December
18
Debating Your Classmates
Describe your greatest apprehension (fear) about debating your classmates. Why do you think you really have this fear? Do you think you feel any differently than do your peers? Why do you think some of our fears are not rational, meaning, based on our real experiences?
Niauni Hill
Ms. Keeble
AP English, Period 1
23 December 2012
LATE BLOG POST–was absentMonday, Tuesday…
My biggest fear is not being able to get u point across the way that I want. I feel that while explaining my position, I will be looked at weirdly. While explaining, I feel I will freeze up and everything that was on my mind, will all disappear.i honestly feel my peers feel the exact way as do I. Most of the reasons of being fearful is not rational, because what we may think is not how the others might.
Sidney
Ap English
Period 1
When speaking in front of a crowd, I always worry about the groups ability to comprehend me. I feel that at times I use reference, or concepts. others may not understand which can demean my argument. Feeling this way may derive from previous debates, where others didn’t understand my real life comparisons but only what was on paper. I’m sure that many others may feel this way because everyone has a different way of thinking. The rationality of these thoughts can’t be really summed up but to nervousness gets the best of us.
Rachael B.
Ms. Keeble
AP English 11, Per. 2
19 December 2012
My greatest fear about debating my peers is perhaps not having a well developed argument or stand on the topic. I would feel unprepared and as if I already lost the debate. This also means that I really dislike the feedback or what I did wrong which could cause me to feel as if I had no clue to what I was saying. I would not say it is a fear. In fact, I would say it is something that lowers my confidence in the ability to debate. My other biggest fear would be my lack of confidence with words, not only if I received feedback, because I am usually not the type to get up and present a subject without sounding a bit off. These fears would probably back track me from having a great, well-developed, interesting argument for a debate.
Aaron Chon
Ms Keeble
AP English 11 P2
22 December 2012
Although this is not the current situation, my greatest fear in debating classmates is that I may have to argue about something that I do not personally agree with. When I do not agree with a subject, I find it hard to convince others of my point, especially when it is hard to convince myself of the point. As a result, it is my fear that my argument will become less effective as a whole. If this is a team effort, it is even more worrisome because it makes me feel that I am being an unnecessary burden upon my team.
Adria W.
Ms. Keeble
AP English per.2
12/19/12
My greatest fear towards debating is saying the wrong thing. I fear that I might be the reason to why our group looks bad because everyone else is so well spoken and I’m not. I don’t know why I really have this fear but it could be because I question myself and everything I do all the time no matter what it is. I don’t think I feel any differently from my peers because I’m pretty sure most of us are very nervous. I don’t think some of our fears are rational because of the media and how they interpret certain situations to makes some of us believe that is what we need to fear.
Caleb M.
Ms. Keeble
AP English, Per. 2
19 December 2012
My greatest apprehension about the upcoming debate is the possibility that I might not be able clearly state my point, therefore confusing the audience. If the audience is unable to clearly understand my thesis, then I will end up appearing unknowledgeable on my subject, resulting in a bad grade and a poor performance. I think I have obtained this fear because I find it difficult to help translate my thoughts into sentences or words that will enable people to relate or understand what I am talking about. However, fears such as these can usually be irrational due to various insecurities that I may have towards my capability of public speaking and can usually just come from being nervous. My views on my peers will never be negative no matter the outcome of the debate, because I believe everyone in my class is intelligent. I only expect positive outcomes on tomorrow’s debate and a learning experience for everyone.
Kiloni Driskell
19 December 2012
AP English, 2
I have done debates a few times before and my biggest fear is not speaking in front of a crowd. Usually I would plan what I am going to say and how I say it, which always sounds really good. Once I get up there, I don’t say what I want to say. I always feel like I ruined my chances and I absolutely hate that feeling. Another fear is pressure. There is always someone telling me one thing and another person telling me another. Now that makes me nervous but usually I get through it. I think my peers feel the same or in a way because they all want to do well but the negative thoughts start to flow around them which makes them nervous.
Bilguun Batdorj
Ms Keeble
AP English
Dec 19 2012
I have always disliked doing skits or class presentations. The reason why is because I always have a hard time pronouncing certain words. English is actually my 3rd language so I have a slight accent when speaking. I can speak Mongolian perfectly and eloquently but I always have a hard time speaking English. This kind of embarrasses me and is usually my biggest fear when talking in front of the class and sometimes even to certain individuals.
Andrea O.
