Brian- while I thought our new young team finally had one consistent mission down (which the team is ok with as a goal)- we had to change the batteries and it's like a completely different robot. i really feel like now we are at point when we could desperately use two more weeks- I actually read the second paragraph in the "advice for coaches" on page 8 of the coaches manual- for "rookie teams" to them today- and I have reminded them that whatever happens Saturday- they have worked hard and learned a lot- when I look at the rubric, I feel the same way- but it's kind of too late now- I think as a second year team we'll be able to work on more- I told them I'd be willing to meet with them once a month or so just to "play around with the Mindstorms." I think those of us who have Rookie Teams should feel good about giving them this experience and reminding them to learn at this tournament- I reminded them there would be some teams that would be able to accomplish a lot of missions- but we are a new team. Our team work is not quite fully developed as I would like, and again, not enough time- but I'm proud of them. You're not alone. Laura On Oct 30, 2009, at 1:08 PM, Brian Nussbaum wrote: > Hello VDACFLL, > (My thoughts with a question at the end) > > I am a first-year coach with a very young team of 5th graders. > Earlier in > this listserv there was some conversation about coaches who do not > feel that > they are ready for the competition. > > We have a week until our day at JMU, and I can definitely say that > ateam and > bteam from Thomas Harrison Middle School will be bringing up the > rear. It > will be quite amazing if our group is able to complete one task on the > table, and have any sort of powerpoint with a linear thought > process. We > have not completed any of the requirements on the rubric for our > research. > > HOWEVER, as coaches we are looking at the process rather than the end > result. Learning has happened on the part of both the students and the > coaches (for example, some of our students are learning that it is > not a > good idea to completely dismantle the robot a week before the > competition). > On the whole, it is a good example of how this particular group of 5th > graders has some significant growing to do in the thought-process and > maturity departments. > > As coaches, we have done significant scaffolding for them to try to > break > down the problem into smaller chunks, but we will just call our > students > 'creative thinkers' rather than linear or result-oriented thinkers. > > But this is OK, because we have made progress, even though very > little of it > will appear on Saturday. We are trusting that this will be a learning > experience for this very young team. At this point they don't even > realize > what they don't know. Seeing other teams will be a good opportunity > for > them to realize their potential for the future. > > If we work together a few times in the spring to go back and solve a > few of > this year's tasks, and then get an earlier start next fall, we may > be more > in the middle of the pack next year (I'm thinking optimistically). > > This is to assure all of you that are feeling worried--it's OK. > > Question: will there be an opportunity for my teams to watch other > groups' > research presentations? I think they never really got a full > understanding > of what we were going for on the research end of things. Seeing a > successful group could be helpful for them. > > Thanks. > -- > Mr. Brian Nussbaum > Mathematics Teacher > Thomas Harrison Middle School > > > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message and any attachments are > for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain > confidential or > privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or > distribution is prohibited and may be a violation of law. If you > are not > the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this > message > to an intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and > destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you for your > compliance. > Copyright (c) 2006 Harrisonburg City > Public Schools. > > -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html > and select "Join or leave the list". > > -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ADMIN- > L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html to > subscribe. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ADMIN-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html to subscribe.