Hi everyone! We finally started the long-awaited tournament today! After a short introduction to tournament procedure, we dove right in to two rounds before lunch and two after. The first two rounds were preset, or randomly generated. After the first two rounds, teams were paired together by their record and speaker points.
These tournament rounds differed from typical practice rounds because judges gave decisions after adjudicating the debate. Students would be informed whether they won or lost, and received oral critique from the judges. Between rounds, students had the opportunity to do research and incorporate judge feedback into their cases and improve their strategy.
After lunch, students dove right in to two more debates. This time, partnerships were paired together by similar record. Teams that won two rounds would debate other teams that won two rounds, and so on. In this way, we ensured the most fair debates between students.
With the conclusion of the fourth and final debate for the day, we reconvened to debrief how the debates went. Tomorrow, we'll finish the last two preliminary rounds, and hold a final debate where parents are invited to watch!
