Syllabus: Debate I Honors Mr.

Weaver
2014-2015 Justin.Weaver@browardschools.com
Rm. 723 754-322-0500 ext. 3092
www.cshsdebate.weebly.com



Welcome to Debate! This school year promises to be a challenging and rewarding experience. Debate is
the organized clash of ideas. Just like lawyers represent clients in trials, individuals represent ideas in
debate. Debate encourages each side to use evidence, reasoning, and persuasion to best represent their
ideas. Learning debate is a lot like learning a sport. Once you know the basic rules, the best way to learn is by
doing. One would not learn to play baseball from a book. Likewise, the best way to learn debate is by debating
often. This class, therefore is strongly based on performance through a variety of debate forms. The skills of
debate are valuable beyond the classroom; they are the skills that colleges and employers look for. Our primary
goal is to learn and practice these life skills.

Class Objectives: Each student should demonstrate a high level of performance and development in the
following areas:

1. Research: Students will use a variety of informational resources to build a file of relevant information on a
given topic.

2. Public speaking: Students will demonstrate proficiency in basic public speaking skills such as clear and
interesting delivery, professional posture, and eye contact.

3. Argumentation: Students will build and defend a position with the use of critical thinking, logic, evidence, and
compelling language.

4. Note taking: Students will demonstrate advanced note taking technique by keeping a flow chart of the
arguments in a debate.

5. Organization: Students will demonstrate organizational skills by creating a system to categorize their research
and by maintaining clear organization during debates.

6. Active listening: Students will demonstrate their listening abilities by both responding specifically to
arguments made by their classmates and by constructively critiquing the performance of their classmates.

Debate Class and the Debate Team: This is an Honors level Debate class. Because it is an Honors level class,
participation and competition in out of school tournaments is required under State Education Standards. As
such, you have the honor and privilege to be a member of the Coral Springs High School Debate Team! In order
to receive a passing grade in this class, you MUST be an active participant on the schools competitive Debate
Team. This means that you attend competitions out of school and prepare to do well at them both during school
and after school.

You are REQUIRED to attend and compete in a MINIMUM of one tournament each quarter of the school year.
Obviously you will fall deeply in love with the activity of debate and choose to compete more often!, but this is
the minimum necessary for your grade.

Membership in the National Forensic League: All successful and honorable members of the Coral Springs
High School Debate Team will be inducted as official members in the National Forensic League, the worlds
largest and oldest academic honor society!

Cost of Tournaments: Debate Tournaments are not free. Entry fees for tournaments can range from $3.00 for an
after school tournament to over $50.00 for a major weekend tournament (although the majority fall in the $10.00-
$20.00 range). Despite these significant financial incursions, for the last several years the Coral Springs High
Debate Team has been able to remain a 100% FREE activity for its members. In order to continue this, your
participation in fundraising activities is central to your ability to attend tournaments and, consequently, to earn
your grade for the class. Any portion of entry fees not covered through fundraising participation is the
responsibility of the student.

Dropping From a Tournament: In addition to the entry fees discussed above, every tournament that we compete
in levies drop fees for dropping out of a tournament in the days leading up to the tournament. Dropping out just
before a tournament places a significant burden on the tournament host, and prevents an efficient and enjoyable
tournament. It also causes embarrassment for the school and team that you represent when you are the cause of
that burden. As such, dropping from a tournament for anything other than a true, dire emergency will not be
tolerated. The first offense will result in a grade of ZERO for that tournament. A second offense will result in you
being barred from representing Coral Springs High School in any future debate tournament. In addition, all drop
fees assessed by the tournament host will be strictly enforced by our team and are the total responsibility of the
student who incurred those drop fees.

