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Mr. Fogel's Classroom

  • Bronx School for Law-Gov-Justice
  • Bronx, NY
  • Nearly all students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

Your custom url is https://www.donorschoose.org/erikfogel

show projects from all time

Past projects 183

  • Putting the HP into Scholarship!

    Funded Jan 23, 2011

    Dear HP and David,

    To HP:

    Our school has never had a working computer lab but now thanks to HP and Donors Choose we have a computer lab for all our students. It started as just an idea to help our Bronx Great Debaters Program (www.bronxgreatdebaters.org) but has evolved into helping all students at our school have access to a computer. The HP all in one is an incredible machine. I received my first one last year - AND HAVE HAD NOT A SINGLE PROBLEM ON ALL OF THEM I HAVE RECEIVED SINCE. AND THESE ARE NOT HOME COMPUTERS WITH ONE OR TWO USERS, THESE GO THROUGH HEAVY STUDENT USE DURING THE ENTIRE DAY AND AFTER SCHOOL!!!

    HP has revolutionized my classroom by empowering students with 21st century skills including typing skills, word processing skills, presentation skills, research skills, reading skills and so many other college preparatory skills. Students come early in the morning to type and print their homework and essay assignments. Students come during lunches to work on their assignments. And after school students use the computers to type, research and print their materials.

    This would not be possible without HP. And so myself and my students thank you for closing the achievement gap and providing the best materials possible for our students.

    To David:

    Thanks to David again and again for making dreams come true! If I had a NY drivers license and the will to drive in NYC I would ask for a car on DC to assist the Debate Team and I know you would fund it if it meant help for the Bronx Great Debaters!!! Has that ever been done before, a car???? Something to consider! But seriously, thank you so much for building an incredible computer lab. Just when I think we have reached the limit to your generosity - you keep on extending it! And this was particularly significant because as you know I was bummed out for not being able to get to California and meet up with family, IN and Out and of course the Apple conference. But this definitely makes up for that! So once again thank you for everything you keep on doing. It definitely puts the pressure on me and the team to keep up with your expectations!

    So again, not sure how to thank you differently hundreds of different of times! But thank you again. The students thank you again and again. The school thanks you again and again. Our future generations thank you again and again as they grow up to be tomorrow's leaders!

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by HP and 2 other donors.
  • Bringing Debate Back to the Bronx Part II

    Funded Dec 10, 2010

    Thank you so much for supporting the Bronx Great Debates! Starting this year, the debate team at our school is building other debate programs throughout the South Bronx. Three days a week our students travel to other schools to help teach students how to debate. And once a month we hold free tournaments for debaters in the Bronx. Your investment provides the resources for these free tournaments so that students receive the best quality of awards. There's is nothing more academically motivational for many of our student than winning their first trophy! Many of them have never won a trophy before, it is something to bring home to share with the family, and its a physical memory that can last a lifetime.

    The results of our outreach have been amazing. One school has adopted debate as its all-school after school activity on Wednesday in which they have 3 classrooms of about 15 or so students and three different teachers teaching debate tactics, current events, and politics! We have 2-3 students who go on Wednesdays to that school to help teach debate to their students. And at our official urban debate league tournament last Saturday, one of their debate teams won their first award - 9th place out of about 30 different debate teams! They were so excited!

    And that is what we seek to replicate throughout the Bronx! Every school and student should have access to debate. From the Athenians of Ancient Greece - debate, public speaking, oratory, socratic questioning - were fundamental skills of citizenship. And in the United States the number one extracurricular activity of politicians and lawyers was being a member of their debate team. And so it is a tragedy that the vast majority of schools in the Bronx cannot offer debate. Instead, all schools in the Bronx offer basketball. No problem with basketball! But it is a problem when athletics is the only enrichment program offered at schools. Such lowered academic expectations creates a permanent underclass of students.

    So again, thank you so much for your support and investment in the Bronx Great Debates!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    bronxgreatdebaters@gmail.com

    917-455-1079”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by Barclays Capital and one other donor.
  • Bringing Debate Back to the Bronx!

    Funded Dec 8, 2010

    One of the most challenging academic opportunities is debate. Debate teaches invaluable skills in public speaking, research, writing, note taking, reading, logic, philosophy, rhetoric, political science, and many other subjects. The most elite universities in the country hold debate tournaments for high school students like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, Stanford, Berkeley and many others. And students compete against the best and the brightest in the nation. Debaters to on to careers in law, politics, and government.

    Which is why in the Bronx it is tragic that for the past several decades there has been only one school that features debate - The Bronx High School of Science - which is one of the most elite and selective schools in the country. And as people familiar with the institution will tell you - there are very few students from the Bronx that actually attend the school.

