Framework
Why I built PD101
Competitive debate was never built for the students who need it most. Here is how I designed a policy debate platform that meets them where they are.
Case Study · Live product
I built a space academy to teach seventh graders policy debate.
policydebate101.com is a fully accessible, gamified curriculum platform I designed, wrote, and shipped for Chicago middle schoolers who had never heard of forensic debate. Twelve missions, one Support Commander, and a graphic-organizer engine that runs in the browser.
The Flagship
policydebate101.com — an accessible debate curriculum, shipped.
The problem. Policy debate is the highest-leverage academic activity most middle schoolers will never touch. The barrier is not intelligence — it is an intimidating vocabulary, a culture that assumes you already know the format, and materials written for high-school varsity. My sixth graders needed a runway.
What I built. A twelve-mission, self-paced platform where a "Support Commander" narrator walks the student through their first cross-examination. Graphic organizers are interactive; the reading floor is 5th grade; the tone is warm, not corporate. Every screen was audited for cognitive load — one idea per screen, one action per screen.
How it is used. Chicago Debates uses it as summer-institute pre-work. My co-teacher and I use it as differentiated in-class instruction — students who need the scaffolding get missions, students who do not move to live rounds sooner.
12
Missions shipped, WCAG 2.1 AA
5th
Grade reading floor, throughout
6→8
Grades using it in Chicago
Selected Writing
Field notes from a Chicago SPED classroom.
Case Study
Teacher Moves: what I do when a kid shuts down
Five moves I make in the first ninety seconds, ranked by cost. The one I use most is also the one that most surprises new teachers.
Field Notes
One idea per slide, and other things I learned the hard way
A short piece on cognitive load, the third-period student who would not start, and the redesign that came from her stuck moment.
Framework
Designing curriculum like a product manager
What I stole from software product design and how it changed the way I plan a unit. Includes the one-pager I use every August.
Other Work
Products, in various states of shipped.
MathMissions 101
A K–2 numeracy platform using the same mission scaffold. Draft in Figma; pilot planned for fall.
Planning
InclusionLab.AI
A teacher-facing IEP-support tool. Small, focused, no login, no data retention.
Planning
HoloSketch
A browser-based graphic organizer builder for SPED teachers. Ships an artifact, not a login.
Planning
Free teacher tool. Fill a form, download a self-contained playable board. No account.
Live
About
Special education teacher. Product designer. In Chicago.
I teach special education at John Fiske IB World School on Chicago's South Side. I co-teach 6th and 7th grade Individuals & Society with a partner teacher and pull students out for 8th-grade Math and 7th-grade ELA. My design work grew out of that classroom — every product I have shipped started with a specific student who needed a specific thing that did not exist yet.
I hold an MAT and I think of myself, more than anything, as acraftsperson of the school day. If it is on the wall or on the screen, I want it to earn the wall or the screen.
Hire me, quote me, or steal what works.
I'm open to speaking, PD sessions, product consultation, and full-time senior digital design roles in education. If any of that sounds useful, let's talk.