You may have seen or heard me talking about Socratic Seminars in my Spanish class. You’re probably asking yourself: what is the big deal? Why does she keep bringing this up?!

Incorporating Socratic Seminars in my Spanish classes has drastically changed the way that I teach (in a totally GREAT way!) and I want to help other teachers utilize them so they can start doing less work and seeing more results!

To help, I’ve created a list of five main reasons why you need to use Socratic Seminars in your Spanish class in 2021.

1. Socratic Seminars will give your students interpersonal speaking practice.

The 2020-2021 school year has presented us with SO many challenges. As Spanish teachers, one of the biggest challenges is: interpersonal speaking. This is probably the biggest reason WHY you should be using Socratic Seminars in your Spanish class. They will give your students the perfect opportunity to practice interpersonal speaking through spontaneous and authentic conversations.

Socratic Seminars not only give us a shot at getting some interpersonal practice but weirdly, they work out great if you’re in a hybrid situation (like I am this year!). With class sizes being smaller due to the hybrid schedule, Socratic Seminars have been some of my favorite activities this year.

If you’re reading and saying ummm what IS a Socratic Seminar?! → Click here for more info. 

2. They are super flexible and adaptable to so many situations.

The word of the year for the 2020 school year has got to be: PIVOT. How many times will we hear that?!

For someone like me who finds comfort in planning (hello, Enneagram Type 6!), this has been hard. I like to know what’s coming….2020 is totally laughing in my face with this one.

At this point, we have held both hybrid and remote classes. As we know, face to face classes look different than virtual classes so I have been working to come up with lessons that I can successfully use in both.

Socratic Seminars passed the test! I tried them in my hybrid classes, with my fully remote students and in my whole class when we were virtual. Was it always smooth sailing?! No, but it worked. Every student in my class was able to participate in some way and was able to practice interpersonal speaking; for fully remote kids, that’s a win!

3. Socratic Seminars will make your life easier.

You know when something is almost too easy you feel like it’s got to be wrong? That’s how I feel about Socratic Seminars. The prep is super easy for me.

What does the prep look like? Create 10-15 discussion questions to prompt your seminar, find an article that you want students to examine closely or find a video you want your students to look at closely. That’s it. 

In a time when we are doing three jobs at once, why not try something to lighten your workload?

4. They are low prep but yield high results.

I know I just mentioned the low-prep but it’s so good I had to say it twice. This is a super low-prep activity for us but most importantly, it will yield high results with your students.

Why? How? Think of it this way: have you ever planned a lesson and made 1,000 pieces or moving parts to use during the lesson only to feel like you’ve done all of the work and your students aren’t really producing much?! (I have been there!)

Socratic Seminars are the opposite. You’re finding the prompt and setting your students up to critically think and create questions but they are doing all of the work (whoo hoo!).

I should clarify that “work” does not mean writing, answering a million questions or anything like that- it means coming to class prepared for a conversation on the prompt and participating in the conversation. Did I mention it’s a spontaneous and authentic conversation? Socratic Seminar for the win!

5. They help to build unbelievable classroom community.

Probably the least expected (but my personal favorite) outcome has been the incredible classroom community that builds in my class through Socratic Seminars. Because students are sharing opinions, experiences, ideas, and questions, they are opening themselves up to their peers. They are forming connections that they may not have made through other classroom activities.

How do I know this is from Socratic Seminars? I have noticed that in my preps where I tend to do more Socratic Seminars, my classes have a stronger classroom community. The students have a different rapport with each other (and even with me!). It starts to feel like more of a family than a class and honestly, I love that!

If you’re ready to try it out but don’t know where to start, grab this totally free Socratic Seminar Quickstart Guide. It will give you a quick run down on how to set them up and I have even given you some question starters to get started with your very first discussion. Don’t forget to let me know how it goes!

If you’re ready to get started with some Discussion Questions that are already made for you, check these out: Socratic Seminars for Spanish Class.