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After-School Program Guide

 

In the In-Class Teaching Guide, I went through event-specific details and gave suggestions on how to approach the different events in a classroom setting.  If you are looking for event-specific information, I would direct you to the In-Class Teaching Guide.  For this portion of the guide, I plan on focusing on an After-School Program and what that entails.  Specifically, I will cover the following: Getting Started, What to Expect at a Tournament, After the Event, and cover some Resources/Links.

 

Getting Started

 

Getting started is usually the hardest part of any venture.  There are always a million things to do and not enough time in the day to do them.  The NJFL manual has a lot of details which will get you going, but I’ll do my best to highlight the most practical items and give some advice on how to get your program off the ground.

 

Talk with your administration – The first stop is to clear things with your administration.  If they aren’t on board, you can’t move forward.  The important thing to do is go in with all your ducks in a row.  The gist is as follows:

 

  • How many tournaments will you be attending? There are 2 MS tournaments in Iowa and the NJFL National tournament.  I’d highly recommend attending both MS tournaments and seriously looking into the NJFL National tournament.  More information on the NJFL can be found on the Resources page.

 

  • How much will it cost?  Typically, the registration cost of the MS tournaments is minor – the intent of the tournaments is to keep the cost low and the interest level high.  MS tournaments typically have a set fee for an unlimited number of entries.  For the past couple of years, the cost has ranged from $30 – $40 per tournament.  In addition, you are looking at transportation costs for the tournament – depending on your school district, some schools will cover all or a portion of the cost.  You can also have parent volunteers’ help for this portion, but that will come after you find out if you need that or not. 

 

  • When do you start?  The MS ‘season’ typically starts after Spring Break.  The two Iowa MS tournaments are near the end of the year, so starting right before or after Spring Break is typical for an After School program.  Your meeting schedule is up to you, whatever you feel is sufficient.  I would recommend at least 2-3 hours of practice per week to get prepared in the given timeframe.  If you are working with students in-class as well as outside of class, you can start students earlier as you feel is appropriate.

 

Talk with your students – In order to get students involved, you need to start early.  You can do this in a variety of ways, but I would recommend the following:

 

  • During class – If you have a student that shows potential in class, tell them.  Talk with a fellow co-worker and ask for other names.  Mention what you plan on doing and have your co-worker recruit.  If you get a core group of kids interested, they will start recruiting others as well. 

 

  • Recruitment – Put up signs a couple of weeks prior to starting your After School program.  Put in announcements to go over the intercom.  Make a video to play during classes to show what students can expect.  The NFLtv website listed in the In-Class Teaching Guide has some great recruitment videos from former Speech and Debate people, including big name stars such as Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, and more. 

 

  • Utilize HS resources – One of the best methods I’ve found to recruit MS students is to involve HS Speech and Debate team members.  You will need to arrange this well in advance, but having HS students visit classrooms and talk about Speech and Debate is an excellent recruitment tool.  If possible, having the students visit a number of classrooms while offering examples of what to expect (especially the Speech events) is a great way to get students involved.  Students would need permission to head down to the MS during school hours and have teachers willing to let them take some class time to talk to students…but the results are worth the effort.

 

Talk with parents – Parent support is essential to getting your program off the ground, especially if you are going to need parent drivers, judges, or other support.  Here are some ways you can plant the seeds early and get the support you need:

 

  • Parent/Teacher Conferences – One of the best times to promote your program is when you have your school district parent/teacher conferences.  Whether the conferences are one-on-one or setup as an “open house” setup, the parent/teacher night is a great recruitment tool.  I’d have information available throughout the year, giving information to parents about when the program will start at your school.  Regardless, use the time you have wisely and you’ll be able to recruit students throughout the entire year.

 

  • Letters to parents – Every year, teachers are shown test scores identify all types of students.  Most schools even send out letters to families concerning upcoming school events or other information.  If you ask, you can often include additional information in the school mailings, including information regarding the Speech and Debate program.  In addition, you can send letters independently, utilizing a recommendation list from fellow teachers regarding those who might be interested.  Either way, getting a tangible letter in the mail goes a long way to getting your program on the radar.

 

Recruit help – You don’t have to do everything on your own.  If you have a HS Speech and Debate program in your school district, many of the students are done with the Iowa season for the year.  If you ask for help, they will likely be available.  I would utilize students to help with tweaking pieces once they have had some initial instruction, help with judging practice rounds, or even coaching directly if they are available.  Parents might also be of use, if they have experience in the various events.  The point is, you don’t have to do this alone, make sure you are checking all of your available resources.

 

 

What to Expect at a Tournament

 

Arriving at a tournament can be a harrowing experience.  If it is your first time, the whole experience can be a little overwhelming.  I’ll do my best to go through some tips to help you through the process:

 

Arrive on time – This is a no brainer, but you need to make sure you arrive on time to get through the registration process.  The process isn’t typically that involved, but it is essential you have the time to settle in and find your way around the school.  Students will appreciate having the time to figure out where things are, since there really won’t be any other time to figure things out once the tournament gets started.

 

Set a team meeting place/location – Once you know where things are, you need to make sure everyone returns to the same spot.  Speech and debate events have different schedules going on at the same time and you won’t be seeing your students on a consistent basis.  Typically, a central base of operations for all teams is setup in the school cafeteria or other large public area.  Stake your claim to an area and make sure your students know to return to the place after rounds.  You will be able to review the tournament with them and offer pointers as the tournament progresses.  You will likely be busy judging as well, so having a common shared return location will make your tournament experience run smoother.

