Bakken,+Jordan

Information about myself: I competed in debate for four years at Watertown High School in South Dakota. I did a little policy, public forum, but my main focus was LD debate. I am currently the Head Coach for Tea Area School District in Tea, SD. Listed below are my paradigms for LD and Public Forum Debate.

Note: If you have any other questions feel free to ask before the round but if you do ask I will wait to make sure everyone who will compete in the round is in there so no one has an unfair advantage.

I am a very traditional LD judge in that I really enjoy Value/Criteria debate. Contentions should support your Value/Criteria and the resolution for your side. For voting my very first look is Value/Criteria and is either of the sides still standing or has the other side shown me as the judge that they can uphold not only their own but also their opponents. In closer round then I will go to the Contention debate.
 * LD Debate: **

Value/Criteria-If someone completely ignores the Value/Criteria in their case or in the round then they will most likely lose the round as Value/Criteria is the most important part in LD debate for me and other traditional LD judges. Criterions must provide either a weighing mechanism for the value or measuring mechanism for achieving the value.

Voting-When walking into each round of debate, no matter what, I go in with a clean slate and each round is a new round even if I have voted for one person over the other previously and they are facing the same each other again. There will always be personal preference coming with each topic but I do not weigh that at all in when I judge.

Ballots-I will always give you feedback of what I think about each speech or cross-x and I will sometimes give you some things to think about that I come across in the round. Each round I will also give my RFD (Reason for Decision), make sure you read this if you are wondering why I voted the way I did. I will tell you why I voted the way I voted.

Timing-As the judge, I am the one who has official time in the round. If you want to give me an off the clock road map please notify me (right away!) of this or else I will start the clock and it will count as part of your speech. I will give you 30 sec intervals (until it get down to your last 30 seconds then I will give you 15, 10, 5) of prep time so you don’t need to ask what you have left and I will let you know of your time before I start and when I stop your prep time. With stopping your prep time, remember I have your official prep time so therefore what I have is what you have left of prep time(Pet peeve when you tell me to stop prep time and/or tell me that you have X:XX left of prep time, so not don’t do this).

Cross-X-Make sure you ask relevant questions and be polite during cross-x but remember if you are asking the questions don’t let them take the time just rambling on about things that don’t matter if they answered your question. If they answered your question don’t be rude about moving on to your next question. I really like when students says “Thank you but can I ask another one?” If they keep going and don’t let you ask then I do not this because that is not far to the side asking questions.

Flowing/Speed-I flow everything in the round, including cross-x so remember what you and your opponent says because it could help you or hurt you at the end of the round. Also since I flow everything, I am not a fan of speed at all so make sure you go at a conversational speed so I can write it down but I do not want you to go too slow.

Electronics-I know electronics are now a very familiar thing in debate but when someone asks for your case or evidence then you better have a way to share it with them either by flashdrive (if they have a computer) or have it printed out for them to look at or you might have to give them your device. Also I am okay with you using your phone as a timer in the round. If I see you are on anything that is not a timer or evidence you already had then that will result in an automatic lose for your side.

I am a framework judge for public forum debate, this means you tell me at the beginning of the round (in your case) how I should judge each round of debate. Give me what I should weigh in the round.
 * Public Forum Debate: **

Framework/Voters-What I meant that I vote framework here is an example from December 2016 topic, “Resolved: The United States should end Plan Colombia.” A good framework would be on the Pro side would be “If we the Pro show you the judge that for any reason we should end Plan Colombia then you should vote Pro.” If this is the only framework I have in the round then this is the framework I will go with. If I get one from both sides then I weigh both frameworks and look at who achieved both frameworks. With the framework though in the last speech for each team tell me why you won the framework debate. If there is not a framework debate going on in the round then tell me what the voters are. If the Aff has 3 voters for the round and the Neg has 3 but only 2 are the same then I will look at those two to decide the round.

Voting-When walking into each round of debate, no matter what, I go in with a clean slate and each round is a new round even if I have voted for one person over the other previously and they are facing the same each other again. I have had this happen a number of times where I have voted for one team and then voted for the other the next time around. There will always be personal preference coming with each topic but I do not weigh that at all in when I judge. This is why I really like you to tell me how I should vote with your framework to weigh the round and the voters at the end. If you leave it to me at the end of the round to decide who won the round one if not both teams will be disappointed on the RFD.

Ballots-I will always give you feedback of what I think about each speech or cross-x and I will sometimes give you some things to think about that I come across in the round. Each round I will also give my RFD (Reason for Decision), make sure you read this if you are wondering why I voted the way I did. I will tell you why I voted the way I voted, I will list each voter and framework down and state why the team won or lose on each point.

Timing-As the judge, I am the one who has official time in the round. If you want to give me an off the clock road map please notify me (right away!) of this or else I will start the clock and it will count as part of your speech. This is especially crucial in Public Forum debate as the later speeches you only have 2 minutes to get your point across. I will give you 30 sec intervals (until it get down to your last 30 seconds then I will give you 15, 10, 5) of prep time so you don’t need to ask what you have left and I will let you know of your time before I start and when I stop your prep time. With stopping your prep time, remember I have your official prep time so therefore what I have is what you have left of prep time(Pet peeve when you tell me to stop prep time and/or tell me that you have X:XX left of prep time, so not don’t do this).

Cross-Fire-Make sure you ask relevant questions and be polite during cross-fire but remember if you are asking the questions don’t let them take the time just rambling on about things that don’t matter if they answered your question. Also I do not like just one person or team to take over the cross-fire time. If they answered your question don’t be rude about asking a follow up. I really like when students says “Thank you but can I ask another one?” Also during the first two cross-fires it is solo cross-fires and I don’t like team cross-fires (that is what Grand Cross-Fire is for). If you want to ask a question and your teammate is up there then give them the question on a piece of paper.

Flowing/Speed-I flow everything in the round, including cross-fire so remember what you and your opponent says because it could help you or hurt you at the end of the round. Also since I flow everything, I am not a fan of speed at all so make sure you go at a conversational speed so I can write it down but I do not want you to go too slow.

Electronics-I know electronics are now a very familiar thing in debate but when someone asks for your case or evidence then you better have a way to share it with them either by flashdrive (if they have a computer) or have it printed out for them to look at or you might have to give them your device if they ask for it. Also I am okay with you using your phone as a timer in the round. If I see you are on anything that is not a timer or evidence you already had then that will result in an automatic lose for your side.