Rome wasn’t built in a day; neither is your squad!

Help to build your program

Katrese Skinner

El Campo High School

Sorry, but I do not know

• How to win all the time

• Secrets on getting judges to like you, no matter what

• How to pick the perfect interp piece.

• Making your kids practice all of the time.

What you will find today…

• Tips to help you market an attract students on your squad.

• Discuss some specific things you can do to help maintain your squad’s growth and your sanity

• Give you some tools to help you and your students…

Where do I begin?

• UIL Website….seriously, just sit down and read all of the resources the UIL has put together for you!

An entire Section dedicated to helping new coaches, complete with charts, guides, and check lists!

A handy chart of all the UIL events and a blues clues breakdown of each one.

This page gives you a check list of things you should do when you take students to a tournament.

Have a vision of what you want your squad to be. . .

• A rental car squad

• A suburban squad

• A squad with lots of room on the bus

• A full bus squad

• A two bus squad

• A get a charter bus for everything squad….

The underlying factor in all of this…

• Money

• Budget

• Support from parents

• Support from your community

• What will be best for your students at your school?

Set clear goals and guidelines from the beginning….I have a Constitution and

Handbook

What ever you decide….you can’t expect good kids to fall from the sky!

• Recruit

• Plan

• Promote

• Market

Ways you can recruit…

• Word of mouth

• Advertise

• Take your show on the road…the middle school is your best friend!

• The magic letter…. Congratulations, you have been highly recommended.

• Freshman orientation

• Incorporate the children in your community in the things you do!

Your current students are your best asset!!!

Becomes a leader in the future…

Kids are looking for somewhere to belong….give them a place…

• T-shirts

• Club or Speech and Drama exclusive field trips

• Have a “date night” with your team… bowling alley, movie night, zombie laser tag, ultimate Frisbee, ropes course, go see a play

You may even want to try….

We have a wall…where we post items of things we heard or saw at tournaments…we call it “quote of the day”

End of year banquet- slide show

Senior last will and testaments

Funny awards

Be a presence on your campus

• Develop an organizational Identity….

• Reach out to other organizations

• Remember, this is NOT just about competition…find ways to SERVE others in your community and your school

• We do radio spots for “Prairie Days”, help with the WCYF, Tea time with the princesses at our local museum story time.

• ECHS Homecoming Promo

• http://youtu.be/W01gMusobQw

Others are willing to help you. . .

• Attend UIL Super-Conference if you can

• Texas Speech Communication Association/ NSDA/ TFA

• Regional Advisory Committee members

• Look around here!

• I am happy to help!

kskinner@ecisd.org

www.ecisd.org

Go to High School/ teachers pages/ find Katrese Skinner

Pitfalls and road blocks

Some advice from the peanut gallery.

• Don’t get overwhelmed….you don’t have to do everything!

• Don’t be afraid to allow the students to take charge, but be aware of what they are doing.

• Start small…build up

• Don’t be exclusive, try to be inclusive.

• If you are spending more time discussing what you shouldn’t do rather than what you should do…then you are probably on the wrong track!

• Don’t forget…these children have PARENTS…include them too!

• Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn- I email the powers that be after EVERY tournament!

• Don’t make coaching these events about winning….

Coaching kids. . . Practice is key

• KNOW what your kids are performing/ saying

• Set up times to discuss selections, arguments, and choices

• Have them read or debate in front of you whenever possible

• Create a practice schedule or assign performances

Make sure they compete before they have to compete

• Go to invitational tournaments (visit UIL web site for a list)

• Call a friendly school and have a practice day with other competitors

• Skype or face time tournament practice

• Visit the joy of tournaments web site

Some of my tricks

• I have 15 min practice slots; they have to sign up before or after school. One slot per event…extemp 30 min before…

• Start and Stops- have them read or speak, then stop them if they make a mistake/ try things different.

• ALL READ- great for mixed classes or those days when you cannot see everyone. 10 min. EVERYONE READS/ Speaks/ practices…PERFORMS AT THE SAME TIME

• Flip cameras and self evaluations/ peer evaluations

It also helps to have

• Mirrors

• A flash drive to carry all digital copies of prose pieces, speeches, debate cases, or cloud storage– we use gaggle

• a rolling cart for carrying documentation, lint rollers, safety pins, Band-Aids etc.

• Access to a copy machine

• EMERGENCY INTERP BINDER

Some stuff I wish someone would have told me back in the day…

• Judges- know who is judging your students. • Watch rounds and volunteer to judge. • Avoid the temptation to do most of your “coaching” at

tournaments. • Read a ballot before you give it back to a student.

There is no shame in losing ballots that are especially hurtful to students. (IF this happens ALWAYS bring it to the tournament directors attention.)

• Don’t be afraid to be an advocate for your students. • Pick your battles • Read the CCR

At tournaments

• Always try to arrive early

• Create a team building vocal warm up- structure and routine does more than just “warm” them up!

• Encourage your students to compete in multiple events (my opinion)

• Be aware of local tournament rules or procedures

• Encourage your students to watch rounds

When it comes time for district contest

• Know who is running it

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions like “Who will be judging?” “How will we check documentation?” How are we doing pairings?

• Understand how prelims and finals will work (again read those handbooks)

The world of speech, debate, and theater have some serious hang

ups…know what the locals do • Binders, teasers, eye

contact

• Movement/stepping

• Debate Speed

• Trends in judging styles

• Slick sheets/ paper

• Audience behavior

• Dress-shoes

• Old school/ new school

For your students

• Make technology your friend- use it!

• If you have a debate or interp class, use CLEAR rubrics. Make sure they know your expectations ahead of time.

• Don’t try to do it all if you can’t. Multi-task, divide and conquer. Use your experienced students to help. Give peer evaluation assignments.