I agree with you to a point. You have it
right that this board was harder than the last couple and that it forces
you to make harder choices this year. After observing two regionals and
thinking about them, I think that this year's game really shows a stratification
of the teams. In previous years there were a whole lot more teams clumped
in the middle of the scores but this year there is a big group with scores in
the low 100's or less, a much smaller group in the 200's and a few elite
teams above 300 points.
The fact that there are teams scoring over 300
means that "impossible" is too strong a word.
The unasked question seems to be "Shouldn't the
game be easier for the weaker teams so they won't get discouraged?". That
may be a valid question to ask after the season is over and I'd be curious to
see people's thoughts on the matter. I think the biggest problem was
people's expectations. They thought they could score points as easily as
last year and got frustrated when they couldn't
Personally, I thought that last year's game was
very clever in how it related to the topic (e.g., you have to "spend" a barrel
of oil to get energy from corn). This year's game had some individually
challenging missions but the biggest trick was not "how could you do this" but
"how in the world can you do this in 2 1/2 minutes?" I also thought that
the rules were better and tighter this year than in years past - I applaud
the designers for changing them.
Obviously there are a few teams that rose to the
challenge this year. I am really curious to see the inevitable
"400" teams that will be posting on youtube after the season's
over!
Stuart
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 12:50
PM
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Mentoring rookie
coaches
This year was definitely frustrating board wise. My team was must
disheartened by the tasks but I kept reminding them that they are trying to
make the boards harder so that no-one could get all the points in the time
period which in turn makes you (the team) have to figure out what is worth
going for and what do you avoid. I kept stressing to them to get the
most that they can with their robot and not worry about what the point totals
will be. Unfortunately, the inaccuracy of this type of robot made some
of the missions - dare I say - "impossible?" or at least impossible to
duplicate consistently and without destroying strategic pieces (either the one
you were going for or some innocent bystanding piece!) In the end, I
know my team learned the power of frustration and the reward of sticking with
it through it all. This was my second year coaching and one thing I
noticed very much from the team was much more eagerness to work on the project
th! ! an to go work on that mission board! I let the kids have a break
from the board but definitely encouraged them to never give up.
Juliann
Mindstormers
--------------
Original message --------------
From: David Levy
<[log in to unmask]>
> I ran a few camps in the
past two summers and it was truly a delight to
> see that several of
my former students had found their way onto teams
> this season. I
have to say though that the level of training offered in
> a week
long camp is not a prerequisite for participation in the FLL.
>
> From what I have seen, the problems that rookie coaches face are
due to
> difficulty in knowing where to start. I can't tell you how
many
> parents that I've advised, had purchased a retail kit for
their child
> but never bothered to install the software. Likewise
there are many
> teachers who have installed the Edu Kit's. software
for their school
> based club or in the classroom but never knew
about the included
> tutorials. IMHO, all it takes is a few hours
of an experienced
> coaches time to get the new coaches acclimated .
The new coaches in
> turn have to ask more questions here on the
VADCFLL-L email list.
>
> One thing that I did notice this
season was a drop off of veteran
> teams. I'm thinking that this may
be due to the difficulty in this
> year's robot game and the
unwillingness for teams to register for
> tournaments - thinking that
their scores were too low. How about those
> teams that stuck it out
and registered for the regionals? Were you
> surprised that most
teams scored lower than prior years?
>
> David Levy
>
VA/DC FLL Education and Outreach Director
> 3rd Year Coach
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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