OM or DI, Part II
Peg Dietrich
amazing how such a wonderful program can be SO SCREWED UP. I check out the
map, and it looks like Michigan is going with DI. Maybe.
I've printed all of this information out for my husband, who is actually the
coach. So far, our school has no membership packets, no copies of the
questions, and no idea what is going on! Husband was *supposed* to go to
his first training last weekend. (Even though he has 5 years of OM coaching
experience (and 4 medals!), he figured that with the new program, he ought
to go to the training.) Unfortunately, a crisis came up at work and he
spent Saturday there instead. Regional director said that they were going
to have another training due to the fact that many of the coaches hadn't
gotten any information and didn't even know about the training! Here we are
in mid-November and our team *still* hasn't had their first meeting!
Frustration, frustration, frustration!
Quick question -- those that are going with DI, does it look like the
Spontaneous is a lot different? The example problem dealt with having 8
minutes to create a skit. Huh?
Anyway, keep me, and everybody else, informed as to what you learn. And let
us know how the problem-solving is going!
Good luck!
Peg
James K. Gruetzner
>Thank you to all the wonderful people that answered my question. It's
>amazing how such a wonderful program can be SO SCREWED UP. I check out the
>map, and it looks like Michigan is going with DI. Maybe.
My understanding is that Michigan went with DI with the exception
of one school district (or area--was it Traverse? I don't know) whose
coordinator/director/??? was a friend of the Mickluses. But, since
I'm not sure, you might want to contact the guy who is keeping the
independent "census" page at
http://www.hanksville.org/cps/census.html. His name is Rob Seaman,
and he has tried to remain relatively neutral; he'd be a good one to
contact.
You might want to give your state Director a call or e-mail. The
Michigan site is listed as http://www.micreativity.org/ The e-mail
is listed as micrea...@aol.com. (My parents and some other
family live in Michigan, BTW; where are you located? I went to high
school in Romeo, Mich. (north of Detroit a ways).) I had the chance
to e-mail your AD last year once; she was fairly responsive then, but
it might be someone new.
In any event, that's what I got in the habit of doing over the past
few years when questions came up: contacted our Association Director.
Most of the time she was able to free up a bit of time to answer right
away. Of course, I'm in a smaller state, so she wasn't *quite* as
busy with the volunteer stuff. :-)
>I've printed all of this information out for my husband, who is actually the
>coach. So far, our school has no membership packets, no copies of the
>questions, and no idea what is going on!
Boy, you have my sympathies! In our state I have probably been
crying over and over again that getting information to the teams is
*crucial.* (They've probably done a pretty good job here, but I'm
always asking for more. I'm *so* demanding! :-) )
You are not along in starting "late"; it's not something I'd worry
too much about. I have a team at the school I coordinator for (I'm a
volunteer parent; such is our whole program) which is having its first
meeting tomorrow (I hope). Many others are in the same boat.
It might be worthwhile to get the synopses right away. They can be
gotten at www.dini.org/synop.htm . Then your team(s) can get their
Challenges (problems) chosen. The full text of the Challenges are
available at www.dinimagination.org/clarifications .
What they did this year was to take the first set of clarifications
and incorporate them directly into the Challenge text, which can then
be printed directly with the changes already in them. While I like
that, if you aren't expecting it, it can be confusing.
> Husband was *supposed* to go to
>his first training last weekend. (Even though he has 5 years of OM coaching
>experience (and 4 medals!), he figured that with the new program, he ought
>to go to the training.) Unfortunately, a crisis came up at work and he
>spent Saturday there instead.
:-( I've met several of the Mich teams at WFs the past couple
of years; don't know if your husband's was one of them. I make a
practice of trying to attend *every* Team Manager's ("Coach's")
training. In addition to always picking something up, I can
contribute, too. Of course, our trainings tend to be very small
seminars--30 people is the largest we've ever had.
> Regional director said that they were going
>to have another training due to the fact that many of the coaches hadn't
>gotten any information and didn't even know about the training! Here we are
>in mid-November and our team *still* hasn't had their first meeting!
>Frustration, frustration, frustration!
You are not alone. There's been a goodly number of start-up
pains.
>Quick question -- those that are going with DI, does it look like the
>Spontaneous is a lot different? The example problem dealt with having 8
>minutes to create a skit. Huh?
The main changes (as I understand it) is that the Instant Improv
("spontaneous") will (1) always have a "teamwork" component (no more
if-one-is-stuck-then-the-team-is-stuck), and (2) no longer ever be of
the "speed spontaneous" (card-flipping, a number of fast answers)
type. I think the goal is to look at practical creativity.
>Anyway, keep me, and everybody else, informed as to what you learn. And let
>us know how the problem-solving is going!
I Manage two teams, one Elementary (Fruit Roller Coaster) and one
Intermediate (nonLeaning Tower of Pasta). These are not simple
challenges (don't let the cutesy names fool you), but I have never
seen kids so excited about them as I have this year. As I've posted
before on this list, things are *different* and *novel*--and new
approaches are helpful.
My older daughter is doing the Music challenge; feedback from her
team is about the same.
There is a list for Destination ImagiNation managers and teams (go
to www.egroups.com ans search for "Destination ImagiNation". The list
with (dini) in parentheses is the general one. It is a fun list.
Have a great day; hope this helps.
James
James K. Gruetzner <jkg...@unm.edu> | In faith and in science,
Creative Problem Solving Coordinator| All truth is God's truth.
Sombra del Monte Elementary School |
Madison Middle School |TM: Fruit Roller Coaster (E)
Albuquerque, New Mexico | nonLeaning Tower of Pasta (I)