Weekly Debate Club for Teens - Ongoing Course
This ongoing debate club is designed for learners with previous experience in competitive debate to continue honing their skills in speech, rhetoric and argumentation.
Seattle Debate Academy
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5.0
Number of reviews:(540)
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What's included
1 live meeting
1 hrs 15 mins in-class hours per weekClass Experience
US Grade 8 - 11
The course is designed to allow teenagers to continue developing their abilities by engaging in Public Forum, Policy and Parliamentary debate rounds. Lessons will occasionally include elements from other activities to allow learners to focus on developing specific skills (e.g. learners may practice delivering Mock Trial litanies to help them improve their performance in cross examination). Learners will be assigned teams and the topic for each week's debate round prior to the lesson. Depending on each week's debate format, learners will usually be given time in breakout rooms to collaborate with teammates ahead of the round. Most importantly, this debate club is designed for learners to have fun while engaging with complex debate topics inside of teams. This course is formatted for learners between the ages of 13-17 and will include topics that are commonly found at the high school and university level (e.g. universal basic income, policy resolutions requiring learners to define and then capture different notions of justice, UN peacekeeping plans). Learners will be actively coached, challenged & guided throughout each lesson through the Socratic teaching method. Because each lesson will move quickly and involve an active debate, learners are required to have some previous experience performing in Public Forum, Parliamentary, Lincoln Douglas or Policy debate. Lessons are not sequential, so learners are able to join at any point throughout the course. Each lesson will function as a standalone class that begins by reviewing the judging rationale from the previous class (which allows new enrollees to develop a sense of how an audience and judge will evaluate a debate round). An example outline of the topics included over 8 weeks is included below: Week of February 20th: Public Forum Debate on criminal justice Week of February 27th: Policy Debate on K12 education Week of March 6th: Public Forum Debate on freedom of speech Week of March 13th : Parliamentary Debate on international relations Week of March 20th: Public Forum debate on nuclear energy Week of March 27th: Public Forum debate on immigration reform Week of April 3rd: Public Forum debate on healthcare Week of April 10th: Parliamentary Debate on democracy
Learning Goals
Learners will develop strong fundamentals for good argumentation to support their ability to both examine and advocate for ideas. Through applied experience, learners will also be able to be prepared to compete in high school debate tournaments.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Most topics are pulled directly from current and past NSDA resolutions for high school students, and debate rounds will frequently venture into controversial territory. Some common controversial topics in lessons include: immigration, the death penalty, censorship, utilitarian philosophy (e.g. whether a government should base its decisions on the "greater good") , mental health, gun control and genetic engineering.
Parents are welcome to voice concerns directly to the teacher after a controversial resolution is posted on the classroom board ahead of a weekly lesson.
Language of Instruction
English
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined May, 2020
5.0
540reviews
Star Educator
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Teacher expertise and credentials
2 teachers have a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's Degree in English Language and Literature from University of Florida
Bachelor's Degree in Economics from University of Southern California
Welcome!
We're a very small team of educators who strongly believe in the transformational power of debate. We find that when debaters are having fun and working together as a team, they readily find the motivation to unpack even the most rigorous and academically challenging topics. This then translates to debaters having substantially more confidence and intellectual curiosity to create great ideas and then really share them with the world.
Our current and former competitive debaters have competed at the highest levels, with many of our students reaching and even winning nationals in Public Forum, Policy, LD and Parliamentary Debate.
Even more importantly, we find that well-coached and moderated debates are an enormously powerful tool for learners. Having the ability and confidence to share ideas, defend ideas, and expose weaknesses in ideas is something that can truly carry students throughout their entire lives - as does having the wisdom and humility to change your mind and realize that everyone is sometimes mistaken.
We're always available for questions and otherwise, never stop learning!
To learn more about our coaches, please copy and past this following URL:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAGOQyFywFw/SHzG7YqUAIlGTNGSNqLMcQ/view?utm_content=DAGOQyFywFw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editorReviews
Live Group Class
$16
weekly1x per week
75 min
Completed by 367 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-17
4-6 learners per class
