Check out what's new this week, Coach!
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National Tournament Registration
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Registration is now open for the Middle School National Tournament! Learn more or register by May 15. High school tournament registration opens once a district's full district tournament series has concluded and the chair has confirmed the results. Coaches will receive an email when registration is open for their school. Learn more about Nationals »
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NEW Judge Accreditation Available
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The new NSDA Judge Accreditation system offers free, interactive learning modules tailored to various speech and debate events. All judges, regardless of membership status, will be able to personalize their learning path to build confidence and expertise in judging each event at their own pace. After completing each module, judges will earn a certificate, and a badge will appear on their public Tabroom.com profiles indicating that they have successfully completed the module.
Judges at NSDA-run events will be required to take the judge training courses (National Tournament judges by May 15), and a new feature in Tabroom.com is being created to make it easy for any tournaments to require that judges at their events have completed the training as well.
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End of Season Unit: Teaching Advocacy
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Interested in a new way to close out the school year in the classroom? Give students the opportunity to put what they've learned into action in their community with our Start Here: Teaching Advocacy lessons. In this unit, students identify an issue in the world around them and work in groups to develop and enact a solution. Highlights include:
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- Overview of ways young people have made a difference throughout history to build confidence.
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Mind mapping activity for teams to identify problems and research solutions.
- Shark Tank-inspired Guppy Tank presentations to get their projects approved by a panel.
- Use of written and oral communication skills to design and implement solutions.
- Presentation of final results.
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Plan a March Madness Impact Calculus Tournament
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While NCAA basketball teams gear up to compete in their tournament, your NSDA students can, too! Use this lesson from Start Here: Teaching Policy Debate to hold an Impact Calculus Tournament for your debaters. On day one, students learn about comparing impacts and formulate their arguments. On day two, the tournament begins! Students deliver short (30-second to one-minute) speeches on their advantages or disadvantages, comparing their impact to their opponents’ impact. Students should address magnitude, probability, and timeframe. Impact turns are fair game! Either have the team vote on a winner or make a decision on your own.
This full lesson and tips for assessment are included in Lesson 10 of the Policy Start Here collection. A similar version with more preparation time for younger students is included in Lesson 10 of Start Here: Teaching Middle School Public Forum. Game on!
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Recognize Academic and Competitive Success
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The prestigious Academic All American award recognizes high school students for academic and competitive success. To be eligible, students must have:
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- Earned the degree of Superior Distinction (750 points)
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Completed at least 5 semesters of high school
- Demonstrated outstanding character and leadership
- Earned a GPA of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent)
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Students who meet the points requirement are marked with a yellow box that says AAA? on your Student Roster. It's free and easy to submit a nomination, and the award makes an excellent addition to resumes or scholarship applications. Don't miss your chance to recognize seniors before they graduate!
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Navigate Unconscious Bias with the Multicultural Learning Alliance
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Unconscious bias influences our perceptions, decisions, and interactions in ways we may not even realize. As speech and debate coaches, understanding and addressing unconscious bias is essential for creating an inclusive and equitable learning environment for all students.
Register to join the MLA tomorrow, March 20 at 6:30 p.m. CT and explore the influence of unconscious bias in the speech and debate community. We will discuss what bias is, why we have it, its consequences, and ways to navigate our biases to prevent problematic behavior.
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Competition and Rules Leadership Committee Candidate Information
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Elections for the NSDA’s new Competition and Rules Leadership Committee, which will serve as a standing committee impacting decisions related to NSDA competitions and rules, will be held April 1-22, 2024. Thank you to the individuals who have expressed an interest in serving! If your school is in one of the following regions, visit the election website to read up on your slate of candidates. One advisor per active NSDA school will be eligible to vote.
- California Region (all CA)
- East/Northeast Region (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, WV)
- Northern Midwest Region (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, WI)
- Northwest/Northwest Central Region (AK, ID, MT, ND, NE, OR, SD, WA, WY)
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Apply or Share: Policy Topic Fellowship
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Are you a high school Policy Debate coach interested in writing a topic paper and attending the annual topic meeting? Apply for the Policy Topic Fellowship! The NSDA has partnered with the NFHS to offer two Policy Debate topic fellowships with a goal of increased representational diversity in the topic process. Learn more or apply by April 1 »
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