Final Speech Proposal

The topic for my final speech in the class will be the recent violent protests that have been taking place in Caracas, Venezuela since April 19, 2017. The reason behind the topic is that is is something that I hold very dear and has a large impact on my daily life, and being the only Venezuelan student attending this school, I feel like it is my responsibility to let others here at Cheshire Academy know about my country's struggles. Another factor that made me choose the topic is that there are not many people who are fully aware of what is going on in Venezuela, especially with all the other world problems that have been taking place out of late. Protests have been a regular occurrence in the capital city of Caracas, but the demonstrations that took place on April 19th, 2017 took a turn for the worst. On April 19th, 1810, the patriotic revolutionaries of a Spanish colony decided to take the first step in becoming an independent nation; this date has been celebrated as a national holiday for hundreds of years. Because of the importance of the date, and the Venezuelan government's recent actions, the opposition showed up in massive numbers to show their discontent. However, the government did not take kindly to these peaceful protests and met the protesters with crowd control weapons such as tear gas and rubber bullets. This abuse of human rights has to be stopped and other nations need to intervene, which is why I am trying to spread the word on the horrible acts that the Venezuelan government commit on a daily basis with no repercussions

Debate Unit Reflection

The past few weeks we have been focusing on the Debate Unit in Public Speaking class. Over these weeks, we did many debates and discussed over which techniques are more effective and useful in debates. Personally, I have always been interested in debates, I enjoy discussing a topic with peers and reaching a conclusion to see which point of view is the correct one. Throughout my freshman year, I had various debates in my English class and I also participated in 2 Model United Nations, so it is safe to say that I has already had some practice and context in debates. However, this class really helped me improve my skill because of the way how we were required to implement logo, pathos and ethos into our arguments, rather than just say whatever comes to mind. In the two main debates that we had in class, I was on the winning team, however the margin of which the team won by differed. The first debate was a much closer decision, as everyone in the class was still wrapping their heads around the debate and the topic. Although in the second debate my team had a much more organized and planned course of action, which I think is what allowed us to come out winning in the end. In the first debate, I did not include much logos or pathos, so my arguments were somewhat weaker and were easy to rebuttal, however in the second debate, I focused much more on the strength and credibility of my arguments in order to strongly get the team’s point across. The final day on the topic was spent doing mini debates, where we would pick a topic and discuss it 1 on 1 without any proper research. This activity was very fun and helpful as it taught me to be quick on my feet while arguing, and how you don’t really need to know everything about the topic you are discussing in order to come out on top.

Debate Topics

1) Removing standardized tests
2) Gun control

Debate Reflection

 I think I did a good job in the debate, expressing my points and stating our position on the topic at hand. As a team, I believe that we did a good job, working off each other's points and using quotes and statistics to back up statements. In conclusion, I believe that our team came out on top because we stated more points, and many of our main points, such as time management and discipline were not touched by th other team and were supported by factual evidence.

Debate 2 - Opening Statement

   One of the most common things that you will see a student do is complain about how much homework they have to complete. Although completing the work may seem dreadful, it provides many countless life skills that will prove indispensable in the future when they are working adults. Completing homework develops skills such as time management, prioritizing work, and work ethic. The former is one of the most useful skills anyone can have, and will help in college, work, and beyond. However, the main reason for the existence of homework is because teachers cannot teach all the material in the short amount of time that is available. Since school only takes up 7 hours of the day, teachers cannot fully explain the complete material to students. Because of the short time period in which teaching can be done, the only way to ensure that students actually learn what the teacher is helping them learn is that they do some work themselves at home. If there was no homework, kids would only play after school and would forget everything that they were taught, this cycle would repeat itself endlessly and would impair students to face the challenges ahead. Homework also helps with exams and tests, because it is a way for the student to comprehend what the subject at hand is, thus being much more prepared for the test. Although it has its invaluable benefits, homework, just like anything else, is bad in excess. Whenever the amount of work interferes with a student's sleep and ability to do leisure activities, there is a problem. An immense amount of work can eliminate all of a student's motivation to do the work, simple because of the amount of time that is consumed. Nevertheless, when the pros and coons are weighed, homework is still a essential part of the development of children who will one day become working adults.



https://schools-education.knoji.com/should-homework-be-banned/

http://www.debate.org/debates/Homework-should-not-be-banned-in-school/1/

Debate 1 - Opening Statement

  The proposition to lower the drinking age is irrational, because it is set at 21 years of age for a very specific reason: safety. On average, there are more than 10,000 deaths related to drunk driving in America alone. In 2010, the youth was unfortunately related to these drinking and driving instances, with those aged 21-25 being responsible for 23% of cases, and those aged 18-20 caused 15% of cases. Another threat that is posed by teenagers consuming alcohol is binge drinking and alcohol poisoning. Just because 18 year olds can vote and join the army, does not mean that they are capable of controlling themselves while drinking something which can kill them. Unlike the army, there is no boot camp for knowing how to drink alcohol responsibly, and young teens commonly suffer peer pressure and may end up consuming more than they bargained for. Alcohol not only leads to drunk driving and health risks, it is also a key factor in physical and sexual abuse cases, and teenagers commonly act based on their emotions, something that alcohol can easily manipulate. Having American teenagers, who are the future of the country, more susceptible to committing such acts is absurd and should be a crime in and of itself.



https://mic.com/articles/14574/top-3-reasons-why-the-drinking-age-should-not-be-lowered-to-18#.ZycJBkX0J

http://drinkingage.procon.org

Debate Topics

1- Standardized testing should be eliminated
2- All citizens who do not vote should pay a fine
3- The right to bear arms is not a necessary constitutional amendment
4- Smoking should be illegal
5-Pro life or pro choice

TED Talk Rev. Reflection

For the Ted Talk, the class had peer revisions which would allow us to reflect on how and what we did wrong, or if anything needed changing in our videos. The class exchanged various tips and ideas on how to improve our Ted Talks, such as developing more on an idea or adding another one. For these revisions, I did not receive many corrections from my peers, which I think proves the hard work and dedication which I put into this project. While making the Ted Talk video, I wanted to give my full effort in order to show myself that I could, something which has  clearly paid off in the end. Although my classmates did not offer many corrections, I went ahead and added my sources to the Talk, given that it was something that had caused some trouble in the past. Because of this small adjustment, I believe that the revised Ted Talk video is fully complete, and that there is no need to add anything else. I feel like I did a good job on the Ted Talk, not only on the video of the Talk but also on the topic because it was very controversial. This controversy was something that, in my opinion, was missing on some of my classmate's Ted Talks; this is important because there is no argument if it is about something with a universal agreement or where there are no real sides of the discussion.