In today's FIRST LEGO League Oregon Update we will cover these items:
- DON'T PANIC!
- Hood River Library Project Presentation Day
- OMSI Presentation Day
- Coaches' Qualifying Tournament Checklist
- Sharing Your Robot's Mechanical Design
- Volunteering Makes a Tournament FUN!
- State Championship Lottery???
If you are new to this email or blog this is the place where you will find all of the OREGON specific FIRST LEGO League information. If you are in the FIRST Dashboard as a team coach of a registered team for INTO ORBIT you will be added to this list every week for the rest of the competition season. Every update this season begins with IO (Into Orbit) and a number, that number lets you know which update it is, if you miss an update you can find it on our blog.
1) DON'T PANIC!
Wow, there is so much to do! LOOK AT HOW LONG THIS EMAIL IS! WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE READY!
STOP!
Take a deep breath. Close your eyes for just a moment (after you read this part of course). Keep breathing and visualize your team, your beautiful cherubs of a team going up to the table eyes lite with excitement; trepidation and nerves in their little sweaty fingers. They put the robot on the table, they get ready to go.... and it's absolutely not like it was in practice. Now they are frustrated, upset, maybe even disappointed. You great wise coach, in your calm wisdom, have the opportunity to shape today. You have the power to lift those young spirits and see the points to celebrate. What was good? Did they cheer together? Did they make rapid changes in the base? How about their persistence and not giving up? Was there a final second success?
Take another deep breath.
Take another deep breath.
You are now ready.
- Knows and can apply the FIRST Core Values
- Has a complete Project Presentation that has been shared and includes an Innovative Solution in the process of being developed.
- Has a LEGO Robot that can complete 1 mission successfully, one mission sometimes, and one mission that may work by the end of the tournament day with help from other teams.
Will there be teams that have more? Sure. There are teams that have been working together and have the combined knowledge of 4-5 years or more! That may not be your team, and that is fine. It's very easy to get wrapped up in the competition of FIRST, but it's not really a competition is it? It's a coopertition. Other than being a copyrighted word that messes with my spell check, coopertition is a very different way of being. It makes the tournament the best learning environment for the kids that we can provide. In the pits, with all the other teams, they will be able to lift one another up, share ideas, learn new things, and make friends. Sure they are competing, but competing together with the other teams, not against them. They all want each other to grow, learn, and share - so that in 4-5 years all the knowledge your team has now has been passed down to the new team and they can start from that elevated point.
Nine weeks is the timeframe set by FIRST to complete the FIRST LEGO League program. What does completion look like? It looks like a LEGO robot that can move autonomously and completes at least FIRST Core Values as a team and in their life outside of the team. Are their teams that will have more? Sure! There are teams that have been a rotating group for many years with lots of knowledge that has been passed down from student to student. There are teams that work year-round on robot basics, but most teams are not like that. Most teams barely meet for 9 weeks.
Your team is ready! You are going to be ready! Together, this will be a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow. Learning from the judges. Learning from each other. Learning from other teams. Learning from the experience. And of course, discovering all those solutions you've tried to hint at (or told them) all season that they chose to ignore. That is our version of "Holiday Magic."If at any time during the tournament you feel ths stress mounting. Think back, and I want you to ask
yourself, "Am I having Fun?" Look at the team, "Are they having Fun?" If the answer is no, stop - go back to the beginning and refocus. It's not about trophies and advancement - it's about learning and having FUN.
Take a deep breath - You've got this!
2) Hood River Library Project Presentation Day
Each team will have 5 minutes to do their presentation AND time for questions and answers on their presentation. This is a great opportunity to see how other teams have prepared for their presentation and learn what their innovative solutions are. It's also a perfect time to do a video and reflect of your team's presentation!
As of 11-28 only two teams were signed up! Come on FIRST LEGO League Oregon, we can make this BIG!
Will Loridee from ORTOP be there??? Maybe.....
*This event is being run by the Hood River Library with help from ORTOP
3) OMSI Presentation Day
OMSI (as of 11/29 @ 5:00PM) has informed me that they do have room for teams to present this weekend from 11-5 PM. If your team would like to share their innovative solution with the OMSI public sign up for a 1-hour slot where your team will share FIRST LEGO League AND their Innovative Solution. Your team can sign up on Google Calendar. Sorry for the late notice!
4) Coaches' Qualifying Tournament Checklist
Coaches, I know this is a lot of information. Some is familiar - some is new. Please review it carefully. You want to have all of this correct. This is your responsibility to the team to minimize the failure of the adults impacting the kids part of FIRST LEGO League. I hope the lists below help you do that, for all the kids. - Your Official FIRST Team Number! This should be easy points! Just like in every communication with ORTOP, your official team number is how your team will be tracked at your tournament. Make sure you and your team members know their correct team number! Not sure what it is? Check it by logging into your FIRST account at www.firstinspires.org!
- Know YOUR Tournament LOCATION and DATE! Many tournaments are hosting more than 1 day. While most teams are competing in their first choice tournament, not all are! If you show up on the wrong day there will not be a space for your team to compete - or there might not even be an event! Please check your tournament assignment on the Oregon Team Status page - you will need your team number! Want to know who else will be at your tournament, select your tournament tab!
