Debate 2 – is an elective course for sophomores pursuing competitive policy debate. The content of the course is designed to help students work towards achieving individual goals while contributing to the success and improvement of the entire team. Each 6-week period students will learn through research projects, tournament competition, practice debates, and mentoring. A heavy emphasis is placed on individual research projects and students should expect to dedicate a considerable amount of time each week to complete these assignments.
Students should only enroll in Debate 2 if they have a strong work ethic, a commitment to regularly attend afterschool practice, and a passion of debate competition.
Debate 3 – is an elective course for juniors and seniors pursuing an advanced course for competitive policy debate.
The content of the course is designed to help students set and work towards personal goals while contributing to the success and improvement of the entire team. Each 6-week period students will learn through research projects, tournament competition, practice debates, and mentoring. A heavy emphasis is placed on individual research projects and students should expect to dedicate a considerable amount of time to complete these projects.
Enrollment in Debate 3 is limited to students who successfully complete Debate 2 and demonstrate consistency in pursuing high standards in teamwork, competition, and academics.
Independent Study in Speech – is an elective course for sophomores, juniors and seniors interested in pursuing competition in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, or Extemporaneous Speaking. The content of the course is designed to help students work towards achieving personal goals while contributing to the success and improvement of the entire team. As the title of the course suggests, students will be responsible for independently preparing and completing research and practice assignments individually and in small groups. Enrollment in ISS is limited to students who demonstrate a strong commitment to hard ethic, teamwork, and passion for debate competition.
My primary expectation for students is to be prepared to learn and to contribute to your teammates’ learning. This classroom is where the ideas and practices for success at debate tournaments occur and any behavior that impedes the pursuit of excellence in debate will not be tolerated.
1. Be respectful – The very nature of debate requires that all students feel comfortable sharing their opinions, experiences, and beliefs when discussing debate strategy, controversial issues, and teamwork. Debaters should actively promote their teammates’ participation in class and success at tournaments. While respect is a general attitude that guides an individual’s choices, I will note several specific expectations:
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Respect for others – Profane, racist, sexist, and homophobic language will not be tolerated at any time.
Students should refrain from arrogant, demeaning, or selfish behavior.
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Respect for class discussions – much of our classroom activity is based on productive group discussions. The collective understanding of arguments, strategies, and assignments is essential for tournament success and can only occur when all members participate. Students should refrain from side-conversations, cross-talking, and inattention (even if you’re talking about debate) to respect the right of all students to learn.
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Respect for the classroom – The debate room is a great space for students to work in throughout the school day, but it is also Mr. Burr’s office. Students should clean up after themselves and push in their chairs prior to leaving the classroom. Students will lose their privilege of eating and drinking in the classroom if they cannot clean up after themselves. If you borrow supplies from Mr. Burr, put them
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back where they came from. Finally, personal items should only be left in the room for the day that you need them stored.
2. Be prepared for learning– Students should come to class with materials, assignments, and attitudes necessary for the day’s activities. It is a privilege to be able to take a debate elective and students should maximize their use of class time by always taking notes, actively listening, and critically thinking.
3. Be responsible – As a debater you will have to juggle many balls between your academic, personal, and debate obligations. You must manage your time wisely and make choices that will help you accomplish your goals in all areas of your life. Be honest with yourself, your parents, your teammates, and your teachers about your need by taking responsibility for these choices. Plan ahead, communicate early and often, and behave in a way that helps others build trust in your character and commitment.
Grades for varsity debaters will be based on consistent and quality tournament preparation as demonstrated through research, active class participation, attendance at tournaments, attendance at after-school practices, and other assignments as determined by the coaches. Assistant coaches and team captains are responsible for creating and delegating specific tournament preparation assignments and reporting the successful completion of those assignments to Mr. Burr in a timely manner.
1. Research (40%)
Quality research is the foundation of a successful debate team. Every single debate round that Westwood participates in will utilize research files developed by students. While research will help each individual develop invaluable skills, your research is primarily for the team. Additionally, research is a very time-intensive process – you should expect to spend time every single day working on your research assignments if you want to turn them in on time and receive a quality grade, not to mention having a chance to win some debates! These are not assignments that you can complete at the last minute.
