The Great Debaters
When a society focuses on those things that can be measured, it diminishes the importance of those qualities that it is difficult to measure, such as: integrity, perseverance, inventiveness, etc. - Larry Rosenstock, CEO of High Tech High Learning
Process:
This project was one of our final projects in Humanities. We were grouped into groups of four (our debate groups) and two of us assumed a "negative" position, and two of us assumed a "affirmative" position, for debating. My group's debate topic was Standardized Testing and our essential question was "We have become too relient on Standardized Testing." We wrote a 3-5 page persuasive essay to serve as a basis for our debate. Ariel Swingley was my partner on the "affirmitive" side, and debated against Leland Clemmons and KJ.
Product:
Persuasive Essay
Reflection:
During the course of this project, I learned numerous things about debates and the debating process. Before the project, I didn't know how to take part in a formal debate. Amy Hill explained the process well, and supplemented her lecture with the movie, The Great Debaters. We also were required to write short snippets on articles regarding debate topics that weren't ours. Doing this allowed us to keep an interest in other groups' debates, as we knew what they were about through doing the snippets.
Before this project, I had some negative feeling towards standardized testing. After doing the project and looking at my school's API (Academic Perfomance Index) score, my negative thoughts toward standardized testing was amplified based on the curriculum of my school and how the API negativly reflects that. High Tech High doesn't teach to standards, per se, but we are still learning a lot relevant material and communication skills. Communication skills are essential for any career path I decide to go down.
This debate project helped me realize the negative sides of teaching to standards and standardized testing.