Jr. FLL & FLL

What an awesome weekend we all had here in Delhi! I got to take by 12 Jr. FLL & FLL students to competition.

Creature Reports knocked it out of the park! Their energy is just contagious! They loved running around and meeting the other teams and seeing what the other teams built. I love seeing students from different schools and clubs interact.

Food Chain did great for their first year! I was really proud of their project - Magical and Mysterious Malabar Civets. They want to create an awareness for the Malabar Civet which is a unique animal from India! They did a lot of research and even created their own pamphlets and business cards. I couldn't be more proud of them.

Their robot was good too. They got a little nervous at the game table and attached the wrong attachment, but that's okay. We definitely had some teachable moments there. Especially on how not panic when things go wrong and how not to place blame on teammates when they make mistakes. We all have to work together to get things done. Getting angry or upset only made things worse. We had a good heart-to-heart talk after the meet and some life lessons were taught. I'm excited for this team, because they were one of the youngest there and this is just the beginning for them!

Introducing Creature Reports

Delhi's FLL competition is quickly approaching and I wanted to introduce my Jr. FLL team, Creature Reports!

It's been an interesting road mentoring a Jr. FLL team. I always find the younger the students are the more uninhibited and creative they are. Despite their age they have  been able to independently tackle how they would like to research the black panther and which habitat that wanted to focus on. There were a couple times where enthusiasm had to curb a bit, but over all they were able to monitor themselves.

One resource that I used that has been very helpful is the Jr. FLL Team Meeting Guide. It has over 16 weeks of suggested lesson ideas starting with idea generation to model building. You can find it by clicking the image below.

  I was pleasantly surprised with how well they collaborated together to democratically choose a topic to research. They're all motivated intrinsically to get this done, because they feel they have such a large stake in the success of the project which is awesome for six year olds! This week we'll be working on our Show Me Poster and fixing our simple machine.

Rock Star Parents & Show Me Poster

Delhi's First LEGO Competition competition is quickly approaching and both of my teams have been working so diligently. I couldn't be more proud of their passion and drive. They have independently spearheaded their research and OWN all the work they are doing.

With that said, we had a minor panic attack yesterday as the India STEM Foundation thought it would be a good idea to move the competition date to a week earlier. We were losing a week of practice. This change also made it so some students couldn't participate. One girl in particular had been waiting for TWO years to become of age so she could participate and now with the date change she couldn't even come.

I had to rush to change practice times, shirts had to be ordered, plans changed, in other words it was unnecessary chaos. The event date change was unsettling for me. It bothered me that adults were careless with communicating information for children's event. However upset I was I had to be proactive about it. I reached out to families notified them of the change and urge them to voice their concern.

Needless to say I have ROCK STAR parents raising my students. Within minutes they were sending me e-mails being sent to the India STEM Foundation. They called, they spoke, they made sure they voices were heard. And viola! The next morning I got e-mail saying it was reverting back to the original date.

It's so amazing to have such an open, communicative relationship with parents. Parents that are willing to stand by you and fight for their children. Having a relationship where parents trust you and are willing to work with you is a Godsent.

Sometimes, yes, we lose communication. Sometimes, yes, we don't talk about the child's goals enough. Sometimes things feel out of sync. I think it is the teacher's responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen, but it does. It helps when parents approach teachers to check-in as well. I promise we think about your children non-stop. Teaching my nature is mission drive which I can get easily wrapped up in. It's nice to have parents understand that, constructively communicate and realign goals.

So thank you to all the awesome parents out there raising awesome kids and helping their teachers be the best that they can be.

On to the fun stuff...

My Jr. FLL kids started their Show Me Poster. They researched the black panther and its habitat.

Do the Heavy Lifting

There are days when teaching is a theatrical performance and days when it is a sprint. As I grow as an educator I'm striving to reach an equilibrium of student enquiry and me facilitating that process. I want my classes to be a marathon. I have to keep reminding myself to step back and let the kids explore and discover on their own. It's so easy to just jump in and move the process along for them. That's what we've grown accustomed to do. Get things done quick with fast results. But what good is that during genuine experiential learning?

Letting the kids investigate solutions can be an ambiguous, messy process especially when we've all become addicted to outcomes. It requires us to trust the students thinking and to let go of the control. However, the pride and autonomy students have over their learning once a solution has been independently solved is worth its weight in gold.

Today we introduced the pulley and belt system and discussed its function in the world. 

 

We then provided students with  six pieces (two pulleys, a belt, two axles and a beam). Their task was to get the pulley and belt system working. It didn't matter how it looked as long as it worked. At that point they had a manual system made so the next step was to add a motor and figure out how to power it.

There were two ways, the battery pack and the LEGO WeDo Software. 

Next week we'll be saving a LEGO figurine in need using the pulley and belt system. 

Welcome Back!

I always get a tinge of anxiety returning to the classroom after a long break. I know once I step back into that classroom my whole life is going to be consumed with perfecting the craft. How can I become better? What do I need to learn? Who do I need to meet? When do I need to step back and let the students do the work? Are they happy? Are the parents happy? Who can mentor me? What activities can we do? How can I get more organized? What are my goals?

It's a litany of questions that arise that I can't wait to tackle! I hope everyone had a marvelous break! See everyone on Monday!