Academics News
Page 7 of 18 pages ‹ First < 5 6 7 8 9 > Last ›
Practice Really Does Make the Difference
By Jana Riggins, Speech and Debate Director | Tuesday, November 20, 2012 11:30 AM
“Practice makes perfect.” It’s a cliché we have all heard, but I’ve often wondered who coined this phrase. Whoever wrote it, my mother seemed to have the market on it when she’d wake me up super early on mornings to practice the piano while my two older brothers snuggled underneath the covers much longer than me. One piano. Three kids. Often, I drew the short straw. That’s what happens when you’re the baby of the family and your older siblings are boys.
I didn’t like hearing it then, but I grew to understand the truth in the saying as I began to compete in UIL and later, as I coached. It didn’t take long to recognize that my students who broke to the final rounds were those who asked for extra practice sessions with me during lunch and after school when all their squad team members had long since called it a day.
It was also the kids who took advantage of every invitational tournament we scheduled. There they were, on the bus, ready and prepared for another challenge to compete against opponents who also had made speech and debate a priority in their busy schedule.
Writing Must Grab the Reader and Make Them Feel
By Jeanne Acton, Journalism Director | Tuesday, November 20, 2012 11:19 AM
I cried this weekend.
No, not terribly shocking news. I do cry sometimes. But these tears didn’t come from some sappy Lifetime movie or frustration with my kids, husband, family or any other slice of my life.
I cried during a presentation — reading some of my own writing.
Not exactly the best way to present — especially since I don’t own waterproof mascara.
But I didn’t apologize. In fact, I told the audience that my tears were good. It meant I felt something. And we should feel when we read.
The presentation was at the JEA National Convention in San Antonio and was called ‘Make Average Writing Great’ or something like that.
The Idioms of Academics
By Dr. David Stevens, Academic Director | Monday, October 08, 2012 1:35 PM
The origins of some commonly used idioms, or cliches, are unknown. Many can be linked to a phenomenon, odd behavior or special occurrences in history. However, those who use them often understand their meaning. Therefore, let us provide some meaning for those phrases you may hear in relation to UIL academics this fall.
It was raining cats and dogs during the fall Student Activities Conferences this year. Not literally. Well, maybe at the UT-Austin SAC. Those of you who attended that SAC did brave downpours and waded through water to get to sessions.
Our attendance was outstanding at each site, and the presenters and hosts were terrific. So it isn’t a stretch to say that the knowledge was raining into our attendees.
Technology Opens New Doors of Creativity
By Luis Muñoz, Theatre Director | Tuesday, October 02, 2012 12:41 PM
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't.
—William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206
Creativity as a process is something that has fascinated me from the time I was introduced to the concept during a graduate class in directing that I took with James Barton at what is now Texas State University. This gift to imagine and realize is not unique to the artist but, to me, is inherent in the very core of all humanity. We are born with the ability to mimic what we see and hear. As we grow older, we become capable of applying all of our experiences, both personal and vicarious, with knowledge gained through education to create.
Rule Reminders for A+ District Meets
By David Trussell, A+ Director | Tuesday, October 02, 2012 12:38 PM
For A+ districts hosting fall/winter meets in December and January, the meet planning process should be well underway. That process includes a number of important decisions; as those decisions are made it’s crucial to keep in mind which options are available — and which are not. The A+ program affords districts a great deal of flexibility, but not everything is negotiable.
• The A+ Art contest includes the identification section known as Part A, as well as the art history and elements section known as Part B. Section 1410(b)(2) of the C&CR states, “Both Parts A and B of the contest shall be conducted.” This means that a district Art contest must include both parts; by rule, omitting Part B is not an option.
Which Way to Go? A New Literary Journey Soon Begins for Prose and Poetry Students
By Jana Riggins, Speech and Debate Director | Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:50 AM
Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz pondered as she began her journey along the yellow brick road and met up with the Scarecrow at the fork, the new Prose and Poetry State Advisory Committee will be wondering just where to go when they create new high school oral interpretation categories for 2013-14.
The UIL has designed literary categories for the prose and poetry contests since the 1940’s. These contests have their roots early in the League’s existence when, at the first state meet which entailed only debate competition, coaches voted to add Declamation as its second event. Declamation was the forerunner for our current prose and poetry contests.
Early on, the requirement for declamation literature was open, yet strict. From the Constitution, in 1911, the rules stipulated that selections should fall under the general field of good citizenship.
Texas to Host National Journalism Convention
By Jeanne Acton, Journalism Director | Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:45 AM
Texas advisers and students have a unique opportunity this year. They can attend a national journalism convention in their own state.
The JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention will be held Nov. 15-18 in San Antonio at the Marriott Rivercenter and Riverwalk and the Convention Center across the street.
It’s been 10 years since Texas hosted a national convention. Let’s show the nation how much we support and embrace scholastic journalism by heading to San Antonio in November.
The Texas delegation, including chairs Pat Gathright and Rhonda Moore, has been working for more than two years to plan an exciting convention for scholastic journalists and their advisers.
West Texas A&M Student Activities Conference Canceled
By David Stevens, Academic Director | Monday, August 27, 2012 3:26 PM
The Student Activities Conference scheduled at West Texas A&M University on Oct. 20 has been cancelled.
Due to marching band contests on the original date and other conflicts throughout the fall, we are unable to reschedule this SAC.
The UIL will still host three conferences.
September 15 — Tyler Junior College, Tyler
September 22 — Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
September 29 — The University of Texas at Austin
The conferences are a crash course of all things academic related and are designed to help high school students and coaches begin to prepare for spring contests. Conferences will begin at 9 a.m. and will end by 1:30 p.m. All Student Activity Conferences are free and pre-registration is not necessary.
It’s Teachers Who Make the Difference in Schools
By Jana Riggins, Speech and Debate Director | Monday, August 27, 2012 3:15 PM
I’m an individual who is fascinated with facts and figures, based-on-true-story movies and the news. Yes, I admit it. I love the news so much my sons have labeled me a news junkie. This summer when they were home for stretches of time, they learned to automatically change the channel from sports to news, no words exchanged, when I walked in the door after work.
So, admittedly, I was intrigued to discover the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates there are over seven million teachers in America. My first thought about that statistic? Seven million – wow! What an army of individuals to impact our world!
Amanda Paulson, writer for the Christian Science Monitor, draws a conclusion from her research for a special edition of the Monitor focusing on improving schools in America: “Teachers are the most important factor in student learning — more important than textbooks, tests, computers, classrooms, peer groups, study guides or any other aspect of the education industry.”
A Guide to Catching a State Trophy
By David Stevens, Academic Director | Monday, August 27, 2012 1:59 PM
On a recent expedition to the Gulf Coast of Texas, I had some time to let the sand sift through my toes, the salty air to blow through my hair and time to enjoy one of my favorite departures from realism.
Fishing can be the biggest thrill of the day or the most boring thing you do.
I have a lot of fish stories to tell, and I have enough college degrees in pretending (theatre) that you might believe one of them. Some people only reel in an old shoe or an empty hook when they fish. I am betting that you want to pull in something much better than that — a state trophy.