good debate

I spent some of the afternoon at Central High debriefing about the tournament this past weekend. The next stop for the squad is the Shawnee Mission East tournament in Johnson County, which Geoffery and Ebony won last year. It's going to be interesting this year because they won't have the same judging pool. It'll be more folks from the community, and they might not be as open to the "exclusionary norms" arguments Central runs. I think it'll be an interesting challenge, though.

The following weekend, Geoffery and Leodis will compete in Chicago at The Glenbrooks, one of the biggest debate tournaments in the country. There'll be something like 200 teams in their division. Last year, Ebony and Geoffery went 3-4, though Geoffery picked up fifth-place speaker, which was pretty huge.

This tournament's a challenge not only because of its size, but because it's more likely there'll be judges who are resistent to so-called nontraditional arguments. But I think Geoffery and Leodis might have a better chance this year, becauuse they've gottenn a lot better at controlling debate rounds and making it really clear why judges should vote for their case. Which -- Duh! -- is what it's all about.

Debate practice provided a nice break from this weird resentment/conflict hole I dove into over the last couple of days on this blog. It's such an incredible game, really, and sometimes I feel as though I learn more than the kids. It sharpens soo many skills. And I just loved sitting in that classroom at Central for an hour or so trying to figure out how express arguments more clearly, to get down to the essence of