Each student will complete at least 2 major research assignments per 6-week period. For Policy Debate, a major research assignment can include, but is not limited to: disadvantages, counterplans, kritiks, case negatives, new affirmative assignments (2ac blocks, new advantages, new affs). For Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas debate, students will be expected to generate both high quality and quantity evidence for each new topic and complete specific research assignments as determined by team captains. Writing original cases based on this research will also count as a major research assignment. For extemp, the composite of weekly research assignments will constitute the major research grade per marking period.
All major research assignments will be assessed for grading purposes on primarily objective standards. These standards apply to all event types and include the following:
A.
Timeliness – turning in research assignments on time is absolutely essential. Any research that is turned in past the due date will not receive a grade higher than a 80. Each successive day that the research is not turned in will result in further 10 point deduction
B.
Citations – every card must have a complete citation. Any research submitted without full citation information is unusable in debates and the whole assignment will be considered incomplete. Citations should follow this format: Author first name author last name, author qualifications, publication date in numbers 8-17-’12 [article title, publication, URL, any other relevant information] debater name
C.
Formatting– All evidence should be processed in the Westwood paperless template and include full taglines and block headers
I understand that every student has different levels of experience and ability with regards to academic research, so subjective assessment of assignment quality will focus primarily on student improvement over time and the student effort in the process.
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Meeting these baseline requirements for research will allow students to earn an A- (or a 90). Students that earn an
A (95-100) will not only meet each of the requirements consistently, but will also take on extra research, casewriting, block writing, etc. assignments for the team.
Finally, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they have at least 2 research assignments per marking period. Team captains will create a list of each assignment and track their successful completion for Mr. Burr to review. If, for whatever reason, you did not get a specific assignment from a team captain or assistant coach this
DOES NOT MEAN that you are not obligated to do research work. If your name isn’t on an assignment list I will simply assume that you chose not to do the assignment and you will earn an F (probably a 0) for that grade.
2. Tournament preparation and reflection (30%)
Debate 2, 3, and ISS classes are designed for tournament preparation. All of the work that we do in class directly contributes to our competitive success at tournaments. As such, a tournament should be viewed as the single most important time for improving our argument and debate skills and every second of class time should be considered valuable preparation time for tournaments.
Each event will have different requirements for tournament preparation and reflection. For example, Policy will require detailed round reports, while Lincoln-Douglas may have a more informal system for sharing the details of opponents’ cases. However, all events will be graded on the following standards
A. After-school practice – attendance is required at each after school practice session that has been scheduled by an assistant coach. It is each student’s responsibility to Sign-In on the attendance sheet. Each missed meeting will result in a 10-point deduction from the Tournament Prep grade and will also factor in to Mr. Burr’s decision about tournament attendance. Students are limited to 2 excused absences per semester and will only be granted an excuse if a reasonable request is made to Mr. Burr prior to the absence. No student will be granted an excuse for missing practice after the fact. Conflicts with other school obligations will only qualify as an excuse in extreme circumstance – go to the morning NHS meeting, schedule your makeups before school, and take any other steps necessary to ensure you can meet practice requirements.
B. Tournament attendance – All students should attend a minimum of 1 tournament per marking period. You have the full tournament schedule and should plan for the tournaments that you want to attend now. If you cannot meet the requirement of attending a tournament, it is your responsibility to meet with Mr. Burr within the 1 st week of the 6 weeks to discuss alternative assignments. Students that choose not to attend a tournament or are unable to attend due to academic ineligibility or incomplete debate assignments will receive a ‘0’ for their tournament grade
C. Reports – Each event will have different reporting requirements after each tournament. The team captains will have the details. In addition, each student is responsible for entering the points that they earned on the NFL website AND reporting their results to the team secretary.
3. Classroom participation (30%)
This final category is about teamwork, use of class time, and behavior. Students that wish to earn an A in this category must consistently demonstrate a positive and respectful attitude, a commitment to the learning and growth of teammates, a willingness to participate in discussion, and personal responsibility by appropriately preparing for all in-class activities such as practice debates and rebuttal redos.
