Emma Rosendale

Mrs. Storer
September 19, 2019
Socratic Circle Reflection
I would rate my preparation for the circle as a six out of ten because I definitely could
have prepared more evidence from the book to support my points. I would give myself a seven
for my performance in the Socratic circle. I feel that I contributed to the conversation and I
facilitated well, although I did not use contextual evidence to support my ideas. I also could have
talked more. I rate my teamwork in the circle an eight because I used other ideas to create my
own comment and as the facilitator I asked if anyone wanted to talk about a specific question. I
believe my feedback was very helpful when I was in the outer circle and it helped my partner
better her speaking skills a long with supporting her argument with more evidence. To improve
what transpired during the circle I could have added different viewpoints instead of agreeing
with everyone or brought up a new topic related to the question to make everyone think more
about the text. My goals for the next circle I want to talk more in the discussion and use evidence
to back up my argument or opinion.
Overall, I would rate the group preparation as an 8-9 because everyone seemed to be
ready to participate and had their notes ready. I think the conversation flowed nicely and not one
person talked too much or too little, therefore I would rate the overall conversation an 8. I think
the inner circle I was in bounced ideas off of each other really well and we were comfortable
enough to disagree with someone’s point and then argue it with evidence either using quotes or
referring back to the text. I think we gave good advice to out partners while we were in the outer
circle because I feel there was a difference in how the first half went compared to the second
half. They had more disagreements that were supported with evidence which caused the
conversation to flow really well.
Fear causes people to fall under the pressure and authority of the others. For example,
Abigail controls the girls during the trials because she is the most put together. They are scared
of what will happen to them to, so they fell under the authority of Abigail. For example, in the
court room, when she started to pretend like she saw a bird on the ceiling, all of the other girls
did it too because they were following her lead. Another example of the characters falling under
the pressure of others is when they realized that they made a mistake hanging those twelve
people, although they could not spare the other seven because they already told the town that
those people would be hung. The fear of ruining their reputations took over and they went
through with the hangings even though they knew they should not have.
In my own experiences I have noticed that teenagers tend to follow what the majority is
doing. Everyone has social media and if you do not, you are judged for not having it. I have
noticed that people will start buying clothes from the same stores or start dressing the same if it
means that they are wearing whatever is “in” at the time. I have also noticed that students will
fall into peer pressure, whether it be going to an even, or doing something that they might not
agree with. Teenagers will always try to fit in and be a part of the crowd that is doing what looks
the best socially.