The goals of this class are: 
1. Critical thinking
      - It's important to engage students in areas that they like but also can help hone their critical thinking skills by constructing arguments and having to respond to their fellow classmates.
2. Argumentation building
      - building arguments is foundational for all areas of our lives and learning the steps of how arguments are formed and then practicing those steps is paramount to mastering them. 
3. Listening skills 
      - A large part of the discourse is having to listen and comprehend what others around you are saying and not just waiting to speak next. This debate helps students to focus on listening to respond not just waiting to talk.
4. Logical Reasoning Skills 
      - This class with work on different ways to reason and examine arguments and learn how to break down bad reasoning.
5. Increase Public Speaking Skills
      - Debate is a much more in-depth version of public speaking only it adds in a different level of critical thinking. 

Hi, Y'all! 

I have been teaching since 2012 and the Director of Debate and instructor. I started the Debate Society from scratch and over the years it has grown into one of the most well-respected programs in the country. We travel all of the United States and the world for competitions and training. I put everything I have into my students both in the classroom and on my debate and I love being able to watch students grow, learn, and challenge themselves through critical thinking. 

Throughout the years I have helped to run some of the largest debate tournaments in the United States and the World to help promote critical thinking, argumentation building, and public speaking. I was also the first woman to ever host the United States University Debating Championship which is the largest debating competition in the country.  

In debate we cover every kind of topic you can think of and help students learn how to communicate effectively, respectfully, and with objective information. I have lead countless workshops on how to communicate about difficult topics such as gender, racial, social-economic, and cultural issues. These topics are difficult and complex but can and should be talked about so that students can start to learn and talk about these issues.  

Below is a list of what I do as a current debate coach and some lists of accomplishments along with the places I have been invited to as a trainer to help promote and develop debate.

Homework Offered
There will be homework and research assignments but those will be clearly stated in class. Most of the homework will be students doing research on the debate topics throughout the semester. They will not have to turn anything in just read and research independently to have better debates. 
Assessments Offered
Grades Offered