8th Grade Debate Tournament
By Shoshana Seigel (3-15-24)
Hi stingers! As some of you may know, on Friday, March 8th some of the 8th grade classes participated in a (heated) debate tournament! Several 6th grade classes watched at least some of the debating, in addition to 801, who did not participate due to not currently partaking in this unit as part of ELA. As an 8th grader, I’m in 802, and we got bronze! That being said, it might be tampering with results to not mention there were only 3 classes participating... 804 getting in second, leaving 803 having won the tournament and being the recipient of Ms. C’s mini golden trophies (shout out to her and Mr. Perron for organizing this entire ordeal)!
For those of you who weren’t there to witness, the topic of debate was AI— more specifically, should AI be progressed further (side A) or not (side B). Each class had had a week to read relevant articles and prepare their reasons for their side– 802 and 803 both argued side B against 804’s side A in the semifinals and finals respectively. In both rounds, many good points were thrown around, and it ended very close. Another shout out to anyone who felt nervous standing on stage but did it anyway, you’re not alone (and although I’m probably a hypocrite by saying this, you did better than you think you did)!
To get a point of view from a different team, I interviewed my friend Ian Wood, a member of the winning team, about her experience with the debate. “Preparing for the debate was definitely stressful,” she said, “It was also very stressful on stage, since the projector shines a literal laser beam into your eye, and you don’t want to mess up because everyone is watching.” When asked if she expected to win, Ian replied, “No one on my team thought we would win, even from the start we all thought we would be cooked. I genuinely don’t know how we won.”
Laila M.D., a member of 804, also provided input on the outcome of the tournament. “803 did a very good job in the final debate, but personally I think 804 did a slightly better job,” she commented, perhaps controversially, “The rebuttals were amazing on both sides, but for 804 the reasons and opening were stronger than 803’s. But the judges came to their conclusion and 803 won, so good game!” Keep in mind this perspective comes from an 804 student, and therefore may be slightly biased.
Many 6th graders also witnessed this one-of-a-kind event, their teachers being on the panel of judges. Maple Varga, a 6th grader who watched the first round of the debate, responded enthusiastically when asked if she liked it, “I enjoyed hearing everyone’s strong opinions,” she told me, “I wanted to stay for the second round and had a good time overall. It felt like watching a suspenseful movie, even if I wasn’t on one side or the other.” I then asked if she’d enjoy working on the unit in 8th grade, to which she answered, “I would be stressed about actually doing it, but excited about the idea of it,” which honestly matches up with my own opinion of the matter, and I think a lot of other 8th graders would agree.
Moving on, we have an exclusive interview with Ms. C herself, who, as I’ve said, had a major hand in creating and organizing the debate! For those who aren’t in the know, Ms. C is an ELA teacher for 802, 803, and 804.
Me: How did you feel the debate went overall?
Ms. C: Overall, I could not be more proud or pleased with how the final debate went. Unlike most of the audience members, I had the privilege of watching each class debate every week and then prepare for this final gauntlet. I thought both teams came extremely prepared and I was overwhelmed with pride watching everyone speak so confidently despite their own fears or anxieties.
Me: Would you consider doing it again next year, if so, any changes you would make to the structure, debate roles, etc.?
Ms. C: I will ABSOLUTELY be doing this next year! And hopefully bringing back some old students to be the guest judges! One major change I would make is related to the timing. As we saw in both rounds, we were running short on time.
Me: How did you decide on AI as a prompt?
Ms. C: The AI prompt was student generated! Daniel Benadiba from 804 came up with the idea to argue about AI. I asked him to draft two sides of the argument. He emailed both sides to me and I didn’t edit a thing!
Me: Any input you'd like to depart about the behind-the-scenes of organizing not just this debate, but any of the debates?
Ms. C: I think the key to planning a successful debate is staying as organized as possible. Assigning kids to sides ahead of time and providing planning documents for those sides respectively made things run smoothly. I hope the debate planning documents that were provided for the classes were helpful. I also tried to be as "hands off" as possible once sides were assigned. I thought it was important for teams to work out who would have certain roles, etc. amongst themselves!
Me: Any additional comments?
Ms. C: I am so proud of the 8th grade for really stepping up not just for this final debate, but throughout the entire unit. It was truly incredible to watch everyone come together each week and do something collaborative.
