The Beginning of the End

Today was an important milestone for the KFC lab as many of us competed in our very FIRST debate tournament ever.  After our last regular practice round and article group, we had a lab drill session in the afternoon.  We brainstormed a giant list of arguments and then proceeded to answer each one of them, highlighting our huge improvement in the past two weeks.  Huge thanks to Mark and Charles for helping us keep track of all of the stellar arguments!  While we believe in having many similar principles (like playing and working hard), we wanted to differentiate each argument so we could more adequately address our opponents' cases.  Not only was today the camp tournament, but we also celebrated our final lab as Beena is leaving us tomorrow.  We gathered together as we have so many times and reflected on the past two weeks.  For many of us, it has been a rollercoaster ride with huge ups and downs.  But through it all we have been on e lab.  And we know now that every one of us just needs a little KFC in their lives.  Huge shoutouts to Just Justin for his ability to keep up the work ethic!!! 

DEBATE DEBATE DEBATE AND PREPARATION

Today we had REAL one on one debates! And EVERYONE has had their first debate rounds - they were fantastic.  Great arguments, good criterion debate and CONFIDENCE - that was a clutch part of our day.  After lunch we had rebuttal drills where each student then re-did a rebuttal from a round they had that day.  Electives were next - many of the KC lab attended a HOT lecture about delivery.  We learned about stance, gestures, pitch, rate and lots of vocal theory! Finally, it was a lecture by Hall of Fame Coach Aaron Timmons and his student David Wolfish.  Preparation was the name of the game - and Mr. Timmons livened things up with some sports analogies while David entertained with stories of his lack of luggage at the TOC.  Other topics included pre and post tournament preparation: including speaking drills, reading articles and cutting cards. 

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine...Because I Survived My First Debate

Our lab has been together for "One Week." Today, we entered "A Whole New World" as we had our first official debates. We had anticipated "A Moment Like This," but nothing could have compared to the "Eyes of the Tiger" within us as we spoke our first real debate words. Sometimes we felt a little "Broke, Broke" and thought it was "The End of the World as We Knew It." But, we survived by focusing on the "Beauty" and ignoring the "Beast." In the end, it didn't matter what we did or how well we did it because we-the KFC lab-were just so "Happy Together."

KC Lab Debates!

Sunday may be a day of rest for some - but not for the KC lab.  We began lab with Tanya's CLUTCH flowing drills - powered by some pretty sweet rap music - other traditional favorites were also involved in the mix.  Then it was the first debate of the KFC lab!!  Teams of four debated each other with a few commentators for the back.  Each KFC lab member took a portion of each of the speeches whether it was a case, rebuttal, or cross-examination.  A huge shout out goes to ALL the KFC lab members who debated for the FIRST time EVER - in the best lab EVER! Tanya, Matt and Beena are SOOOOOOOOOOO proud of you!  A special shout out goes to Justin who had his first crystallization EVER - and it was - needless to say awesome.  Charles also pointed out the importance of confidence when speaking - an important facet of ANY presentation.  In the debriefing of the round, Mark gives great insight into how to debate the value and criterion based off of our earlier discussion - good use of using your previous knowledge, MARK! We ended lab with a little "Eye of the Tiger" action - flowing was obviously clutch - BUT we learned a valuable lesson about LOVE OF THE GAME as well - If you haven't heard it- it's by Survivor! Go check it out! Tomorrow we begin in lab debates and EVERYONE debates! Can't wait to see what a great product the KFC lab will put out!      

Tanya is Clutch

The KFC lab progressed today with an in-depth discussion of the value criterion. Whether it was my orange vs. banana example or Ms. Koshy's analogy to college basketball that did the trick, students seem to be grabbing hold of--no, clutching--the difficult concepts. In fact, the KFC students demonstrated just how clutch they are today in rebuttal drills. Justin Jones read his AC (a case that was very well constructed for a first draft) and Charles and Alex followed with solid rebuttals. The students in our lab are forming a clearer conception of what good cases and rebuttals are through a process of trial and error. You can't understand why KFC is so good until you suffer a trip to Chicken Express.

Later in the evening, team KFC rooted on their second favorite debater, Tanya Choudhury, as she took on Eric Wolfish in a demonstration debate. The consensus is that she did an excellent job--Anjan would be proud. Cherian Koshy followed the round with a few brief comments and urged the students in KFC to choose one aspect of the debate that they wish to emulate. Many chose Tanya's excellent presentation skills. Others, like Sammy, were impressed with the use of the value criterion as a standard in the debate. At the end of the day in lab KFC, happiness prevailed (or did it?)

Breaking News!!!

KFC just decided on its UNT 2006 Slogan: Everybody Needs A Little KFC. Primarily because everyone DOES need a little KFC. Mascot to be determined. Currently we are taking a couple of pictures at the end of lab and now the students are leaving for Chinese food for lunch. A big shout out goes to David - he leaves "The Greatest Lab Ever" today. And although we are sad to see him go we are happy we got to know him. He was a CLUTCH part of the lab for our first week-life won't be the same without you David!! You will be missed! If you are part of the KFC lab and want to send David a message leave a comment so he'll know how much we will miss him!

