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Debate Skills Workshop

Spring 2023

 

Weekly classes on Wednesdays

6:30 PM - 8:30 PM PST

Jan 10, 2023 - May 24, 2023

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This class prepares students for competition in Parliamentary debate, with enrichment opportunities that allow them to specifically hone their spontaneous refutation skills through SPAR debate (SPontaneous ARgumentation.)

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The class is geared towards focusing on, emphasizing, and developing these key skills:

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Beginner Lab

The beginner lab is made for students that have less than a year of debate experience. The lab starts by introducing basic tenets of advocacy, such as Plato’s elements of persuasion and components of a persuasive speech, as well as argument development, refutation, and summary. Students practice SPAR, a  format of debate that gives students limited amounts of preparation time to research a topic before debating. 

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Advanced Lab

The advanced lab is made for students that have at least one year of debate experience. Students are introduced to both Lincoln-Douglas and Parliamentary debate. Students develop their existing skills while preparing to compete at more advanced extramural tournaments against students from other programs.

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What else is included?

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Two Free Tournaments

The two tournaments are complimentary and included in the tuition for the class in order to increase practice opportunities.

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Debate Lecture Encyclopedia

For students that are interested in extra learning opportunities, we're providing free access to additional enrichment videos on debate skills and common topics.

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Student Scrimmage Forum

​An online forum moderated by Telegraph coaches that allows students to practice their debate skills by debating topics they choose in an online written format.

The classes maintain the student-teacher ratio at no worse than 1 to 8.

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Registration ends 1/5. Currently, students pay

$1,200.00

For 40 hours of tuition.

* Spots are currently limited. Some students may be waitlisted.

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About the Coach

Natalie Yehezkel

Persuasive Argumentation Instructor and Debate Coach

University of Wyoming

Natalie is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Communication, coaches college policy debate, and teaches Persuasive Argumentation at the University of Wyoming. Natalie’s thesis focuses on adaptation of Instructional Communication styles to individuals’ unique Learning Styles in an online classroom environment. Natalie has a BA in Psychology with an emphasis on Educational Psychology.


Natalie has been a Debate coach since 2014. There are more common Speech and Debate formats that she's coached than formats that she hasn't. Natalie wants to give students the ability to explore different formats, styles, and genres of expertise in order to help each student find the voice that works best for them.

As a competitor, Natalie:


  • Qualified for the National Debate Tournament (one of the national championships of Policy debate) and ranked with her partner as the 33rd team in the country (2013)

  • Double octa-finalist at the Cross-Examination Debate Association's National tournament (the other College Policy championship national championship) in the same year (2013)

  • Won the San Francisco State University inter-collegiate tournament in Policy Debate (2012)

  • Was the first speaker at the CSU Northridge college tournament in Policy Debate (2016)

  • Received the Cross-Examination Debate Association's Summa Cum Laude Award (2016)

  • Received the Cross-Examination Debate Association's All-American Award (2016)

Grade Levels: 4th-12th​

  • The class will be split into labs based on age, experience level, and student interest.

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Video Conferencing Format: Zoom

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Tech Requirements

  • A computer or tablet

  • Internet

  • A Gmail account

  • Headphones (highly recommended)

  • An external microphone (preferred)

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Homework

Students will have between 30 minutes to one hour of homework per week.

Intuitive
Thinking

A creative and spontaneous teaching style, focused on teaching kids critical thinking and rational problem solving.

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Intellectual
Honesty

Teaching students to answer questions that the world chooses to ignore by asking tough questions about the realities of the world around them.

Emotional
Resilience

Persevering in the face of losses. You have to be wrong a few times in order to become right.

Ongoing
Refinement

Modeling for our students a thirst for feedback and criticism by constantly searching for pathways for us as coaches to improve.