Last changed on
Tue September 17, 2024 at 3:11 PM CDT
I am a debate coach at Little Rock Central. Please put both on the email chain: jkieklak@gmail.com; lrchdebatedocs@gmail.com
I believe that my role is to listen, flow, and weigh the arguments offered in the round how I am persuaded to weigh them by each team. I will listen to and evaluate any argument. It is unacceptable to do anything that is: ableist, anti-feminist, anti-queer, racist, or violent.
I think debates have the lowest access to education when the judge must intervene. I can intervene as little as possible if you:
1) Weigh your impacts and your opponents' access to risk/impacts in the debate.
2) Actively listen and use your time wisely. Debaters miss each other when distracted/not flowing or listening. This seems to make these teams more prone to missing/mishandling arguments by saying things like, "'x' disad, they dropped it. Extend ____ it means ____;" yet, in reality, the other team actually answered the argument through embedded clash in the overview or answered it in a way that is unorthodox but also still responsive/persuasive. Please be clear.
3) Compare evidence and continuously cite/extend your warrants in your explanations/refutation/overall argumentation. Responses in cross that cite an individual warrant or interrogate their opponents' warrants are good ethos builders and are just in general more persuasive, same in speeches.
4) You fully explain your perms/responses to perms. I am less persuaded by blippy arguments (especially the perms), and I am more persuaded when perms and are either: explained in detail or carded.
5) "Be mindful of your maximum rate of efficiency" (AT). Speed isn't typically a problem, but do be realistic about how fast you think I can type your responses that you want me to flow verbatim (perms, blippy disads, etc.) and not reconstruct.
Debate has changed the way that I believe about certain policies and policymaking. I believe that debate can do this for other people too.
I value persuasive judge instruction, and I would like my RFD to reflect key moments/lines in the 2AR and 2NR. Line by line is important.