Watching Drills at WNDI

1. Make sure students have the evidence they need

Talk with the students and get them the evidence/front lines they need for the drill. If needed, have students share materials—BUT MAKE SURE they get back to the person that is offering them.

2. Setup the Drill Session

FOR ALL DRILLS AND PRACTICE DEBATES—THE 1AC AND 1NC MUST reveal all the arguments that they will present. The judge for that drill/practice debate should watch this disclosure happen. This does not apply to the Wed. end of 2 and 3 week tournaments; at those, teams have the choice of what and how they will disclose. OBVIOUSLY, THE DRILL should address the type of lab—eg counterplan for a counterplan drill.

3. Explain how the Drill Session will work

· AFF POSITION 2-2-2-2 DRILL: (2 minute aff solvency; 2 minute neg attacks on solvency; 2 minute aff defense of solvency; 2 minute 2nc/1nr solvency attack)

· NEG POSITION 2-2-3-2 DRILL: (2 minute shell; 2 minute aff answers; 3 minute 2nc, 2 minute 1ar). After doing this, the two debaters switch sides and do another 2-2-3-2.

FOR STUDENTS NOT DOING THE DRILL AT THAT MOMENT:

--Tell students who aren’t in the drill at the moment, what they should be doing. Have them cut articles, work on their front-lines, etc.

--OR Tell students to watch the drills and have a sheet of paper out to take notes on what to watch for to do the drill well. As you proceed through each drill, point out items needing work and have the students write those down in their notes.

--The Other Lab should work with these students not doing drills.

· Group drill Setup: Have someone present the shell. Flow it on the board. Everyone prepares their answers. Have each student get up and present the answers. Flow one set of the answers. Then, have the group prepare answers to the responses you flowed on the board. Have each student get and present their answers.

· Got another idea that involves them in arguing the issues for the drill? GO FOR IT!!!

YOUR FEEDBACK DURING THE DRILLS:

1. Tell them what they did well

Be specific and be genuine. For each and every student in the debate, state at least two specific, concrete things that they did well. “You had great answers to the Politics Disad.” “You speak really smoothly. Nice voice!”

2. Give them specific suggestions for improving.

BE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

“You need to use better word economy on the Disad.”

FOLLOW THAT UP WITH SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS:

First, state the disadvantage in 2 or 3 words. For example “On the Politics Disad.”

Second, state your responses succinctly. Each response should have a concise tag/argument followed by evidence or a one sentence reason/explanation. For example “One—Bush capital is already down. June Jones in 2004 . . .”

Third, don’t restate specific points in their disadvantage—just keep listing off your arguments against the disadvantage. We’ll understand that you have responded to their specific points.

THEN, HAVE THEM REDO WHATEVER THEY NEED TO REDO

Make sure they follow through on your suggestion and improve. Congratulate them when they do better!

AND HEY, REMEMBER, GETTING THEM TO WORK ON THEIR DELIVERY IS A GOOD IDEA!

3. Is one of the debaters being too aggressive? Rude? Condescending? Sexist? Promptly and nicely put a stop to it. Their opponents get upset especially when the judge won’t step in to say out of line behavior is out of line.

COMMON PROBLEMS I USUALLY LOOK AT:

A. I see students start with defensive introductions. Example “Our opponents have said that we . . .” and this continues for 30 to 45 seconds. BIG TROUBLE. Introductions to speeches should be “We are winning x argument. This means we win the debate.” I try to have them redo their introductions at the end of the debate.

B. Another common problem: bad word economy. I have them redo that at the end of the debate. Typical word economy problems:

1. They take forever to state their opponent’s arguments. “The first affirmative speaker said in her constructive the argument that . . .” BLECH. STOP THEM!

2. They answer disads point by point. For example: “On the Spending Disad. Their A subpoint was . . . Three responses. Okay, now go to their B subpoint.” NO NO NO. Group the disad and then list off responses. For example “On Spending: 1 … 2 … 3 …”

3. They try to explain their argument by repeating it several different times. Cut that out. NOTE: If a kid wants to debate more stock issues/communication style, then let them explain in one clear sentence what each of their arguments mean.

4. Reading too much of a piece of evidence can also be a word economy problem. Help them see that they only need to read the most relevant, warranted part of a card. BUT REMEMBER—too much highlighting down is not cool in high school.

C. Many students don’t list off warrants. They keep repeating their claim without support. I encourage them to list off 3 reasons for any key argument. Example: “Instead of just saying Prolif is bad; say: Proliferation is dangerous because of accidents, first strikes, and miscalculation.”

D. In policy debate—students often don’t refer to their partner’s arguments! The result: their arguments are weaker and sound new! Have them practice saying “Extend Susanne’s third argument that x. That shows . . .”

E. Students don’t weigh arguments—they don’t give reasons to vote for their side versus the others’. Help students do this. THIS REQUIRES discussing with them what the key issues are and then identifying what they need to point out to show their side is stronger.

F. The Classic “Answers everything” debater. In the process of hitting at each tree, each argument—the forest gets lost. Help them see and present an overview and connect arguments into that overview/main argument.

G. Make them see strategic elements of a debate. For example:

· Say things like “They conceded X. X means we win.”

· Notice time-skews in the debate. If they spend 3 minutes answering your 1 minute topicality argument, you have gained a big advantage.

· (Policy) Watch to see if one person is going to take a disad in the 1NR. If so, the 2AC should answer that first. Why? Because then the 2NC has less prep time during your speech to prep against the arguments he/she will address.

· Look for drops of key arguments or for where a team is weak and then go for that.

· Watch the judge’s reactions to arguments. Adjust for that.

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Watching Drills at WNDI