You are here: Home > Enrollment> Hints > New Team - Intro > Tips for New PICOs

Tips For New PICOs

 

A PICO is the Person In Charge of the Olympiads — that’s you. Welcome to your first year with us.

Perhaps all mathematics developed from efforts to solve interesting problems. Children, like adults, love to test themselves against a challenge. That’s why things like crossword puzzles and checkers have been so popular for so many generations. We generate enthusiasm for math among students via our contest format and use it to present important math concepts in interesting contexts. The following suggestions are presented to help you maximize the effectiveness of the Math Olympiads.

 

1.  Goals of the Olympiads

·        To generate a love of mathematics

·        To teach important concepts

·        To develop problem solving skills

·        To increase depth of comprehension

·        To develop flexibility in thinking

·        To strengthen the foundation for future studies

 

2.  Practices

Download past Olympiads for practice problems.

The sample problems and problems-of-the-month are available to everyone online. For another 50 problems with detailed solutions, you will need your password. 400 additional problems are available in our book Math Olympiad Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools.

 

Practice at least 4 times before the first Olympiad.

Since our problems are decidedly not routine problems, students can be caught off-guard, and thereby become intimidated. To avoid this situation, the students must know what is expected of them. If this means that you must delay the first Olympiad, do so. Let your students experience all five Olympiads.

 

Practice at least once a week for at least an hour.

 Studies show that short, frequent practices are more effective than long, infrequent practices in promoting retention of learned skills.

 

Use cooperative groups for practices.

Students must compete individually on Olympiads, but practices are best done in small interactive groups. Assign problems one at a time, and allow each group to present its method of solution to the entire group.

 

Encourage students to present as many methods as possible.

Using multiple methods makes it clear that math is no more cut-and-dried than music. Our model solutions contain thoughtful approaches to every problem. If no student presents our approach, mention that another way exists and present ours.

 

Keep the atmosphere gentle and non-threatening.

To us the contests are all about improving mathematical thinking and building a stronger foundation for future studies, but to students they’re about winning awards. We recommend that PICOs downplay the competitional aspects and promote personal growth instead. The most important thing is that students feel that they know something today that they did not know yesterday.

 

Assign homework.

Doing so increases the frequency of exposure to problems without eating up valuable class time. One method is to assign specific problems with full solutions and a due date. Let them grade themselves right or wrong, and at the deadline, tell you how many they had right. This keeps them on task and lets them take control of their progress.

 

Teach students to build a professional library.

This can have a huge impact on their futures. They can start by obtaining their own personal collection of problems. One such book is Math Olympiad Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools by Dr. George Lenchner.

 

3.  Registering Students Online

 

Team ID.

The four-digit Team ID (TID) code is unique to each team, but not to each school since many schools have more than one team. Use the TID only for the team to which it was assigned.

Registering students.

Students need not be registered when the team is enrolled, but they must be registered before any contest results can be entered.

Accuracy of awards.

Every registered mathlete receives a Certificate of Participation. Half of all students nationally earn at least one award – a patch, pin, medallion, and/or trophy. We do not want to cheat any student out of an earned award. Thus, our records must maintain perfect correctness. It is critical that your recordkeeping be careful and correct. We have developed the following procedure to guarantee such accuracy:

(a)   List all students alphabetically online before Olympiad 1. This list will become your scorekeeping record for the year. It allows you to keep accurate records as a check on our records and it allows us to reconstruct the list if needed.

(b)   Use the line number as the Student ID (SID). This guarantees that our list will match your list. Do not change the SID for any student during the year. Add the names of new students who join later at the bottom of the list. Print out a copy after every entry for your records.

(c)  Adding a student online: Use "Edit Students" button. Add the name of a new student on the bottom of your list. As a check, e-mail us the information as well. Give us the SID, name, grade, and sex, and the team name and TID. If the student has been competing under test conditions, but unofficially, include which problems he or she had correct on prior contests.

(d)   When dropping a student, e-mail us the student’s name and SID, and the team name and TID. This makes sure that we pick up all deletions. To replace one student with another, follow items (c) and (d).

 

4. Administering the Olympiad Contests

Download the contests.

Your contests will be available online one week before the scheduled Olympiad date. You will need your password to access the contests. Print out enough copies of the questions for all the students. An answer shwwt is provided for your convenience. If the two sheets are printed back-to-back, student answers will remain covered.

 

Print out one copy of the solutions.

Only YOU should see the solutions until after the contest is given.

 

Review "Organization and Procedures" and all other materials in the "All Teams - Startup".

The contests must be given under strict test conditions.

 

5. Preparing for Awards

Two printouts are sent to you each year for each team. The first, sent in January, lists all team members and scoring for the November and December Olympiads. The second, sent in April, lists all members and scoring for the full year. Each printout reproduces the information in our main computer. This may not match the ONLINE website exactly.

Check both printouts against your recorda and against the ONLINE website carefully for accuracy. Our computer tells us which awards to ship to each team. Errors in scoring can cost a student an award. Careless errors account for almost all errors. Communication errors account for the rest. Check both printouts to make sure all students are listed and that their scoring is correct. Please e-mail or fax us all corrections promptly.

You will receive your awards during May. After the second printout we need to allow time for your corrections to reach us before we can begin shipping. Domestic shipping is done West Coast to East Coast. Please allow time for FedEx delivery before scheduling your awards ceremony.

The Online Scoring System will close at the end of March. Be sure that all contests are entered and up to date before then.

 

6. Helpful Hints for All PICOs

Many experienced PICOs over many years have shared their techniques for effective coaching. These tips can help you organize your team or club well. Use the "Tried and True" hints from our PICO's.