Can we answer some questions for you?
What are the benefits for my student if s/he joins Clear Brook Speech and Debate?
Students who join Clear Brook Speech & Debate gain fundamental skills with concepts that are critical both now and in each of their individual futures. Regardless which career path a student chooses, the skills that they learn in Speech & Debate are ones that are necessary, beit it as a lawyer, a salesperson, a doctor, a teacher or any other possible career field. You can find additional benefits by accessing the link titled "Benefits of Speech & Debate" under the "For Parents" link above.
Will my child get advanced credit if they take Debate I?
Only the upper level electives are weighted as "Advanced Academic" which means they will carry a greater weight for student GPA scores but this occurs only AFTER the completion of Debate I. Please keep in mind that, due to the new STEM option that has been available to students since February 2014), the requirements for each plan could impact how this course is allocated to your child so please check with his/her counselor for an exact answer based on your child's graduation plan. We are currently working with district administration to try to convince them to weight Debate I as Advanced Academic in the coming years but, as so of now, all district Debate I courses are regular credit courses.
What supplies does my child need for class and what are course fees assessed to this class?
A student class/course fee will cover most of the supplies students will need for class. This fee (at the current time) is $50.00 for Debate I students and $200.00 for Advanced Students. This fee is used to cover expenses including travel costs for buses, minimal registration fees, timers, hi-lighters, legal pads, a squad t-shirt, printer/toner usage for traveling, NSDA registration and subsequent awards from NSDA, charter dues, access to electronically published briefs and websites / news aggregate utilities for competitions and more.
The only supplies that students need to responsible for are standard school supplies which your child should have for any other class - mainly pens, pencils, a notebook to house work and paper/spirals to take notes. The only "atypical" supply that students need (and many may already have this) is some type of external hard drive or USB drive if their cloud accounts at school are not optimal for their usage.
Will my child be required to travel as a member of Debate I?
At this time, students will be required to travel as Debate I members twice during the first semester and it is strongly encouraged as the skills students will gain in Debate I are theoretical until they are used in a "real-time" setting. Although students will participate in debate rounds inside of a classroom setting, competition on the Houston "circuit" is very helpful and takes the skills learned in class to a much higher level. All students should demonstrate appropriate behavior in class, consistent participation in class, be passing all of their classes and be current on any and all fees owed before traveling.
IF my child travels, what time schedule should I expect?
When we travel, the team typically leaves around 11:15 on Fridays, therefore your child will miss 1/2 of those school days. Depending on the distance from Clear Brook, arrival time back at school can vary anywhere from 10:00 to 1:00 AM. The closer we compete to Brook (Clear Lake High School, Clear Creek High School, South Houston High School, etc), the later our departure time can be and the earlier we (generally) will arrive back at Brook. Your child will call you when we are approximately 15-20 minutes from the school so that, when we arrive, a ride is waiting for them.
Our tournaments are (based on event being competed in) usually 2-day events, which means that we depart again Saturday morning, generally around 6:00 - 6:30 AM, depending on distance. Arrival time back at Brook will be typical of Friday night arrival times.
We will strive to schedule tournaments that we will attend as close to Brook as possible. This will allow for a number of benefits:
1. We can leave at a later time on Fridays, thereby minimizing the amount of instructional time lost.
2. If we can recruit some parents to help transport students to competition sites due to local proximity, this will help minimize costly transportation expenses that we must absorb due to district bus usage policies.
3. We can arrive home at a much earlier hour.
4. You can see the tremendous effort these kids put into weekend competitions and become even a greater supporter of our team!
Can parents attend tournaments?
Parents are ALWAYS welcome to attend tournaments with the team. If you can make time to attend a few tournaments, it will give you a greater appreciation for what these kids do every weekend as well as in class. We often use sports as a metric by which to determine student success and effort but I will challenge, any year, the rigor and dedication Speech & Debate students have to any other group on our campus. It is hard to explain what these kids do when they attend tournaments but if you can see it for yourself (and yes, you CAN watch their rounds even if your child tells you that you can't!), it takes on an entirely different meaning. I encourage you to attend!
Will my child be safe when they travel with the team?
