How do you get your teams working on their research project over the
summer, before the challenge is known?

Also, for those of you who have school-based teams, do you have your teams
meet and practice year-round, or just during FLL season Sep-Nov?



On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 10:32 PM, B Bergenstock <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Core values, while it's wonderful to work on with special practices that
> can bring a team together, many teams don't practice this skill. If you
> have a few practices between now and your tournament, start each session
> off or end it in a fun way that helps them work together.  If you choose to
> try it out, just to give them a taste of it, google "instant challenge".
> But you can certainly throw caution to the wind and just let them be
> themselves in the core value room.
>
> We did not have a board the year we got grand Champion, so you don't need
> one to advance. Again, this is for the kids' benefit, but if they feel
> confident speaking then they don't need one in the judging room for robot
> design.  I would still print out a few of their robot missions so they can
> show the judges and talk to them.  They don't have to be mounted to a
> board. We put ours in a notebook that the kids walked into the room with
> the book and opened while they talked about programming.
>
> I do not know if you can advance to state if you are missing a component
> of the tournament?  I feel there is so much to be gained from FLL, if this
> year your team doesn't get the research, definitely try to start earlier
> next year with your team and spend the summer starting the research
> project.  They will have the advantage of focusing on what is working well
> this year and will have a positive association with the experience and be
> more likely to come back. The one thing I hate to see is kids driven out by
> pressure. FLL is great, and everyone can find their niche in the FIRST
> family.   LOL, we did the opposite the first year; we were overwhelmed by
> the robot game and programming and put all our effort into the research
> project. My team was excited at the end of the season, and we had 95%
> return the following year where we got better at the robot game. Maybe your
> team is on the other path :)
> Brandy
>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 10:08 PM, Jessica Chittum <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> I am a total newbie coach here!  Our 10 kids are really working very hard
>> to learn NXT programing, figure out these missions, complete the build for
>> the attachments and complete a project.  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by
>> adding 3 additional tasks of completing project boards for the project,
>> robot and core values.  Are these project boards absolutely crucial or are
>> they optional for teams to show their work?  Thanks very much for your help
>> with this.
>>
>> Jessica
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 8:07 PM, Amy Nichols <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Faith,
>>>
>>> When our kids got ready to create their presentation this year, I gave
>>> them a list of things that needed to go in it...which I took from the
>>> rubrics.  So they do cover everything in the rubrics but it's in the form
>>> of a skit. The list I gave them looked something like:
>>>
>>> *Clearly say what your problem is
>>> *Talk about your sources
>>> *Talk about your research and what you learned
>>> *Explain your solution clearly
>>> *Tell how your solution makes learning _____ better for kids.
>>> *How much will your project cost?
>>> *More imagination the better
>>>
>>> So because they only have 5 minutes, some of these things are covered
>>> pretty briefly in their skit, but the judges will ask questions and let
>>> them expand on it during the question and answer.
>>>
>>> And I agree with Brandy...our kids used their boards to remember the
>>> points they want to make sure to talk about.  Really, the judges can't look
>>> at everything on the board in the time they have (other than when they're
>>> walking around), so it's more a tool for your kids, I think.  We did make a
>>> board for each of the judging sessions, but they only ended up using two of
>>> them.  Having them was very helpful.
>>>
>>> Good luck,
>>> Amy Nichols
>>>
>>>
>>>   On Monday, October 20, 2014 9:55 AM, B Bergenstock <
>>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> The research often comes in the form of a skit. I have seen projects
>>> from World research winners that looked like board presentation, with the
>>> kids in a line each speaking about their idea and a backboard for more
>>> info.
>>>  The most important thing, no matter what format they use, is that they
>>> be able to get out of all the information they wish to share in the time
>>> allotment- 5 minutes.  I coached a team one year and all the info and
>>> solution was at the end of the presentation, but because the kids went
>>> long, or very lowly in one case, they spent all their time on presenting
>>> the issue and never got to their solution. It wasn't a great plan and while
>>> I had stressed to them about time and we had done the skit many times, I
>>> now just tell the teams, "Nope, you can't back load your solution."
>>>
>>> The function of the presentation board can be varied. It often serves to
>>> make sure kids hit important markers that they carefully thought about in
>>> group, but might forget in their nervousness during or after the
>>> presentation. It also serves to tell teams in the pit area what your team
>>> did for their presentation; Sharing ideas and allowing other adults to ask
>>> question and celebrate their work.  I have seen several very successful
>>> boards that have 1 flap dedicated to each of the area of judging; robot
>>> design, presentation and core values. The teams will bring the board into
>>> each judging room and use it as a prop, sometimes talking about it,
>>> sometimes not- but always having it there as a backup :)
>>> To me, the main purpose of the boards is to help the kids and act as
>>> review of the process when they need it.  Using that as your guide will
>>> help decide what goes on the board.
>>> Good luck,
>>> Brandy
>>>
>>> On Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 9:23 AM, Faith Mcgarrity <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Looking for some tips on the Project and presentation. Is the skit
>>> supposed to be informational designed to hit all the elements in the
>>> rubric? Like a school presentation. Or should it be a story type of skit
>>> showing our solution?  If the latter will the team have opportunity to fill
>>> in the rest of the elements ( ie the sharing or implementation) after the
>>> skit?
>>>
>>> And what is the function of the presentation board?  To document the
>>> solution?  Or can it incorporate core values experiences and/or robot game
>>> progress?
>>>
>>> Thanks for your thoughts!
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
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