New Team Practice Strategies

[GHBarker]

Hello all,
So not only is this my first year running Academic Team but all of my participants are new. Does anyone have any advice on practice strategies. I have read that running simulated games works well, but want to have a few other ideas to throw in so that practice doesn't become too mundane.
Thanks in advance for the advice.

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[cchiego]

For a new team and mostly inexperienced members, simulated games are probably a good thing. What players need more than anything at the start is just to be exposed to questions from different tournaments and start to realize what clues and answers are most likely to come up ("the quizbowl canon"). You can play as individuals or as mixed teams.

Part of how to mix things up in practice depends on the temperament of the team. If they neg too much, you might want to figure out a way to penalize negging and encourage them to listen carefully. If they won't buzz aggressively enough, try just reading the first half of a question and then challenging them to guess.

You might try reading questions by category using Qinterest to select a category and get them to recognize the kinds of things that come up in each category (the canon is pretty small at the HS level for some smaller categories and repeats would keep them on their toes). It would also be a good chance to students who are more subject-specific to get a chance to shine.

You could try having the students write down what they're missing, then making them go home, research the topic, and come back ready to explain to other team members, create a flashcard, or write a question on the same answer line, but your results may vary here depending on their work ethic. They should be writing things down anyways.