ABSTRACT
Risk taking in the classroom definitely takes courage and perseverance, and not every debate will go smoothly. As students become more comfortable with debate in math class, the author emphasizes to them that a good debater is ready to argue multiple sides of an issue. Once students are comfortable with debating, they start to look forward to the challenge of Point/Counterpoint Debates. Debate Cards are for pairs (or maybe two pairs in a group of four), and they require some preparation from the teacher. The partners then flip over the top card, solve the given problem each in their own method, and use their work to argue why their method is best. The more ways the people reiterate the Talking Routine and the need for a strong warrant, the more they are infusing reasoning and explanation into math classes.
