Congress Judge Instructions

CONGRESS JUDGING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Thank you for volunteering your time to judge today’s tournament. It is much appreciated by all the competitors here today. 
2. Time Limits: Student Congress consists of three preliminary sessions. Each session is 75 minutes long. Time begins with the start of the first speaker. Presiding officers in each session will handle all of the timing.
1. Yes, PO should pause time during the PO switch.
2. All competitors are guaranteed 1 speech per session (even if it means you have to go slightly over time). 
3. Room Assignments in Tabroom: All judges will be expected to be available to judge for all three rounds. Your room assignments can be found on your www.Tabroom.com account.
   1. Log into your Tabroom account and you will find your judge round and room assignments for the day.
   2. You will be able to access your ballot once you hit the Start button. 
   3. If you are not scheduled for a particular session, you will be considered stand-by and may still be used so please stick around and keep an eye on your Tabroom account.
4. Accessing Your Competition Room:
   1. The link to the competition room will be on your Tabroom Home Page next to your ballot. 
   2. You should go directly to your room as soon as pairings are released so rounds can get started on time.
   3. Have your video turned on and monitor what happens in the room. You are the adult in charge of this online room.
   4. The students have been instructed not to begin debate on the issues until the judge(s) arrive. There will be 3 judges in all chambers. All three judges should be present before students begin to speak.
5. Starting the Round in Tabroom: Remember to press the “Start” button once you have accessed your ballot.
   1. If tech difficulties are bad enough where you can’t judge (more than 10 seconds), please turn your mic on, and let the speaker know that they should take some TECH TIME:
      1. The PO will be instructed to call on another speaker while the speaker who was experiencing technical difficulties can take tech time to move closer to a router, plug in to the ethernet, reboot, dial-in, etc.
      2. When connectivity is reestablished, the PO will recognize the speaker who needed tech time in the next cycle. The speaker will resume the speech where they left off. 
      3. Tech time poses no penalty or advantage to student rankings.
      4. If tech problems persist, do not stop debate but let the tournament officials know, and a tournament official will assist and advise. 
6. Contacting Tab Staff: Most problems will get resolved in your room through the Presiding Officer who is running the round using chat if needed. You should contact the tab or the help desk if the presiding officer is not solving the issue and/or one of the following issues arises:
   1. If there are any problematic users.
   2. If a student is unable to present due to technical issues.
   3. There are missing people, serious rules or ethical violations, concerns about outside assistance, and anything else that the presiding officer cannot resolve in the round.
   4. The round may still continue while the tab staff is responding to the issue. DO NOT stop the round while waiting for the tab staff to respond. Tab staff have the ability to enter the room to resolve problems if needed, but many times will contact participants outside the chamber and resolve issues without slowing down the round.
7. Presiding Officer Will Run the Congress: One student will run the Congress, leaving you free to observe and score the speakers. You will see two presiding officers in the chamber -- each will preside for half the session. At the conclusion of the round, you will choose the best presiding officer by using the link for BEST PO on your ballot. 
8. Responsibilities of Judges: Please refer to the section below Criteria for Ranking for what you should be looking for to rank and score the speakers. At the end of the session you must do the following:
   1. During the Round: listen attentively to all speeches. Each judge will score every speech on a scale of 1-6 points. (A score of 6 points is best. Only give 1-3 points in the event of an especially offensive speech or question.) These scores are not the speaker’s ranking, but more like a grade for each speech. Make comments for each speaker and begin to consider how you would rank the students as the round progresses. Each student will answer questions during the questioning period. As a judge, you should consider how well the speaker can defend their position. 
   2. At the End of the Round: rank speakers 1st-9th on the ballot. Please check that you have not ranked the same person twice. If the presiding officer presents a speech on the legislation you may also consider them in the overall rankings. Do not rank the presiding officer in the top 9 if they did not give a speech in the round.
9. Cross-Examination: 
   1. Direct Questioning: All rounds will use direct questioning, which means that all questioning periods are broken into 30-second segments, with one questioner per segment, who may ask multiple questions of the speaker during that segment. No suspension of the rules is allowed to extend questioning. The questioner can interrupt the speaker while they are responding, but you may critique the manner in which the interruption occurs. All speeches in prelims are 3 minutes with a 2-minute questioning period for the first affirmative or sponsorship speech and 1-minute cross-examination for subsequent speeches.
10. Criteria for Ranking: Students should be judged on how well they debate the bills in the round. You should consider both delivery and analysis (use of evidence and arguments) equally. Presiding officers can also be ranked in the top 9 if they speak on legislation. The ballot will have a detailed rubric for you to use. Please separate your own views from those of the speaker—students do not write or choose the topics and are required to speak on both sides of a topic.
    1. When choosing Best Presiding Officer, you should consider how efficiently they ran the session, how well they communicated with the chamber and their overall demeanor and presence in the round.
11. Returning Your Ballot: Please consider your rankings of students and make your comments during the round so you are ready to complete your ballot once the round has finished. At the conclusion of the round, you will rank students from 1-9 (meaning first place - ninth place). Any student not ranked will receive an automatic 10th place. Don’t forget to use the BEST PO link to choose the best Presiding Officer.
    1. Once you submit your ballot, you will be asked to confirm. Please take the extra step of choosing to confirm or your ballot will not be submitted.
    2. Once your ballot is submitted, you will not have the option of going back and making comments, so make sure you make your comments during the round while students are speaking.

CONGRESS JUDGE CHECKLIST

Before the round

• Check that your computer (microphone and video) work with Zoom. 
• Make sure you have a strong internet connection. 
• If assigned a ballot in tabroom.com, report to your room at least 15 mins before the round begins.
• Always click “Start” on tabroom.com to accept the ballot.
• If not assigned a ballot, you are still needed in the Judge Pool. Please report to the virtual Congress Judge Room 30 minutes before the start of the round. You might be needed as a substitute. Please remain in the virtual Congress Judge Room until the tournament officials report that the round is underway and you are released.
• Be prepared to turn on your video during the entire duration of the round. 
• Mute yourself when you don’t need to be heard. 

During the round

• Keep the video on throughout and demonstrate active listening. Keep your microphone on mute.
• Type notes about each speaker into the comments of your tabroom ballot as you listen to them speak live in the round.
• There’s a lot to keep track of when judging Congress, so just try to write one compliment and one constructive criticism per speech. Think “action items.”
• Each judge will score every speech on a scale of 1-6 points (6 points is best. Only give 1-3 points in the event of an especially offensive speech or question.) These scores are not the speaker’s ranking, but more like a grade for each speech. 
• Remember to check for implicit bias. Never comment on a speaker’s appearance.
• Save your comments frequently.
• On a piece of paper, jot notes about how you would rank the speakers as you watch.
• One approach is to divide a piece of paper into three columns:
  • top | middle | bottom.
  • Write the names in the column where you think their performance belongs. Then determine your specific ranks from there.

After the round

• Please stay in the virtual competition room until a tournament official visits to confirm that you have successfully submitted your ballot.
• Rank the speakers 1st - 9th on your ballot.
• Vote for the best Presiding Officer (PO).
• Submit your ballot within 5 minutes of the end of the round.
• Once you submit your ballot, you will be asked to confirm. Please take the extra step of choosing to confirm, or your ballot will not be submitted. 
• Enjoy your breaks! Thank you for empowering our youth through debate!