My team did very well, even if they did not qualify to the state , they ranked 4th in division II. They are extremely happy, what they got that's their own effort. I just spoke what I observed. I did not mention any one team name. This type of e mail directly to me is not gracious professionalism too. Hope to write a generic e mail. 


> On Nov 11, 2013, at 9:17 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> 
> Coach,
>  
> I understand your frustration and have seen plenty of parents on computers making adjustments to programs at the practice tables--with and without team members.  But in the spirit of the FIRST Core Values, I think such an indiscrete email to the complete LISTSERV does not demonstrate gracious professionalism; discovery vice winning; or learning together.  So I would ask you to consider what did your team discover this year?  Did they master a new skill with the EV3 or NTX?  Did they finally start using the geometry and other math skills they've been taught in school vice 100 guestimations?  Did one of your team members finally get the courage to speak in front of a group of people?  You can never control what other teams do, but you can lead your team in the spirit of the core values, and know that in the long term--they'll be better for the effort.
>  
> The idea about a spontaneous programming task might show that some teams are not as good as others at programming, but in the end what does this really serve?  What if a 3rd/4th grade Team completed the spontaneous task better than all the the 7th grade teams?  Then what?  Like the robot game itself, there are too many variables in play with exponential possibilities to say with any certainty that a spontaneous programming task would definitively prove that another team was not following the spirit of the FIRST Core Values.
>  
> My third year team is using about 1/10th of the EV3's potential, but it's their bot, their program, their mission, and most importantly their discovery.  They actually used geometry this year....I couldn't be happier.  Best wishes in the future and for your team.
>  
> v/r,
>  
> James Garner
> Coach and Pizza Delivery Guy for Team # 5220
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sujata Mohapatra <[log in to unmask]>
> To: VADCFLL-L <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Mon, Nov 11, 2013 12:26 pm
> Subject: [VADCFLL-L] About VADC Tournaments
> 
> 
> Thanks to the all organizers, judges, volunteers for their hard work to make the tournament successful at Chantilly.
> 
> 
> I am coaching a team since last 2 years, but I I have enough experience from coaching teams in other STEM activities (Odyssey of the mind etc.) to guide a team and observe a team. If I understand correctly the main purpose of FLL is to motivate students to involve in STEM and apply to the real world. Last week our team was competing in division II in Chantilly High school. The team  had a sound score on all 3rd round of robot performance. All our team members are very focused and very interested in science, academically very bright. I am working with them since last 6 years and very proud of them. Some of the team members have 3-4 years of NXT programming experience. When they were practicing I realized  how much hard work, perfection, calculation and time management needed to get a good score in the tournament.  In reality most of the teams struggle with managing time of 150 minutes. Last week in Chantilly,most of the division II ( above 7 grade) could not achieve 200 points in any of the round where 3rd/4th grader rookie team got a consistence score in all 3 rounds above (250- 390). Unbelievable! 
> 
> Sorry to ask this question to the coaches who are programming the robot for their teams, Are you giving chance to the kids to learn or your main priority is to get an award and proceed to the next level? Definitely, FLL Core value does not allow this.
> 
> FLL should give a spontaneous robot task to the teams to program and run the robot during the robot design and programming judging time to test the ability of the team. 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
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