- Print Your Completed Team Roster. Many of you have done an excellent job of helping the parents on your team register their students online or having them complete the paper form. You've even gone back in and accepted the team members to your team or handwritten them on your printed roster! Excellent work! Make sure every student shows up on your team Roster either by accepting them to your team online, or printing your online roster and adding them by hand and collecting a paper Youth Team Member Form (obtainable on your FIRST Dashboard) filled out and signed by a parent or legal guardian. Remember younger team members may be blocked from registering for FIRST LEGO League. In those cases they need to have a paper form and can not use the online system.
- Your TEEN MENTORS need to be on the roster! They MUST be in high school, otherwise, they are considered a TEAM MEMBER! - Paper forms may be your best option
- Use this blog post from last year to help you navigate completing your team roster
- Make sure both coaches and your chaperone/mentor appear on the Team Roster - your team may have up to 3 adults accompanying it at the tournament. All of these adults need to appear on the Team Roster. If an adult needs to use a paper form, please use the Youth Team Member form from your Dashboard. For adults who use the paper form, write their names as Mentors on the Team ROSTER!
- Have the TEAM Complete and Print Their Team Introduction Pages (3 Total!) You team should bring the appropriate introduction page to each of the judging sessions! Team Introduction Pages are available on the Tournament Website, Judging Information Website and below. Including a current team photo will help the judges remember details about your team!
- The Team Shares Their Innovative Solution BEFORE the Tournament Starts! Every team must share their innovative solution from their project, preferably with an expert or organization that can use their ideas PRIOR to the Qualifying Tournament. Not only is this a required part of the FIRST LEGO League Project, this is a wonderful opportunity to for the team and the community to benefit one another. Teams are welcome to continue sharing their ideas after the tournament and can tell the judges if they already plan to do so, but their project is not complete unless they have already shared PRIOR to the tournament.
- Print the Robot Program - Do this at the last meeting before your tournament! No matter which robot system you are using, your team will have the ability to print their code, or at least take screenshots (which I hear can be arranged nicely in Google Slides for easier to read code). The robot design judges need to see the team's code to properly evaluate the team's programming ability. The team should be prepared to talk about a sample of their code and demonstrate the knowledge of how their robot uses its programs to complete the challenges. Your code should only be a couple pages of paper. The judges will not have time to look at pseudocode, code updates, or notebooks. Please leave these items in your pit to share with other teams!
- Engineering Notebooks May be Shown in Judging, but Should Not be Left With Judges: If your team has an engineering notebook, they may bring it to show, but should still print a separate copy of their code for the judges. The Engineering Notebook MAY NOT be left with the judges and the judges will not have time to look at it during the judging session, but your team can mark pages to share. The team may share pages as part of their Executive Summary (which is not required), but the Engineering Notebook should not be left with the judges for any reason.
- Know the FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT Challenge! Make sure your team is up to date with the INTO ORBIT Challenge and the Updates! If it's been a month since your team last looked over the challenge documents and updates, it is a good idea to review both of these documents before the tournament. There are still a lot of questions coming in about the Base (D07), Before the Match Starts (R09), Handling Mission Models (R10 & R11), Launching (R13), Interrupting and Stranding (R14 & R15) Some of these rules ARE NOT the same as last year, if you skimmed the section without reading carefully, your team should read the rules AGAIN.
- Know the Tournament Specifics for Your Venue! Make sure you have read and understand all of the documentation from your tournament director AND on the tournament website (find your tournament website from the list on this page). This documentation changes for each venue and each year, please make sure you have read THIS year's information! Make sure you know if you are at a NUT-FREE event, for the safety of all participants. (Nut-free events are Parkrose Middle School and Intel Jones Farm on December 8)
- Invite Friends, Family, Sponsors, Teachers and More to See the Event! This is your team's time to shine! Make sure you share it with everyone they are close to and your sponsors. Make sure everyone knows they can watch the robot game throughout the day, and can especially attend the award ceremony! This is a great opportunity to share with teachers, principals, and neighbors. Make sure you celebrate all that your team has accomplished this season.
- Set Your Team Goals for Tournament Day! Teams that set individual goals have a better time at the qualifying tournament and leave with an immediate sense of sanctification and success, regardless of what happens in the awards ceremony. Team goals will be very specific to your team and their strengths. Some example goals for a rookie team might be:
- Have a successful table mission just as it ran in practice (one single launch from base, not the whole 2.5 minutes)
- Don't have to grab the robot off the table more than 4 times in a match
- Remember to shake the judges hands after at least 2 judging sessions, or say thank you!
- Have each team member answer a question from the judges fully and confidently (over all the judging sessions!)
- No one drops the robot and even if they do, it doesn't break into a dozen or more pieces (yes this does happen!)
