Round 2 wrapped this morning with another very close debate between the 176’ers from the Bronx and Queens’ own 177Q All Stars on the topic of metal detectors in schools. Since Debate waits for no one, the new topic was just announced. It is: Washington, D.C. should be a state.
Round 3 begins the week of March 18. The new schedule and match-ups will be posted soon. Enjoy your vacation, everyone!
March 1 is National Speech and Debate Education Day. This is a great opportunity to plan something special at your school to raise awareness about speech and debate. Think about a speech competition or a non-competitive event where kids can show off their skills for an audience.
There are tons of resources online for finding famous speeches. It might also be a nice way to wrap up Black History/ Black Futures month or set off Women’s History month. If there is enough interest, we will open up the online debate room for students to share.
The Round Two Topic has been announced, and the match-ups are now posted in the schedule tab above. This time we are debating whether or not all schools should have metal detectors. As always, there are pros and cons to both sides, and the teams are just warming up. Let’s go!
Ready… Set… Debate!
Thank you to all of the teams, coaches, and supporters for setting the debate season off correctly! Round two is on the way, beginning the week of January 28… Stay tuned for details and match-ups to be posted after the winter break. Happy Holidays to debaters everywhere!
The 17X Warriors debate team knows how to pull in a crowd! They had twenty supporters rooting for their team during the first round of debate.
17X Warriors Supporters
Here is a tip for teams that want to include a short video clip as part of their presentation. You will need to “rate” your video so that it can be viewed on the school network. After you upload your video to www.vimeo.com, under SETTINGS, go to DISTRIBUTION, scroll down to CONTENT RATING and set rating to “ALL AUDIENCES.”
Then simply share the vimeo link when you send your presentation to debates@learningtimes.com.
Remember that the time of the video counts against your presentation time.
Great job and a big thank you to the 176’ers from the Bronx and the Rat Pack from 993Q for getting the season off on the right foot. The teams brought some really original and insightful arguments to the table this morning, and we can’t wait to hear what the rest of the teams will do. The momentum is building… here we go!
Is learning civics your constitutional right? Aleita Cook, 17, thinks it is and she is taking her case to the Supreme Court. Read more about it in this article from the New York Times.
The News Literacy Project is an organization that helps students learn to tell media fact from fiction.
Among other resources, they have a crop of videos that may be very useful for your student debaters. I watched the one entitled 
Double Check Your Facts and got most of the quiz questions wrong! Hah!
Watch the video and see how well you do.
For more information on The News Literacy Project and what they offer:
Round One preparations have begun. The new topic and team match-ups are now posted in the schedule tab above.
Let the games begin!
Did anyone else see the Banksy painting self-destruct in a built-in shredder just moments after it was sold for over a million dollars? Should the buyer of the painting still pay for it? Is the painting actually worth more now? There’s a lot to debate! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
The teams are forming, the technology is being checked and the first topic will be announced next week. Welcome back Debaters!
Did you hear about Seattle? They just outlawed single-use plastic straws and cutlery in the city’s restaurants and bars. Do you think this is a good idea? It sounds like Topic #3 of our 2017-2018 debate season.
One teacher we spoke with had this to say about the debate program in their school:
Having never been a part of a team like this before, the children were able to experience things outside of their immediate world. I believe it was a great opportunity for them
We also asked debate teachers what were some of the rewards of being in the debate program. Here are some reponses:
Did you find that same rewards with your students?
We asked debate teachers what were some of the challenges their teams faced during the year. Here are some responses:
What do you think? Did you also experience these challenges with your team?
This is the slide that appeared for the final debates.
When all is said and done, what does the 2nd Amendment mean to you?
In-class photos of debaters from 373K.
More photographs from the 2018 live championships.
(Contact us if you do not have the page’s password.)
Thanks to Laura Mayer, from 721M, for these student reflections, and congratulations again on your second place win.
From Alexis:
OMG! I was so scared, I was shaking when I got up there. I felt like there was something on my face but there wasn’t. I was getting stage fright.
Congratulations to this year’s Debate Champions! They are…
1st Place: The 751 MSCD Eagles
2nd Place: The 721M Cityhawks Revolutionaries
3rd Place: The 373K Fire Debaters
Honorable Mention: 368K Brooklyn’s Finest Debate Team
1st Place: 352X Bx Debates All Day
2nd Place: The 226M Debate Crew
3rd Place: The 169M Rising Scholars
Honorable Mention: The 25R Panthers
