Quite a few updates for today, both team-related and class-related. I'll start with team stuff first, then detail updates for each class.
LSDF TEAM UPDATES
Applebee's Pancake Breakfast!
Next Saturday, November 17, is our Applebee's all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. Today, students were given two tickets to sell by next Friday. Each ticket is only $6, making their initial responsibility only $12. If students want or need extra fundraising time requirements, they may sell extra tickets. Each additional ticket beyond the two required will count as five minutes of fundraising time.
Two Tourneys Remaining This Semester
Believe it or not, but our first semester of competition will be coming to a close sooner than we realize! After this weekend, there are two tourneys remaining for the fall semester. They are William Chrisman/Truman on Nov 30-Dec 1 and Raytown/Raytown South on Dec 7-8. Both a novice and varsity division will be offered each weekend. Sign-up sheets are available in the classroom, and the deadline to sign up for WC/TRU is Nov 16 (Next Friday).
CLASS/INSTRUCTIONAL UPDATES
Debate I
Novice debaters were assigned homework for the weekend related to Extemporaneous Speaking. Extemp is an individual event in which many students on our team will compete, and all students are strongly encouraged to participate, at least a few times, in it. The reading is fairly short and easy to go through. Students need to have this read by Monday's class so that we can go over all the rules, regulations, and how-to prep info in class.
Today (Friday, 11/9), students were to turn in two items to the tub or to me. The first is the Review of Policy Debate, which we went over in class this week and last. The second item is a CX Affirmative Case Review activity, which asked students to take an in-depth look at their affirmative policy debate case and analyze its structure along with its potential flaws. After today, these assignments are late. Students have been given the past two weeks to complete both of these activities, including class time, worksession time, and homework time.
Debate II
Students are continuing their work for future tournaments. It is expected of advanced students to continually be revising their work and submitting (or resubmitting) items via Google Drive. Eventually, they will need to turn in a paper copy of a final draft case and a final draft speech or script. Students should also be keeping thier portfolio folders (progress through the semester) updated with tournament items, work items, class evaluations and rehearsal notes, etc.
Next week, students wishing to learn more about how to strategically compete in public forum debate will find the in-class sessions helpful. For students not competing in public forum, there will be a structured research activity to help guide them in finding better, more updated evidence than what they currently possess.
Drama
Students are trying out new individual events this weekend at Ray-Pec, and will gain valuable insight as to how to improve the quality of their pieces, blocking, and overall performance. This feedback will be used as we continue striving for progress. Students will eventually turn in a fully blocked script with an introduction for a grade, and should be keeping their portfolio folders updated with tournament items, rough drafts, class rehearsal notes and critiques, etc.
Showing posts with label instructional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instructional. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2012
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!
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.
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.
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.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Weekly Class Update (9/10-9/14)
Quick update as to what students may want to work on over the weekend.
DEBATE I
We have just finished up our first ever affirmative policy case! I am very excited about what the students created (as a class), and I am even more excited about what we'll get to do next! Over the weekend, students should continue evaluating their peers' cases from the other two hours. They were given an evaluation sheet to use for this activity, as well as a copy of the other two classes' cases. These evaluations are due on Monday. Next week, we will be looking at these cases from the negative perspective of the debate.
DEBATE II
Students have officially declared their second competitive event and have been working diligently to gather research, scripts, and ideas. This is in conjunction with them continuing their work on the first competitive event, including an in-class rough presentation on what they have gathered and organized to date. On Friday, we discussed the grading rubric that will be used for the monthly reading response essays, and extra time was given for students to ensure that they were following the guidelines on the rubric. Their first monthly reading response is now due on Monday, 9/17.
DRAMA
Students have been working on memorizing and dialoguing their chosen script for interpretation. They started the week by presenting a rough version of the performance to the class, and have been working on developing character roles, the plot, and expressing the conflict for the rest of the week. Next week, students will take a look at their completed analysis of the script and beging blocking actions.
DEBATE I
We have just finished up our first ever affirmative policy case! I am very excited about what the students created (as a class), and I am even more excited about what we'll get to do next! Over the weekend, students should continue evaluating their peers' cases from the other two hours. They were given an evaluation sheet to use for this activity, as well as a copy of the other two classes' cases. These evaluations are due on Monday. Next week, we will be looking at these cases from the negative perspective of the debate.
DEBATE II
Students have officially declared their second competitive event and have been working diligently to gather research, scripts, and ideas. This is in conjunction with them continuing their work on the first competitive event, including an in-class rough presentation on what they have gathered and organized to date. On Friday, we discussed the grading rubric that will be used for the monthly reading response essays, and extra time was given for students to ensure that they were following the guidelines on the rubric. Their first monthly reading response is now due on Monday, 9/17.
DRAMA
Students have been working on memorizing and dialoguing their chosen script for interpretation. They started the week by presenting a rough version of the performance to the class, and have been working on developing character roles, the plot, and expressing the conflict for the rest of the week. Next week, students will take a look at their completed analysis of the script and beging blocking actions.
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