Post Fourth of July Make HEADLINES!

We began our day with a nice healthy ten minute walk to get that blood circulating!! After four lectures, a downpour, and a few nice meals in the Bruce hall Cafeteria - I am shocked we still have any excitment left in the day.  The K(f)C lab met with NEW lab leaders: Steffany, Gary and Josh to do a cross examination drill in the middle of the day - and I seem to hear through the grapevine that Joey was all about asking the questions!! Good JOB! since that is what CX is ALL about.  After a riveting lecture in the evening we headed to the computer lab to begin case writing 101 - we had a quick pow wow around 9pm  to plan our upcoming SLOGAN and MASCOT - hopefully coming soon.  And although Charles had some good ideas - we will vote on EVERYONES ideas tomorrow!! Students are busy finding new arguments for cases tonight and reading, reading, reading. 

Day Two Review of the "best lab ever"

Today we came up with our two week slogan, "Failure is NOT an Option."  We are a lab all about the TRYING!  So Tuesday was filled with learning the structure of debate first was the explanation of the value and criterion and then claim, warrant, impact style.  Students then got their first homework assignment (YeAh!!!)  Writing out the beginning of their cases and reflecting on their casing lecture they got this morning.  Props go out to Athletic Alex for her AMAzINg insight about doctors not having the incentive to be in the profession if governments provide health care.  Just Justin also came up with some CLUTCH impacts to our VERY long list of arguments this afternoon.  Dynamic David took the cake by asking some really awesome questions to clarify what the heck we were talking about.  But ALL the kids are doing a fAnTasTic job TRYING - our most important objective!!  Can't wait for DAY THREE, Chicken. 

Today was a sensational day in the K(F)C lab. Just to clarify, K is for Koshy and C for Choudhury; I volunteered to be F in order to complete the acronym. In general, I am pleased to say that our students have thus far demonstrated outstanding work-ethic, patience, and diligence. After kicking off the morning session with brief introductions and the name game, we began our instructional program with flowing, perhaps the most essential skill in LD debate. By the end of our first lab, students were writing in columns, abbreviating, and color-coding (a skill that should be applied to David Wolfish's wardrobe, he needs help). We also covered the purpose of each speech in a typical LD round and delved into some basic topic analysis on the UNT resolution. Students have already begun mandatory as well as self-initiated reading.

Beena Koshy

Beena is truly dedicated to her craft. A four star chef and cheerleader in college, she decided to return to her roots and become a teacher and debate coach in Kingston, MA. Attending Apple Valley High School in Minnesota, Beena was a radio DJ, taking time out for four years of LD and OO among other public address events. She was a state champion in speech and a state finalist in debate. She traveled the circuit advancing to out rounds at such tournaments as St. Marks, Bronx, Glenbrooks, Valley and Emory, NFL, CFL and the TOC where she was tenth speaker. While changing her major (at the University of Minnesota) from philosophy - which she thought had no future - to sociology - which she confirmed had no future - she coached IE's and debate at Apple Valley. She has also worked at a number of summer institutes throughout the years teaching theory, delivery and logic. Beena now resides in Massachusetts as a middle and high school teacher. Beena is the Director of Debate and also a speech coach at Sacred Heart High School.

Tanya Choudhury

Hi! My name is Tanya Choudhury, and I debated for four years at Katy
Taylor High School in Houston, Texas. Prior to my senior year, I accumulated numerous awards in multiple events including Quarterfinalist in LD at TFA State, NFL National Quarterfinalist and TFA State Finalist in Foreign Extemp, and Extemp TOC Semifinalist. During my senior year, I reached various eliminitation rounds of several national tournaments including Grapevine, the Barkley Forum, Greenhill, the University of Texas, Isidore Newman, and Berkeley. I additionally qualified to TFA State in five events and was a TOC qualifier in both Extemp and Lincoln-Douglas Debate, ending my speech and debate career with a seventh place finish in International Extemporaneous Speaking at NFL Nationals in 2005. I am currently a sophomore at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, where I am an assistant debate coach at Walt Whitman H.S.

Matt Levinson

Debate has been my primary high school passion for the last four years, and I am excited to continue my career here at mean green (grrrr) as a teacher and coach. First, a little bit about me. I have lived in suburban New Jersey my entire life, but have been fortunate enough to escape the mundanity through frequent travel (one of the many perks of high school debate). When not debating, I enjoy following pro sports, listening to jazz/hip hop/alternative rock, and playing pickup basketball. Some claim that I take kids to school even though I'm not a bus driver. So if any fine young campers need someone to embarrass them, I'm game.
As a Lincoln-Douglas competitor, I debated for four years on the local, regional, and national circuits forRandolph High School (NJ). I became the captain of my debate team as a sophomore and played a significant role in coaching over 40 other students at Randolph High School. Among my proudest competitive accomplishments are winning the NJ State and Manchester-By-the-Sea tournaments. I reached the final round at Newark (twice), Monticello, and Princeton and received bids at Emory, Harvard, and Hendrick Hudson. I attended the TOC three times and broke to elimination rounds at Nationals.