Monday, October 29, 2012

Update 10/29/12

1. Nov 9-10 Tourney Sign-up Deadline!
Students wishing to attend the Grandview or Ray-Pec tourneys on Nov 9-10 MUST SIGN UP BY 2:30 PM, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30. Sign-ups are now posted on Google Drive (drive.google.com). Students must log in with their R7 account, then click on "shared with me." Once there, they need to click on the "Admin-Tourney Sign-ups" folder and click on the appropriate tourney. Students should only add their name if they meet the following requirements: a) they can commit to the entire weekend, b) they have secured a partner if needed for CX, PF, or DUO, and c) they can be prepared for the tourney in time, including submitting all needed documents via Google Drive. Students should type in their names using the appropriate format (ex: NSmith).


2. Worksessions this Week
We will offer all three worksessions this week. All worksessions are two hours in length.
Mon @ 2:45 pm
Tue @ 6:00 pm
Thu @ 2:45 pm


3. LSW/LSN Tourney Info
We have quite a few students signed up and confirmed for the tourney this weekend (Nov 2-3). An itinerary will be sent out either Tuesday evening or Wednesday with dismissal times, report times, etc. Remember that transportation is not provided via bus for an in-town tourney. Students may drive themselves or find a ride to the appropriate school. LSW is the novice tourney, and LSN is the varsity tourney.

Friday, October 26, 2012

New Technology Uses for Debate

After discussing some options for collaboration and efficient student work with our district technology staff, we have taken the initiative to create a Google Drive account for LSDF. All students in the debate program will be able to access the information in the drive account; however, they must log in to Google Drive via their school email address.

drive.google.com


What types of items are located in the drive account?
* Debate files created by students
* Oratory manuscripts
* Extemp speech/question listing, annotations, research summaries, etc.
* Congress research analyses/briefs.
* Drama scripts with introductions, literature analyses, etc.
* Instructional and administrative forms.

----IN CLASS REHEARSALS BEGIN ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 29. SCHEDULED REHEARSALS ARE POSTED IN THE INSTRUCTIONAL FOLDER IN GOOGLE DRIVE. STUDENTS SHOULD COME TO CLASSES PREPARED TO EITHER REHEARSE OR CRITIQUE.


What will Google Drive be used for?
* Sharing, collaborating, and critiquing other students' work in real time.
* Signing up for future tournaments.
* Keeping updated on current research, ideas, etc.
* The potential is virtually limitless. We will add things and change things as we go.



Students experimented this week uploading and creating items in Google Drive. Novice debaters created their third research brief via Google Drive, and Varsity debaters uploaded their original research brief via Drive. Dramatics students began analyzing new scripts. All students were granted access to the signup sheets for the Nov 9-10 tourneys (Grandview and Ray-Pec).

There are several benefits to using Google Drive. First, students can access the items at any time, from any computer/device connected to the internet. Second, students can upload, create, change, etc., in real time, in addition to collaborating with other students and coaches. All changes made are saved automatically, and since the documents are stored online, they are always accessible. Another major benefit to Drive is that we can begin to save a lot of paper (physically and financially) as students turn in their work online instead of in paper form.

Students in policy debate (all novices and some varsity) may choose to use their own personal laptop or tablet to store files. Computer devices can be used in debate rounds (not cell phones, though), so if students want to store all their files electronically, they can. If they would rather purchase a tub and some file folders, etc., and keep a paper file system, that is also fine. Students using their computers can bring them to school, but they will not be able to access the wi-fi network during the school day.

More updates coming soon!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Instructional Update 10/22/12

As competition season gets into full swing, students should expect much more homework from debate/drama courses. There is obviously only so much time in class to get through a large amount of information, so students should be blocking off a good portion of time at home to read, reread, take notes, and conduct further research on the various topics they are studying. On average, a students should plan to spend at least 30 minutes per night reviewing, reading, researching, rehearsing, etc. This is only an average of time well spent preparing for tournament competitions. Remember that, just like any other activity, debate/drama is a competition, and in order to be great, one must be willing to put in the time and energy to keep improving.

This week's goals:

Debate 1
Create 3 Negative CX Briefs on different case areas. This is nowhere near the total amount of briefs or research that is needed to continually win rounds of debate, but it is a good start. Mixed with a student's consistent reading and rereading of materials from the NDCA website (see the CX Resources page tab), these briefs can be a great addition to the growing tub of research available. This week, students are receiving back their rough drafts of affirmative cases, which should be revised at the student's earliest convenience.

* IN CLASS DEBATES WILL BEGIN NEXT WEEK!

Debate II
Students will be assigned a Briefs Assignment for one of their events. This brief assignment can be modified for any type of debate or speech event. On Friday, students will submit a copy of thier brief for the grade.

* IN CLASS REHEARSALS OF EVENTS BEGIN NEXT WEEK!

Drama
Students are selecting new scripts for potential use in HI/DI. The first step, once a script is selected, is to conduct a mini-analysis. Forms are available in the classroom if students lose their originals. Once the analysis is completed, students should work to memorize as much of their script as possible. On Friday, students will perform a read-through in class, along with a discussion of their mini-analysis. A copy of the script must accompany the mini-analysis, which will be turned in for a grade.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Preparing Students for Competitions

Now that we have hosted our annual invitational tournament, it is time for us to focus on going to competitions. To that end, here are some items that voth varsity and novice students should be doing to help prepare themselves for tournament competitions.


NOVICES

1. Read, read, read, read, read, and REREAD evidence materials. Novices (and varsity) can never read too much information, or reread too many times. Vocabulary is sometimes tricky, and only by reading, rereading, and looking up words in dictionaries and applying those definitions to the reading context will students begin to understand their topics.

Evidence materials for novices can be found at the following link (click on "case negatives"):
http://www.debatecoaches.org/page/open-evidence-project

2. Locate their affirmative case packet. Students will receive their very rough drafts of affirmative policy cases in class on Monday (the ones they turned in); however, students should be familiar with not only their case evidence and arguments, but also extension arguments and answers to potential negative arguments against the case. Locating an appropriate affirmative case packet (i.e. high speed rail - if that's the affirmative case they are using) and reading, reading, and rereading the material can only help them understand their case topic better.

Affirmative case packets can be found by visiting the link above and clicking on "affirmatives."


VARSITY

1. Don't forget that a Tournament Preparation Cover Sheet must be turned in BEFORE THE TOURNEY DATE in order to receive full round-by-round points. Going to tournaments prepared with cases, speeches, scripts, etc., is absolutely essential.

2. In class debates and performances will occur the week of Oct 22-25. Be prepared for these activities when you come to class. If a full debate cannot happen inside class time, be prepared for case readings, negative strategy readings, cross-examinations, speech presentations, interpretation performances, etc. Your rehearsal grade next week will be determined by preparedness and delivery/communication of your information.