While debate classes are largely decentralized (meaning that students are participating in different debate activities at different times, and that a coach is not always present to oversee these activities), students should understand that Mr. Burr and Ms. Woods are observing their behavior and that these expectations are in place even when they are not working directly with a teacher and even when substitutes teachers are present.
A.
Teamwork – team members are expected to actively flow and provide feedback for in-class practice debates and speeches. If a practice debate is occurring the day of or before a tournament, students that are competing in the tournament may request to work independently instead of observing the debate. If students are using a computer for flowing or note-taking they must post their notes on the forums.
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B.
Class notes– Students MUST take notes of all discussion in class. It’s not only a demonstration of respect for your coaches and teammates, it’s also smart because you’ll be able to use the notes when performing research and case revisions.
C.
Behavior – Students should act as a leader for the rest of the team by establishing positive norms and demonstrating the following behaviors: being early for meeting and class, listening during discussions, being prepared with assignments and materials, being active in class discussions, being respectful of the classroom, teammates, and coaches, and avoiding side conversations. You should demonstrate 100% ON-
TASK behavior during all classes – this means no gChat, no games, no nonsense – all debate all the time with exceptions for short birthday celebrations and/or teambuilding activities.
D.
Homework – This is a serious pet peeve of mine. You are not permitted to do homework for any other class during debate. This year, expect strict enforcement of the standard. Each time I see any homework from any non-debate class, even if its glancing at a textbook at the end of class, will result in an automatic 50% deduction in your participation grade. This penalty will be cumulative.
High School Debate is a training ground for success in college, careers, and all intellectual enterprises. Students are expected to maintain high standards of academic integrity by making honest, rigorous, and ethical decisions about their research and work.
Full citations must be provided for all evidence, articles, and ideas. Fabrication of evidence is never acceptable and is grounds for dismissal from the debate team.
With debate research assignments taking credit for any evidence that you did not personally produce is plagiarism.
When copying evidence or blocks from camp files or other students you should not represent that work as your own. When you produce original evidence you should put your name in brackets at the end of the citation to indicate that you individually produced the evidence. Please see the team policies below for other guidelines concerning file production.
Since the varsity team has transitioned to a ‘paperless’ debate system students are encouraged to bring their laptops to class daily. Students that do not own or have access to a personal laptop should speak with Mr. Burr immediately.
Student use of laptops must remain limited to note taking, research, and reading. The use of video games, social media, chatting, or any other activity that distracts from learning goals are never permitted during debate class, practice, or in the portable at any time.
During class discussions, students are only allowed to have their “Class Notes” document open; use of the Internet or reading files is not allowed as it detracts from an individuals’ ability to pay full attention and actively engage in classroom discussions.
Students must restrict their use of the Internet solely to debate research purposes while at Westwood and at debate tournaments.
Students that demonstrate an inability to follow these expectations will lose the privilege of using their laptop during class and at after-school practice. These students are still expected to take detailed notes on paper until they regain the privilege of using their computer.
Students are reminded that Westwood Debate functions as a TEAM. Your behavior at school and at tournaments contributes to the reputation and success of ALL members of the team. A good reputation is difficult to earn and easy to lose. No single individual on the team has the right to hurt the reputation of its members. Violation of any
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team policy, negative attitudes, and disruptive behaviors are not in the best interest of the group and will result in restriction of tournament privileges, lower participation grades, and/or dismissal from the team.
Students are strongly encouraged to confidentially communicate any of their concerns with Mr. Burr as soon as they arise. If you feel that a teammate has violated a policy, it is in the best interest of the team that I am informed and can take corrective action.
1. DISTRICT RULES - The use of any tobacco products, alcohol or illicit/illegal drugs is strictly prohibited. Students must adhere to all Round Rock ISD and Westwood High School rules at all times, including travel to and from tournaments.
2. WESTWOOD UIL TOURNAMENT - All students enrolled in debate must help host the annual Westwood UIL
Invitational Tournament in February. All varsity members must participate in at least 2 other fundraising activities throughout the year.
