Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Spontaneous!

"Things I wish someone had told me about Spontaneous..."
Here are comments and suggestions that I have collected from Coaches, Judges and team members.
“For most new parents, team members, and coaches there's nothing as mysterious about Odyssey of the
Mind as Spontaneous. The mystery is mainly because this part of the competition is not open to
spectators. The reason for this secrecy is that all of the teams in the same age division and long-term
problem must solve the same Spontaneous problem. This makes secrecy critical to the fairness of the
competition, even after the team competes because any disclosure of the problem could lead to another
team having an unfair advantage. Therefore, team members are required to keep the problem a secret,
even from their coach until the competition is over for the day. This may seem unfair at first but it is
important that everyone understands and respects this requirement. “
“I wish I’d known how important practicing spontaneous is. The difference between places at competition
can be very directly related to how well a team does in spontaneous!”
“Be sure to explain the way a spontaneous competition is conducted to the team. This is especially true if
they are a young or inexperienced team. They need to know what to expect as far the procedure. Coaches
need to ask questions and find out how their local competition site is set up, such as where to drop off and
wait for the team.
1) Arrive at the Spontaneous site 15 minutes early so you have time to check in and get ready.
2) Only one adult is allowed to accompany the team to the holding room. This is where the team waits
for the judges to come for them when it is their turn. Coaches should keep the team calm and make
sure all cell phones, pagers and beeping devices of any type are turned off as they are not allowed
in the competition room. When the team is escorted out the coach should pick up the teams
belongings and take them to the waiting area.
3) The judges will bring the entire team into the competition room and tell them what type of problem
they will have. The team will have 1 minute to decide which 5 team members participate.
4) Two copies of the problem will be given to the team when the judge begins reading the problem.
5) The judge will tell the team if talking is allowed and whether they can ask questions.
“As a Spontaneous Judge it breaks my heart to see the kids so frightened to be in the presence of the "THE
SPONTANEOUS JUDGES"... Judges try to do everything we can to get the kids relaxed before we start.
Judges are there because we love kids and we enjoy seeing so many creative kids doing such amazing
things. Please remember that judges want every team to do their very best, and we will do our best to be
fair and consistent in our judgments.”
“If I could suggest something for all new coaches and especially coaches for Division 1 teams... Please
don't let the fact that you can't be with them get you nervous and upset. The kids will pick up on that and go
into the spontaneous area with all of your worries added to their own. The best thing you can do is prepare
them well, and smile when they go!”
“As so many people have said, you need to practice all types of spontaneous problems on a regular basis.
Get your team comfortable with the idea of thinking on their feet, and don't forget that many Spontaneous
problems have a score for teamwork. If they have never competed, be sure to tell them what to expect once
they are in the room with the judges. When you practice, don't forget selecting their 5 participating team
members. It would be outside assistance for the coach to make this decision in advance. Let them figure it
out as part of your practice sessions. (A hint on practice: nothing builds confidence like success. When they
fail to solve a practice problem, let them try again) “
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was that, once an idea is on the table it's the team's idea
and no longer belongs to the person who put it forth. We'd had trouble with team members who didn't want
others modifying their idea, or would keep referring to it as "my idea." The coach who shared this advice
told me that she would tell her team members that they were perfectly free to keep an idea to themselves
and not share it, but once it's out on the table, it's public property. My kids only had to see that look in my
eye to say, "We know! It's the team's idea now."

“Spontaneous Rules
1) Listen! Pay close attention to the judges as they read the problem.
2) Expect the unexpected. Train for the unusual!
3) Evaluate Quality vs. Quantity for responses and do the math for scoring
4) Scoring is critical. Make sure you understand it.
“Verbal problems seem to have been evolving with limiting conditions as matter of necessity for the Judge’s
sake. If you want to know why, try scoring a fast verbal problem and keeping up with the kids! With a well
coached team you don't get much time to decide if it’s a common or creative response. My experience as a
judge is limited to just a few years and can tell you this change is very welcome. What this means is that
speed is not as important as creativity. While I don't claim to know what the best method for developing
creativity might be, I do know that teaching the kids to not jump into answers is very important. When you
practice with your team, ask them to read the problem carefully and figure out what limits the responses. Is
it cards to flip over? Is it something they pass around?
“They should also be careful to follow the instructions. For instance, if the verbal problem specifically says
that “the next team member must wait to turn over the next card until the last response was given” the team
needs to be very careful. Judges will notice if this rule is ignored and they will stop the team and make them
go back. This will cost the team time, and time can often be the determining factor in the number of
responses the team may give.”
“Penalties (as in point reductions for breaking a rule) are not imposed in spontaneous. However, any
intervention by the judges that uses up some of the team’s response time is reducing the time available for
the team to score. While not as obvious as a written penalty in long term the result can be just as significant.
This is a very common problem for inexperienced teams when they are given a verbal problem to solve.
This is because any inappropriate or repeated responses will require the judges to ask the team member to
give another response. If the judges can’t hear or understand the response the judges will ask the team
member to repeat the response.”
Here are the three standard interventions that Judges will use on VERBAL SPONTANEOUS problems.
Don’t forget to use these phrases when practicing verbal spontaneous. This will get the team prepared to
hear these same phrases in competition and thus save them precious TIME!…
“Unclear…..
“Inappropriate….
“Duplicate….
Say again”
Clarify or give another response”
Give another response”
Separate scores for creativity and teamwork are sometimes used in spontaneous hands on problems and /
or verbal - hands on problems. It is critical that the team understands what these terms mean and how
these aspects may be scored. This is a very important part of the total spontaneous score and it could well
be that the additional scoring for the creativity or teamwork involved in the teams performance could be the
deciding factor in determining the top scores. When the score for the technical part of the teams solution
depends on how long or how tall what they create is the score received by several teams may be very
close. The following two pages were developed and revised over the last 9 years and are intended to clarify
this part of scoring.

