Hello there people! As I previously mentioned, Wuling Senior High School has scheduled 3 workshops to teach, encourage, and yes, to some extent, entertain, its new students about the idea of participating in English Debate team. In order for the team to function, there had to be people on the team besides me who knew how to teach and guide. Therefore, in a rather daring and risky move, I delegated a fair portion of the workshop tasks to the 2nd year debaters. For educators in Taiwan, this is a harbinger for a catastrophic outcome. Many would argue and even suspect silently, "This Caleb dude is seriously out of his mind. I mean, high schoolers doing club events well, I kind of get it. But high school students handling a workshop series that potentially affects team recruitment?? Why??" My reasoning is quite simple. If debaters with one year under their belt don't have the ability to explain what debate is about, doesn't that mean each year, the coach would have to re-teach EVERYTHING? For my counterparts in bilingual, international, and American schools, I can understand your puzzlement. Under the current Taiwanese education system, club time is only an insufficient 1 hour per week. Even if there is a club, the pressure to teach would be too great for any club teacher. The usual solution most club teachers take is for the club officers to take the responsibility. When I was a club teacher and coach in Taipei city, I tried my best to fit the kids into my busy schedule even on weekends. However, this did not count towards paid hours and students generally have stuff to do, homework to finish, or cram schools to go to. Luckily, with the help of Wuling's teacher Katherine, I am able to secure sufficient time and work to help this school become stronger. Taoyuan kids also happen to have less cram school time than their Taipei counterparts, which is a blessing to me. My debaters have more time to think and discuss. This enhances critical thinking skills and allots more self-study time. Now that I have finished giving adequate background information, let's get back to the workshop. With students acting as mentors rather than teachers, this gives them the unique chance to develop true leadership and group communication skills. Students who do debate are normally quite intelligent, but to become a more capable and dependable citizen of tomorrow, some training is still in the works. Our first workshop went splendidly as I set the tone with comprehensive preparation from start to finish with the students leading in different sections of the workshop. Timing and content were not an issue. Everyone knew their roles, gave proper lectures, and we played fun games in the process! The second workshop was a bit bumpier as half of 2nd year debaters had conflict in their activity scheduling. One of them had to go to the dentist because her braces were literally abrading her tooth gum. The other two had other tryout practices with another school team. The main responsibility fell squarely on the shoulders of a rather intelligent science-concentrated student. While he had everything all mapped out in his mind, there were certain things that he did not account for, and it was apparent as people tried to catch up to his thinking process from planning to execution. While we did cover stock issues and key ideas about English debate, he also realized that the execution seemed quite messy in the long run and writing down things instead of improvising everything along the way, was far more efficient and safe. I have always believed that students and teachers can work and learn in workshop plannings and executions. I just did not have the chance or permission to do so in the past. Once again, I thank teacher Katherine of Wuling Senior High for giving me this golden opportunity to shine with the students while bringing fun and education together. We will be coming in FULL strength for our FINAL workshop on October 20th, 2019. The city of Taoyuan shall hear our roar! Stay tuned for updates!
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