1. Judge Training Session
Middle Level Forensics Association
Judge Training Session
Thank you for stepping forward to help! * *

2. Building Self-Confidence. Our Goal, Your Task!
Purpose of Training
Building Self-Confidence.
Our Goal, Your Task!
Fun?
#1 Fear: Public Speaking!
The Middle Level Forensics Association (MLFA) of Wisconsin is an organization that gives middle school students the opportunity to have fun while developing and improving their speaking abilities. * *

3. Building Self-Confidence.
Purpose of Training
Building Self-Confidence.
Our Goal, Your Task!
This can only be achieved if judges:
Score consistently with each other and rubrics/rules
Avoid personal preference
Provide constructive and specific feedback * *

4. Two Aspects of Training Session
Part One:
The Judge’s
Typical Day
Tournament “Logistics”
& Forensics Vocabulary
30 minutes
Part Two:
The Art of
Judging
Rubrics, Rules,
Comments, Practice
90 minutes * *

5. Part One: The Judge’s Typical Day* *

6. The Judge’s Typical Day
Bring with you:
Stopwatch
Pencils
or pens
Required for
every judge!
School
may
provide
Caution: Can not use
cell phone as stopwatch! * *

7. The Judge’s Typical Day
Upon arriving:
Donuts
&
Coffee!
Find the Judges Lounge * *

8. The Judge’s Typical Day
Code
What Happens in
the Judges Lounge:
1004
Assignment
Slip
Find School Coach
Select Judge’s Folder
Review Rules
Fill out Critique Sheets
(Er, what’s standby?)
Judge 10-04
Infomercial
Power
210
Storytelling 2
103
Informative 1
Room
Category
Round * *

9. The Judge’s Typical Day
Deciphering the category sheet codes:
Section 3
Judge 1004
Room 135
12B02
20B02
13B04
01B02
12B01
School Code
Individual
Contestant or
Judge Code
Category Code * *

10. The Judge’s Typical Day
Why fill out the critique sheets in advance?
Section 2
Judge 1503
Room 133
11G02
13G02
01G01
03G01
15G01
20G01
Oh, no!
What’s
the
problem
here?
1. Time saver
2. Catch problems (e.g., not enough critique sheets, assignment conflicts) * *

11. The Judge’s Typical Day
Let’s Practice:
Fill out the critique sheets for your Informative section and review the category’s rules. * *

12. The Judge’s Typical Day
The Basics:
Know the rules for the category
Use your stop watch
Follow the rubric
Listen
Watch
Take Notes * *

13. The Judge’s Typical Day
Let’s role play: You walk into the room for a round. What do you do?
Students can not enter a room until a judge has arrived.
Position yourself so you have clear sight-lines of performers and to manage room
Move furniture if needed
Perform role call
Clarify expectations and procedures
(if needed)
Remind students to turn off cell phones * *

14. Part Two: The Art of Judging* *

15. The Art of Judging Let’s take a closer look at how
to use this critique sheet
to score a performance.
Description at end of row describes a “5” performance.
5 – Student meets the criteria completely (as assessed in relation to the
ability level of middle school students).
4 – Student meets most of the described criteria but not completely/fully
or needs some additional refinements.
3 – Student meets some of the criteria’s elements and is on the right track or has the right idea, but needs improvement.
2 – Student attempts to meet the criteria but little of the description is
met, so needs significant improvement.
1 – Student does not seem to attempt to meet criteria as the described
elements are completely lacking.

16. The Art of Judging Let’s take a closer look at how
to use this critique sheet
to score a performance.
Think of the three columns as a “continuum” as this approach allows for some flexibility in scoring.
Avoid “double dipping” (i.e., subtracting points for the same issue in 2 different lines).
One standard: Should this performance be at State? If so, then points should add up to a 37 or higher.
Scores below 30 are rather devastating, so sometime you need to “find” points by scoring the more problematic issues lower and “giving a pass” on some mediocre aspects.
Scores of “1” should be used sparingly for very serious problems.

17. Using the critique sheet, evaluate the following Informative
The Art of Judging
Let’s Practice:
Using the critique sheet, evaluate the following Informative
speech. * *

18. The Art of Judging
Watch the first
Informative
speech now. * *

19. * *

20. Turn to a partner and compare your evaluations of the speech.
The Art of Judging
Let’s Process:
Turn to a partner and compare your evaluations of the speech. * *

21. How did your score compare?
The Art of Judging
MLFA has set scores between as the normative range for this Informative speech.
How did your score compare? * *

22. Now with your trainer, discuss:
The Art of Judging
Now with your trainer, discuss:
Were there any of the 14 elements
on the rubric that you scored
Too low?
Too high?
Remember: It is not about your personal standards,
but rather consistent scoring among the association’s judges. * *

23. Let’s Look at Our Comments ...
Here are some comments from seasoned judges.
How do yours compare?
Positives
Good connection with the audience
Comfortable presence; nice flow to speech
Good enthusiasm, animated delivery
Nice job of referring to the board at times
Visual aid was eye catching!
What positive comments did you write down? * *

24. What comments about needed improvements did you make?* *

25. How do your comments compare?
Some more comments from seasoned judges.
How do your comments compare?
Areas of Improvement
Build in a main idea into the opening statement
Work on rate and pace – you’re a bit fast
Better transitions needed between main points
Move to side so audience/judge can see board
Add variety to your gestures -- you tend to use
the same “waist high” hand gesture
Save “in conclusion” for end of speech
(you used it to introduce your last main point) * *

26. Areas of Improvement (continued)
Some more comments from seasoned judges.
Areas of Improvement (continued)
DELIVERY
Add variety to your gestures – you tend to use
the same “waist high” hand gesture.
Move to side so audience/judge can see board.
AUDIBLE MESSAGE
Need more pauses, especially between points.
You sometimes swallow some of the end of your
words which makes it hard to hear what you said.
Work on rate and pace – you’re a bit fast. * 26

