time doing one. I think that it got of to a slow start but picked up really quickly and more students started to join in. There were a couple of people including myself that did not participate. I personally would have father of been an observer because I am a better listener than speaker. I can pay close attention to detail and remember it. I don't really like talking infringe of people especially in big groups I. Rare occasions I wi say some thing but not usually. My favorite topic was when we got into the discussion about religion. I enjoyed this be ause there was a lot of discussion and debate on this subject.I feel like this was where most people started to share and make more points so It became more interesting. I think the discussion did help me understand the comparison between Rome and the US because I got to hear others opinions and the points in the arguments theyade were very convincing.
ReplyDeleteI felt that everyone was really participating in today's seminar. I liked my role as an observer because I learned what everyone else thought. I felt everyone had a lot to say so the conversation was spread out among many topics rather than concentrated on just one. I couldn't really have participated more because I was an observer.
ReplyDeleteFor the next seminar I think we should choose the facilitators a while before the seminar. That way they would know what they needed to do. This time they didn't really know what their responsibilities were.
My favorite topic today was comparing the similarities between the Roman economic system and the system in the US. The reading was clear but the seminar helped me to understand it better. It showed various peoples viewpoints.
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ReplyDeleteI thought that the discussion during today’s seminar was very succesful. This was the first Socratic seminar that I had been involved in and I really liked the idea of people willingly sharing their ideas without having to be forcibly called on. From what I witnessed the quality of the discussion progressively improved as did the amount of people contributing in relation to beginning of the seminar. Although the conversation did lull at times the facilitator or another participant swiftly picked it back up by posing a new intruiging thought or question. I enjoyed my role because I did not feel pressured to -nor did I have to- interject my thoughts about similarities and differences between Ancient Rome and the United States. Contradictingly, I also was frustrated when I had a thought to add to the conversation but was not permitted in doing so. I don’t think that I could have participated more because I completed the assigned sheet and the continued to observe the environment and process peoples comments.
ReplyDeleteThe topic I enjoyed the most was the controversy over if it was possible for religion to be the reason for the possible fall of America. This is where I saw the conversation really pick up and people began to more readily share their opinions and bring forth new or modified ideas. Further questions I had about the reading was the comment Andrea contributed towards the end about what really confirmed that the empire had fallen or not. I thought that this was a very interesting point that we should expand upon at some time because how could it change overnight?
I defiantly understood more of the reading from observing this discussion because everyone had their own tidbits of information that they took from the articles some that I had surpassed and not noticed but were very significant. Also, as a group the statements and reasons were analyzed more supporting us with more reason as to why? Overall, I thought that this was a very successful activity that helped further our learning and understanding of the similarities and differences between the Roman Empire and America and I hope it will be used in the class again.
Overall I think the seminar went pretty well, it started out kind of slow but i feel like the class became more comfortable as we went along. I didn't like my role as facilitator, I wasn't really prepared and i had no clue what to say. Monica did a good job, I didn't mean to throw her under the bus, she just seemed like she knew what she was soing and i didn't. I definitely could have participated more and I thikn I'll be able to do so next time now that I'm more comfortable with it. My favorite subject was probably talking about if America falls how would it do so, I think its an interesting topic to talk about because no one really knows what will happen. I think it did help me understand more about the similarities because it brought new things into my mind that i didnt really notice or think anything of before.
ReplyDeleteToday’s seminar was very interesting. Honestly, I was dreading the whole idea of a Socratic seminar but once we got started I think it went very well. There were a few awkward pauses but I think that was acceptable considering it was the first one our class has done. I liked being part of the discussion because I feel like I got a lot out of it. I was able to ask questions and put my input into the conversation to see if other people felt the same way I did. On the other hand, I think it would be very interesting to sit back and observe how other acted and responded to others. Participation was hard for some people including myself at first, but after a while I just wanted to stop our seminar from having awkward pauses and started participating more. I don’t know how much I would change because I thought our seminar today was really great but I would agree with what Aimee said in class today; I think giving the facilitators some notice would help the conversations.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite topic covered was probably how religion cold affect us like it did Rome. I think this was the most interesting because everyone added input to create an in depth conversation. One question I still have is in the first reading we read they mentioned something about McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Disney and I still don’t understand what the point of that paragraph was. I think the seminar definitely helped me understand certain things. At first I felt kind of stupid for asking a question but it really helped and after hearing everyone’s thoughts about the comparison of Rome to America, I think I understand better because I am looking at it with a whole new perspective.
