CMSDL Monday Memo — vol. I, no. 9 — September 4, 2012

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend.

1. The 2012/13 CMSDL Core Files Will Be Posted on September 10th

We’ve completed the 2012/13 CDL (HS) Core Files, and they are out with full supplemental materials, on the CDL Core Files page of the programming site; we’re getting close to completing the CMSDL version of the 2012/13 Core Files. Reviewing, and even beginning to use (but not order sets of), CDL (HS) Core Files would be a solid, useful way to begin the season on the transportation infrastructure topic. All four affirmative cases, for example, in the CDL Core Files will also be included in the CMSDL Core Files — rail investment, port security, public service employment, and NAFTA — though we will be posting a set of tentative argument limits for the 2012/13 CMSDL debate season, one that will specify which cases and arguments are runnable in which division at which tournament.

Let us know if you have any questions on any of this.

2. CMSDL Coach Training Seminar II — Saturday, September 8th, 12:30pm – 3:30pm

We intend to hold our second CMSDL Coach Training Seminar of the young 2012/13 debate season this Saturday, September 8th, 12:30pm – 3:30pm, at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 E. Pearson St. The agenda will consist of (i) early-season tournament preparation exercises and activities, and (ii) reviewing the strategic nuances of Core Files arguments. We will divide coaches into two groups, based on experience level.

Registration is required for this and for all Coach Training Seminars. Please register by sending an email to Les or the CDC (cdc@resources.chicagodebates.org) no later than Friday, September 7th, at 10:00am.

CPDUs and CDL PD credit provided.

Parking at lots near the Loyola Law School is $10, with validation from the lobby of the law school building (the Philip H. Corboy Center, 25 E. Pearson St.).

Registration at coach professional development so far this year has been light. There may be several factors for this, including most prominently the on-going teacher contract negotiations (see #5 below), but the CDC can’t justify the substantial effort that we invest in preparing these seminars for a very small number of attendees. Thus, this Saturday’s Coach Training Seminar will be postponed if we have fewer than five coach registrants. We’ll post a confirmation of this event, or its postponement, on this site Friday, September 7th, at 12pm noon.

3. Introduction to Debate Coaching Seminar — Tuesday, September 11th, 5:00pm – 7:30pm

We have a handful of new coaches to the Chicago Middle School Debate League, or relatively new coaches, who were not able to attend the 2012 Fundamentals of Debate Coaching course in July. For them, and for any coaches who did take the introductory course and would like a refresher, we are offering a compact Introduction to Debate Coaching seminar on Tuesday, September 11th, from 5:00pm – 7:30pm, at the Loyola Law School, 25 E. Pearson St.

Register, again, by email to Les or the CDC — no later than Friday, September 7th, please. CPDUs and CDL PD credit also provided.

Registration for this seminar has been more robust — we are already well over the registration threshold for it to occur.

4. 2012/13 CDL Coaches’ Tax Information Form

All coaches should complete the 2012/13 CDL Coaches Tax Information Form and return it to CDC accounts manager Donna Montgomery (donnamontgomery@resources.chicagodebates.org) by Friday, September 14th. (CMSDL coaches should use the CDL form — this is an instance where the CMSDL can be understood to be subsumed by the overall CDL.)

Be sure to download the form (like all documents linked on the programming site) by clicking on the downward-pointed arrow in the lower-right corner of the “preview” version of the document that appears when you click on the link above. You’ll be able to complete the document after you download it, it’s in Word.

The CDC will soon be announcing the performance incentives and additional compensation it will be offering to CMSDL coaches this season, but the CDC has to have a current (SY2013) Tax Information Form in order to generate any payment, so please get your form in now. We will not need you to complete another one of these, regardless of how much you earn in incentives or compensation — one form is good for the season for coaches.

5. In the Event of a Teachers Strike . . .

If the Chicago Teachers Union goes on strike, the Chicago Debate Commission will suspend tournaments and teacher/student trainings and meetings. We will continue to do program building (largely through site visits) at charter and guest schools, and we will further prepare and develop our program offerings for implementation when district schools re-open. The CDL programming site, and the CMSDL coaches listserve, will contain information on how CMSDL events will be re-scheduled if there is a work stoppage.