1.  New Debate Event! Students will learn about the debate event of Congressional Debate as well as advanced skills they can use in Congressional Debate. 

2. Speechwriting Skills! Students will learn and practice speechwriting skills for the various legislation debated in Student Congress (Bills, Resolutions, Constitutional Amendments, Authorship Speeches, Refutation Speeches)

2. Debate Skills! Students will improve their understanding and practice of debate skills - note taking (flowing), constructing arguments, clash and refutation.

3. Extemporaneous Public Speaking Skills! Congressional Debate is a very advanced debate format in that most arguments should not be scripted but extemporaneous. Students will learn to incorporate outlines and notes rather than scripts in their argumentation. 

4. AP Government and Politics! Students will be introduced to the Advanced Placement (AP Exam) in US Government and Politics. In order to learn Congressional Debate, you must also learn the fundamentals of the United States Congress and United States Government. 

5. Fun! You can't have learning without fun. Fun Facts of Congress. Funny Videos of Congress. When it comes to the United States Congress .... there is a lot of comedy! 

6. Tournaments! Students will be prepared to compete at Congressional Tournaments. We will also look at some of the best programs, tournaments, camps and other programs and opportunities if students are interested in pursuing Congressional Debate in tournaments. 

I have been involved in speech and debate as a student and educator my entire life.  I learned more in my Speech and Debate Club than all my high school, college and law school classes combined. I joined the Speech and Debate Team at my middle school because I was very shy of public speaking. I have been hooked in speech and debate since! 

I received my B.A. from U.C Berkeley, Jurist Doctorate from Hastings College of Law, and Masters Degree in Education at Pace University.  In 2002 I was accepted to Teach for America and I have been teaching since. I have been a public school teacher for ten years with the New York City Department of Education and taught speech and debate classes for about ten years with thousands of NYC students. My debaters have gone on to win city, state and national champion titles. I currently serve as Professor at Baruch College in the Communications Studies Department. I teach Debate and Argumentation classes as well as Political Rhetoric. 

As a teacher I helped to co-found the Big Apple Debate League which is now the NY Debate League. In 2011, I founded our city's Urban Debate League with the mission that every middle school and high school should have a debate team. I served as Founder and Executive Director from 2011-2019 building the league into the largest citywide debate league in the nation, serving thousands of students every year.  In 2020, I left the nonprofit world, and I returned to my passion as a full time teacher! 

I have received numerous awards in education including the United States Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers Fellowship, Fund for Teachers Fellowship, Plank Foundation Fellowship, and Teach for America Innovation Award Finalist.

I love teaching. My grandparents, parents and my brother are all educators. There is nothing more fun than sharing your passion with others. 

My philosophy of teaching is learning should be fun and challenging.  My lectures are interactive with movie clips, songs, puzzles and other engaging tools.  We always practice our public speaking and debate skills. All my classes end with a fun and competitive speech and debate practice or tournament.  My mission is all students should have access to speech and debate.

Homework Offered
1. Speech and Debate Assignments. Each student should spend 2-3 hours a week on their speeches and/or debates. 
2. Recommendation: Students should be reading current events on a weekly or daily basis. But this is not a prerequisite for this course. 
2 - 4 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
1. Speech Practices! Each class students have a short speech due on a different topic. We will review these speeches at the beginning of class.  
2. Debate Practice Day! Each class features debate practices. 
3. Speech Evaluations! Students and myself will be providing feedback on speeches on Chat, on your Flip Speeches, and/or sending to you after class. 
4. Khan Academy Assessments! We will be using Khan Academy which has its own internal assessment as well as a mini review game at the beginning of each class on Civics & AP Government in relation to Congress.
5. Other Games! We play several games in class (Kahoot, Gimkit, Blooket, Quizlet) which are also mini-assessment activities to track progress throughout the course. 
Grades Offered

External Resources Statement: We will be using a variety of classroom tools, readings, links and other external resources. Please review the Materials section before signing up for this class.  These resources are optional. No accounts have to be created. All these resources are free.  All these resources have been vetted and used widely by students, schools and teachers.