3. ACADEMIC PRIORITIES - While winning debates should be your top extracurricular priority, this goal is secondary to your academic obligations. Westwood is a highly demanding high school that requires dedication, focus, and excellence in every class. Students are responsible for communicating early, often, and respectfully with their teachers when missing class for tournaments. Since students will always know well in advance the dates that they will be attending tournaments, debate competition is never an acceptable excuse for late or insufficient schoolwork. Additionally, students are expected to act as exemplary representatives of the debate team at all times
– skipping class, cheating, and inappropriate behavior are all grounds for disciplinary action with respect to debate travel and privileges.
4. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER TEAMS* - Great debaters not only win rounds, but also win the respect of their peers.
 Do not delay the start of debates, delay disclosure, or delay a coin toss to gain additional preparation time.
 Do not be unnecessarily aggressive. Be competitive and make tough arguments but your demeanor needs to be friendly and calm. If the other team is being rude, do not stoop to their level.
 Never lend or borrow files or passwords to other schools. Even if it is a good friend who is debating your least favorite team and they just need to borrow one card, we do not share evidence. No Exceptions!
 Always share cites. Once you have read a position, other teams may ask for cites and we will provide them in a reasonable timeframe. However, we will not disclose analytical arguments, complete blocks, or explain strategies. If a team is pestering you for too much information, please inform a coach. Online requests for citations should remain limited to email correspondence – don’t use social media sites such as Facebook.
 Do not publicly complain, demean, or gossip about other debaters.
 Do not discuss f any of Westwood’s assignments, arguments, strategies, and teammates with any person outside of Westwood.
 It is important to be friends with debaters from other schools, but while competing against them at tournaments your priority is your team. Socializing should be limited until the end of competition.
*adapted from Jenny Heidt’s “Westminister Debate Handbook”
5. INTERACTIONS WITH JUDGES* - You will have a wide variety of judges in all divisions. Some of your judges will be highly trained coaches or college competitors. Some will be parents who have agreed to help out but know very little about debate. This range of judges will require you to adapt your style and arguments from round to round.
Debaters who consistently complain about judges do not improve as quickly as those who reflect about advice given by all judges.
 Treat your judges as you would treat Westwood teachers.
 Listen respectfully to each judge. Ask questions only for clarification or to solicit advice. Never ask questions meant to imply that the judge is incompetent. Remember that your body language is also important. If you look huffy, the judge will remember that a Westwood debater was rude and it will reflect badly on all of us. It is your coaches’ jobs to play the bad cop when necessary, not yours.
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 Write down all comments that they have so that you can look at them later for patterns and remember individual preferences. Writing down judge comments is also a demonstration of respect for their onions
 NEVER TEXT MESSAGE or engage in side conversations when a judge is delivering a decision.
 Do not publicly complain about judges.
 You shold privately ask a coach about advice given to you by a judge. Although all judges deserve respect and advice helps you to adapt to their preferences in the future, they may not all have widely-held opinions.
*adapted from Jenny Heidt’s “Westminister Debate Handbook”
A successful tournament requires extensive preparation for students and coaches, and also large amounts of energy from your parents to logistically and financially support these trips. The following policies are intended to set guidelines for student behavior to ensure that Westwood maintains its outstanding reputation in the debate community. The tradition of excellence both in performance and attitude is your debt to those who came before you and your legacy to those who come after you. Any problems that occur at tournaments should be reported to the coach quickly and calmly. Be responsible.
1. SIGNUP - Students are responsible for signing up for each tournament in a timely manner through the Westood
Debate Forums. Registration due dates are available on the tournament calendar. Late registrations will not be
accepted.
2. COMMITMENT and DROP FEES - Commitment to attend the tournament is made when the student registers on the forum. Registering on the forum does not guarantee that the student will be invited to attend the tournament; it simply indicates your ability and willingness to participate. Any student who withdraws their registration after they have signed up for the tournament must pay the initial entry fee plus any drop fees or late charges levied by the tournament host. All fees must be paid even if another student substitutes for the drop. The only exception that will waive a student’s responsibility for these fees is a family emergency.
3. DRESS CODE – Professional dress is important for every competitor. Perception is reality and judges want to vote for debaters that they perceive take competition seriously. The student dress code will be enforced at all tournaments and any student in violation of the dress code will be withdrawn from competition and become responsible for all fees associated with their removal:
All – Jeans, hats, and flip-flops are never acceptable tournament attire.
