Over the last month or so we’ve been going peddle to the medal, learning a government/debate unit in class while reading and analyzing Lord of The Flies, and to be honest I don’t know if I’ve ever been more stressed out and busy in my entire life.
The image below is a collage that I put together for my final concept post, representing certain topics/concepts that we studied and some of the work that I did throughout the unit.
On the very first day of starting the new unit Ms. Willemse told us to get into groups of five and come up with a team name. At first I didn’t know why we were doing it so I wasn’t all that prompt in finding a team, and it actually came back to bite me.
The biggest challenge for me was the fact that groups could only have 5 members, and it had to include a girl. So often times I was the fifth wheel, and I got tossed out. It felt kind of crappy knowing that I can offer leadership and a wide variety of skills, yet I wasn’t even considered a priority to other people. But you know what they say, life ain’t fair, and at the end of the day not everyone thinks as strategically as me.
After we formed our groups and came up with group names, Ms. Willemse then revealed that she would be keeping track of a complicated points system and that we would gain/lose points as a team for doing specific tasks. My team consisted of Jayden, Jackson, Gabi, and Matthew Dandar, and our team name was Lord of The Flight (I know, so original). Examples of things that we could gain points for were handing in all our work on time, picking up garbage in the classroom and giving 5 at all times. A few examples of things we could lose points for were showing up to class late, not handing something in, eating in class, or speaking without putting up a hand.
At first I didn’t know why we were keeping the whole points system and doing the whole group thing, and in some sense I still don’t, but I would say that most students benefitted from the points because it motivated them to complete their work and hand it in on time. However, personally, I didn’t benefit as much because I usually have no problem handing in my assignments as is, and in the grand scheme of things I felt as though it actually lowered the overall quality of my work. I also didn’t like the fact that there was so much injustice and favouritism within the points system; it seemed as though we were always losing points but never gaining any. Because of this I was mostly focused on the fact that we were losing because my team would never complete the reading or hand in their work, and I felt like it had a large impact on my learning. In real life you’re responsible for your self, and I embody that statement, so I found it largely frustrating to be affected by an incompetent team. Don’t get me wrong I love Jay, Jackson, Gabi, and Matt as people, and I think they’re really good PLP students, but we all have different priorities and I like being responsible for myself.
In our groups we did quizzes on lord of the flies and a few small assignments together, but for the most part we were adding examples to the seven main concept charts around the room to think of ideas and practice for our up and coming debate battle dome exhibition.
The seven concepts were:
1. Power and Authority
2. Humanity and Inhumanity
3. Violence and Destruction
4. Human nature
5. Civilization and Savagery
6. Innocence and Evil
7. Individualism vs. Community
For each one of these seven concepts we had a large sheet of paper in our classroom and at the end of each PLP block we would spend about ten minutes brainstorming with our group and adding ideas and examples on sticky notes. Each sheet had four separate columns, consisting of Lord of The Flies, Other Texts, Historical and Current Events, and other, in order to give us a variety of ideas and examples to draw upon in our three concept paragraphs, and in our debate final assessment.
In case you didn’t already know, for the debate we were going to be put into teams of 3 and given only one minute to prepare after receiving a prompt, and only two minutes to speak/rebuttal, so we had to be extremely knowledgable on each subject and think on our feet.
My debate team consisted of Chris, Maria, and myself, and we named ourselves “Arguably The Best” because let’s face it… Just kidding! That sounded very cocky and arrogant, we actually found that name online :’) Anyways, in our three person teams we were given smaller versions of each concept chart and we spent several classes coming up with good arguments/questions as well as different strategies and other plans of attack to prepare for the debate. Luckily Chris, Maria and I were able to work very proficiently together, using all our class time effectively and efficiently, so we were well prepared when debate night rolled around.
On the day of the debate everybody I talked to was super nervous and almost 9/10 people thought everything was going to spiral out of control. And to be honest I was one of those people. However, when debate night rolled around I was extremely shocked to see how well we stepped up as a class and genuinely rose to the occasion. When I was in the audience there wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t thoroughly engaged, and there was even times where I was biting my nails and sitting on the edge of my seat; everybody seriously did a great job.
When It was my turn to debate I was extremely nervous. However, when I got up there that all went away as soon as I stepped up to the podium and made my first statement. I don’t know what it is about debating, but there’s something about arguing over a subject that I’m extremely knowledgeable and passionate about that makes me feel confident and powerful, and I know Chris and Maria fed off this same energy.
In our first two debates we received the negative on two very difficult prompts and it truly tested our ability to work together cohesively as a team. On our concept sheets we literally had 15 points for the pro but barely a single example for the con. In both of these instances we didn’t necessarily have a clear plan of attack because the prompts were very one sided, so what we tried to do was poke a hole in our opponents argument and manipulate the topic question to speak from another point of view. In both cases all three of us believed that we had lost, but we actually won, and even went on to win in the semi finals and then in the finals. Who knew we had it in us?
When we won I couldn’t believe it. I honestly never thought in a million years that we had a chance, but everyone did their part and stepped up, and I can’t even describe how proud I am. For me this was the highlight of the year (besides Vegas obviously) because I really felt like I was able to display my knowledge while showing off some of my best talents. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and I would definitely do it again.
Lastly I want to follow Anatolia’s lead in thanking Ms. Maxwell for putting together such an amazing unit, and for helping me immensely throughout my first year in PLP. Ms. Maxwell, if you’re reading this, you the real MVP. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.