The first meeting

I will be sending email to my team's parents to kick off the first meeting. I still have to read the Challenges and pick a problem with my co-coach. Independent of the problem, the agenda for the first meeting will look something like this:

15 min - Introductions
20 min - Establish the rules
30 min - Read the problem
20 min - Instant Challenge (if time)
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85 min - total

What do I have in mind for each of these?

Introductions
Have each team member say their name, give their experience with odyssey or DI and say what they like to do (e.g. build, act, write, etc.)

Establish the rules
State your expectations. A few are: one person talks at a time, this means do not talk if the coach is talking; treat each other with respect; conduct the meetings as if a judge is watching and awarding (and subtracting) points for teamwork.

Follow this up by an "Instant Challenge" where you see how many rules of conduct the team can brainstorm in 3 minutes. Then have the team select a core set of rules to follow for the season. Write the rules on a large piece of paper, or type them up and hang them up in the meeting room

Read the problem
Go around the room, have each team member read a chunk (paragraph or so) of the problem and discuss with the team. It helps if the coach has read the problem first to help facilitate the discussion.

Instant Challenge (if time)
Have one or two fun instant challenges selected. There will be a separate blog post on this topic.

Purpose

I have coached Odyssey of the Mind for five years and I am about to start my first year coaching a Destination Imagination team. The purpose of this blog is to be a resource for the other coaches in town. Potential topics are:

• The first meeting
• Picking the problem
• A rough time line
• Combining instant challenges with progress on the long term challenge
• Ideas and resources for instant (spontaneous) challenges