Fox Valley Math League

Guidelines for Host Schools

General Guidelines

bullet Invitations with contest rules and directions to your school should be sent out at least three weeks in advance. Include directions on where to park and how to get to the registration table.
bullet Directions to contest rooms, scoring room, and auditorium should be clearly posted.
bullet Include times in the invitation:
  Registration 5:45 - 6:10
  Round One 6:15 - 6:30
  Round Two 6:35 - 6:50
  Round Three 6:55 - 7:10
  Round Four 7:15 - 7:30
  Team Event 7:35 - 7:50
  Scoring 7:50 - 8:10
  Awards 8:15

Registration Table

bullet The registration table should have extra score sheets, change for extra teams, and room assignments for teams, monitors, and scorers.
bullet

The math contests should be bundled by room and handed to the room monitor at registration along with an instruction sheet on how to run the room.
bullet Have some blank receipts ready for the schools that need them. You can print your own from this template.
bullet Directions to the rooms and auditorium should be available.

Contest Papers
bullet Duplicate contests on five different colored pastel papers - one color per round.
bullet Word the questions with specific instructions to allow only one answer

EXAMPLE

Bad Question: Find 2 hours divided by 6
Possible Answer: 1/3 hours or .333 hours or 20 minutes or 1200 seconds or 1/72 days or .013888 days ...
Better Question: Find 2 hours divided by 6. Answer as exact number of minutes
Only Answer: 20 minutes
 
bullet Calculator events are event four and the team event and should be clearly marked. The problems on the calculator event should be solvable with a calculator and not require exact answers.
bullet Calculator events should be written so that one brand of calculator does not have an advantage over another.  For example, a TI-89 can do exact symbolic manipulation while a TI-86 cannot.
bullet Clearly instruct when answers are to be exact or approximate. If approximate, the instructions at the top of each the event should say "round answers to hundredth place unless otherwise directed"
bullet Have an impartial teacher check the contest for:
 
bullet appropriate problems
 
bullet difficulty level of problems
 
bullet specific wording in problems
 
bullet correct solutions to problems

Click HERE for a sample grid to aid in planning questions.

Auditorium or Cafeteria

bullet An auditorium or cafeteria should have adequate seating for all participants and be available before and after the meet.
bullet Print one copy of answers per team to be handed out in the auditorium after the contest.
bullet Have a microphone available in the auditorium to announce awards.
bullet Only the advisor is allowed to approach the host school advisor about corrections from a student's paper.  Absolutely no students will be allowed to approach the microphone.

Scoring Room
bullet Have red pens for scoring and ball-point pens for recording.
bullet Have clearly marked answer sheets for scorers.  Math teachers in the scoring room should begin the meet by working the problems to verify the answers and to look for alternate forms of the answer.
bullet Have a folder labeled for each school with a clean copy of the test and an answer sheet in each folder.
bullet Have tables ready for scoring and counters (or tables) nearby for folders and score sheets.
bullet Try to have adequate personnel in the scoring room for scoring, recording and running.  It is recommended to have five people per table-four to score problems and one person to sum and check for errors.
bullet Have light refreshments for scorers and room monitors

Contest Rooms
bullet Scratch paper should be available
bullet Desks should be arranged in columns of eight.
bullet Room monitors should be reminded to be on the lookout for cheating.  Any disciplinary problems with the students should be brought to the attention of the advisor for that school sometime within that week so the student can be held responsible for their actions.

 Revised 4/22/2008