About: Online Debate Classes
Online Debate Courses
Online debate classes are a central part of our online learning program. There are self-paced courses, which use online workshops to reinforce learning and provide practice debate experience. For regular online classes, we use the research and homework pages to prepare, and we meet online for a little more than an hour to review the course material, do some debate-related activities, and of course – we do “Crossfires”.
Crossfire: A back-and-forth ‘quick’ exchange of ideas lasting 2-3 minutes.
Brief Description of the Online Debate Courses
Online debate classes are available Mon-Fri, with 60 or 90 minute classes starting at around 4:15 PM (Eastern) for the younger students and starting at around 5:30 PM (Eastern) for the older students (and the more experienced). Our policy allows students to participate in multiple classes, yet space is limited. Students must choose one specific day/time, which is guaranteed, and may attend any of the other classes as well (depending on available space and/or possible restrictions). Classes typically start out with 4-6 students and can have as many as 8-10 per class depending on the number of visitors. The teacher decide the total number of students for any given day.
For more information, including class availability (days/times), please click the “more information” button.
ONLINE DEBATE CLASSES: COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
We offer the following online debate courses (All grades are welcome)…
"Crossfire Club" (Grades: All)
This is both an entry-level as well as intermediate debate course designed to teach/reinforce debate fundamentals, yet focuses on crossfire*. There will be “Crossfire” events at the tournaments we host for students to further develop their skills. There will be several topics; with most being considered “fun” topics. We provide students with the research and teach them to make speeches and to argue back and forth in the “crossfire” style of arguing. This is class is particularly excellent for the younger grades!
"Skills Debate" (Grades: 4th-8th)
This is an entry-level debate course designed to teach the skills related to all styles of debate, yet focuses on the public forum style. There will be “Skills” Debate tournaments for students to further develop their skills. There will be one (or two) research topics along with some “fun” topics as well.
"Public Forum Debate" (Grades: 5th-12th)
This is one of the most popular debate styles in the United States (and internationally as well). This course will help students prepare for upcoming competitions and teaches intermediate and advanced theory necessary for competitive success. We also provide online events for skill development.
"Competitive Debate" (Grades: 5th-12th)*
This course will help students to prepare for upcoming competitions and teach intermediate and advanced theory(ies) along with in-depth subject knowledge as necessary for competitive success. This course requires debate to be a prioritized activity and as such students must attend tournaments as either a debate competitor or a debate judge. This class debates regularly and requires students to be 100% prepared for each meeting. We have in-person as well as virtual debate contests for students to attend.
*Advanced classes require experience and a great deal of self-reliance – prior training and tournament experience are both prerequisites.