1. FLOWING RONALD BRATT CAPITOL DEBATE www.capitol-debate.com

2. WHY FLOW   TO ENSURE THAT YOU RESPOND TO ALL OPPOSING ARGUMENTS   SO THAT YOU CAN SEE WHICH ARGUMENTS THE OTHER TEAM DOES NOT RESPOND TO   THE JUDGE CAN SEE THE PROGRESSION OF ARGUMENTS IN DETERMINING A WINNER

3. TRADITIONAL NOTETAKING  Affirmative: Middle Schools should start later as students will be more awake and do better academically.  My response: If kids go to sleep earlier than they would not be tired in the morning. Additionally, they would now just fall asleep at the end of the day as you school ends much later.  Affirmative: Additionally, teachers will be much happier!  My response: Most teachers surveyed would like to get home earlier to be with their families and have more time to prep out for the next day Affirmative: Middle Schools should start later as students will be more awake and do better academically.My response: If kids go to sleep earlier than they would not be tired in the morning. Additionally, they would now just fall asleep at the end of the day as you school ends much later.Affirmative: Additionally, teachers will be much happier!My response: Most teachers surveyed would like to get home earlier to be with their families and have more time to prep out for the next day.Affirmative: Middle Schools should start later as students will be more awake and do better academically.My response: If kids go to sleep earlier than they would not be tired in the morning. Additionally, they would now just fall asleep at the end of the day as you school ends much later.Affirmative: Additionally, teachers will be much happier!My response: Most teachers surveyed would like to get home earlier to be with their families and have more time to prep out for the next day.

4. FLOWING TECHNIQUE

5. WHY IS FLOWING BETTER THAN NOTETAKING Flowing a debate has many advantages over the traditional note taking process.   Everyone can follow the progression of the argument. In rebuttals, the negative can see their arguments from constructives and extend or reiterate them without having to scroll through numerous sheets of paper. The judge can look at the flow to see how the arguments have developed throughout the debate and determine who did the better job of debating.   Debaters can easily see which arguments have been addressed by the other side and which have been ignored.

6. MATERIALS NEEDED LEGAL SIZE PAPER DIFFERENT COLOR PENS

7. SETTING UP YOUR FLOW 1AC1NC2AC NEGATIVE BLOCK 1AR2NR2AR

8. SETTING UP YOUR FLOW  Hold Page Landscape  Make 8 Equal Columns: First Affirmative Constructive, First Negative Constructive, 2 nd Affirmative Constructive, The Negative Block, 1 st Affirmative Rebuttal, 2 nd Negative Rebuttal, and 2 nd Affirmative Rebuttal.  For off case arguments started in the 1NC, you only need 7 columns.

9. WHAT DO YOU WRITE ON YOUR FLOW In order of importance:  Claim or Conclusion  Citations – author’s name and date  Summary of Evidence

10. WHAT SHOULD YOU GET ON YOUR FLOW The following is read into the debate: Starting School Later Would Improve Student’s Academic Performance Sarah Bernard, Edutopia Organization – The George Lucas Educational Focus, January 23, 2007. http://www.edutopia.org/community/spiralnote book/?p=223 “According to recent reports by the National Sleep Foundation and several university research centers, teenagers are wired to be sleepier in the morning — their levels of melatonin (a sleep-promoting hormone) don’t fall until at least 8 AM. As a result, some high schools have begun delaying the morning bell in order to make the school day more manageable for sleep-deprived teens. Some argue, however, that most of the evidence for teenage sleep patterns remains anecdotal, starting school later would cut into after-school activities, and other factors should take priority when it comes to student achievement.” The following should be on your flow 1. Later Start ↑ Acad. Perf. Bernard 07 Studies show that melatonin levels still high in a.m. ***author admits anecdotal***

11. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 1. Each Major Issue in the Debate Should Get its Own Sheet of Paper. Each Affirmative Contention such as inherency, harms, and solvency. Each off case argument such as each disadvantage or counterplan or topicality argument. Reasons:  Space Reasons – you would never have room to fit all the arguments from entire debate in one column.  Organization Issues – allows you to keep issue separate on a separate sheet of paper for analysis.  Strategic Reasons – allows you to strategically shuffle the order that you address issues in the debate.

12. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 2. Write Small – as you need to fit lots of information in narrow columns, the smaller you write the more neatly you can fit the arguments on the flow.

13. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 3. Use 2 Different Colors – use one color for your team’s arguments and another color for the other team’s arguments. That allows you to differentiate your arguments from the other team’s argument which is important when reading off your flowsheet during the debate.

14. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 4. Abbreviate – formulate abbreviation system which will allow you to get more arguments down on the flow.

15. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 5. Write Neatly – you need to be able to read off your flowsheet during the debate!

16. FLOWING TECHNIQUES 6. Leave Space between Arguments – as you need to put the other team’s arguments next to yours, make sure you leave room for several arguments to put to the right of your argument.