I think that todays seminar went pretty well, especially considering that it was our very first one. I feel that there were positive and negative sides to my roll as an observer. On a positive note, I know that I will be prepared and know what to expect for our next class seminar. However, there were definitely some moments that I wished that I could jump into the conversation and share my opinion. Unfortunately, because I was only an observer, I wasn't able to participate.
ReplyDeleteOne suggestion I have for our next seminar would be to give the facilitators more notice, so that we would have less "awkward silences", as the facilitators would be prepared and know what to say.
My favorite topic during the conversation was definitely when students were asked to share their opinions on whether or not they believed the United States would follow Rome's path and end up "falling". There were a lot of different viewpoints shared, and I felt many good points were made.
I do think the seminar helped me better understand the comparison between Rome and the United States, because I was able to hear many different opinions on the subject, so I was able to see the idea from many perspectives.
I thought the seminar went very well over all. At the beginning the conversations started out very slow and there was more silence. Later on more conversations were brought up by people and the facilitators where not relied on. The conversations started to flow more smoothly and more people where getting involved. I did like my role as an observer because I could concentrate more on what everyone was saying and didn’t have to think about what I would say. I couldn’t have participated more because I was an observer but I would have liked to have added my opinion into the class’s conversation. For the next seminar I think the facilitators should be chosen earlier so they have a chance get an idea for what they would do. The facilitators did do a good job even with the lack of time to plan, but it they were given more time I feel like their performance would be greatly improved. My favorite topic from the class discussion was about the economy. I like this because I feel that it is very important part of the fall of the Roman Empire. I do not have any remaining questions, they where all answered throughout the discussion. The seminar did help me better understand the comparison between Rome and America because I got to see all of the other views that other class mates had. This help because I could see things in different ways not just the way that I viewed it.
ReplyDeleteOverall i think today's seminar went really well considering it was our first one. Most everyone participated and contributed good thoughts and ideas that helped make the seminar more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI liked my role in the discussion because i could voice my opinion without having to worry about raising my hand or being called on. It was very interesting to see what other people's thoughts were on the subject, as well as contribute my own.
I think i could have participated a little more, and i definitely will next seminar because i like the thought of being able to discuss different matters and issues. I think i was very caught up in what others ideas were, that i was focusing on mine and contributing them.
The suggestions i do have for our next seminar would be to appoint the facilitators beforehand so that they would be more prepared to contribute to the discussion as well as make sure that it is running smoothly, and there would be less awkward silence.
My favorite topic that was covered during the discussion was the discussion about religion, and if it could or couldn't play a role in the fall of America as it did in the Roman Empire.
I feel the seminar did help me to better understand the comparison between the two Empires because I got to hear what other people were thinking while reading the articles, and see the articles from a few different points of views. Also, I go the opportunity to better understand any questions I had about the reading.
I thought the seminar went well considering it was our first time doing it. At first there were a lot of awkward silences but as the discussion went on more and more people contributed. Next time we do one the facilitators should be chosen ahead of time so that they know what to say. Today they did a good job considering they just found out they were facilitators right before we started the seminar. I probably could have said a couple of things but I wasn't really sure when to jump in but next I will make sure to say at least one comment. The Seminar helped me hear other people's point of view about the topic and it gave me a better understanding about how Rome Fell. My favorite topic was how America would fall if it were to happen because a lot of people had different opinions about it. Overall I thought the seminar went well for our first time doing it and next it will be even better.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think today's seminar was sucessful. This being our first expierence with them I thought it ended up smoothing out and becoming helpful. It started out slow with the same participants but it slowly began to pick up with different volunteers sharing their opinions. Putting the awkard silences behind, overall I got a better understand of the relation between Rome and American through different point of view and opinions of my classmates. I like Nicole's point about being able to have a voice outside of our tables and groupwork. I like having my opinion heard through a discussion led by students. It was different to have students leading rather than Ms. Ryan. Today was my first expierence with a seminar and it was overall a good change that I would like to take part in more often.