    Our school was created a decade ago to remedy this situation by providing the best civic opportunities for students in the Bronx. Surrounded by courts, a jail, jail bondsmen, we are located in the civic center of the Bronx and use this strategic location as apart of an extended classroom. And so the first extracurricular activity our school created was not a sports team or basketball team like 99% of schools in the Bronx - but a debate team. Over the past decade we have grown into one of the largest and most successful urban debate teams in the country.

    However, that only made two debate programs in the Bronx! And so this year we have made it our mission to close the achievement gap by offering access to a top quality debate education to any schools interested. And so your investment of trophies for monthly free debate competitions in the Bronx goes to solve this inequity and promote the highest expectations for students in the Bronx.

    Thank you so much for your investment!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

  • The Great Bronx Debates I

    Funded Dec 10, 2010

    Thank you so much for supporting our debate team and outreach to the Bronx. Starting this month - thanks to your investment - we are holding free monthly debate tournaments in the Bronx. This is something that has never been done before! But debate should be available to every student in the Bronx for a number of reasons.

    First, debate is one of the most challenging academic opportunities. Debate teaches invaluable skills in public speaking, research, writing, note taking, reading, logic, philosophy, rhetoric, political science, and many other subjects.

    Second, debate is one of the best college prep activities. The primary reason is that students travel to colleges and universities nearly every weekend to compete. And regularly putting them in such an atmosphere is a great motivational tool for college. The most elite universities in the country hold debate tournaments for high school students like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown, Stanford, Berkeley and many others. Our students visit over a dozen colleges and universities every debate season which is more than our college counselors do with our students! And that doesn't even include the summer debate camp experiences where students spend a month at a college - living in dorms, attending college classes, being taught by college professors. The other reason is that debate teaches so many college skills.

    Third, debate teaches citizenship. From the Athenians of Ancient Greece - debate, public speaking, oratory, socratic questioning - were fundamental skills of citizenship. And in the United States the number one extracurricular activity of politicians and lawyers was being a member of their debate team. Students study current events, politics, gain leadership skills through debate and public speaking, and research and argue public polices to address social problems.

    Fourth, debate is 24-7 learning! With practices everyday, tournaments every weekend, debate camps every summer - you can find no more rigorous academic opportunity. AP exams come close but the exam is held only a few times a year and once you pass, you pass! Whereas in debate your "exam" is every single weekend and once you pass one tournament, there is only a larger and more difficult tournament ahead of you. Science Team? Math Team? Such academic competitions only take place 1-2 times a year. There are so many debate opportunities that we regularly have to split our team to attend all the different tournaments.

    Fifth, debate is social. I know that when I was on the debate team, the majority of my friends were on the debate team. Students develop close relationships because they are always studying together. Students meet students from across the nation, different cities, different backgrounds. All this diversity is integral to our students' development.

    There are so many additional reasons why debate is such an essential activity. But I would just like to thank you for everything you have done to support our Team and to support Debate in the Bronx.

    Thank You!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org ”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by Barclays Capital and one other donor.
  • Financial Literacy In The South Bronx

    Funded Dec 27, 2010

    Thank you so much for the Lenovo desktop computer. The best thing has been the development of an online learning platform - Moodle. We can store course materials, online books, games, simulations, chat rooms - and any other educational feature you can think of! Usually a program like that like Blackboard which is used at the college level would cost thousands. But Moodle is a free program that does the same things and many would say is actually better. With a small hosting fee, you can have an online class in minutes.

    This is great for our school because we cannot afford up to date textbooks. So I can store all their texts online with the latest and best Business reading materials. This is great for students because they have 24/7 access to their assignments, classwork, and homework. And this is great for parents because they can access the online course at anytime, check for grades, help with work, or email me questions.

    So thanks to your investment of a computer at a time we can build the best courses for our students. Thank you so much!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and one other donor.
  • Building a 21st Century Classroom!

    Funded Dec 27, 2010

    I cannot express how thankful I am to you everyday I enter my classroom and see all the computers!!!! A year ago this was not a possibility, not even a sparkle in my eye. But thanks to your passion, you are building a 21st century classroom to provide our students with the best opportunities available! Even our school after a decade has not been able to offer our students a computer lab!

    I have written about the top ten benefits of technology in the classroom. In another letter I included all the different technology programs we have incorporated. So I'm not sure what to write except a thank you for supporting this dream of a 1-1 classroom! A computer in the 21st century is just as important as a backpack, pen, pencil, eraser or even a textbook. In fact, I would say even more so - because a computer can do all those things.

