Week 2 Meeting Notes

Meeting #2 This meeting is a good time to work on teaching the team the Odyssey philosophy and some of the basic skills

used in Odyssey: thinking creatively and working cooperatively. 

IDEAS TO TEACH:

 The Difference Between "Winning Prizes" and "Succeeding" (Being Winners)

OBJECTIVE: To have the group begin to realize that ribbons or trophies do not equal achievement.

FORMAT: Group discussion.

PROCEDURE: The coach asks open-ended questions and lets the team members discuss such issues as:

"Why do you want to do Odyssey?" "Why do you think Odyssey is a competition?" What does 'winning'

mean?" "What do you expect from your teammates?" "What do you hope to achieve at Odyssey meetings?"

"What do you hope to achieve at the Odyssey of the Mind® Meet?" (This is a good time for the coach to

practice letting the TEAM come up with the ideas, and letting the coach be a "guide on the side.")

"Rules of Engagement" for Odyssey of the Mind®

OBJECTIVE: To begin to establish "Rules of Engagement" for team efforts; To practice brainstorming;

To have the team realize that criticism of others' ideas undermines teamwork and prevents good ideas from

appearing and evolving

FORMAT: Demonstration and group discussion

PROCEDURE: Give each team member a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a simple, unusual object (each

team member gets a different object; could be citrus peeler, metal washer, etc.) Ask each team member to

write creative use for the object. Then have them pass objects to their left until each person has written a

use for each object. Have them read their lists aloud.

Discussion: Ask the team "what answers did you hear that you liked?" Let each person have a chance to

contribute his/her praise of another person's written answer. Ask the team: "were there any answers that

you thought might be impractical?" "how could you change or adapt the answer so that it is more practical?"

"have you improved on the original idea?" "does hearing all ideas make you think of more and better ones?"

Discuss the idea that in Odyssey there are NOT ANY BAD IDEAS, only ones that may need further work or

discussion. Suggest RULE No. 1: All ideas should be allowed and never criticized!

Suggest that the team begin a list of "OUR TEAM'S RULES" tailored to "Just Us."

(Note: empowering the team to make their own set of rules gives them ownership that will promote

their following the rules by choice. It also begins teaching them that in Odyssey of the Mind, they are

encouraged - required, actually - to do the work themselves. The coach may write team's lists in Div.

I if words are the team's own.)

If We Can Dream It, We Can Do It

OBJECTIVE: To give the team confidence in themselves and promote mutual respect

FORMAT: Group interaction with some direction

PROCEDURE: Ask the team members to take the sheet of paper from the previous activity and list all the

things they think they are "reasonably" good at doing. If they know one another already, have them list at

least one thing they think each of their teammates is good at. If they don't already know one another, have

them write the other team members names and something they do know about them, such as where they

live, how many brothers and sisters they have, what sport or musical instrument they play, etc. Let them

discuss this if they don't know anything about each other - a sort of "get acquainted" time. You might

consider SERVING REFRESHMENTS during this activity. Then let them share their thoughts and positive

comments.