Watching The Great Debaters made me think about what debate can actually do for a person. In the movie, debate is not just another school activity. For the students, it becomes a way to push back against a world that tries to silence them. It gives them a voice, and that voice brings confidence, courage, and a stronger sense of who they are. They learn how to argue for justice, but they also learn a lot about themselves along the way.
Seeing that made me look at why we are doing debate in class. It is not just about winning or trying to sound smarter than someone else. It is about learning how to think in a deeper and more careful way. Debate makes me look at both sides of an issue, question what I believe, and speak with real purpose. It teaches me how to stay calm when things get intense and how to communicate clearly when it matters. Those are skills that stay with me long after the unit is over.
The value of debate, for me, is that it helps me find my voice. It teaches me how to stand in front of people and say something that actually feels honest and real. It helps me understand the world more clearly because I have to look beyond the surface and dig into ideas that have meaning.
Becoming an effective debater will take work. I need to practice, put in effort, and learn how to research in a solid way. I need to listen just as carefully as I speak, and be willing to adjust my thinking when I learn something new. Debate is not about being the loudest in the room. It is about being prepared, thoughtful, and willing to grow.
That is my learning intention. I want to use debate to think sharper, speak clearer, and understand more. I want to become someone who can use their voice with real purpose in any situation.
During the project I broke up my notes to understand the different time line of the Cold War and the big important ideas that were important the to Cold War. This allowed me to grow as a learner as I learned that I needed to look back on my goal to better manage my time so I can hand stuff in on time. This would allow my project to meet the criteria.
What was your original learning intention for this project? (include a link to your Learning Intention post)
My main learning intention was to understand the importance of the Cold War and the ramifications that it has today. Another learning intention I made was to tie it back to the previous project to understand the importance of the atomic bomb and how it changed the world and led to the Cold War.
How did you challenge yourself to grow in relation to your VMV (Vision, Mission, Values)?
I challenged myself by trying to use my time more effectively and efficiently. Sadly, I wasn’t able to complete that goal but I did get better at using my time to understand the project more fully.
Where did you see evidence of this growth — in your research, writing, collaboration, or thinking?
I saw evidence of my growth with my notes because I could understand them and use them efficiently. When I used my research time, I used it more effectively than past projects.
What new strengths or habits do you want to carry forward?
Because of this project, now I know that if a project ends early, I can make a good reflection even when the project was going badly. I know that I can push through any next projects that fall short.
How did fear shape the politics, culture, and beliefs of the Cold War world — and how does its influence still shape us today?
This shapes this us because America and Russia still have major issues with each other. Eastern Europe still has many ramifications because of the fall of the USSR.
What key ideas or historical events helped you understand the power of fear in this era and what helped you learn that?
How propaganda was used in the US to portray JFK as a good looking president with a beautiful and the USSR was portrayed as ugly and greedy men who were taking for the people. The propaganda was used in the USSR was to show they were fighting for the people and how the people were standing up and joining the government. In America they were greedy capatilists who destroyed what democracy was.
How did the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, NATO, the Arms Race, or other events connect to your thinking and how did you learn it?
The Truman Doctrine showed how the US was really good at polarizing the people in East European countries when they first aided them right after the Second World War. I learned this from the lectures and videos that the teachers did.
How do you see the legacy of fear in today’s world: politically, socially, or culturally and what work helped you make that connection?
The legacy of fear is still used in countries today by using propaganda to scare the people how bad the other side is. Even in Canada it is happening more and more to divide the country between political parties.
Reflect on how the novel and the work you did with it deepened your emotional and intellectual understanding of the Cold War.
In the bunker many people were fighting against each other and even if someone disagreed with what was happening they would go along with it so they didn’t get voted out of the bunker. Those characters represent the people in America and the USSR showing how people would go along with things so they wouldn’t be killed or exiled.
What moments in Fallout helped you feel or understand the Cold War differently than through history alone?
Understanding how people were very fearful like how Scott’s dad built a bunker even though he did not put in enough food because he didn’t expect the bomb to get dropped.
If you could ask one of the characters a question about living through that time, what would it be — and why?
I would ask how was it living in a bunker. It is fascinating that they lived underground with no outside experiences.
