As another year has gone by so has another PLP exhibition, the final public demonstration of our learning. For us, the grade 11s, it was slightly different this year. Instead of inventing or investigating something, this year we held a debate tournament by the name of: The Battledome. The debate topics could of been anyone one of the many concepts we covered in the year and we wouldn’t have known until the night of, because the format of debate we went for was impromptu. This meant our preparation for the debate had to be different and more intensive than any debate we’ve done prior to the exhibition. Leading up to the exhibition I reviewed the texts we covered this year but also researched alternative texts and events outside of the standard curriculum. When it came to the debate night I feel that I properly demonstrated the skills I developed in preparation including the speaking skills we rehearsed. The first speaking practice we did in the unit I did alright but my hands were shaking and that was just in front of twenty people I already knew. At the debate I felt completely different I felt comfortable and even eager to share what I had to say. Unfortunately we didn’t make it out of the first round, which was only frustrating because I feel like we had so much more to offer, I would’ve liked to see how far we could have gone.

This style of exhibition was my favourite so far. In previous years, the success of the blue sky projects was sometimes dependant on the amount of time physically working on something rather than thinking. This exhibition allowed me to research and inquire in a way that better suited my learning. I also think that the debate arena added an energy to the building that had a positive affect on the entire exhibition. I hope that the  PLP 12 class does something similar again for the next Spring exhibition.