    Students need to learn 21st century learning skills and the only way to facilitate that is to put a computer in front of every student. And so I also thank you for this. Students need to learn valuable typing, research, programming, and other technology skills. I have been obsessed with typing skills when I first came to our school and realized that virtually no one knows how to type! Textbooks are static, boring, outdated, in poor condition, and there are not enough of them. But with a desktop in front of every student they have instant access to the best learning resources online from virtual field trips to primary sources to e-books, to video conferencing. There are an infinite number of resources available for students to learn from.

    Thank you so much support for our program.

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and one other donor.
  • TOP TEN REASONS FOR A 1-1 COMPUTER-STUDENT CLASSROOM!

    Funded Dec 25, 2010

    Ironically, the National Forensics League (national speech and debate honors society) has a monthly magazine that is published and this month's cover story was technology! As I have stated countless times, technology is essential to 21st century learning. And that is true for all subjects. From instant assessments to interactive gaming to typing skills to virtual field trips to programming - the world is literally at your fingertips. And so that is why a 1-1 ratio is essential. Schools with technology are shooting for the stars. Schools without technology are being left behind. This is a tragedy.

    Our school still does not have a computer lab for students to use - after numerous years of promises. Our classrooms have computers still operating on Windows 1990s (assuming they are still working which 80-90% do not). Ironically, the only computers accessible to students are their smart phones which are banned in the classroom under the New York City Department of Education. We still have chalkboards! Most schools have at least moved to whiteboards and most of those schools have moved to Smart boards.

    And so that is why I am so grateful for your continuing investment in our mission to create a 1-1 environment. It is an educational necessity. Although it does make my job more difficult. I can no longer use excuses like "we don't have the resources for this lesson." Everything is accessible through the world wide web.

    Thank you so much!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and one other donor.
  • Top Ten Reasons For A 1:1 Computer:Student Classroom, Part 2!

    Funded Dec 27, 2010

    Thank you so much again and again for your technology investment in our classroom, school and community. Thanks to your investment my teaching and our learning has completely revolutionized. I used to be a chalk and talk teacher using our aging and outdated textbooks. But today our classroom thanks to computers is able to do so much more stuff. Below are a few things that have changed from last year to this year to provide students and our school with the best educational resources.

    Blog for our Debate Program with weekly updates

    Dropbox for our students to store all their evidence and arguments

    Laptops for our students to learn typing skills

    Diigo Social Bookmarking for Debate Research

    Keynote/Powerpoint Slide Shows to make learning more visual & interactive

    Moodle Virtual Learning Environment for online classes

    News Online - free newspapers, magazines and current events

    Planet Debate Online Debate Research

    Printer to print color pictures, newsletters, cards, calendars

    Projector to make learning more visual and interactive

    Website for our Debate Team

    Wikispaces for our Debate Team

    Wikispaces for our Business Law Class

    Wikispaces for our Legal Skills Class

    Wikispaces for 150 students enrolled in Legal Skills Class

    Wikibooks used as textbooks for our students

    YouTube videos of debates, historical debates and Hollywood debates

    Video - for our students to create their own videos of debates

    Video Games - no more boring textbooks but online video games to teach the same content

    Thank you so much!

    Sincerely,

    Erik Fogel

    eriktheteacher@hotmail.com

    www.bronxgreatdebaters.org”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and one other donor.
  • I Flip, You Flip, We all Flip for Flips!

    Funded Nov 15, 2010

    Thank you so much for the Flips! Our goal is that every debate team will be able to borrow a Flip camcorder for every debate tournament and will be responsible for recording at least one of their speeches during their debates. There are several purposes to this taping project.

    Our first goal is to be able to use the videos in the same way that videos are used in professional athletics – to review post-game, critique, teach, and improve upon. Most students have never seen themselves speak and debate in front of a camera and so do not realize the nervous gestures, unnecessary body movement, low volume and other common mistakes of a beginning public speaker. And so the Flips will help improve our practices by watching short clips of our debaters in real action. Practice speeches are one thing, but real competitive speeches are another. The frequent excuse I get during our practices for poor delivery and debate is that "its just a practice, I don't do that in a real debate." Well, with the Flips I'll be able to assess if this is true or not!

    Our second goal is to build a video portfolio for every student for their own purposes. I have found this highly successful with pictures. Students like seeing themselves on photo and in video. And their family like seeing them in pictures and videos. Students can also track their own progress by checking out various video clips. And so by making students responsible for videotaping debates, they will also be responsible for building their own video portfolio that they will always have to share with themselves family, and friends. And a side benefit of that is that it helps build our team culture and recruitment. When debaters are constantly bragging and showing off their videos and pictures, it helps indirectly to recruit and promote our team. And so other students have come up to me with questions like "Is it true we get our own camcorders?"