 

Return ballots promptly – If you are judging, you are going to need to fill out ballots over who won and who lost.  You’ll be expected to leave some comments regarding student performance, in terms of how the student can improve and what they did well.  However, the entire process is a balancing act between thoroughness and time management.  Remember the tournament cannot proceed until ballots are returned to the tab room for processing, so don’t take forever filling out a ballot or giving oral critiques to students.  The educator in all of us says we want to see them improve, but we have to remember the tournament requires we be timely as well.  So, balance the approach as much as possible.  As a rule of thumb, try to give yourself 5-10 minutes maximum to filling out your ballot after a round.  Also, try and write during the round as much as you feel comfortable, since that will save you time at the end of the round.

 

Lunch Time 101 – Most tournaments will provide some sort of concessions for students to purchase food.  Students will need to have cash, so make sure to tell them to bring money for any food or snack purchases.  Some tournaments will offer a judge/coach room where some food and drinks will be available for free, but the room is for adult judges or coaches only.  Concessions are one of the ways tournaments become profitable so it is always important to support the program.

 

Keep your students focused – A tournament can change the stated schedule frequently, due to rounds taking too long or as an attempt to accelerate events to get the tournament over more quickly.  Students (and coaches) need to be ready for the adjustment by making sure to check the schedule regularly and getting to their rounds on time.  Students also need help maintaining their focus because the tournament can be as much of an endurance test as a competition.  Students need to maintain the same energy level and quick thinking throughout the competition in order to be competitive.  I’d suggest checking to ensure students are eating right throughout the day, resting when possible, and thinking on what each can do to improve as the day moves forward.

 

 

After the Event

 

Once the tournament is over, most of the work is done.  Congratulations on your students’ performance and I hope your experience was a pleasant one.  Here are some suggestions on what to do as a post-tournament follow-up:

 

Recognize your students’ accomplishments – This one is a given, but make sure you go the whole nine yards.  Let your administration know how your students did.  Have the students walk into the Principal’s Office and show them what trophies they won.  Put up a bulletin board announcement or other form of public recognition – whatever you do, make sure your students are publically recognized for their accomplishments because it will go a long way to ensuring they will continue with the program in the future.

 

Review Comment Sheets – After the tournament is over, every school will be given a results packet which includes all the comment sheets the judges gave the students throughout the competition.  You should go through and review the sheets, writing down some key points for each student to work on and areas of praise the student excelled in.  Then, make sure the students have a chance to read exactly what their judge wrote down.  Some coaches prefer to keep the actual comment sheets while others allow the students to keep them after the tournament.  The choice is yours.  Regardless, the comment sheets will give advice and hopefully some direction for the students to consider in the future.

 

Prepare for the next event – If you are attending a tournament for the first-time this year, you are in luck: this year Iowa is hosting 2 MS events.  So, if you attended the Bettendorf MS Invitational, you can set your sights on the IC West MS Invitational the very next week.  During the week in-between, use the time to prepare properly.  For Speech students, review the comment sheets and work to tweak/cut/adapt/improve their performance.  For Debate students, read through the comments and strengthen your arguments as best as you can to be ready for the next tournament.  Regardless, students can learn from their first experience and apply the lessons learned directly the following week.  This is a great opportunity for competitive students because they will get one more chance to use the same Speech or Debate preparation at another event.  Both tournaments will offer the same events, same fee structure, and likely the same competition.  I’ve seen students improve dramatically, so long as they try again when their initial experience was still fresh in their minds.  This is the case this year – utilize the extra tournament to your advantage.

 

Thank you letters – In the same respect, make sure every parent, driver, student coaches, judges, and whoever else was involved is properly thanked for their help.  Some of the people may be complete newbies to the Speech and Debate world while others will be veterans – either way, make sure they know they are respected and appreciated.  As discussed above, a warm thank-you will go a long way in ensuring your program continues (and thrives) with the proper support you need to keep going in the future.

 

Think about the Big Picture – After the Iowa MS tournaments, you may find yourself returning home with students who made some significant accomplishes and want to do more.  Well, you are in luck…there is an event that hosts a National competition for MS students.  There are no real qualifiers for the event, you just need to be a member of the NJFL (see the Resource page for more information) and register with the NJFL by their deadline.  The NJFL Nationals tournament brings together the best MS students from around the country each year and crowns a winner in each of their events.  The events are the exact same as those at the Iowa MS tournaments, although the topics for Extemporaneous Speaking and the Debate events will be different.  You can learn more at the NJFL site, but consider taking your students to the Nationals tournaments.  Not only will your students compete against the best in the country, but they will also be exposed to a much bigger world and come back stronger from the experience.  You will benefit as well – the NJFL offers many coaching seminars that are free of charge and give great ideas on how to expand your program.  I’ve attended many sessions myself and cannot recommend them enough.  Good luck and hope to see you there.

 

Resources and Links

 

There are a number of great resources out there for anyone looking to start a program.  Event-specific sites are listed in the In-Class Teaching Guide, but I wanted to give some general links and some resources I have found to help you out:

 

National Forensic League – http://www.nationalforensicleague.org – The main site for the National Forensic League, you will find a great deal of resources to help you out.  The website isn’t always the friendliest for beginners to navigate, so I have attached a few items directly to make your journey a little easier.

 

 

 

 

  • NJFL Coaching Guide – The NJFL guide is a wonderful starting point, offering event descriptions, ideas for fundraising, sample travel forms, health certificates, judge training, and more.  The information will make any new coach’s job easier.

 

In addition to info from the NFL, I have including some various handouts from around the web which seemed useful:

 

 

In the end, a great deal of resources are available on the internet to help you start a speech and debate program.  In closing, I will leave you with my contact information.  If you want to discuss how to start a program or just want to talk with someone because all of this is a bit overwhelming, feel free to e-mail me at jrankin@bettendorf.k12.ia.us.  Thank you and I hope you have found this information helpful.

 

 

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