Coaching a Club
Upside Down Debate
Veteran coaches Isaiah and Betsy McPeak wrote this book to help you lead debaters of all levels.
You will like using it to teach debate because we give you real-life words and examples to illustrate the debate theory, making teaching and learning debate far less intimidating.
You will also appreciate the emphasis on being non-argumentative and learning to debate in a restorative and wholesome fashion.
Related Posts
Policy First
Value vs. Policy- a foundational conflict, like the one between liberty and security, or that between deontology and consequentialism (now you can probably tell which side I fall on). While individual debaters have to rely on their experiences and feelings in order...
A Manifesto for Debate Training: Not What, But Why
Editor's Note: As Isaiah steps down as CEO, Head Coach, and Leader of Ethos, it seems rather prudent to publish this post, which embodies everything Isaiah taught and will continue to teach. This idea of teaching with a lens of "But why?" continues to be the spirit of...
Make Good Brief-Writing Decisions: Introducing The BPAS
I’m going to be honest, I have no idea what we were doing sometimes. Now, I’d definitely say that our club had a relatively good level of organization. However, the seemingly inevitable degree of chaos in some of our practices drove me crazy. Aside from deciding how...
Common Issues in Cases – What Coaches Should Look For
What should you look for when reviewing a case? We want debaters to process for themselves and make intentional choices. If they know why they did it a certain way, then it’s probably defensible. But even if they did a good thing without knowing why, challenge them,...
For Coaches – How to Coach Case Development
Note from a Coach: Here’s the state of the union: the year has gone extremely well so far—students are very positive about how things are going. However, I still feel totally unqualified to move them forward. [Student1] brought me her case the other day—so excited to...
How to Give and Receive Speech Feedback
So what is most likely to help club members improve their speeches? The parents and students at Lone Star Christian Communicators, a speech and debate club in Austin, Isaiah was asked to give an hour talk on giving and receiving speech feedback in club. Several...
Why 5th Graders Shouldn’t Debate
Bright-eyed, bright-minded, bright future. Brae is one of my weekly students. He's like most of you. Eager to spot logical fallacies, quick to provide well-researched evidence for his beliefs, hopes to become President one day, probably has a real shot. He wants to...
Isaiah on Winning Outrounds
In this post, Isaiah addresses winning outrounds. He takes a look at a couple techniques to utilize to increase your chances of winning those tough rounds. This post is especially beneficial for debaters who consistently break, but can't manage to get past that first...
1980s Debate Theory is Not “Traditional”
There is a certain “I’m a stock issues coach” coaching persona that is the equivalent of “I already considered everything, made my decision, and am set in my ways.” This persona tries to shut down learning certain argument types, usually out of good motive – keep...
Coaching Soccer is like Coaching Debate
There are two types of soccer coaches: Those who try to CONTROL your every action, as if the athletes are at the end of a joystick. Move here, do this, do that, go there, dribble now, pass now, strike it! Those who help you OWN your own decisions, as if only you know...
A Glossary of Normalized Debate Terms
For a skill that hinges on unblurred communication, debating can be brutally muddled. Thank unexplained debate jargon, thrown around in every speech. In the 20th century, cultivated primarily by guides who experienced debate as debaters rather than audience, debate...
How to Start or Run a Debate Club: Four Models I Tried
So you were the one voluntold to form or take over leadership of a debate club? Bless you. I've been on the leadership and admin team of 4 clubs, and consulted around 20 over the last 10 years. Here are some lessons learned about four different models, and guiding...
A Student-Coaching Dilemma: It Depends
When you're one step ahead, you can help those one step behind. But which step to take? Clare Downing wrote a post based on her experiences as a student coach. A Student-Coaching Dilemma: It Depends by Clare Downing One of the best things about the Homeschool Speech...
More than M&Ms: Eight Tips for Students in Club Leadership
Is it bad to say that M&Ms were the highlight of a debate class? I still remember those M&Ms. I also remember sitting in the same metal chair for two eight-hour days of basic debate instruction from the experienced debate students at my new debate club....
Winning Debate and “Being Good” Aren’t Linked
I was recently horrified to hear of a parent telling their child the following: not doing enough devotions at nationals might make God not bless you with winning debate rounds. This is one of the reasons we don't like Facing the Giants (a movie). God sometimes had his...