8/12/2019 Socratic Solutions
2/2
Stafford H. Byers is a clergyman, attor-
ney, motivational speaker, law professor
and an educational consultant. In addi-
tion to his legal training, he also
received special training in the Socratic
Approach to teaching at Harvard Law
School.
The Socratic Approach, teaching by
asking questions,
creates and fosters
an energetic,
dynamic and
engaging learning environment. It
causes shy and timid students to break
out of their shell and become more self
assured, confident and assertive. It forc-
es teachers to sharpen their skills and
innovate, and at the same time enable
students to be thoughtful, engaging,
and involved in their own learning.
Professor Byers has served as faculty
advisor to Texas Southern Universitys,
Thurgood Marshall Law Review. He has
coached teachers in and spoken to
administrators about the effectiveness of
the Socratic Method.
Through the use of the
Socratic Method, Stafford
will provide an approach
to teaching that focuses
on the Webbs Depth of
Knowledge for questioning, and on the
Common Core Learning Standards for
writing opinion pieces and supporting a
point of view with reasons.
This consultation will also provide educa-
tors with structures and scaffolded
activities for teaching students to write
creatively and ground their work with
text evidence.
Each Socratic Seminar will provide
teachers with the following tools:
Socratic seminar protocols for classroomteachers and
students.
Classroom Rubric for grading students as
they participate in discussions.
Classroom Rubric for grading the writingpieces of students.
Each Socratic Seminar will addressthe following Common Core
LearningStandards:College and Career Readiness nchorStandards for
Writing
Write arguments to support claims inan analysis of substantive
topics ortexts, using valid reasoning and rele-
vant and sufficient evidence.
Produce clear and coherent writing inwhich the development,
organization,and style are appropriate to task, pur-pose and
audience.
Gather relevant information from mul-tiple print and digital
sources, assessthe credibility and accuracy of eachsource, and
integrate the information
while avoiding plagiarism.
