I want to be added to the e-mail chain:Annie.goodson@gmail.com and aegoodson@bluevalleyk12.org

Note--I switched schools last year and had to make a new tabroom account. If you're inclined, you can look up my name and you'll find two of me and can view my full judging record there. Paradigms are the same :)

Top Level:

I'm the head coach at Blue Valley West. I tend to value tech over truth in most instances, but I 100% believe it's your job to extend and explain warrants of args, and tell me what to do with those args within the context of the debate round. I expect plans to provide a plan text. I won't evaluate anything that happens outside of the debate round. I very much believe debate is a game where nothing "real" ever happens, and as such, we need to treat it like a game and be nice to each other. I don't want to see teams being hateful during the round--that will result in speaks being dropped and, if it's bad enough, losing the round. Be mindful of who you are and how you affect the debate space for others--racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. will result in you losing the round, no questions asked.

Delivery:

I'm generally fine with speed but need you to slow down on authors/tags. It will help me better understand you if you slow down a few clicks in rebuttals. The more technical your argument, the slower I need you to go. I'll say "clear" once, and if I still can't follow I'll stop flowing. I won't evaluate anything that's not on the flow. Please signpost clearly and extend warrants, not just authors/dates. Good rebuttals need to explain to me how to fill out the ballot. I'm looking for strong overviews and arguments that tell a meaningful story. We often forget that debate, regardless of how fast we are speaking, is still a performative activity at its core. You need to tell a story in a compelling way--don't let speed get in the way of that. Going 9 off in the 1NC is almost always a bad call. I'd rather you just make a few good arguments then try to out-spread the other team with a lot of meh arguments. I think the trend of going a million-off in the 1NC is a bad trend in this activity.

T:

I default to competing-interps-good, but I've voted on reasonability in the past. I enjoy T and am excited for the T debates I'll get to see this year.

Performance-based:

I'm generally not super familiar with these args, but I've voted on them often and generally find them compelling. I'm not the best judge on these args because they're not my expertise--help me by explaining what your performance does, why it should happen in a debate round, and why it can't happen elsewhere, or is less effective/safe elsewhere.

CPs:

These need to be specific and include solvency advocates, and they need to be competitive. I'll defer to just not evaluating a CP if I feel like it's not appropriately competitive with the aff plan, unless the aff completely drops it. I really dislike Delay and Consult PCs, but go for whatever if you feel like you can convince me. I won't automatically vote against any of the above, just know you'll have to really sell me on it.

K:

This is the argument category with which I am least familiar, but I generally find them extremely compelling. One thing I like about this activity is that it gives kids a platform to discuss identity. Non-identity based theoretical arguments are typically harder for me to follow. Assume I'm unfamiliar with the specific texts you're reading. You'll likely need to spend some more time explaining it to me than you would have to in front of another judge. That said, I enjoy seeing them, so go for it.

DAs:

Love these, even the generic ones. DAs need to tell a story--don't give me a weak link chain and make sure you're telling a cohesive story with the argument. I'll buy whatever impacts you want to throw out there.

Framework:

I'll vote on this. Make sure you're explaining specifically what the framework does to the debate round. If I vote on your framework, what does that gain us? What does your framework do for the debaters? What does it make you better at/understand more? Compare yours to your opponents' and explain why you win.

General Cranky Stuff:

1. A ton of you aren't flowing, or you're just flowing off the speech doc, which makes me really irritated and guts half the education of this activity. You should be listening. Your cross-x questions shouldn't be "Did you read XYZ?" It's equally frustrating when kids stand up to give a speech and just start mindlessly reading from blocks. Debate is more than just taking turns reading. I want to hear analysis and critical thinking throughout the round, and I want you to explain to me what you're reading (overviews and underviews, plz). I'll follow along in speech docs, and I'll read stuff again when you tell me take a closer look at it, but I'm not a computer with the magic debate algorithm--you need to explain to me what you're reading and tell me why it matters.

2. 1NCs, just label your off-case args. It wastes time and causes confusion down the line when you don't.

3. The point of speed is to get in more args/analysis in the time allotted. If you're stammering a ton and having to constantly re-start your sentences, then trying to go fast gains you nothing.....just......slow down.

4. Finally, you HAVE to slow down during rebuttals for me--other judges can follow analytics read at blistering speed. I am not one of those judges.

**Disclosure is good and should happen always.

**Trigger warnings are good and should happen whenever needed BEFORE the round starts.

Anything else, just ask!