Show how your thinking and skills developed through dialogue and discussion.
What was a key idea or perspective you shared that you’re proud of?
One of the questions was the us vs them and I really do agree with that because in Cold War the other side is evil no matter what.
What idea from someone else made you rethink or expand your own view?
Sidney showed how the people being shoved out of the bunker are like the small countries in the East who were forced by the USSR to join.
How did these discussions influence your thinking about fear, responsibility, or humanity during the Cold War?
With the Socratic seminars it made me understand why people were so fearful of the other side.
How did you build skills during the three seminars?
My active listening was good for all three seminars I tried to make notes the best I could if someone said something thought provoking.
Reflect on how your pitch captured your understanding of the Cold War and your creative process.
What was the central idea or message behind your project pitch?
I showed how propaganda could be used by different countries to support their ideologies even when their ideologies were not excellent.
How did your creative concept aim to express or challenge the theme of fear?
It highlighted how propaganda is used by different countries even if their ideas are very different.
What part of the process (research, planning, or feedback) helped you most to develop your idea and how?
The research helped me the most to understand the polarization between the US and USSR and why they had such disdain for each other
If you had time to bring your idea to life, what would your next step be?
If I could bring it to life I would compare the propaganda between the US and USSR to show how it was similar despite being two different countries.
End with a sense of synthesis and forward thinking.
What surprised you most about your learning through this project?
I learned that the Cold War is very fascinating and I find history interesting to know how the world works today.
How has your understanding of fear changed?
Fear can be used to manipulate so you look like a better person and it looks like you are more morally upright compared to the other country.
How did this project help you grow as a learner, thinker, and creator?
I grew my critical thinking to better understand how people viewed others in such a bad light even if they could be in such similar situations.
What would you do differently next time to extend your learning?
Next time I would read more of the book and look deeper to understand the Cold War for this project.
WWII ended USSR and the USA are enemies because they both had nuclear weapons. USA and USSR politicians would use fear to control the citizens in their country. USA made the word communism a sracy thing “red scare”.
Nuclear weapons and the USA vs USSR as a thing. There was a lot of propaganda in different countries. And one of our previous projects we learned about the Manhattan Project this directly ties into the Cold War because the Cold War is mostly about America in the USSR, not trying to directly fight each other so they can not end up in a nuclear war. What about the importance of the Cold War and how it was developed is a really important thing understanding why the US and USSR could not fight each other directly, but had to fight each other indirectly. I want to improve my understanding of the Cold War and what was really happening and I want to understand why the Cold War was so important and why it’s still important to today.
One of the things I’ll be looking forward into this project is understanding the propaganda that was showed on both sides and why the propaganda was used to scare people to think that one side was better than the other.
Another thing I wanna understand is why people trusted their government so much during this time even when a lot of what they were saying, doesn’t really make sense. I think it’s important to understand why people trusted their government so much and why they thought that their governments were doing something good for them.
my main intention with this project is to get an understanding on the importance of the Cold War and do better myself as a learner so I can understand how propaganda is used in countries so that their citizens will trust them.
My understanding of anthropology is not much on what it is to my understanding anthropology is the study of cultural, historical events that occurred during different cultures meeting and learning about what the other culture is about. Anthropology studies on the differences between cultures to understand each other and to not lose their cultural differences.
cultural identity Anthropology helps us to reclaim cultural identity and heritage that has been lost so that they can get their language back and the traditions. For example in Canada many cultures were erased by colonization so today First Nations are still trying to reclaim their heritage.
cultural understanding We had to describe what type of culture was the photo and it reflects the values and beliefs of that particular society. By looking at the visual elements, shows us what type of culture they are. Understanding what the environment and culture differences are and why they are important. This process show us to understand the different cultural patterns and the way their culture is influenced.
My learning intention
My learning intention is to understand why anthropology is so important to us. To understand how anthropology can be used for other projects. Understanding why anthropology is so necessary to understand cultural diversity and practices. As anthropology shows, the implications of these delays are profound. They show the responsibility to acknowledge and rectify historical wrongs, as well as to honor the memories of those who have been forgotten.
This project links to one of mine previous projects