27. Important Notes about Comments
You are required to provide a minimum of three substantial, specific comments (“Good job” is not substantial)
If you give a score of “1” to one of the 14 elements, you are required to provide a comment explaining that score.
The best comments provide direction to coaches and students to improve throughout the season.
It is not helpful to comment/score negatively on obvious limitations (e.g., braces, speech impediments, etc.).
If you feel a student is dressed inappropriately, do NOT make comments on critique sheet. Rather, bring the concern to the infraction table – they will communicate the issue to the head coach. * *

28. The Art of Judging Let’s now view the second performance in our round.
Watch and judge the second Informative speech now. * *

29. * *

30. Turn to a partner and compare your evaluations of the speech.
The Art of Judging
Let’s Process:
Turn to a partner and compare your evaluations of the speech. * *

31. How did your score compare?
The Art of Judging
MLFA has set scores between as the normative range for this Informative speech.
How did your score compare? * *

32. Now with your trainer, discuss:
The Art of Judging
Now with your trainer, discuss:
Were there any of the 14 elements
on the rubric that you scored
Too low?
Too high?
Remember: It is not about your personal standards,
but rather consistent scoring among the association’s judges. * *

33. Let’s Look at Our Comments ...
Here are some comments from seasoned judges.
How do yours compare?
Positives
Citations effectively incorporated into speech
Good topic – well developed and explained
Good use of visual aid
Strong conclusion
Effective change of pace and rate during conclusion
What positive comments did you write down? * *

34. How do your comments compare?
Some more comments from seasoned judges.
How do your comments compare?
Areas of Improvement
Slow down!
Too robotic; gestures too rehearsed
Make eye contact with the whole room
Vary your facial expression, tone and
volume.
Er Doesn’t the “slow down” comment contradict one of the positives listed on the last slide? This is why it is important to be clear and specific. “Slow down” could be changed to: “Slow down in the middle of your speech.” * *

35. Ranking At some meets, you will be required to rank students.
Ranking is:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5
Ranks must be
consistent with
student scores. 1 4 3 2 5 1 5 * *

36. What do you do if there is a possible rule infraction?
Individual judges can not infract a performance – only the infraction table judges have that ability.
If you think there has been an infraction, you must go to the infraction table before checking in.
If in doubt about a rule, talk with the infraction table.
The most common infraction is time violations. * *

37. Time Infractions
Time infractions are handled differently than the other rule infractions.
Judges are still required to go to the infraction table so that the performance can be infracted by the Infraction Judges.
Time infractions have these consequences:
5 points are deducted from the performance’s score.
Once the points are deducted, the student is ranked accordingly based on the infraction-adjusted score.
If the adjusted score still results in the performance being ranked first in the round, then the time-infracted performance is ranked second. This is the ONLY situation where ranking might be inconsistent with scores.
Time-infracted performances are still eligible to qualify for Power Rounds.

38. The Judge’s Typical Day
After the Round:
Dismiss students
Replace furniture
Complete critique sheets
Turn lights off and close door
Go to Infraction Table for any rule violations
Turn in critique sheets (and ballot) to Tab Room * *

39. The Judge’s Typical Day
Between Rounds:
If next round is not starting right away, return to Judges Lounge or student areas (gym, cafeteria, etc.) * *

40. Judge the following Storytelling performance.
The Art of Judging
Let’s do another practice round
Judge the following Storytelling performance. * *

41. Let’s do another practice round
The Art of Judging
Let’s do another practice round
Judge the following Storytelling performance. * *

42. The Art of Judging Let’s Process:
What score did you give for this performance?
What were the reasons for your score?
What comments did you make about the performance? * *

43. How did your score compare?
The Art of Judging
MLFA has set scores between as the normative range for this Storytelling speech.
How did your score compare? * *

44. Challenge of Judging Group Events
Make comments about the overall group performance, but also make specific comments about the individuals’ performances.
Use some neutral distinguishing characteristic
(e.g., “Blue Shirt,” “Girl with Scarf,” character’s
name or role, etc.) to identify individual students.
Preferable to balance out negative comments so they are not focused on one individual, but . . .
Select just one or two key improvements needed by a student who is significantly weaker than others in group if the negative comments will be unequally distributed among all group members.

45. The Judge’s Typical Day
Power Round – The Finals!
Watch for your assignment
Begin when all three judges are present
Do not confer with other judges
Complete ranking ballot (critique sheets are not filled out)
Return ranking ballot Tab Room immediately * *

46. Vocabulary Review Judges Lounge Judges Meeting Rules and Rubric
Critique Sheet
Codes
Round
Stacked
Rank
Power Round
Standby
Ballot
Check-in
Tab Room
Infraction
Infraction table
Meet
Festival
Tournament * *

47. Judging resources are available at: www.mlfawisconsin.com
Any Questions?
Judging resources are available at: * *

48. Addendum: How to Run an Impromptu Draw
Watch the example of a Impromptu draw * *

49. Demonstration

50. Moments In History

51. Infomercial

52. Additional Student Videos
Videos from the 2012 Judge Training materials may be accessed via YouTube at the following links:
Impromptu Speech:
Humorous Solo:
Infomercial:

53. Summary
Be consistent
Judge without bias
Stay on time
Have fun! * *

54. Images From:
timemanagementninja.com/2010/08/stepping-forward-toward-your-goals/
catsinger-notesfromlamancha.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html
blog.ennova.ca/
family.webshots.com/photo/ TlGSJL
makingadifference11.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=
freeteach.com/teacher-forms/turn-off-cell-phone-sign/
keeps-you-sane/
wordalone.org/series/questions.shtml