Travel is always conducted in ways that insure and maximize the welfare of your child. Whether we travel as a single "unit" (school) or piggy-back with a sister high school (Creek, Lake, Springs or Falls), we always insure that a male and female sponsor are available to handle any issues that may arise. If, for whatever reason, a district male/female chaperone or coach is not available, we partner with the other high schools against whom we compete every weekend and those coaches become our "surrogate" coaches and chaperones as needed. Students will be given their sponsor's cell phone numbers so that they can text or call and will have varsity members of their team to look to as needed.
This being said, there is an implicit expectation (and students/parents will sign off on documents) that students will follow all district and squad mandated codes of conduct, etc. It is not impossible for students to be asked to leave tournament sites or to be removed from class for specific infractions. While this does not happen with great frequency, the needs of the team are far too great to allow minor (that can develop into major) infractions to go un-addressed.
What will my child be discussing in debate class?
My approach to Speech & Debate falls in line with what CCISD wants all teachers to do - prepare students for the real world. Because this is an activity that has direct implications to all career fields and social interactions, the content is no different that what your child might see in the news or see in the pages of a current events magazine like Time or US News & World Report or online at CNN, Fox News or any other news site.
What I ask parents to understand is that (I believe) we can cover a great variety of topics that may not necessarily be standard "dinner table" conversation in an academic setting where we talk about both sides and reasons WHY, fundamentally, both sides "could" be correct in their thinking without forcing any student to believe any one thing. Because students will be forced to debate relevant/real-world topics in competition, it only makes sense to expose them to those same topics and issues in a classroom setting. And because students will not know which side of an argument they will have to defend, it is essential that they understand all aspects of an issue so that they are well-informed on all accounts and can make a persuasive argument despite their personal belief systems.
As a critical part of class, and because of the nature of the topics we will discuss, it is imperative that students have a mastery of grade-level (or above) vocabulary so that their reading of material doesn't present too difficult a challenge. To assist with this, I have included a list of SAT preparation words that students might find helpful. We will use this material from time to time to reinforce elevated comprehension and understanding. Words will be selected on a routine basis and students will be tested over the correct usage and the content and meaning to help support their ability to dissect arguments and article content as we progress throughout the year.
Students who join Clear Brook Speech & Debate gain fundamental skills with concepts that are critical both now and in each of their individual futures. Regardless which career path a student chooses, the skills that they learn in Speech & Debate are ones that are necessary, beit it as a lawyer, a salesperson, a doctor, a teacher or any other possible career field. You can find additional benefits by accessing the link titled "Benefits of Speech & Debate" under the "For Parents" link above.
Will my child get advanced credit if they take Debate I?
Only the upper level electives are weighted as "Advanced Academic" which means they will carry a greater weight for student GPA scores but this occurs only AFTER the completion of Debate I. Please keep in mind that, due to the new STEM option that has been available to students since February 2014), the requirements for each plan could impact how this course is allocated to your child so please check with his/her counselor for an exact answer based on your child's graduation plan. We are currently working with district administration to try to convince them to weight Debate I as Advanced Academic in the coming years but, as so of now, all district Debate I courses are regular credit courses.
What supplies does my child need for class and what are course fees assessed to this class?
A student class/course fee will cover most of the supplies students will need for class. This fee (at the current time) is $50.00 for Debate I students and $200.00 for Advanced Students. This fee is used to cover expenses including travel costs for buses, minimal registration fees, timers, hi-lighters, legal pads, a squad t-shirt, printer/toner usage for traveling, NSDA registration and subsequent awards from NSDA, charter dues, access to electronically published briefs and websites / news aggregate utilities for competitions and more.
The only supplies that students need to responsible for are standard school supplies which your child should have for any other class - mainly pens, pencils, a notebook to house work and paper/spirals to take notes. The only "atypical" supply that students need (and many may already have this) is some type of external hard drive or USB drive if their cloud accounts at school are not optimal for their usage.
Will my child be required to travel as a member of Debate I?
At this time, students will be required to travel as Debate I members twice during the first semester and it is strongly encouraged as the skills students will gain in Debate I are theoretical until they are used in a "real-time" setting. Although students will participate in debate rounds inside of a classroom setting, competition on the Houston "circuit" is very helpful and takes the skills learned in class to a much higher level. All students should demonstrate appropriate behavior in class, consistent participation in class, be passing all of their classes and be current on any and all fees owed before traveling.
