Warm-up #4 - Question with a question

The team sits in a circle. The first one asks a question and the turns go around the circle.
For example:

Is everyone ready to work?
Can we work when it's so sunny out?
Can we hide in the basement?
Is the basement dark enough?
Can you turn down the lights?
If we turn down the lights, will we all get sleepy?
Can we get any work done if we're sleepy?.........................................

Warm-up #3 - The number game

This is a quick warm-up and makes them settle down and concentrate pretty quickly. The team sits in a cirle. One team member says "one". Someone else says "two". Someone else says "three". They can't go around the circle and no signaling. Only one person is allowed to say a number. If two or more say the next number the game is over. Let them do it 5-10 times. This is good before tournaments.

Warm-up #2 - Good news Bad news

The team sits in a circle. The first member says som good news then the news alternates around the circle. For example:

Good news: My family is going out to eat
Bad news: My uncle is coming with
Good news: He's always funny
Bad news: He gets kicked out of restaurants
Good news: I don't have to eat my peas when he comes with
Bad news: He shoots them through a straw at the other customers.....................................

Skills and Safety

If the team wants to do something and they don't have the skills, the team manager, a parent or anyone is allowed to teach that skill to the team member(s). For example, if the team wants to use a drill to make holes in a piece of wood, find a parent who owns a drill. The parent will teach the team how to use the drill and about safety. The team must drill the holes to be used in the challenge.

Warm-up #1 - Charlie

One person is Charlie. Charlie leaves the room.  The rest of the team chooses one thing that Charlie does (limps, hiccups, trips), one thing that Charlie says (Wow, I love pizza, Do you like my hat?) and one thing Charlie has (BO, lots of money, a monkey). The rest of the team improvs about having a party and decides to invite Charlie. For example:

Person 1 – Did you know it’s my birthday on Saturday?

Person 2 – Are you going to have a party?

Person 3 – Yes, we are having a pizza party at the hot springs.

Person 4 – Are you going to invite Charlie?

Person 1 – Yes, I have to. Our moms are best friends and she’ll make me.

Person 2 -  Ya, but all Charlie ever says is, “Do you want to see my baseball cards?”

Person 3 – And I don’t think he’ll come to the party unless he brings his monkey.

Person 4 – And it would be dangerous because he’s always tripping over everything.

Person 1 – I told you, I have to invite Charlie.

Party time: Charlie rings the doorbell and enters the room. He acts out the three things during the skit. They group acts out what happens at the party. Let it go as long as they have a skit going.  When they get too silly, stop them.

Instant challenge pointer #2

I usually prepared a few instant challenges at a time and put the required items in small ziplock bags and either put the printed challenge in the bag or put a sticky note with the book’s page number on the outside of the bag. There are books of instant challenges and many online. 

Instant challenge pointer #1

Keep a gallon size ziplock bag with all of the things you need for an instant challenge; sticky labels, paper clips, elbow noodles, buttons, straws, paper cups, Popsicle sticks, felt pens, etc.  It makes it easy to recycle items and you spend a lot less time gathering stuff.  It’s OK to substitute items in a challenge. If you don’t have any buttons, give them pasta. Except for the stickies, most things don’t really matter.

Really, don't interfere

We were in Denver at the state tournament as a sixth grade team. We were doing the technical challenge and afterwards we stayed and watched a fifth grade team do our same challenge. Their solution was a very large wood chute that had been sanded and varnished. I didn’t say anything but my team immediately said they thought that team had cheated. They’re proud of their solution and they need to own it. So, make all of the resources available but it’s their ideas and their work. It's so very hard to do sometimes but worth it in the end.

Avoiding interference

If you remember that most of your input on the main challenge should come in the form of questions, you'll avoid influencing their decisions (interference). My favorite question is, “What more can you do with that idea?” If they're stuck on a bad idea, they’ll realize they can’t do anything more that makes sense and they’ll change direction. If they’re stuck on a good idea, it will make them realize that they need to think some more to make it work. I’ll admit that after a while they learned that was my cue for them to think again, think more, think differently.

Getting started on the main challenge

There are a few things the team needs to do before the work begins:

• Choose a challenge
• Read the challenge thoroughly so that everyone understands it. I always read it out loud to them while sitting in a circle. We would discuss what each paragraph meant but not what they should do. For example: Challenge B – “The Circular Story may be set in any location, real or imaginary, and in any time period.”
• NO – That means something like in California during the gold rush in…..
• YES –
• What would be a location you could use?
• They’ll answer California, the moon, school………
• What would be a real or imaginary location?
• They’ll answer a fairytale castle would be imaginary (the boys will groan), a courtroom would be real…….
• Let them brainstorm solutions to the challenge and write down the general theme.
• If they have a favorite, let them brainstorm on the next layer of decisions in the challenge. Keep them going until they’ve got a plan for each detail. They tend to make decisions quickly so this doesn’t take very long once they understand the challenge.
• If it’s a split decision, let the groups brainstorm the details of their favorite and then present to the whole group and vote.
• Side trips: These are two things that are incorporated into the main challenge that aren’t required by the challenge. They’re scored separately. Your group will need to decide what their strengths are. Let them brainstorm and write them down: playing the guitar, sewing costumes, poetry, gymnastics……

Establish a routine

As in most things, a routine helps everyone know what is expected and what comes next. We practiced right after school once a week for about two hours. I live about a mile from Miller Middle School so the kids walked to my house as a group. It gave them a little exercise and social time. Once they arrived, here was the routine:

Snack – Parents rotated providing a healthy snack for the group

Warm up – There are a lot of short creative mind exercises such as “good news, bad news”, “Charlie”, “Answer a question with another question” and “the number game”. Play one or two until they are settled mentally. They enjoy these and will develop favorites.

Instant Challenges – Do one or two instant challenges. The amount of time spent on these depends on how the main challenge is progressing but at least one should be done every practice.

Brainstorm – The mental work comes now. They’re warmed up and ready to think. Sit in a circle and let them make decisions.

Work on the Main Challenge – Their attention span tends to be around 20 minutes. After that, you may need to refocus them. I usually gave them a 10 minute break in the middle of the remaining time. They went outside with a soccer ball or played tag or did something active. When they come back in they should be able to work for another 20 minutes.

The End – Do an instant challenge, let them evaluate their progress, do a warm-up exercise or let them work on the Main Challenge until the end if they’re still focused. The end of the meeting will vary depending on whether they stay focused or not. Remember, they should be having fun so end on a good note.

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to share information on being an effective team manager, scheduling, instant challenges and other things that might be useful. If you're a returning team manager, please post your suggestions. If you're new, hang in there and check this blog each week for helpful tips.

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