Hey guys and gals,
During our most recent class we talked a lot about debate and how it could be used to help motivate our students to become passionate about learning. What do you think it is about debate that gets students so interested and fired up? Are there any bad sides to debating in the classroom? Besides debate, what other strategies are out there to get students motivated and interested?

Debates can be good for students that are interested, but not for the people who don't want to bring up their topics.

I have had both debate and non debate classes. I don't like debate classes. I am a shy person and I don't usually put my input in. I don't like how you get attacked if you have a new view and that is usually how most of my debate classes are. Usually it is the same people that talk for every topic. If you make people participate that usually scares them and I don't think that is a very good teaching strategy.

Though i have never been on a debate team i have taken several classes that involved a debate component, and i thought it was great. I think kids get excited about it because they have a chance to relate their experiences in regard to a topic, and they can prepare their statements in advance. Being able to articulate an arguement is an important skill no matter what field a child is interested in entering. Even though debate may be harder for shy students it is a great way for them to step out of the box, after all being in uncomfortable situations can be pretty educational.

In highschool, I had a few teachers that used debate in their classroom. We were split into groups of 3 or 4 and each were given a topic, another group would have the opposite point to view. We had to research, and practice our debates. Then we had one class period where we had to present our point of view to the class using the method of debate. I am usually a shy student who doesn't talk a lot, or like to get involved in the big class debates where everyone talks and speaks freely, but I really enjoyed the debates. I learned a lot, and remembered it. Being able to argue a point that I knew about was fun. I think debate could be a fun useful activity in the classroom.