ReplyDeleteI did like my role; being in the inner circle allowed my voice to be heard more thoughfully. I would also have liked to be the facilitator because I like leading and directing conversation. I liked being apart of the inner cicle because it gave me the ability to react to my classmates opinions. I could have participated a little bit more because I felt hesitant to ask so of my questions in fear of being misunderstood and thought of as stupid. I think this was just fear from it being the first one and I plan on participating more in the next one. Like what was said in class, I think giving the facilitor more time to prepare could have helped the seminar because there wouldn't have been as many silences, as the facilitator would have more notes jotted down about diffent topics to discuss. They are not to blame for the silences because they were not prepared in advance, this is just a change that would significally infleunce how smoothly the seminar ran. My favorite topic that was discussed was Michaelas question about the destruction of vineyards to decrease the amount of wine produced. This was one of my favorite topics because this was one of those "dumb" questions I was referring to and after she brought it up I volunteered to discuss it. It was interesting to see how it compared to the price of gas/oil in America. This comparison made it easier to understand. Going into class today I had questions regaurding the reading but reflecting back on the seminar those questions were answered in depth that made sense to me because I heard the answers to them in my classmates own words. I don't have any questions about the reading after the seminar today. Because of this it is safe to say the the seminar did better my understanding of the comparison between Rome and America. Hearing the different opinions and agree/disagreements helped further my understanding of the two. I hope to do another seminar in the future!
Okay so first off I just want to warn everyone that I will not be able to write as much as anyone else. I thought the secratic semenar went pretty good. I thought that I participated pretty well and I liked what other people said and I thought it was cool that we could just add off of their topics. I think that more people could have pitched in on the conversation and I wish that we could have summarized all of the topics of all of the papers because some of the papers I could not understand.
ReplyDeleteI thought today's seminar went rather well, espescially since it was our first time having one as a class. I know I've never had one before and I'm pretty sure the same goes for the rest of the class. Everyone had their own things to say but were also respectful of what everybody else had to say. As far as the silences, I thought they were pretty minimal. I wasn't really a big fan of my role but I'm not really a fan of any role that involves talking to a large group of people. I definately could have particitpated more that I did. I only said anything once and there were several times where I wanted to speak but abstained. As far as future Sacratic Seminars I'd suggest that the facilitators get some warning prior to the actuall thing so that they are able to prepare and work to the best of their abilities. I'd have to say my favorite topic would be the impact of religion. This was the topic that really sparked the discussion and got everything to start moving more smoothly. The seminar definately did help to clarify thins but also to reinforce others. It's great to hear other thinking the same way you think but it is also good to hear diferent thoughts and though paterns so that your own can also be potentially expanded.
ReplyDeleteI think it was definitely a good discussion, many people got very into it and we all got to hear a lot of different views. We talked about a range of topics between the US and Rome and had the chance to voice our ideas to the class. Yes I could and should have participated more in the discussion. I think we should possibly add some rules to the seminar, or maybe a task. If you speak and make a good point, you should get a point on the next test or quiz. In past seminars I have participated in that’s what we did, and many people joined in. I didn’t exactly have a favorite topic, but I had some favorite questions. One of them was the one Heleena asked about how religion isn’t as big as a daily role in society anymore, which may cause the downfall of the US. I think it did help me understand the comparison between Rome and the US more because I got to listen to many different views on a variety of topics, which made me think a little deeper into the similarities. All and all I think it was a good first seminar for our class.
ReplyDeleteI think today's seminar went very well, considering it was our first time. The awkward pauses were kind of expected, and when they happened someone would usually break them after a few seconds or the facilitator would just change the topic. Once we got into it, conversation flowed easily and lots of good ideas were discussed. I enjoyed participating and don't think I would've liked being an observer. I liked being able to share my ideas, and would've gotten annoyed if I hadn't been able to. I wish I had been able to articulate myself a little better when I did participate though; a few times I felt tongue tied with everyone looking at me.