    Our third goal is keeping our program sustainable. The only thing that keeps our debate team alive is through donations and grants. And so our goal is to have an interactive archive of debates , tournament videos to watch, video portfolios to assess student progress, and video marketing tools. All these things help build up our marketing campaign to existing and potential investors of the "Bronx Great Debaters Program." It shows our program is complex, committed to continuous improvement, student centered, 21st century learning, and just fun.

    Our fourth goal is social media. Videos help to show the world what we are doing. Teachers, family, friends, students want to know what our debate team is like and what debaters do on the weekends. And so video clips help to show off our debaters to the world.

    Our fifth goal is 21st century learning and technology skills. As students learn to use a camcorder, edit video, download video, publish video, and display video – they learn valuable technology skills. An additional benefit is when I lend out the cameras during the weekends, I told them that they can use the cameras as they wish during the weekend on their own personal and school projects. We have students who are interested in filmmaking. We have students who need the technology to help with their projects in other classes.

    So as you can see these Flips have been put to incredible use and will only continue to grow as we grow with the Flips. I am very excited to start implementing this project for our team. And it takes us another step closer to our goal of having a Flip for every debater on the debate team. Ideally, I want every debater to walk into their rounds with a computer, camera/camcorder, supplies, and maybe one day an e-reader. And that's my vision of the high-tech debater!

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

  • Planet Challenge! Earth Day Every Day!

    Funded Nov 25, 2010

    Thank you so much for the two laptops to help us complete environmental projects this year. I am one of the two Faculty Advisors for our Build On Club at school that meets every Wednesday and volunteers every Saturday at various community service projects. And as the ninth grade legal studies teacher, I make sure that as many of our entering ninth graders complete a community service project in partnership with either Build On or a service organization of their choice.

    So here is what every ninth grader is working on at our school. By using laptops and computers our students set up their own websites for their service project. Second, they then linked that to our class website so everyone can share and access each others' pages and data. Third, they created a navigation menu on their website for their Research, Writing, Action, and Presentation. And that is where they store all their data during their service projects. For example, one team of students selects "global warming" and they research and paste all their research on the website. They then write a short research essay on the environmental topic of their choice. They then research ways they can make a difference and implement an actual "action" or service project. They are expected to publish their action project notes, videos, pictures on their website. Finally, we come back to the class where they actually present their service projects.

    And so the laptops have helped to make all these environmental projects a reality. In order for these projects to occur we need a 1:1 computer-student ratio. Students have to build their own websites, publish their work on their website, and present using their website. And so during class we use the laptops. The laptops are lent out to students so they can bring them with them to their service projects if needed and finally they are lent out for students who do not have computers at home so they can complete their projects.

    And so your investment has helped to create a wave of environmental service projects at our school where so many students are researching different environmental projects and actually making a difference. So thank you so much for providing the tools to make a difference in the South Bronx!

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Fogel

    This classroom project was brought to life by Disney's Planet Challenge and 3 other donors.
Hi! I teach the high school and middle school law and debate classes at my school. I also coach the debate team for 6th-12th graders. We are one of the few urban public schools with a Debate Team. We started the Debate Team with a handful of students. Today, there are over 100 students on the Debate Team, making us the largest urban debate team in New York City and one of the largest urban debate teams in the country. I have students from special education to Honors. They are all united by their passion for speaking, debating, and learning. This passion combined with the support of Donors Choose has empowered our students with numerous skills - argumentation, rhetoric, public speaking, writing, researching, note taking, listening, technology, philosophy, political science, economics, geography, public policy, etc. As a result our debaters have won numerous local, state and national championships. Thanks!

About my class

Hi! I teach the high school and middle school law and debate classes at my school. I also coach the debate team for 6th-12th graders. We are one of the few urban public schools with a Debate Team. We started the Debate Team with a handful of students. Today, there are over 100 students on the Debate Team, making us the largest urban debate team in New York City and one of the largest urban debate teams in the country. I have students from special education to Honors. They are all united by their passion for speaking, debating, and learning. This passion combined with the support of Donors Choose has empowered our students with numerous skills - argumentation, rhetoric, public speaking, writing, researching, note taking, listening, technology, philosophy, political science, economics, geography, public policy, etc. As a result our debaters have won numerous local, state and national championships. Thanks!

About my class

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