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First Lego League in Virginia and DC

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"Poole, Aeronia" <[log in to unmask]>
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Poole, Aeronia
Date:
Tue, 16 Sep 2014 13:41:58 +0000
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I am curious if anyone has a school-based team and how you divide the practice time to cover research, building, programming, and team-building.  We have 1 hour, 15 minutes 1X/week, but just added a 2nd day.  Feeling a bit stressed about what to focus on before regional tournaments.


Mrs. Poole
MS Tech Lab


From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Rakestraw
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 4:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Robot Design for Rookies

Frank,

Every coach struggles with this, you are not alone.  There is a balance, my first year I was completely hands-off and evolved my approach with experience.  After my first year and after having some experience in Boy Scouts, I adopted the Edge Method from Boy Scouts, which is a method of learning by doing and a Robotics Badge Learning system.

Explain how it is done – tell them
Demonstrate the steps – show them
Guide – learn as they practice – watch them do it
Enable – help them to succeed on their own

We apply the EDGE method with summer workshops and challenges that explain, demonstrate and guide.  By the time missions are released, they are on the enable step and have a strong foundation.   Once we have the missions, the team completes a robot design worksheet which defines the robot they will build.

We also use a Robotics Badge Learning System as part of the process, a concept borrowed from Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.  I use the badges to recognize team contribution and more importantly, to encourage team members to learn and try new things.   I think we have about 30 badges. For example, you can earn a line following or wall squaring badge. Because they want to earn badges, they take the time to learn about a concept.  When they are doing run strategy, they figure out how to apply a badge concept like wall or line squaring.  The badges are not just robot focused, they also cover project and core values.  My team this year is a Division II of all 7th grade girls that has won awards at States the last two years, they still want to earn badges.

If you are interested in the Robotics Badge Learning System, challenges or worksheets, they are available on my robotics blog, www.fllstartingpoint.com<http://www.fllstartingpoint.com>, under resources.

Thanks,
Scott Rakestraw
www.fllstartingpoint.com<http://www.fllstartingpoint.com>

Capital Teens
Capital Girls
Capital Girls Too
Code Crackers (4 Years)







From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank Levine
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 12:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [VADCFLL-L] Robot Design for Rookies

Hi all,
  I was wondering where the line is between 'kids do the work' vs 'starter robot' is?  I have seen several suggestions (both here and on the interwebs) that this/that robot is a great robot for rookies, etc.  While my team has been trying to make a decent robot from scratch, I have taken many of the suggestions that I have seen from the internet and made what I think is a decent driving base.  Is it appropriate to hand that base over to the rookies and let them go from there?  Will the judges frown on a coach doing some of the initial legwork to get a base started?  What's the difference between that and finding a starting base on-line?  Ideally I would love to see them make it from scratch, but today's building session has me thinking that this may be a bit of a stretch.

Thanks,
Frank Levine
"The Construction Mavericks"
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From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank Levine
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2014 12:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [VADCFLL-L] Robot Design for Rookies

Hi all,
  I was wondering where the line is between 'kids do the work' vs 'starter robot' is?  I have seen several suggestions (both here and on the interwebs) that this/that robot is a great robot for rookies, etc.  While my team has been trying to make a decent robot from scratch, I have taken many of the suggestions that I have seen from the internet and made what I think is a decent driving base.  Is it appropriate to hand that base over to the rookies and let them go from there?  Will the judges frown on a coach doing some of the initial legwork to get a base started?  What's the difference between that and finding a starting base on-line?  Ideally I would love to see them make it from scratch, but today's building session has me thinking that this may be a bit of a stretch.

Thanks,
Frank Levine
"The Construction Mavericks"
________________________________
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VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to subscribe.
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