Parental Involvement: Coral Springs High Debate LOVES our parents!!! The Debate Team CANNOT function
without the involvement of our parents. We not only need their support as you spend time preparing for
competition, we also need their assistance with the logistical operation of the Debate Team. Most of all, they are
needed to judge the various events that we will be participating in. We cannot compete in a Debate Tournament
without parent judges. At a minimum, parents are responsible for their own childs transportation to and from
Debate Tournaments. Your parents should also plan to attend our upcoming Parents Night (date and time TBA).
Also, please contact Mr. Weaver if youre interested in serving on our brand new CSHS Debate Parent
Committee!

Attendance: Regular attendance and daily preparation for class contribute significantly to your success in our
class.

Make Up Work: The easiest way for you to make up missed performances is not to miss any at all. If you know
that you are going to be absent from class, PLEASE come see me ahead of time so that I can let you know what
you will be missing and explain to you how to prepare while you are gone. If you are absent unexpectedly, it is
YOUR responsibility to make-up any missed assignments.
***IMPORTANT: Grades for make up work will only be available for EXCUSED absences***

Late-Work Policy: Being absent does NOT excuse you from turning in any assignment on time. Assignments
and presentations are due at the beginning of class on the specified date. Any assignment that is turned in late will
have 10% deducted from the grade for every day that it is late. (Example: An assignment worth 100 points is due
on Monday, but you turn it in the following Wednesday. That assignment would have 20 points taken off of the
grade)
***If you know that you are going to miss class, turn in your assignment early to avoid a late penalty.***

Grades: PARTICIPATION (20%): Be in class daily, follow class rules, and be prepared.

CLASSWORK (50%): Complete in-class assignments, participate in in-class
competitions, and prepare for tournaments.

COMPETITION (30%): Attend and compete in required tournaments.

Plagiarism (Spoken OR Written): is passing off someone elses work (published or not) as your own and can
result in failing our class. At a MINIMUM plagiarism will result in a grade of zero on the assignment in question.
ALL work must be original and for our class only (no recycled papers from other classes).

Midterm/Final Exam: The mid-term will cover all material evaluated up until that point. The final exam will
NOT be a cumulative exam; it will only cover material covered after the midterm. However, success on the final
exam will be dependant on concepts that we will learn throughout the semester.

Grading Scale: 90-100% A 87-89% B+ 80-86% B 77-79% C+ 70-76% C
67-69% D+ 60-69% D 0-59% F

Behavior: I expect each of you to be responsible adults. I encourage the free flow of ideas and the exchange of
opinions in pursuit of the truth. However, I also expect you to be respectful of the opinions and feelings of others.
I expect students to: Focus on the ideas being expressed and not the person expressing them and to think about not
just what you think, but why you think, and how you might say it.

In addition, our classroom rules are:
- Electronic devices (cell phones, mp3 players, video games, etc.) should be kept away unless they
are being used as part of an APPROVED academic activity. Do not assume that you can use
them. Wait for permission.
- Each of you will be assigned your own desk to sit in and use while we are in class. You will sit in
the desk, and ONLY the desk that you have been assigned. More than likely, your assigned desk
will be changed several times throughout the school year.
- Anything belonging to YOU (papers, pencils, pens, backpacks, etc.) is to remain at YOUR desk.
The passing of items, and especially the tossing of items, will NOT be tolerated. If you or any of
your classmates need any supplies, I will be more than happy to supply them for your use in our
class.
- You will be on time, and sitting at your desk prepared to begin when the bell rings everyday.
- You will always show respect for yourself, others in the classroom, and others who use this
classroom.

Consequences: The consequences for any violation of the class rules will be:
- 1
st
Offense: Verbal Warning
- 2
nd
Offense: A phone call home
- 3
rd
& 4
th
Offense: Detention (you have 2 days to serve detentions)
- 5
th
Offense: Referral

Materials Needed: Journal Notebook, Available technology (laptop, tablet, etc.) SPACE TO SECURELY
LOCK TECHNOLOGY IS PROVIDED IN MR. WEAVERS CLASSROOM; Paper for note taking; Two
DIFFERENT colored pens. Materials are to be brought to EVERY class.