ReplyDeleteTo make the next seminar better, I think we should chose if we want to partcipate or observe. A few people who were participated would've rather observed and some observers were frusterated because they were unable to participate. My favorite part of the discussion was the point brought up Andrea about what America would actually look like if it fell. I think we came up with plausible ideas, and stll related it to the fall of Rome. My only remaining question is how Rome and its leaders were completely unaware of how bad things were before the nation was taken over. For some reason I still can't wrap my mind around the leaders could be completely ignorant of how dire their situation was. Other then that though, this seminar cleared up any questions I had. I never really had an issue seeing the comparison between Rome and America, but this helped me understand the connections on a deeper level.
ms ryan this is my last comment in the blog just to sei bye!
ReplyDeleteI feel that today’s seminar went very well. It was interesting to be in that sort of situation and to have it be more successful than I had expected because of how teenagers tend to be in that situation. I thought that it was great to see almost everyone participate. I enjoyed my role as a discussion person and I hope that at least some of my input got people thinking and that they were relevant to the conversation. When it comes to participation as a discussion person, if anything, I could have talked less or invited more people to speak up because, definitely at first, I was one of the people dominating the floor with my comments. For the next time, I definitely think that the facilitators should be told in advance so that they can prepare themselves mentally for what lies ahead for them. I also think that it would be great if we could invite those that haven’t voiced their opinions to pitch into some of the big topics. My personal favorite topic was probably the one about other countries’ views on America and when we were talking about if we fell if we would get help from allies. I thought that it was intriguing to hear about how others felt that maybe foreigners resent and are jealous of America, because I definitely felt that that was a good point to bring up. One question that actually wasn’t addressed that I’m still curious about is the topic of history’s tendency to repeat itself, and how others view that major idea presented by this comparison. This seminar I don’t think helped me to understand the Rome/America comparison, but it did get me thinking about it because there were a lot of great points brought up today. It didn’t really clear anything up for me personally because I found the comparison relatively easy to understand, but I’m definitely going to consider the fall of America possibility more and how that can affect my future.
ReplyDeleteI feel about today's seminar is that it was vary helpful for me and the class. My role was easy it was to contribute to the discussion. I think I could hace participated a little more because I had some ideas to add but I didnt feel comfortable shareing. Some suggestions that I have for the next seminar is that everyone should have to contribute at least 3 times each. My favorite part of the discussion was when we talked about religion I thought everyone had a good interest in that subject.
ReplyDeleteFrom what it looks like, people said that they enjoyed the seminar (for the most part); especially those who were on the inside group because they enjoyed voicing their opinions. Also, it sounded a lot like the facilitators would appreciate it (and so would everyone else) if they were notified of their position beforehand so that they could better prepare. It doesn't sound too much like new topics were learned, but more that some existing ideas were expanded upon, and people formulated their opinions based off of them. Reading the comments, I thought it was interesting how the comparison between the destruction of vineyards and the limitation on gasoline was realized. If I was there, I would have liked to be on the inner circle because I like to voice my opinions as well as hear what others have to say. Overall, the discussion sounds like it was mostly positive, minus the expected awkward silences of a newly created discussion group, which are purely normal.
ReplyDeleteI think that the seminar was almost fun. I like classes that have alot of discusions compared to the notes -_- . I usually love to talk and i could have really contributed alot but i liked being on the outside and watching the discusion. Even though i wanted to speak alot in the end, i liked listening to what everyone else said. Also knowing i wasnt suppose to contribute made me think about each persons oppion more than i would haved if i was talking. I Actually thought that the Religion conversation was very interesting, i feel like its a touchy topic in school but it went fairly well and it made several valid points on how this ultimatly lead to Romes fall and could possibly lead to Americas fall.I like Socratic seminars and would enjoy trying all positions.
ReplyDeleteI thought the seminar was a good idea and could be fun. It was kind of hard to keep the conversation going becuase it was our first one. I liked my role because it would have been very boring sitting on the side taking notes. I think i could have participated more but i would always have something to say then someone would say it right before me. I think for the next seminar you should jump in and try to keep the conversation going more during the akward silence. My favorite topic was when alex said we should just kill everyone else in the world so no one passes america. This discussion did help me understand more about the comparison because i got the views of other students.
ReplyDeleteI wasnt there so i think that a socratic seminar is when a group of people gather together to talk about a topic. From the previous comments it seems like it went well.
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