by Anna Johansen | Oct 20, 2017 | Basics, Coaching, Coaching a Club, Debate
Jamaica, 1989 “Can you tell me what this is?” She pointed to the odd looking lump in the buffet line. The man behind the counter glanced over, and muttered something in indistinct, accented English. “Mayighf pret.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, what was that?” “Naydef... 
by Emily Rose | Aug 27, 2017 | Best Resources, Coaching, Coaching a Club, Debate, Ethos Info, From Advanced to National-Class, From Intermediate to Advanced, From Novice to Intermediate, LD, Speech Events, Thinking Strategically
A second-year team went from never advancing to qualifying to NITOC. A second-year LD student qualified to NCFCA Nationals and received second at a National Open. A third-year debater consistently placed first at their tournament. A novice LD debater became second in... 
by Noah Farley | Jun 13, 2017 | Coaching a Club
Value vs. Policy- a foundational conflict, like the one between liberty and security, or that between deontology and consequentialism (now you can probably tell which side I fall on). While individual debaters have to rely on their experiences and feelings in order... 
by Isaiah McPeak | Mar 28, 2017 | Coaching, Coaching a Club, Communication/Rhetoric, Debate, Soapbox, Theory
Editor’s Note: As Isaiah steps down as CEO, Head Coach, and Leader of Ethos, it seems rather prudent to publish this post, which embodies everything Isaiah taught and will continue to teach. This idea of teaching with a lens of “But why?” continues... 
by Harrison Durland | Jan 25, 2017 | Coaching a Club
I’m going to be honest, I have no idea what we were doing sometimes. Now, I’d definitely say that our club had a relatively good level of organization. However, the seemingly inevitable degree of chaos in some of our practices drove me crazy. Aside from deciding how... 
by Isaiah McPeak | Nov 17, 2016 | Affirmatives, Best Resources, Coaching, Coaching a Club, Debate, Thinking Strategically
What should you look for when reviewing a case? We want debaters to process for themselves and make intentional choices. If they know why they did it a certain way, then it’s probably defensible. But even if they did a good thing without knowing why, challenge them,...