Odyssey of the Mind Awareness Session

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• NCOM Eastern Region Mission
• Provide Creative Problem-Solving Opportunities
  for everyone
• To Foster Original and Divergent Thinking

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Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking

• Convergent Problem Solving
• For every problem, there is just one correct
  answer
• Divergent Problem Solving
• For every problem there are MANY correct answers
• OM encourages participants to be CREATIVE in
  finding a solution.
• OM encourages participants to interpret and solve
  complex problems in a FUN way!

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How OM Teaches Divergent Thinking

• Spontaneous Practice
• We teach children to think on their feet and
  how to solve problems at a moments notice.
• We teach brainstorming techniques
• We teach team work concepts
• Solving the Long Term Solution
• Solving the long term problem requires the teams
  to use the skills they learn in spontaneous
  practice. They must apply the various
  brainstorming techniques and work in a team.

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How the Competition teaches Divergent Thinking

• Spontaneous Score
• The highest score is achieved by giving highly
  creative responses to the problem posed to the
  team.
• Long Term Solution Score
• The highest score is achieved by meeting all of
  the requirements listed out in the problem.
• Style Score
• The highest score is obtained by delivering a
  Long Term solution that is CREATIVE. Teams pick
  items in the set/ costumes/ dialogue to be scored
  for Style. There are a few mandatory Style
  items, and as always, there are team selected
  items

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OM Structure - Teams

• Must have membership
• Made of 5 7 students
• Has 1 3 coaches
• Must supply one judge
• Salem Teacher Volunteers
• Must supply one volunteer for 2 4 hours
• Parent of a student
• Pre-tournament or tournament participation
• Solutions are all student CREATED

OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE
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OM Structure - Coaches

• Volunteers
• Must attend OM Coaches Training
• Can have co-coaches (1 or 2)
• Must commit to the tournament dates listed on the
  sign up sheet
• Will need to attend the Dress Rehearsal on
  Wednesday night, Feb 28th.

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2007 2008 Long-Term Problems
Vehicle Problem 1 Odyssey Road Rally
Technical Problem 2 Dino StoriesClassics
Problem 3 The Wonderful Muses Structure
Problem 4 Tee StructureTheatrical Problem
5 The Eccentrics!Primary 1 thru 2nd
Rude Awakenings
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OM at Salem - COST

• Cost
• 50 from each participant (40 for second or
  third child)
• OM Membership Fee Team Registration
• Trophies / medals / name plates for school
  plaque
• T-shirts and End of year celebration
• Long-Term Problem Cost
• Variable depending on problem (approx 115 -
  145)
• Take total cost and divide by the number of team
  members
• Note that your team may spend more to figure out
  your solution, but can only take 115/ 145 of
  your solution to the competition

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OM at Salem

• Weekly Spontaneous Practice w/ Sponsors
• Monday at 800 a.m.
• Primary (September October)
• Division I (November Feb)
• Weekly meetings with coach
• Primary 1 hour 1.5 hours
• Division I 2 hours
• NOTE Month of February, extra meetings are
  usually added in.

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Forming Teams

• OM Sponsors will work to form teams based on
  grades/ tracks/ teachers, ect.
• OM Sponsors will talk with coaches and turn over
  potential roster.
• Coaches should set up a kick off meeting to
  meet with the team, and try and set a mutually
  agreeable time to hold team meetings.
• Once team members agree to the coaches
  expectations, turn the registration check into
  the coach, and commit to participation in the
  Salem OM Program.
• Coaches turn in the registration money to the OM
  Sponsors.

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Timeline
Registration DUE
Friday, August 18th
Team Assignment
September 4 - 7
Oct 27 (TBD)
Eastern Region Coaches Training
December
Early Bird Registration Deadline
First week in Feb
Eastern Region Judges Training
Eastern Region Tournament
March 1 (TBD)
End of March / April
State Tournament
World Finals- University of Maryland
End of May (TBD)
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Questions?

• Sujata Shirsekar
• sshirsekar_at_wcpss.net
• Rosanne de Vera Taft
• Salem_OM_Taft_at_yahoo.com
• www.odysseyofthemind.org
• www.ncom.org (North Carolina)
• www.ncome.org (Eastern Region)
• regional-director_at_ncome.org