Thank you for seeking to learn more about the classical modes of teaching {Mimetic Teaching, Socratic Teaching, and Narration}. I too am learning more each time I teach and I know this is an area we all desperately need to learn about and grow in, so I am sharing what I can. The lessons I upload and the assessments I give for each lesson are in no way the end all be all of classical teaching. They are however steps along the path and my way of helping a fellow classical educators dive deeper into this tradition. I pray this space becomes a place where we all can learn from each other as co-inquirers into the truth. Thank you for being a part of this community.
Download the companion guide for this mimetic lesson, ‘A Guide to Teaching Classically,’ here. If you already have the Guide to Teaching Classically, and need blank study sheets, you can find those here. This set is a set of three, including one blank mimetic sheet, one blank narration sheet, and one blank Socratic sheet.
Mimetic Lesson #2
Assessment of the Lesson
This was a fairly good mimetic lesson, you really get to see a bit of each mode of teaching {mimetic, Socratic, and narration} in one lesson. This is how it goes many times, so I am glad I was able to capture it for you.
What Went Well
The Presentation stage seemed to go the best out of the 5 stages. The types were clear, we all interacted, and they showed signs of apprehension throughout out all the types into the comparison stage. In the explanation stage they were all able to successfully tell me how to find and edit subjects in their own words.
What could be Improved
Invitation: It was a bit bumpy in the beginning, mostly because it was the first day back after a month off for the holidays. I should have started out with reciting the 8 parts of speech, reading and discussing several sentences out loud, or maybe even writing the terms up on the board I wanted them to bring to the surface. I think the invitation stage would have gone much smoother had there been a slower walk into the content.
Notes
Even though I was caught off guard in the invitation stage, it ended up being fine. I had to engage a couple people Socratically by asking them more questions, asking them to think about something, and then asking them to revisit the question with the new information we had just discussed.
If you have any question please ask them in the comments section. Chances are if you are wondering about something regarding this lesson others maybe as well. Thank you for sharing!
Join the Conversation
Jennifer, that was extremely helpful. I’m not as lost as I thought! I notice that this is #2, is there a # 1 video? I watched the webinar on Saturday and was encouraged by your willingness to share and excited at what the Lord will do with our willing hands and ready hearts. Thanks again! Happy Monday!
Good Morning Ali and thank you, I am happy everything was helpful for you. Yes, there is a #1. If you go to the Teaching Page, you will find a host of resources for Teaching Classically along with a list of all the lessons we have recorded and uploaded to the site. Here is the link: http://expandingwisdom.com/teaching/