Spontaneous Creativity notes for Coaches
In spontaneous “Hands On” or “Verbal / Hands On” problems, scoring for creativity is
sometimes used. The creative aspect of the solution is not necessarily the skill in the
presentation, or even how well the solution may actually work. Since most teams will be
successful in creating some sort of solution to the problem, deciding which team has been
more creative than another will be the subjective opinion of the judges. Judges are very
open-minded; we try to score for the creativity in what was attempted, successful or not!
Does it work? The more creative solutions can sometimes fail to solve the technical part of
the problem, especially when the team is focused on getting a specific problem resolved.
So if the problem includes scoring for creativity this method will give the team credit for the
creativity they used even if the solution does not work well.
The scoring criteria for most problems will be such that the raw score for a lack of a
working solution will be reflected only in that portion of the scoring.
EXAMPLES OF SCORING CREATIVITY
SCORE RANGE
1-10 1-15 1-20 1-25
1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5
3-4 4-6 5-8 6-10
5-6 7-9 9-12 11-15
7-8 10-12 13-16 16-20
9-10 13-15 17-20 21-25
Common solution with very minimum creativity. Little or no
enhancement added and the teams solution was lacking
inspiration, creativity or imagination. Risks were not taken or
even avoided deliberately.
Fair solution with some creative elements that were of little
importance to the team’s solution. There was some
enhancement added but the teams solution showed only a little
inspiration and imagination. Little or no risks were considered
or taken.
Good solution and creative elements tied into the team’s
solution. The enhancements that were added helped express the
teams’ use of creative elements to enhance solution. Moderate
imagination and creativity. Few or minor risks taken.
Very good solution. Team worked hard on adding
enhancements. Creative thought process was important to the
way the solution was developed and team members used
initiative and took moderate risks.
Outstanding imagination and enhancements used in truly
inspired solution. Creativity was paramount in the team’s unique
solution. Big risks were taken and unusual twists were used to
solve the problem.
Although rare, any team worthy of the top score could even be considered for nomination for the
Ranatra Fusca award.
Zero is not an option. IE: If the range is 1 to 10, the lowest score will be 1.

Spontaneous Teamwork notes for Coaches
While teamwork is always important, in spontaneous “hands on” or “verbal/hands on”
problems, scoring for teamwork may be used in addition to the score for the actual
problems solution. Even if the team’s solution fails to solve the actual problem the score for
a lack of a working solution will only be reflected in that portion of the scoring. The team
will still be able to keep the teamwork points they earn for working together.
Judges are trained to be open-minded; they decide the teamwork score by watching and
listening to the team as they work on their solution. NOTE: It is VERY important for the team
to avoid whispering as this puts the judges at an disadvantage and the team may not
receive the score that they deserve.
Every aspect of how well the team functions together is considered by the judges. To give
you an idea how they are scored see the examples in the table below.
EXAMPLES OF SCORING TEAMWORK
SCORE RANGE
1-10 1-15 1-20 1-25
1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5
3-4 4-6 5-8 6-10
5-6 7-9 9-12 11-15
7-8 10-12 13-16 16-20
9-10 13-15 17-20 21-25
Little sharing of ideas or cooperation. Dominating individual who
limits the participation of others. Repeated negative comments.
Disagreements are heated or even destructive. No encouraging
comments. Bad attitude. No attempt to reach consensus.
Some sharing of ideas and cooperation. Acceptance of the ideas
of others is reluctant. Individual team member’s roles are limited.
Negative comments and disagreements are disruptive. Limited
encouragement of others. Consensus not achieved.
Good sharing of ideas and cooperation. Some evidence of
accepting ideas of others. Individual team member’s roles are
evident but not well developed. Positive and encouraging
comments to others are limited. Disagreements are disruptive but
eventually resolved. Consensus barely achieved if attempted.
Great sharing of ideas and cooperation. Very good evidence of
accepting and encouraging the ideas of others. Individual team
member’s roles well developed. Positive and encouraging
comments to others are common. Disagreements resolved
constructively. Team reaches consensus. Tasks are shared.
Shared Ideas are respected. Outstanding cooperation. Diversity
of skills mutually respected. Leadership and team roles are very
well defined, clearly respected and easily identified. Positive and
encouraging comments to others are constant, and sincere.
Disagreements are resolved quickly and constructively. Team
reaches consensus quickly and easily. Tasks divided equitably.
Zero is not an option. If the range is 1 to X, the lowest score will be 1.
Created by Dave West Revised 4-13-08