Boys – Slacks, dress shirts, belt, and ties. Socks and close-toed shoes, no white socks with professional clothes. Coats are not necessary unless you are competing in Extemporaneous
Speaking and/or competing at UIL or NFL Nationals.
To reemphasize: BOYS MUST WEAR TIES at all competitions.
Girls – Blouse with a conservative neckline and skirts that are at least knee length. Professional pants suits are also acceptable. Professional dresses are permitted if length and cut are appropriate. Students competing in Extemporaneous speaking are advised to err on the side of more professional attire such as the pants suit.
4. OBSERVING ELIMINATION ROUNDS – The Westwood Debate Team is only as good as each individual member.
Every debater should actively support fellow squad members throughout tournament competition: a. ALL students are expected to stay at a tournament at least one round past their elimination.
Students must observe and flow a full elimination round. Exceptions to this rule will only be made for out-of-town tournaments if a parent has a full vehicle and needs to leave and local tournaments that are later than 8:00pm on Saturday. Leaving a tournament without observing an elimination round will result in a significant reduction in your tournament grade. b. Be a good audience member to all participants. Never leave the room during a round during a speech. Do not talk or pass notes.
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c. In preparation for elimination rounds all Westwood students are expected to remain with the team to share information. Often, students will be given scouting assignments where they are told which elimination round to watch and flow. Scouts should keep a detailed flow of the debate and report to the coaches after the round.
5. PRACTICE - After-school practice sessions are a prerequisite for tournament competition. Students that regularly miss after-school practice sessions should not expect to be invited to tournaments. You must sign-in to be credited with attendance. You represent all of Westwood Debate in every one of your rounds – it is essential that you prepare for excellence.
6. TIME – Students should arrive at least 10 minutes EARLY to all debate obligations; this includes debate rounds, transportation, and practice sessions. Attendance at local tournaments is from approximately 3:00 p.m., Friday, until midnight, and from 7:00 a.m., Saturday until after the Westwood competitors are eliminated from competition, which is typically around 10:00pm. The booster club will distribute information regarding out-oftown tournaments.
7. TRANSPORTATION - All permission forms must be turned in prior to the tournament.
A.
Carpooling – Parents are encouraged and often needed to help split the responsibility for local tournament travel by organizing carpools. For example, one parent could drive a group of kids on Friday and a different parent could drive on Saturday. When the booster club assigns carpool seats, students ARE NOT
PERMITTED to change seats without direct permission from Mr. Burr or a debate team sponsor.
B.
Leaving early – Students will complete their tournament obligations at different times throughout the day on Saturday and some may want to leave the tournament early. Students must tell Mr. Burr or a debate sponsor DIRECTLY prior to leaving the tournament early. If the student was in a carpool without their parent, they must also inform the carpool driver prior to leaving. Finally, students are only allowed to leave early after observing at least one elimination round.
C.
Local Tournaments (Austin Area) - Parents must provide transportation to all tournaments in the Austin area.
D.
Out-of-town Tournaments - The booster club will organize transportation for out-of-town tournaments.
Parents are strongly encouraged to volunteer to help drive for out-of-town tournaments. When returning from out-of-town tournaments, students are required to call their parents 30 minutes prior to their arrival at Westwood and parents should be available to pick up child in a timely manner.
8. ATTENDANCE - Decisions regarding which competitors will attend tournaments are left to the discretion of the coaches.
9. PARTNERS – Students are expected to communicate with their teammates and arrive at mutually agreeable decision about partner pairings. Allowing students to choose their partners is an opportunity to demonstrate maturity and responsibility. Some partnerships will click naturally, while others take some time to get in a groove.
As long as each partner prioritizes the goal of competitive success over personal issues then there shouldn’t be any conflicts. Students are expected to actively work to promote your partner’s improvement and participation in debate. Individuals should never blame losses on their partner or in any way demean him or her to your teammates. Any time a student has a concern about partner relationships should directly communicate with the coach and with one another. Finally, varsity students switching partners during the season is strongly discouraged and will only be permitted if all parties agree.
10. ELIMINATION ROUND CONFLICTS - In tournaments that do not break brackets for elimination rounds, the decision concerning which team advances will be made by the coaches. There is no formula for determining which team advances, however the following factors will be considered: seeding, seniority, need for qualification points, likelihood of winning the tournament, and work ethic.