Ms.Keeble
AP English Per.2
The greatest fear I have when it comes to debating my classmates is speaking too quickly and overlooking details. I feel that when the moment to debate arrives I will get so nervous that I will hurry my presentation up. Although I have spoken before audiences composed of adults , somehow speaking before my classmates seems like an even greater challenge. I also fear that I will forget something because during my past experiences I have found that once my turn is over there are things I wish to add. While some may argue that practicing over and over again may help , I have found that it is all a mentality. In the end it all comes down to the instant when you are up in the podium speaking .This knowledge alone is enough to make my knees shake but for now I will just try to remain calm and focus on my objective.
My biggest apprehension about debating my classmates is myself. I can count the number of arguments I’ve won with honesty one one hand (mostly because I debate stoners on why you shouldn’t get your dog intoxicated). I’m the kind of person who will just roll over and give up, unless its something that matters. Im not one to believe that what is right for me is necessarily right for everybody.
Also I am terrible at speaking in general.
Tanzeel Hak
Ms. Keeble
AP English, Period 2
20 December 2012
My greatest apprehension about debating with my classmates is that I will either make a mistake while speaking or not do a good job resulting in my teammates losing the debate. I have this fear because anything can happen. I see this debate as something that will either go really well or just a disaster. The result of it going wrong will impact my grade and I can not afford to have my grade drop again. I do believe that my fear is common among most students. This fear might be irrational because you told us that it was our first debate, so it would not be graded very hard. Another reason my fear might be irrational is because if I practice and make flash cards it will lessen the chance of me actually messing up.
Elisha Hussain
AP English 11
Ms. Keeble
December 19, 2012
Ever since I was young I always had a fear of public speaking. It is a very difficult task to debate against your classmates, because many of debates lead into irrational arguments. I know that it is said that political matters shouldn’t effect the relationships that you have with your peers, but in all honesty it does determine how you will be percieved as a person. My biggest fears while debating my classmates are either laughing or forgetting the material. In the past whenever I did an oral presentation I usually ended up laughing or forgetting everthing that I had to say. It is a very embarssing thing, but I guess I will just have to work on it. I think that I do feel differently than my peers do because we all have our own fears than we usually sucumb into. Majority of our fears aren’t rational because we usually overthink the things that can go wrong. Also, it is not rational because we end up hyperventilating and that often results in us having negative thoughts rather than the latter. Everyone has their fears but it’s up to us to slowly work our way out of that fear and build up the courage to fight against it.
Dartise
Dec. 19, 2012
1st period
My biggest fear in debating my peers is that I would be talking too fast for them to understand me. Since sixth grade, I developed a speech problem when I get too excited or pumped up which causes me to speak fast. No matter how much I try to control it, I still sometimes speak fast. This is a big fear to me because I feel like people judge me in a negative way. It makes me feel inferior to my peers and messes up my self-esteem.
I am not particularly physically competitive, and I infer that certain apprehension is a direct result of my being an only child. I had been perfectly fine playing in solitude as a child; I never played many sports, which explains the physical aspect. I am an only child, so I never have had to compete for attention or approval. Putting those two concepts together composes my biggest fear –physical competition. Debating isn’t “physical” per say, but speaking is. Altough I have given many confident talks in my day, speaking among my peers is quite terrifying. Letting my TEAM down is on a different spectrum than simply failing on my own.
Merritt Walker
Ms. Keeble
AP English 2
19 December 2012
My biggest fear of debating is not being able to get my message across to other people or forgetting what I have to say. It is really embarrasing going up infront of the class and forgetting what I have to say. Sometimes I think something in my head and it makes sense to me, but it might not make sense to other people. I don’t want them thinking that I have no idea what I am talking about, I want to sound confident, and I really don’t want to stutter my words. I don’t think I feel any different that my peers. I think everyone gets a little nervous when they debate, even professional debaters. It’s a natural thing to get nervous about something, or have a fear; it shows that you care enough about what you are doing. Some of our fears are not rational because it doesn’t really matter if we stutter our words, or forget a few things, what matters is that we get our point/message across to the audience or judges, and that we perhaps can win.
Maliko P.
Ap English
12/19/12
My biggest fear of debating my teammates would have to be losing. Ever since I was younger, I have been extremely competitive. This could be considered a good or bad thing. Losing makes me feel as if I’m not good enough. In a way, it motivates me to always work at my full potential so that I could avoid losing in the future. However, I do believe that not everyone can always win, therefore I should learn to be content or more understanding when it comes to losing.