2012 CDL Coach Training Courses

General Information

The Chicago Debate Commission will offer two Coach Training Courses this summer, as it did last summer, and has for most summers throughout the league’s history.

Both courses will offer CPDUs through the Illinois State Board of Education, through which the CDC is an approved PD provider. They will also each offer five hours of credit within the Chicago Debate League’s Professional Development System.

Both courses will be held at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 E. Pearson St. (check room number with lobby security desk) Parking is $10 when validated in the lobby of the building, and the Loyola Law School is within two blocks of the Chicago stop on the CTA Red Line.

Registration is free. Register by email to leslynn@resources.chicagodebates.org.

Course Descriptions

Fundamentals of Competitive Academic Debate Coaching – July 23rd – 26th, 9am – 3pm

This course is designed to introduce new coaches to the basic elements of competitive academic debate and to make them familiar with the core elements of coaching debate in the Chicago Debate League. The course is also useful for all relatively new coaches (with one to two years of experience) who want to solidify their comfort with and control over the fundamentals, including all of the Year One CDL Debater Development Benchmarks, as well as a solid introduction to the transportation infrastructure topic and the 2012/13 Core Files.

Comments from recent course evaluations.

“I appreciated getting guided through the Core Files arguments.”
“The breakdown of the debate format was very clear.”
“Your explanations made this process seem less pressured.”
“Comprehensive handouts, clear explanations.”
“The past three days have been very rewarding. I am excited about assuming this role in my school.”

Coaching Debate at the Varsity Level – July 30th – August 2nd, 9am – 3pm

This course is designed to help debate coaches who feel confident that they understand the basics and feel comfortable coaching and teaching JV debaters move into the more advanced realms of Varsity debate. Kritiks, counterplan theory and competitiveness, advanced topicality debating, creating negative strategies, researching new cases – these are all on the agenda. We’ll also delve into the traffic infrastructure topic, moving into and beyond the 2012/13 Core Files. But we won’t abandon the core of academic debate – to the contrary, we’ll illuminate the connectedness between advanced skills and the essential pillars of refutation and the use of evidence. We’ll examine prepared flows on the new topic, closely analyzing refutation. And we’ll hear from recent debaters on the means they have used to gain competitive advantages, in preparation and in rounds.

Comments from recent course evaluations.

“Lots of great examples provided.”
“Thanks for the interesting and well-structured class.”
“The lecturers featured were great.”
“The best feature of this course was the amount of knowledge imparted in three days.”
“I’m in awe of the entire program. Cannot wait for the start of the 2011/12 CDL season.”