Introduction
Any time I tell someone that I teach middle school debate, they laugh and ask, “What exactly is middle school debate?” That, I reply, is the million dollar question. Amazingly, middle school debate can be whatever my students and I decide we want it to be. Based on my experiences in the classroom and the last few months working with YNI, I feel that I now have a clearer understanding of what middle school debate can be. At its core, middle school debate is a class that teaches observation, resilience, and critical thinking. While not every student has a natural inclination towards public speaking, all students benefit from developing those three skills.
Throughout the last year, students had a front-row seat to activist movements in the United States. Prompted by the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter organizers staged protests across the United States. Youth activists are increasingly organizing climate justice rallies. Multiple demonstrations have happened in our city in response to the city and state’s handling of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial. While some of my students seemed inspired by these movements, many of them also expressed feelings of apathy, doubt, or exhaustion.
Rather than depict movements as grand endeavors, this unit will examine activist movements through a pragmatic lens. First, we must establish the historical and current context of the United States democracy. Then, we will move into understanding the complexities of making and changing laws. Next, we will examine two different activist movements to determine what strategies create a successful movement and which strategies fall short. Finally, students will complete a persuasive writing project.
School Context
I teach in a traditional public middle school in North Tulsa. 100% of students I teach qualify for free-and-reduced lunch. While I don’t currently have exact demographic information, around 50-60% of Monroe students are Black. 30% are LatinX. The remaining students are either Asian American, Native American, or white. Our school has undergone tremendous change in the last three years. Three years ago, Monroe served about 200 students as a magnet school. In Spring 2019, Tulsa Public Schools made the choice to consolidate all North Tulsa middle schools into a neighborhood middle school on the Monroe campus. As a result, the size of our school tripled.
In the last two years, the administration at my school has worked tirelessly to create a school environment where 850+ students feel welcomed and cared for. We still have a long way to go, but a curriculum that challenges and interests students will play a big role in getting our school where it needs to be.
Classroom Context
Next year will be my third year teaching at Monroe and my fifth year teaching overall. I spent the first two years of my career teaching at a school that was consolidated into Monroe in the aforementioned board decision. I taught ELA for three years, which informs my emphasis on literacy skills in the classroom. While I have technically taught debate for one year, there were not many parts of distance learning that I feel are worth repeating. Consequently, I view this as year one of teaching debate.
I have three key goals as an electives teacher. The first goal is to fill gaps in the district-mandated ELA curriculum. Most importantly, the curriculum does not provide many opportunities for students to focus on writing projects for long periods of time. Secondly, I aim for ALL students to learn and enjoy my class. Public speaking will not come naturally to everyone (it may be some students’ literal worst fear); however, all students deserve the opportunity to build skills in observation, critical thinking, and resilience. Finally, I want my class to be FUN. Because our school has been in a state of transition for the last 2-3 years, a lot of joy has been lost. As we phase back into school with less COVID-restrictions, I hope to create a learning environment that exemplifies the fun and adventure of learning.
Unit Rationale
My students do not need peer-reviewed journal articles to convince them that the current US democratic system fails them. Their state legislature chronically disinvests in their education. Their mayor refuses to acknowledge the city’s fraught history of policy violence towards communities of color. Their representatives in Congress consistently advocate for policies that hurt my students’ communities.
This unit is less focused on the shortcomings of democracy, and more about how to go about changing systems. This is not to say that my students will solve the United States’ inequality problem (though I hope they do), but rather to acknowledge that we are moving forward with a solutions-oriented approach.
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