IF my child travels, what time schedule should I expect?
When we travel, the team typically leaves around 11:15 on Fridays, therefore your child will miss 1/2 of those school days. Depending on the distance from Clear Brook, arrival time back at school can vary anywhere from 10:00 to 1:00 AM. The closer we compete to Brook (Clear Lake High School, Clear Creek High School, South Houston High School, etc), the later our departure time can be and the earlier we (generally) will arrive back at Brook. Your child will call you when we are approximately 15-20 minutes from the school so that, when we arrive, a ride is waiting for them.
Our tournaments are (based on event being competed in) usually 2-day events, which means that we depart again Saturday morning, generally around 6:00 - 6:30 AM, depending on distance. Arrival time back at Brook will be typical of Friday night arrival times.
We will strive to schedule tournaments that we will attend as close to Brook as possible. This will allow for a number of benefits:
1. We can leave at a later time on Fridays, thereby minimizing the amount of instructional time lost.
2. If we can recruit some parents to help transport students to competition sites due to local proximity, this will help minimize costly transportation expenses that we must absorb due to district bus usage policies.
3. We can arrive home at a much earlier hour.
4. You can see the tremendous effort these kids put into weekend competitions and become even a greater supporter of our team!
Can parents attend tournaments?
Parents are ALWAYS welcome to attend tournaments with the team. If you can make time to attend a few tournaments, it will give you a greater appreciation for what these kids do every weekend as well as in class. We often use sports as a metric by which to determine student success and effort but I will challenge, any year, the rigor and dedication Speech & Debate students have to any other group on our campus. It is hard to explain what these kids do when they attend tournaments but if you can see it for yourself (and yes, you CAN watch their rounds even if your child tells you that you can't!), it takes on an entirely different meaning. I encourage you to attend!
Will my child be safe when they travel with the team?
Travel is always conducted in ways that insure and maximize the welfare of your child. Whether we travel as a single "unit" (school) or piggy-back with a sister high school (Creek, Lake, Springs or Falls), we always insure that a male and female sponsor are available to handle any issues that may arise. If, for whatever reason, a district male/female chaperone or coach is not available, we partner with the other high schools against whom we compete every weekend and those coaches become our "surrogate" coaches and chaperones as needed. Students will be given their sponsor's cell phone numbers so that they can text or call and will have varsity members of their team to look to as needed.
This being said, there is an implicit expectation (and students/parents will sign off on documents) that students will follow all district and squad mandated codes of conduct, etc. It is not impossible for students to be asked to leave tournament sites or to be removed from class for specific infractions. While this does not happen with great frequency, the needs of the team are far too great to allow minor (that can develop into major) infractions to go un-addressed.
What will my child be discussing in debate class?
My approach to Speech & Debate falls in line with what CCISD wants all teachers to do - prepare students for the real world. Because this is an activity that has direct implications to all career fields and social interactions, the content is no different that what your child might see in the news or see in the pages of a current events magazine like Time or US News & World Report or online at CNN, Fox News or any other news site.
What I ask parents to understand is that (I believe) we can cover a great variety of topics that may not necessarily be standard "dinner table" conversation in an academic setting where we talk about both sides and reasons WHY, fundamentally, both sides "could" be correct in their thinking without forcing any student to believe any one thing. Because students will be forced to debate relevant/real-world topics in competition, it only makes sense to expose them to those same topics and issues in a classroom setting. And because students will not know which side of an argument they will have to defend, it is essential that they understand all aspects of an issue so that they are well-informed on all accounts and can make a persuasive argument despite their personal belief systems.
As a critical part of class, and because of the nature of the topics we will discuss, it is imperative that students have a mastery of grade-level (or above) vocabulary so that their reading of material doesn't present too difficult a challenge. To assist with this, I have included a list of SAT preparation words that students might find helpful. We will use this material from time to time to reinforce elevated comprehension and understanding. Words will be selected on a routine basis and students will be tested over the correct usage and the content and meaning to help support their ability to dissect arguments and article content as we progress throughout the year.
| sat.vocab.pdf |
