RETIRED TOPIC 1

[JimKelly]

*** IMPORTANT ***

By posting a question, you are agreeing to let us use your name (or team name) as well as the city/state/country.  Last names/surnames can be changed to a single initial if requested.  There is no compensation for your question or story being included - but hey, you'll be semi-famous in FLL circles!  We'll work with you if any editing or clarification needs to be done to your submission.  THANK YOU in advance for your help!

*** IMPORTANT ***

[creativekids]

Over and over again, I've been asked by parents and new coaches

"Which LEGO Mindstorms set should I buy?"

Yes, the team can order a set during their registration, but throughout the year, this question keeps coming up.  New or potential coaches want to order something right now.  Parents want to get kids a birthday or Christmas present. 

You may not want to put the comparison between the Retail, Education, and FLL set into the book, but there could be a reference to webpage that is maintained with the information.

Often I spend a lot of time explaining the advantages of the battery pack and that it really is worth the money to get a set with the battery pack! 

[NXTMonger]

Q:  "When in the year should a team start?"

A:    This really depends on how serious you are about FLL. If you are very ambitious and want to get to state competition or farther, you may want to start researching that year's topic in January, and/or building a great robot so you you can start right away on the missions when they come out.  Also, if you are a rookie team, you might want to start early to get the hang of MINDSTORMS.

The A.E.R.O. Cows, team #86
Beaverton, Oregon
2007

[Thebuilder94]

Hello, I'm a newbie at FLL and I am wanting to start a team this year, because this is my last chance. I've been using NXT for over a year and have used Labview. Here is the question: Is Labview allowed in FLL? I've heard that custom blocks are allowed, but then why not just allow Labview?

[adiasangel]

I think one of the biggest questions I have (even after 5 years) is about summer preparations.  Where can I find summer workshops/lesson plans to help my kids learn about ideas needed for FLL and not just generic projects from a book?  I know the ideas but how to put them together into lessons to teach the kids is the hard part.  Something great in the section on programing and building would be a step-by-step lesson plan and activities to back them up.  Carla

Coach
MI FLL Team

[JimKelly]

Thanks to all of you for submitting your questions - we're receiving your requests. 

We need more, though - so please spread the word!

Jim

[Alan LeVezu]

The question/comment that I most often receive when talking to perspective teams and coaches is about the coaching requirements.  Commonly I hear: "What do I have to know to be a coach?" or "I don't know anything about robots, programming, etc - I couldn't be a coach!"

My son started with a brand new team in FLL three years ago. The coach was a parent that wanted her children involved and she had no technical background at all. The interest in the school was very high (11 kids) so another parent stepped up to coach and they split the team into two - neither parent knew engineering at all... So what happened? the kids worked on the project - and came up with some creative presentations. The team heard about "gracious professionalism" enough times each week to have it permanently locked into their subconscious forever and they learned how to work together. Each team built a robot that could do two or three of the missions right. Two weeks before the regional competition they found another parent (a controls engineer) who could come in and take a look at their robots and give them a hand in supporting the technical end. He helped them get a grasp on some of the engineering concepts.

Then they went to the regional competition - their results were a total of zero awards... (except a participation medal). Out of 23 teams, the two teams robots scores placed 19th and 20th.  The question then came up - was this a success? The answer? a resounding YES by each and every team member. They ALL wanted to do it again, the kids that weren't able to be involved the following year were bummed. The returning ones were excited and ready to start, then and there, on the next year's information. Even the engineer that had helped for the last two weeks wanted to do more, and he volunteered to be involved in coaching the team from the beginning...

The team's second year saw that engineer as the coach with 9 members on the team (6 returning), with the original coach assisting and focusing on the presentation (new time commitments limited her involvment) and the team getting more excited as they went on - adding new members, returning as "senior" members, etc. This time, their robot could do all of the missions by the time of the contest (they still had to bring the robot back by hand), their presentation was more focused and the research was more defined and they made it to the state finals where they ended up winning the third place champion award.

Their third year? The team is heading to Atlanta as state champions. But more important than that, the kids go to other schools in the greater urban area, putting on assemblies, meeting interested groups, and try to get them interested in starting their own team. They do this because each of the kids on the Lego Guards thinks that this is the most fun they've ever had - and they want more people to enjoy it like they do.

So... what does it take to be a coach and start a team? Just the desire - the team itself gets excited enough that nothing else matters.

Alan LeVezu
Coach - Lego Guards
Power Puzzle Northern California State Champions