Change My Mind - Debate Club

"Change My Mind - Debate Club" is designed to help kids and young teens build and develop their skills in public speaking, articulation, critical thinking, and argument building.  Learners will have a different debate topic each week like, "Is It Better to Buy or Adopt Your Next Pet," "To Fossil or Not - Fossil Fuels, Yes or No," "AI - Bad or Useful?" and "Time to wake up, or not - Daylight Savings Time."

On the first day, students are given a topic, and have one week to research all the information they need to provide a solid argument for/against a viewpoint. Prior to research, students can either have a side chosen already, or choose to remain undecided until they learn more - however, even afterwards, students may keep their undecided stance during the actual debate. 

During the day of the debate, *all* students will have the opportunity to defend their opinion and attempt to convince the other side. Those who are undecided will speak when explaining what arguments made them agree or disagree with a viewpoint. Of course, participants must be respectful!

My own server on Roblox will be initially used to host the debates. Why Roblox? Throughout my experience as an instructor, I have learned that kids are able to open up and be themselves more easily while doing my classes in Roblox. This is because the attention is placed on their avatars instead of themselves. Students will start off debating through Roblox, and once comfortable enough, they will transition into having discussions with their cameras on.

Upon debate completion, participants can form a new sense of confidence, knowing their voices were heard!