Discussion Five: What else would you like to discuss with other coaches? by Paul Miller https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8 Share your opinion; comment on others' opinions. en-us 2020-09-07 18:44:43 UTC 2020-09-19 14:17:17 UTC hello@padlet.com Paul Miller--Appleton East millerpaul https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/726962850 This is just a sample post to get the conversation started.  If you would to add to the discussion, click on the plus sign in the lower, right-hand corner.
Please include your name at the start of your post.]]> 2020-09-08 13:15:30 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/726962850 The State Tournament... in-person vs virtual traasatae https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/731114665 I believe this is a discussion that needs to start to happen.  I realize we are over 4 months from our first tournament and 7 months from our state tournament, but I think we need to discuss the threshold of a decision of an in-person vs virtual state tournament. (it is only fair to our potential in-person hosts.)  I would recommend that this decision be made at the Winter Executive Board meeting which usually occurs on the second Sunday of February.  This date leaves eight weeks for teams to make needed preparations if the tournament is in-person.  (I would recommend that our hosts continue with preparations as if the tournament will be in-person - this is a huge commitment and process.)  We also need to continue to seek out hosts for 2022 and 2023 State tournaments.  
If you wish to have your voice heard at that Winter Executive Board meeting, please speak with an elected official (or run for an office), or maybe an additional padlet can be created for this particular discussion in January.  Regardless, I think the discussion needs to occur, but a decision for April should not be made in September.

]]> 2020-09-09 14:02:21 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/731114665 Just Curious https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/733502254 Does Wisconsin have more speech categories than any other state organization? It definitely feels that way.]]> 2020-09-10 01:23:21 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/733502254 Allow original material in Play Acting https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/733518841 [Benjamin Morris - Verona]

This would align WFCA with WHSFA.

The lack of a single event that allows for students to write and tell their own story is shocking to me. When explaining to graduating 8th graders how high school forensics doesn't allow for self-written pieces, their response was "why does high school forensics hate creativity?" (Middle schoolers don't pull punches).

I think there's a ton of value in learning how to write and perform a good fictional story. Currently, students who want this level of creative freedom in an acting event basically only have SoS as an outlet. And that's pretty limited, given the topic constraints.

Lots of other states offer original interps of some form -- California has Original Prose and Poetry, Illinois offers Original Comedy/Drama, Minnesota even has a category called Creative Expression (clearly they know what's up)! I think it would fill a gap that's missing in WFCA.]]> 2020-09-10 01:31:16 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/733518841 Synchronous or Asynchronous? jrademacher4 https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/740711018 Given that the two largest school districts in the state cannot participate in any in-person tournaments, and that in-person tournaments pose an unacceptably high risk of coronavirus transmission, this year should be the year of the virtual tournament.  Students from our schools can participate in tournaments that we could not afford to take them to in the past, whether that is at the opposite end of Wisconsin or in San Francisco or Boston.   The question we should be discussing is whether our focus is on synchronous tournaments or asynchronous.  There are clear pros and cons to both choices.  I'm curious to hear what other schools are thinking about offering.

]]> 2020-09-12 03:24:33 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/740711018 [Benjamin Morris - Verona] Make certain categories novice-ONLY with no varsity entries allowed. https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/759887014 This will probably sound a bit out there. I'm mostly curious about what peoples' takes are on it, though I generally think it's a good idea.

Much like how NCFL restricts Declamation to 9th/10th graders, certain events should be limited to only novices. I think that non-NSDA events with relatively low barriers to entry would be good for this. Specifically, I think Radio, Moments in History, and Storytelling (with 1 prepared story from a list of prompts) would be good candidates.

  • Radio: Training wheels for spontaneous events. There's no memorization, body language, or original material required. It's a good event for novices but has a low ceiling.
  • Moments in History: I love Moments in History, but it overlaps a lot with Informative speaking. Making MOM novice-only is a good way to start students out on original speeches. It constrains them to a specific time period, which means they will need to do research, but still offers enough breadth that they can talk about science/games/fashion/politics/food/whatever within the given periods.
  • Storytelling: If Storytelling were reduced to 1 story (like NSDA/other orgs do), I think it would be a really good novice-only event. There's no platform movement to worry about, and the nature of the event allows for ad-libbing and isn't overly formal. It could be a good stepping stone into acting or black-binder events.

I wouldn't expect this proposal to go into effect this year for the sake of students already committed to an event, but I think it's worth considering.

Advantages:
Gives novices a chance to compete against competitors of their own experience level.
Gives novices a set of relatively-easier options that segue cleanly into harder events (eg. Radio -> Extemp; MOM -> 10min Info/Oratory; Storytelling -> Prose/Acting).
Allows for Info to move to 10 minutes without taking away "novice-friendly" events -- more generally, keeps parity with NSDA rules in the national events.
]]> 2020-09-18 18:10:15 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/759887014 [Benjamin Morris - Verona] Add "Program Oral Interpretation" as an alternate name for Farrago https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/759983964 Not trying to push a full name change, but I'd like to propose that Farrago be given a parenthetical -- eg. Farrago (Program Oral Interpretation) -- to indicate that Program Oral Interpretation is another name for the event. It may help students find resources from NSDA or other leagues about the type of performances typical of Farrago.]]> 2020-09-18 18:36:12 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/759983964 [Benjamin Morris - Verona] Combine WFCA Congress tournaments https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/760977810 Congress has been sparsely populated -- tournaments rarely get more than one chamber outside of State. Given the lack of physical constraints, I think that Congress-hosting tournaments on the same day should co-host their virtual tournaments so that we get larger participation numbers and have multiple chambers in different rounds, etc.]]> 2020-09-19 14:14:26 UTC https://padlet.com/millerpaul/8lku1w34p9yko0v8/wish/760977810