So there you have it! Although this debate was tedious to prepare for and carry out, it was a great experience for our 8th graders (that just sounds weird, since I’m one of them, but okay), teaching both argumentative and public speaking skills, in addition to being a fun way to compete against rival students! This final conjoined debate was the first of its kind, though hopefully not the last, as it was a huge success (subjectively speaking, or course)!
For those of you who weren’t there to witness, the topic of debate was AI— more specifically, should AI be progressed further (side A) or not (side B). Each class had had a week to read relevant articles and prepare their reasons for their side– 802 and 803 both argued side B against 804’s side A in the semifinals and finals respectively. In both rounds, many good points were thrown around, and it ended very close. Another shout out to anyone who felt nervous standing on stage but did it anyway, you’re not alone (and although I’m probably a hypocrite by saying this, you did better than you think you did)!
To get a point of view from a different team, I interviewed my friend Ian Wood, a member of the winning team, about her experience with the debate. “Preparing for the debate was definitely stressful,” she said, “It was also very stressful on stage, since the projector shines a literal laser beam into your eye, and you don’t want to mess up because everyone is watching.” When asked if she expected to win, Ian replied, “No one on my team thought we would win, even from the start we all thought we would be cooked. I genuinely don’t know how we won.”
Laila M.D., a member of 804, also provided input on the outcome of the tournament. “803 did a very good job in the final debate, but personally I think 804 did a slightly better job,” she commented, perhaps controversially, “The rebuttals were amazing on both sides, but for 804 the reasons and opening were stronger than 803’s. But the judges came to their conclusion and 803 won, so good game!” Keep in mind this perspective comes from an 804 student, and therefore may be slightly biased.
Many 6th graders also witnessed this one-of-a-kind event, their teachers being on the panel of judges. Maple Varga, a 6th grader who watched the first round of the debate, responded enthusiastically when asked if she liked it, “I enjoyed hearing everyone’s strong opinions,” she told me, “I wanted to stay for the second round and had a good time overall. It felt like watching a suspenseful movie, even if I wasn’t on one side or the other.” I then asked if she’d enjoy working on the unit in 8th grade, to which she answered, “I would be stressed about actually doing it, but excited about the idea of it,” which honestly matches up with my own opinion of the matter, and I think a lot of other 8th graders would agree.
Moving on, we have an exclusive interview with Ms. C herself, who, as I’ve said, had a major hand in creating and organizing the debate! For those who aren’t in the know, Ms. C is an ELA teacher for 802, 803, and 804.
Me: How did you feel the debate went overall?
Ms. C: Overall, I could not be more proud or pleased with how the final debate went. Unlike most of the audience members, I had the privilege of watching each class debate every week and then prepare for this final gauntlet. I thought both teams came extremely prepared and I was overwhelmed with pride watching everyone speak so confidently despite their own fears or anxieties.
Me: Would you consider doing it again next year, if so, any changes you would make to the structure, debate roles, etc.?
Ms. C: I will ABSOLUTELY be doing this next year! And hopefully bringing back some old students to be the guest judges! One major change I would make is related to the timing. As we saw in both rounds, we were running short on time.
Me: How did you decide on AI as a prompt?
Ms. C: The AI prompt was student generated! Daniel Benadiba from 804 came up with the idea to argue about AI. I asked him to draft two sides of the argument. He emailed both sides to me and I didn’t edit a thing!
Me: Any input you'd like to depart about the behind-the-scenes of organizing not just this debate, but any of the debates?
Ms. C: I think the key to planning a successful debate is staying as organized as possible. Assigning kids to sides ahead of time and providing planning documents for those sides respectively made things run smoothly. I hope the debate planning documents that were provided for the classes were helpful. I also tried to be as "hands off" as possible once sides were assigned. I thought it was important for teams to work out who would have certain roles, etc. amongst themselves!
Me: Any additional comments?
Ms. C: I am so proud of the 8th grade for really stepping up not just for this final debate, but throughout the entire unit. It was truly incredible to watch everyone come together each week and do something collaborative.
So there you have it! Although this debate was tedious to prepare for and carry out, it was a great experience for our 8th graders (that just sounds weird, since I’m one of them, but okay), teaching both argumentative and public speaking skills, in addition to being a fun way to compete against rival students! This final conjoined debate was the first of its kind, though hopefully not the last, as it was a huge success (subjectively speaking, or course)!