11. CONCEDING DEBATES - Westwood students are not allowed to concede or intentionally lose a debate round under any circumstances. Doing so is grounds for probation from tournament competition.
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12. MEAL MONEY - Almost all tournament costs are underwritten by Westwood High School and the Booster Club.
However, meal money must be provided by the student. Out-of-state tournaments require more significant financial contributions due to the travel and lodging costs. Each student will write a check of a predetermined amount to the Westwood Speech and Debate Boosters. These costs will vary from one tournament to the next.
Students must provide meal money for out-of-state tournaments as well.
13. MANDATORY ATTENDANCE FOR QUALIFIERS – students that qualify for TFA state, UIL regionals or state, NFL
Nationals, or the TOC are required to compete at those tournaments. Extreme circumstances that may prevent a student from attending these tournaments will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
14. BEHAVIOR - Your behavior is observed by judges and other squads. NEVER speak negatively, “bad mouth”, or gossip about other teams, competitors, or judges. Always be quiet in areas where competition is taking place.
Respect, neatness and friendliness are qualities we wish to exemplify. No abusive or profane language will be tolerated. Finally, clean up after yourself. Any food you eat or waste you create is your responsibility to dispose of.
Attending any tournament is a privilege; attending tournaments that require an overnight stay require exceptional responsibility and impeccable student behavior. To ensure student safety, all overnight travel rules will be strictly enforced. Students that deviate from these rules will not be invited to attend out-of-town competitions.
1. ADULT INSTRUCTIONS - Students will immediately follow instructions given by coaches and parent chaperones.
Students are not allowed to debate decisions made by adults concerning time of departure, food, or any reasonable request.
2. ROOM ASSIGNMENTS – Students will be assigned rooms by gender. Room assignments are firm and student cannot change their room without being directed to do so by a coach.
3. ROOMS, ROOM CHECK, and CURFEW- students must be present and on time for nightly room checks. After the coach has completed the room check, students are not permitted to leave their room for any reason. In the event of an emergency, students must call the coaches room. Students of the opposite gender are never permitted to be in the same room alone. Westwood students are never permitted to enter the room of students from another school and vice-versa. Westwood students should exercise common sense in social situations at tournaments. No
Westwood students are allowed to be anywhere near other competitors that are engaging in negative or illicit behavior.
4. SLEEP – students frequently desire to stay up late at overnight tournaments, typically to work on debate, but occasionally just to hang out with their roommates. There is no amount of work that you can do in a single night that will overcome your inability to function in the morning. Students should respectfully observe ‘lights out’ times given by the coaches. Students should ALWAYS respect their roommates right to sleep.
5. RESPECT THE HOTEL – a maid’s job description does not include cleaning up microwaved gummy bears or soda stains. You should take care to leave your hotel room clean and neat. Any damages caused to the hotel will be the responsibility of all the students in the damaged room. Additionally, you are not the only guest in the hotel; noisy and disruptive behavior is unacceptable.
6. ROLL CALL – students must be present and on time for morning roll call. Students that are late for the bus or their carpool will be left at the hotel and picked up at the earliest convenience of a coach or parent. Students must wait in the hotel lobby and will be responsible for any fees associated with their drop from the tournament. No single student has the right to imperil the ability their teammates to make their competitions on time.
7. ENFORCEMENT – In the event of a major offense or persistent misbehavior, the student will be sent home immediately at the parent’s expense and will be removed from the debate team.
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I, ___________________________________________________(PRINT NAME)_, have carefully read the Westwood Debate Handbook including the Syllabus, Team Policies, Tournament Policies, and Overnight Travel Rules. I am fully aware of and understand the policies as articulated and promise to abide by them fully. If I violate said policies, I understand that disciplinary action, resulting in possible suspension from travel and team privileges, or dismissal from the team and class, will result. I also understand that violating any Westwood High School or Round Rock ISD rule will result in further disciplinary actions as warranted by coaches and/or school district personnel.
Student Signature __________________________________________________
Parent Signature ____________________________________________________
Date _____________________________________________________________
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