D75 Debates

Congratulations to all of the teams that made it to the finals in this year’s competition.  Special congrats to the following winners:

Middle School Champions:

First Place – 369 K Awesome Debaters
Second Place – 352 X Great Debaters
Third Place – 169 M Star Debaters
Honorable Mention – 25 R Panthers

High School Champions:

First Place – The Rat Pack from 993 Q @ Frank Sinatra
Second Place – Brooklyn’s Finest Debate Team from 368 K @ BCC
Third Place – The Cardozo Defenders from 993 Q @ Cardozo High School
Honorable Mention – 753 K Great Debaters

Check out the photos tab above for more photos from the Championships!

Join us for the D 75 Debate Championships:

June 1 – Middle School Competition

The 352 X Great Debaters vs the 369 K Awesome Debaters

June 2 – High School Competition

The Rat Pack at 993 Q @ FSSA vs Brooklyn’s Finest Debate team from 368 K @ BCC

Come out to 751 M to support your team!

Congratulations to the 993 Q Cardozo Defenders for winning the 3rd place High School title in today’s debate!  The final four teams were: The 754 X Big 3; the 753 K Great Debaters; and the 371 K Unthinkables.  All of the teams displayed championship level arguments, teamwork, sportsmanship and professionalism.  Great work everyone!

Don’t forget to tune in for the face-to-face debates next Wednesday and Thursday…

This is what it looked like yesterday in the virtual classroom…  Congratulations to the 17 X Freedom Debaters and good luck to the 169 M Star Debaters as they take on the 25 R Panthers this Friday at 10am.

The calendar for the Online Playoff Round and the 2011 D 75 Championships is now posted in the schedule tab above.  Log in to support your team.  If your team didn’t make it this year, then log in to support your borough!  Will the Bronx hold onto their title for Middle School or will Brooklyn take it away?  Will Frank Sinatra move up in the ranks for the High Schools or will the newcomers from BCC grab the title?  There’s only one way to find out!  (Click on the schedule tab above and log in here to watch the live debates).

Speaking of the environment, check out this article from Upfront, Why I Lived With My Garbage for a Year. What ideas do you have for reducing your impact on the environment or reusing your “garbage”?  Has your class come up with any ideas for service projects?  In California, students made a bench out of recycled plastic that they made into bricks.  What ideas can you put into action to help the environment and reduce waste?

Some of you may be wondering… How do I know if my team will make it to the finals?  Well, here is the answer.  At the end of Round 3, all teams that have 3 wins automatically qualify for the finals (and the first and second place titles). Teams with two wins will qualify for the run-off and may still have a chance to advance to second and third place brackets.  The stakes are high and the judges are paying close attention!

There’s still time to submit your suggestions for the final round topic to debates@learningtimes.com. Which topic would YOU like to debate or see debated in the final round?

Today’s debate between the 186 X South Bronx Bombers and the 25 R Panthers has been canceled due to internet problems at 25 R.  The Panthers called in to express their disappointment at not being able to come on line this morning – both teams were definitely ready to debate.  The new date and time will be April 14 at 11 am.  See you then!

and poppin!  Which teams will remain undefeated?  Which teams will pull out a win and make it to the final round?  What is YOUR angle on the topic?  Do not miss these debates.  Your future may depend on it.  See what the teams are saying… Middle school debates tomorrow and Wednesday.  Tune in!

Round 3 of online debates begins this week.  Tune in to see which teams will move on to the finals!  For those who are new to the site, you can check out the round 3 calendar of debates in the schedule tab above.  This round’s topic focuses on the economy and the environment.  When is a taking care of a country’s economy more important than protecting the environment?  When is the environment more important?  How do recent events in Japan and around the world relate to this topic?  How do you think people will answer this question 100 years from now?  Tune in this week to see what the teams have to say.

Do you think rich countries should pay poor countries to preserve their natural resources?  Is development in poor countries more important than the protecting the environment?

Whose responsibility is it to protect the environment? Can there be development without destroying the natural environment?

Here are some arguments from IDEA (the international debate education association) to help with your research:

Economic Development vs the Environment

Thank you to the 233 Q Team Confidence and the 370 K Better than the Bests for closing out Round 2.  It was another nail-biter with results undecided up until the last moment.  The teams KEEP GETTING BETTER!  So with very high expectations, we enter into Round 3.  This one is an elimination round.  You’ll need at least 2 wins to move on.  The new topic?….

Is making money from Earth’s resources more important than protecting the environment?

Another way to think about it is: Is economic development more important than protecting the environment?

What do YOU think?

Today our moderator said that we should be on TV!  It was a close debate, with the judging down to the wire – it was anyone’s game right up until the final category.  Both teams did an amazing job- congratulations to the 371 K Unthinkables AND to the 23 Q Power of Life teams for showing us how to use our research to think on our feet and have an informed and impassioned civil debate on a very important topic.  Check back soon for the recording – you don’t want to miss this one!

There are only two more days of Debate in Round 2 before the new topic is announced.  Stay tuned!

Today’s debate is canceled due to inclement weather.  The team members and teachers are having a tough time getting around with all of this ice.  Today’s debate teams from 771 K and 140 K, you are rescheduled for Feb 10.

Hi everyone!  Today’s debate was REALLY interesting.  Teams are making some very compelling arguments and bringing in a lot of facts about immigration.  There have been some more changes added to the debate calendar so check out the schedule tab above to make sure that you have the right information.  Pics from this week’s debates will be posted here soon.

Check the Schedule tab above to view the changes to the Round 2 calendar.  All changes are now posted.  Also, tune in at 9:30 for the random drawing to determine the High School team that will debate 754 X on Feb 16.  Results will be posted here this afternoon.

Today’s debate is ON!  9 Q vs 352 X.  9:00 am log in time.  Yesterday’s debate was canceled because of the snow day and will be rescheduled for Feb 2.  Check back later today in the schedule tab for updates to calendar.

Will round 2 get underway or will we have a snow day?  We are all waiting to find out.  In the meantime, remember to submit your team’s slides at least one day in advance to debates@learningtimes.com.  Don’t forget to include your cross-examination questions!

In other news, who watched President Obama’s State of the Union Speech last night?  He said some things about our topic… Hmmm, do you think he would be on the Pro side or the Con side?  What questions would YOU ask President Obama about immigration policy?

Good luck to all the debaters!

Check out Achieve 3000 for more articles on the Immigration topic.  Teachers, check your inboxes for instructions on how on how to log on.  Only one week left to prepare!

Here are some articles and links to get your team started.  This one if from today’s New York Times:

Birthright Citizenship Looms as Next Immigration Battle

Class President and Illegal

To Think, Perchance to … Debating the Dream Act

Learning About U.S. Immigration With The New York Times

More resources will be coming soon.  Use the comments section to share articles and videos that you’ve found on the topic.