How to Dominate your Next Draft
As a wise student once said, “If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
Quick Reminder:
Competition sneaks into almost everything you do, from the time you’re weighed as a baby to getting grades, interviewing for a job, and finding a life-mate. Comparison often leads to “stupid” rather than learning, and “stupid” doesn’t exist — Be aware of the difference between those two C-words and let’s have some Fun! If you need (or need to show) a pep talk first, click here for some inspiration. Learn how to compete better in this context and you’ll learn how to compete better in the real-world context! “You were born to be [learners] — every one of you!”
Here are a few fanschool.org Draft tips and strategies for helping you learn more-better-faster and out-research your competition:
1) Know the Game. Win the Game!
Just like pro sports teams draft new players every season, you will draft Countries and U.S. states or Congress. Picture an interactive world or U.S. map on Draft Day. #geography
The Draft system “snakes” through the rounds so if you have the 1st pick in the first round, you’ll get the last pick in the 2nd round (and time to do some rapid research before your next pick).
Once a country is drafted, it cannot be picked again.
Games are won or lost after the first-round’s top-scorers are drafted, so research before and during your draft!
You’ll get points when your country or state is mentioned in the news, so pay attention to what’s happening, especially good news. A lot of any news source’s content comes from the Associated Press, so check out their YouTube channel for today’s “top stories” if you want. We’re also big fans of “news you probably didn’t see” too:
You might have heard the phrase “if it bleeds, it leads” about the news…unfortunately, that’s often true. Contact your news source and let them know you’d rather be inspired than scared if need be!
Given this reality, a few questions to plan around are:
- Where is conflict happening?
Pay attention to levels of conflict and collaboration! If you’re playing geopolitics, you’ll also lose points for levels of conflict and gain more points for levels of collaboration (see “tone” scale here). News “mentions” area category. - How are natural disasters affecting populations?
Pay attention to the weather! Big climate changes that affect lots of people are often in the news because of their timing and significance. - Is there an election or big event coming up?
The world cares about elections — You should too! In addition, the United Kingdom will get mentioned more if a royal baby is born and Minnesota will score more points when the Super Bowl happens there. It helps to know where elections are happening and what events are coming up! - Where will the President be and why?
It’s probably important if the leader of the free world is there:
Check out updates from the White House on Twitter. - How will it affect U.S.?
There are lots of important things happening all over the place, but it often doesn’t get featured in the U.S. news because journalists might not think it will affect you. - What’s happening RIGHT NOW?
“New” is the root of “News”
(keep reading for current events programming tips so you don’t have to work so hard) - Who’s collaborating and taking action?
Politics is all about making decisions in groups. It is a science and an art. We could all become bigger fans of learning about how to utilize power to work together better.
All-Star Player Tip: Research. Prepare. And learn as fast as you can. Use that knowledge to draft strategically, especially in the late rounds! Use your Resources page(s) on fanschool.org to prepare for your Draft before it happens.
2) Program or Be Programmed.
Information is everywhere.
Odds are good you’re on social media. (Fanschool is better.)
Why not like, follow, retweet, and share content that’s actually going to help you, though?! #winning
- Check out our facebook list for some of our favorite sources to like and program into your personal News Feed.
- Check out our twitter list for some of our favorite sources to follow and see in your Home screen.
- You can’t go wrong clicking on Resources in your FANschool dashboard to keep up with our “Where to Watch” page.
Feel free to download a news app you like and keep programming your technology to bring you updates!
All-Star Player Tip: It’s a lot harder to get in trouble for being on your phone in class when you’re reading and learning. Similarly, your parents might ease up on the “Get off your phone!” nagging if you talk to them about what’s happening in North Dakota or South Sudan. We are what we LIKE and we become who we FOLLOW. #fans
3) Draft Strong. Play Smart!
Keep using the above habits to research using the Trends Map, clicking to learn more, and adjusting your lineups via the League Map:
Game On and Good Work!
May the draft odds be ever in your favor!
Games are often won and lost in the active learning rounds.
Whoever becomes most aware of what’s happening in the world, researches, and adjusts their fanschool.org lineup accordingly wins!
