Homer's DDF tournament was an excellent experience. Our team didn't have any debate competitors which, although I would like to build a debate team in the future, made for a bit more relaxed of a tournament than the last two that I attended. Well, that and the fact that I didn't judge any of the events this time around due to the overall smaller number of students and the outpouring of community judges.
The Homer coach who organized the event also included a few "classes" during the debate rounds (as only students from the Homer team were participating in the debates). Two that I attended were led by a particularly vivacious octogenarian woman who had studied how to be a mime in France under Marcel Marceau. I particularly enjoyed the second class where she had us practice using nearly our entire bodies, with the exception of our faces, to convey emotion while practicing the rhythm of that emotion as well.
Our team had a strong showing. Certainly, there were fewer schools involved, but my Readers Theater team still managed to get third (out of six teams) for their performance of "Witches and How To Build Bridges out of Them" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. One of my foreign issues extemporaneous speakers managed to take second place overall, while one member of our team managed to attain win two placements for this, her first tournament. Most impressively, she was ranked third overall in the highly competitive category of extemporaneous commentary (which had eleven other competitors).
The best part was that everyone had fun. I felt like our team, small as it is, deeply bonded during these past two days. I am also quite glad that our drama teacher, who agreed to help chaperone, had a great time as well. A clear sign that everyone enjoyed the experience is that all of them are planning what they want to do at the next meet--which is only three weeks away.
The Homer coach who organized the event also included a few "classes" during the debate rounds (as only students from the Homer team were participating in the debates). Two that I attended were led by a particularly vivacious octogenarian woman who had studied how to be a mime in France under Marcel Marceau. I particularly enjoyed the second class where she had us practice using nearly our entire bodies, with the exception of our faces, to convey emotion while practicing the rhythm of that emotion as well.
Our team had a strong showing. Certainly, there were fewer schools involved, but my Readers Theater team still managed to get third (out of six teams) for their performance of "Witches and How To Build Bridges out of Them" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. One of my foreign issues extemporaneous speakers managed to take second place overall, while one member of our team managed to attain win two placements for this, her first tournament. Most impressively, she was ranked third overall in the highly competitive category of extemporaneous commentary (which had eleven other competitors).
The best part was that everyone had fun. I felt like our team, small as it is, deeply bonded during these past two days. I am also quite glad that our drama teacher, who agreed to help chaperone, had a great time as well. A clear sign that everyone enjoyed the experience is that all of them are planning what they want to do at the next meet--which is only three weeks away.
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