Formal Debate: Confidence and Public Speaking - Life, Study, & Social Skills
What's included
1 live meeting
1 in-class hoursHomework
Learners may be assigned a homework task related to the lesson. However, this task is for their own edification and is not mandatory.Assessment
Learners will be provided with verbal feedback by the facilitator leading the session on; how well they executed the assignment, how they have developed the target skills, and how the learner can continue to develop what they have taken from the session.Class Experience
US Grade 7 - 8
Our mission is to give students the tools they need to become Global Citizens of the 21st Century. We help shape resilient, confident individuals, who will be equipped with practical life skills integrated with academics, to ensure success in the real world, beyond their school careers. We use mainly inquiry-based methodologies to encourage our learners to develop sharp, critical, and sensitive minds. In this one-time group class, your learner will begin by engaging in some friendly discussion about everyday topics. For example: Are dogs better than cats? Is fiction better than nonfiction? They will then move on to more controversial topics, such as whether social media actually makes people more sociable, the pros and cons of vegetarianism, and the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence for humanity. They will then read about how to structure a formal debate using an opening statement, an argument, a rebuttal, and concluding remarks. They will also watch a video of some teenage students engaging in a debate and identify how the speakers communicate their ideas in a concise and engaging manner. For their main task, they will be assigned the topic of animals for entertainment, and asked to construct arguments for and against. In between these activities, your learner will also get to participate in some fun and interactive games that will put what they have learned to the test! Our general class structure is as follows: Each of our lessons is separated into distinct sections. After being welcomed to the class, learners will be introduced to the topic through a game or warm up activity (5-10 minutes). They will then have their existing knowledge on the topic tested with various inquiry-based questioning techniques. After, our facilitators will present them with pertinent information on the topic and the main class task (10-15 minutes). The facilitator will then present the main task, which will predominantly be student-led. During this time, students will be creating, innovating, or solving a problem while the facilitator guides them (20-25 minutes). Learners will then have the opportunity to present their class work. They will give and receive feedback from each other as well as from the facilitator (10 minutes). Before finishing the class, learners will complete a short Exit Ticket to solidify their takeaways from the class experience (5 minutes). The facilitator will share all of our content built on Canvas LMS. We use this for display purposes only and learners are not required to create an account. To make our content engaging, we diversify our delivery methods as much as possible. Our content includes static slides with text and images built on Microsoft Powerpoint, educational videos from YouTube, online games built on platforms such as Wordwall and Baamboozle, and interactive builds developed on Articulate Storyline. Our content is well-researched and referenced in every lesson, as it is all strictly factual, objective, and secular. We only use images and YouTube videos that fall under the Creative Commons license. Each of our lessons is also matched with a selection of Common Core and CPalms standards and is inspired by a variety of UNESCO key topics.
Learning Goals
For each of our lessons, we curate a set of Core Skills, Subskills, Academic Skills, and our own Shiminly Skills that learners will develop. For this particular lesson the skillset is as follows:
Core Skill: Teamwork and Communication
Subskills: Confidence, Enthusiasm, and Self-Reliance
Academic Skills: Brainstorming, creative problem solving, and public speaking
Shiminly Skills: Collaboration, considering viewpoints, and planning
Other Details
Parental Guidance
We are committed to protecting your child’s privacy and protecting them from harmful or inappropriate content. We use Canvas LMS to store and display content only using the screen share feature on Zoom. Learners are NOT required to make an account with Canvas or any other of our external resources. They will not be able to interact with the content in any way, nor are they permitted to view any of our content outside of class hours.
Learners WILL be required to have a Google Suite account, as they may have to digitally submit an assignment to our facilitator or collaborate with classmates using Google Docs, Google Jamboard, or Google Slides. We ask that parents create a dedicated and anonymous email account for the sole use of online task submission. Our facilitators will ensure to protect all personal information of learners.
Our facilitators ONLY show content that has been created and reviewed by our instructional design team. We design static slides using PowerPoint. In addition, please find a list of our other external sources, which we embed onto our Canvas pages and display through screen-share only:
Wordwall (https://wordwall.net/) - All of our Wordwall games are built in-house by our instructional design team. We do not use games that have not been built by a Shiminly instructional designer. Learners will not be sent the link, nor will they be required to create an account for Wordwall. All videos will be displayed through the screen-share feature only.
Baamboozle (https://www.baamboozle.com/games) - All of our Baamboozle games are built in-house by our instructional design team. We do not use games that have not been built by a Shiminly instructional designer. Learners will not be sent the link, nor will they be required to create an account for Baamboozle. All games will be displayed through the screen-share feature only.
YouTube - Some of our lessons contain YouTube videos which are embedded into our Canvas pages. All of these videos are under the Creative Commons license. Learners will not be sent the link, nor will they be required to create an account for YouTube. All videos will be displayed through the screen-share feature only.
Articulate Storyline 360 - To make our lessons more fun and engaging, we use animated slides designed with Articulate Storyline 360 by our instructional design team. Learners will not be sent the link, nor will they be required to create an account for Articulate Storyline 360. All slides will be displayed through the screen-share feature only.
Regarding the class topic, some content may be triggering for learners (e.g., emotions, finance, health). Such content will be approached with the utmost care and respect by our facilitators. Any questions asked during the lesson are preset and generalized and do not pertain directly to the learners. Learners will not be asked to share any of their personal experience related to this topic. Advice provided in the lesson is specific to the topic and not personalized. This class should not be viewed as a substitute for therapy or life counseling in any way.
Supply List
To participate fully in our sessions, learners require; a pencil, an eraser, a notebook, sheets of paper, and coloring pencils/crayons.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Teacher expertise and credentials
1 teacher has a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's Degree from Hampshire College
Our facilitators are highly-passionate about what they do and are trained extensively on modern methodologies, such as student-centered, project-based, and inquiry-based learning. They all have a wealth of experience teaching around the world and on various digital platforms. They deliver their lessons in a way that is friendly, inspiring, and unique to their personality. We strive to ensure that learners come away from the lesson feeling empowered to put their best foot forward in every aspect of their lives.
Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$20
per classMeets once
60 min
Completed by 1 learner
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-15
1-12 learners per class
Financial Assistance
Tutoring
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