[DIFLnews] January Florida DI Newsletter

Wed Dec 27 22:44:08 UTC 2017

Happy New Year!

 We hope that you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. It's hard
to believe the first half of the school year is over.  Where has the time
gone?  Now we begin our very active DI event season.  As such, I want to
remind you of important deadlines.

Team Registration for the State Tournament

Each team wishing to participate in the Florida Destination Imagination
State Tournament must complete the FLDI Registration process by early
February.  ALL teams must have a valid team number to register.  To access
the Registration System, go to  <http://www.floridadi.org> www.floridadi.org
and click on TEAM REGISTRATION. Directions will walk you through the
process.  We ask that you start the registration process sooner rather than
later, as it helps us with our planning for the tournament.  You can return
to Registration as often as you wish until the final deadline to update your
information. If you have ANY questions or issues, please contact us and we
will assist you with the process. 

We hope that all of our teams will come to the tournament to present their
solutions, but understand that it might not be possible for some teams to do
so. We would greatly appreciate it, if you would let us know if you are NOT
planning to attend.  Again, that helps us with planning and will help to
keep our Florida Affiliate fees down.  If you are not able to attend, we
would love to have a video of your solution.  With your permission, we will
post it on our facebook page and website after Global finals

Please note that purchasing your team number and materials from ShopDI does
NOT register you for the Florida tournament. Remember, each team must have a
unique Team Number that is provided when you purchase your Program
Materials.

Tournament

Remember that our tournament will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at
Park Maitland School,.  Maitland, FL.  Especially if you have just started
recently, you want to make sure that you begin working on your challenge to
give your team enough time to create their solution.

Tournament Volunteers

While we are very fortunate to have some very experienced volunteers who are
not associated with teams, we can always use more help. Becoming an
appraiser is also an excellent introduction to the program. Most of our
training is online, with final training done the morning of the tournament.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in learning more about
appraising, have them contact us at  <mailto:difl.info at yahoo.com>
difl.info at yahoo.com  Anyone interested in appraising at our 2018 tournament
should register through our website  <http://www.floridadi.org>
www.floridadi.org  Click on VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION to complete your
registration.

Challenge Selection

Remember that you must select your challenge to get all of the information
you need in order to solve it completely.  You must have a valid team
membership number in order to select your challenge.  DII sent you the
selection process when you purchased your team number.

Team Clarifications and Rules of the Road

You may not be sure whether you understand something about your Challenge or
the Rules of the Road.  When you have a question and you can't find the
answer in the Challenge, the Published Clarifications or the Rules of the
Road, it's time to ask for a Team Clarification.  A Clarification is a
statement that explains the boundaries of a stated rule or Team Challenge
Requirement.  Questions asked by your team are answered by the International
Challenge Masters (ICMs) in charge of your Team Challenge.  The ICMs will
answer your team's questions and send them directly back to you.  The
question and answer will not be shared with any other team.  Your team is
allowed to ask for up to 10 team clarifications.  The deadline to ask for a
team clarification is February 15. For more information, please refer to the
Rules of the Road in the 2017/2018 Destination Imagination Team Program
Materials.

Published Clarifications: When the International Challenge Masters feel
there is an issue about a Team Challenge or the Rules of the Road that all
teams should know about, they write a Published Clarification. A Published
Clarification supersedes the Rules of the Road and the Team Challenge, as
well as a Team Clarification. Every team is expected to know the Published
Clarifications for its Challenge.
You can find all the Published Clarifications at:
<https://gadi.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=983ea8d89da8441460e8a9b20&id
=d4d5dec1b6&e=cdf241c009> Clarifications

Avoiding Interference

Destination Imagination is designed to teach the creative process by getting
kids to work together effectively to tackle difficult problems by imagining,
creating, and evaluating their own solutions to our Challenges. Parents,
Team Managers, family members, and friends are not allowed to interfere by
suggesting ideas, or trying to push the team in a particular direction in an
attempt to help them solve their Challenge. We call this Interference, and
it's not allowed!

As a Team Manager, you are allowed to help your team understand the
Challenge that they have chosen, but you are not allowed to help them solve
it. Outsiders (including Team Managers) can only facilitate the acquisition
of skills and knowledge. For example, if a team needs to learn carpentry, a
parent might contact a local contractor to teach the kids, or teach them
himself. This must be teaching of general skills only. It is up to the kids
to take these general carpentry skills and use them as they see fit in their
Challenge solution.

Of course, Team Managers do need to monitor their team's activities, and
make sure that they don't try to do something that would be unsafe. It's
perfectly OK for an adult to keep their hand on the switch on the power
strip whenever the kids are using power tools, and to remind them to always
wear safety goggles. That's not Interference!

It's important for all Team Managers to study the Interference section in
the Rules of the Road. You will want to understand what you're allowed to do
for your team, and what you're not allowed to do for them.

Pins

We have selected our pin design for 2018.  Many thanks to everyone who
submitted designs!   We have chosen Matilda Manatee

We will be placing our pin order in mid-January so that we will have them
available to purchase at our tournament.  They should cost about $1.50
apiece.  If you would like more than just a few pins, please let us know, so
we can order accordingly.  If you think that you might go to Globals if you
are invited, please let us know.  Pins are traded with other participants at
Globals.

We would love to have photos to post of your teams in action as they work on
their challenges or practice Instant Challenge.  You can send them to our
website, or to difl.info at yahoo.com.

As always, we are available to help with any questions or concerns. Happy
Creating!

Erica Bowler

Affiliate Director Florida DI

 <http://www.floridadi.org> www.floridadi.org

 <mailto:difl.info at yahoo.com> difl.info at yahoo.com

www.facebook.com/floridaDI

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