- Make it on time for each judging session and robot game match
- Make friends with someone on a different team
- High five 3 teams when they leave the competition tables and congratulate them on their run
- Thank at least 4 volunteers
- Spot one outstanding example of Gracious Professionalism - bonus if it's from a team member
- Learn something new about the project theme, the programming or building robots, or about working together as a team that each team member did not know before.
- Don't Forget Lunch! Some tournament venues will have a food option, some will not. Make sure your team knows what you are doing for lunch! Double check your coach letter to know for sure where food is allowed at the tournament.
- Think Power! Make sure your team has a plan to keep their robot fully charged and have access to a working laptop for last minute programming changes. Power will be available at your event, but recharging a dead laptop, or robot may prevent your team from operating at their best! Your schedule will be very busy, so it's best to plan ahead and start with a full charge.
- Practice the Tournament Environment! Running the robot with 5 minutes is a lot different than running one 2.5 minute competition match. Adding in penalties and not allowing "do-overs" can drastically affect the team's score and strategy. It is best to practice using the standards of the competition so the team knows what decisions they want to make if the worst happens during a robot run. If you are changing drivers during the match, practice tagging in and out. Keep the clock running when team members struggle to change attachments. Don't forget to practice judging as well! Parents make excellent stand-in judges and can use the same rubrics the judges will use at the event to help the team notice if they missed anything. Being practiced and prepared can help the day go smoother for everyone!
- For an extra learning opportunity video the robot game practice focused on Base (not the robot) to see how team actions can be improved.
- Video the teams giving their practice-presentations and the practice-judges reactions - for a side-by-side view of how certain phrases are received. (please do not film the real judges, it makes them nervous.)
- Print/Review/Save to Your Device the Oregon Official Coach Tournament Checklist from your tournament website (or here because I linked it for you). This is your packing list for tournament day!
- Have FUN! FIRST LEGO League wouldn't be the same without you. Take a moment to recognize all the wonderful things you have helped your team to accomplish this season. They really aren't the same kids that were at the first meeting, are they? Now they are a team, and you deserve some credit for facilitating that transition. Great job coach!
5) Sharing Your Robot's Mechanical Design
You already know that there won't be a robot design table in the Robot Design Judging room at your tournament this year. That leads us to a new rule, which you may have noticed in the Coaches' Checklist on your tournament website. However, if you didn't read carefully you probably didn't see it. With the removal of the challenge table there won't be models for your robot to manipulate. If you want to show the judges a unique way your robot interacts with a model you may bring yours. HOWEVER, the model must be kept in a closed box whenever it is not in the judging room. This is to protect your model. If we see a model on a pit table we will think it is ours and put in on our practice tables, or box it up to go to the next tournament. So while you still can not bring your mat table and all the models, you may bring a model that you want to show to the judges.
Remember the new method is to ensure that the Robot Design Judging focuses on the way your team communicates their robot design process. Do not be scared to have a team member grab the supplied chalk marker and draw and circle key locations and strategic references on the provided mat, just have the team make sure they communicating while they do it.
Don't Forget! You may bring your engineering notebooks to share specific entries and ideas, but DO NOT leave them in the judging room! Take them with you when you leave.
Remember the new method is to ensure that the Robot Design Judging focuses on the way your team communicates their robot design process. Do not be scared to have a team member grab the supplied chalk marker and draw and circle key locations and strategic references on the provided mat, just have the team make sure they communicating while they do it.
Don't Forget! You may bring your engineering notebooks to share specific entries and ideas, but DO NOT leave them in the judging room! Take them with you when you leave.
6) Volunteering Makes a Tournament FUN!
Parents, unless they are one of the coaches or the 3rd person chaperone, will not be joining the team in the pit. Only two adults can go into most of the judging sessions and really teams don't need an adult in there, just someone to walk them to the door. The only thing for the other parents to do is bring the lunch and sit and watch competitions. Now we need a good audience for all the teams, that is very important. But some parents aren't quite the sit in the audience type. We have a solution! Tournaments can use your adults as judge timers, queuers, score runners, even emcees! Does your team have older siblings, do they want something more fun to do than sit in the stands. Let your tournament director know you have teens affiliated with your team that want to volunteer! Or better yet, if they are over 13, have them sign up on www.firstinspires.org. The direct link is on your tournament website.
7) State Championship Lottery???
There may *provided there are no snow-closures* (which there won't be, right!?!) we may have just a couple lottery positions for teams to attend the state championship tournament (no one will know you are there by lottery unless you tell them). This is because the advancement rate for tournaments couldn't be rounded to fill the last few spots in an even way. Check with your parents, and don't disassemble the robot. If your team wants to attend the state championship, they may have a second chance....... details will come out AFTER the qualifying tournaments end! The Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Championship Tournaments will be on January 19 & 20, 2019 at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. You will want to make sure both days are free as your team will be taking whatever slot is available, if selected.
I'm sorry this is long. I know you are all working hard and the last thing you need from me is another wall of text - but I hope this also helps with your fears, your concerns, and you now feel a greater sense of being prepared. I will be at events every day these tournament weekends. I know I won't get to see all the teams, but I hope I can see many of you!
Best Wishes,
Loridee
No comments:
Post a Comment