Hi everyone and welcome back to another week of Lexington Debate Institute!
We started off the day with an in-depth lecture on the Electoral College. Students were introduced to the topic during the previous week, but instructors dove into the nuances of how the Electoral College functioned as well as how a National Popular Vote would be effectuated. Because this will be the topic for the camp tournament, students were much more involved in actively participating and taking notes on the lecture material.
Students also dove into research. Time was allocated to write out and construct new cases, using a template provided by the instructors. In conjunction with writing out speeches and brainstorming contentions, students also used the skills they learned in the previous week to research and process articles written online into "cards," or a form of evidence that can be utilized within a debate round.
To conclude the day of research and preparation, students participated in practice debates after lunch. Debates were adjudicated by instructors, where each student gave their two speeches just like in a real debate, while simultaneously practicing their persuasive and presentation skills. After receiving feedback, students were given time to refine and rehearse their cases. They will be using them in the upcoming tournament on Thursday!
