• The importance of the lesson
• Lesson goals
• The issues
• Getting started teaching controversial issues
• Polling
• Debate preparation
• Structured controversy
• Consensus building
• Debriefing
• Her role in discussion
• Group-learning strategies
• Lessons learned
• Timing issues
• Assessing individuals
• Assessing groups
• Advice to other teachers
• Using constructivist methodologies with other topics
• Using textbooks
• Using technology
• Her background
• Her legal education
• Evolution of her teaching style
• Professional development
• School administration and community
• Standards
• Judging effectiveness
• Modeling democratic principles

JoEllen Ambrose: I find a great challenge in putting together a class. There’s a balance that we need between content (the knowledge that we’d like people to have) and the process piece, the performance piece, the piece that makes teaching fun. I enjoy when they do an active kind of simulation. The first unit we talked about different legal processes. They role-played a mediation. In groups of three, they were a divorcing couple. It was a he/she thing, and they had to work out some resolution to some very difficult issues. In the role of mediator, they had to be neutral and suggest ideas.

In the constitutional law unit, we role-played an appellate argument. We had them arguing in [pairs]. The kids had read the case. The justices were prepared as well and asking questions of the lawyers. In criminal procedure, we do a mock trial, where they actually role-play the opening statements and the witnesses and the whole nine yards. I’ve done the polling exercise with issues in constitutional law. That format worked great with free speech.