Jump to content

Menu

Destination Imagination


Recommended Posts

Anyone ever led a DI team? I was just asked to lead one and I've never participated in it at all. I've read up on it and it looks wonderful so I'm quite interested. However, I feel like I may be biting off way more than I can chew. Anyone able to give me advice on starting and guiding a team and what I'd be getting into? Or just slap me in the cyber-head and tell me to quickly turn down the request.

 

Thanks for any guidance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This sounds very similar to Odyssey of the Mind. I have coached OotM two years and worked on the regional board as Sales Director for two years. I would suspect the level of work for a coach/team leader is about the same between the two programs.

 

I really enjoyed it, but a lot depends on the personalities of the children on your team. I would say the time commitment was about 2 hours a week for most of the program year and 3 hours a night/4 nights a week for the last few weeks before the competition. The hardest part was making sure the adults (leaders and parents) left the kids ALONE to do the work. No help, no 'suggestions' etcv.

 

 

Lessons learned:

 

The first year they were very eager and worked well together, we spent most of our time on the long term problem and they did very well however they came in second place overall because they were not as prepared for the spontaneous problem. If you coach a team remember to prepare for both sides of the contest.

 

Second year, one kid (and mom) caused a lot of grief. The kids started to hate the meetings. It was hard to get anything done. We went to state that year and everyone moaned about having to stay together another month. Personalities really matter when you have to work closely together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...