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Illinois Coaches’ Kick-off Meeting

September 19, 2012

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Agenda

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Basics of Coaching a Team

3. Judging

a) Awards

b) How do teams qualify for the state championship tournament?

c) What does a judging session look like?

d) Robot Design Executive Summary

4. Tournaments

a) What to expect at your qualifier

b) What to expect at the state tournament

5. Resources

6. Q & A

7. Review of Table Elements with Brian Gravelle

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Introductions

Leadership Team

Tom Kleinschmidt Co-FLL Partner, INSciTE Board member

Diane Michalczuk Co-FLL Partner, Head Judge Advisor

Bob Hubberts Coordinator of State Tournament

Brian Gravelle Head Referee

Jane Gravelle T-shirt Committee, Social Media

Patti Krinninger Administrator

Eric Arndt Media Relations

Mercie Brumfield FLL Demos and team recruiting

Mike McKellar Training, Down-state team recruiting, Social Media

Patty Barton VIP Events

Dennis Emge Training, Ambassador Awards

Kim Danielson Volunteer Coordinator

Renee Garward Promotional materials development

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Qualifying Tournament Coordinators

Qualifier Tournament CoordinatorBatavia (2) Ron KarabowiczChampaign/Urbana (2) Bob SmithChicago – Miles Davis Mike McKinneyChicago – Girl Scout Ashley SmithDecatur Suzanne Broussard & Sue KunzemanHarvard Mimi BookLake Zurich Jim PetersonMount Prospect (2) Tony DeRiccoPalatine/Quest Rich LeveyPeoria (3) Bruce Stott and Prasad ParupalliRockford Mark AndersonRock Island Victor CincolaSouthern Illinois Diana HowardZion Robin Denil and Mary Olson

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Basics of Coaching a Team

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Program Basics – Getting started …

Don’t take this too seriously … Have FUN!– If it is your rookie year, enjoy it for what it is: a survey of the FLL

Program. Your goal should be to simply take a lap around the block with FLL.

– With a fun experience and meeting realistic goals under your belt, you and the kids will be brimming with ideas about what you plan to do next year.

Our goal is for you to help the kids have fun with robots while they get comfortable with technology and learn something about a real-world problem.

Manage Expectations!

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Program Basics – Know these!

The following six items should be known inside and out by all coaches and mentors:

1. Core Values2. The Project3. Field Setup4. The Missions5. The Rules6. Game rulings

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Students Must do the Work!

FLL defines children doing the work as children making all critical decisions in the robot-building, programming and project development processes.

Resist the temptation to solve it for them! Get all co-coaches, parents and mentors to know the boundaries

Core Value: We (the students) do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.

Guiding & Teaching vs Doing:• Fill their mental tool box. Teach them:

• NXT programming, basic mechanics.

• Design process

• Idea generation techniques

• How to experiment, test and observe.

• Guide them to use their tools.

• Ask probing and leading questions

• Help them with higher thinking: strategy, timing, …

• Setup labs to help them discover and learn

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Balanced Coach Involvement!

Robot Design Example:

• Heavy: Coach dictates robot design features

• Light: Coach gives no guidance on robot design

• Balanced examples:• Lead the team in brainstorming robot features• Help the team evaluate possible designs (pros/cons)• Develop student leadership skills to take on these tasks as

students mature

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Programming Example:

• Heavy: Coach knows more about the competition

program than any students do.

• Light: Students are struggling but the coach stays hands-off to make sure they do the work.

• Balanced examples:• Teach the programmers how to use the software, not how to

program a particular mission.• Help them debug – but in most cases, students drive the mouse

to ensure they are following at their speed.

Balanced Coach Involvement!

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Mission Debugging Example:

In both cases, coach knows where the problem lies:

• Heavy: Coach tells the students what to change.

• Light: Coach watches but doesn’t guide.

• Balanced examples:• Teach observation skills – you can’t fix if root cause is unknown.• Ask probing questions – what could cause that? What ELSE

could cause that? What could we do to test that theory? What are some options for improving the design? Fix or re-design?

Balanced Coach Involvement!

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Basics of Coaching a Team

The Robot

Robot Design

Even though the kids will be itching to get started there are some things to do before putting the first pieces of the robot together• FIRST things first, build the mission components and learn the goals and rules of

the mission.• Discuss with the kids about the needs for the robot. Have them:

– Characterize all of the missions as easy, medium, hard, and very hard– Discuss the ‘requirements’ of each mission. For example does the robot need to push something,

lift something, or deliver something? Does the robot need to travel far or fast? Does the robot need reach high?

– Discuss possible impacts of the mission mat and the table. Where are there lines where a light/color sensor might help? How can the walls be used to guide or align the robot? How much room is there for the robot to maneuver? What is the easiest way to get from one point to another?

– Determine which tasks could be done at the same time or with a single program– Determine what tasks or groups of tasks they want to go after first. (Create a priority list of all for

the whole table.)– Set short, medium, and end targets for missions (or point totals)

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A team is successful based on what they learn, not the number of points they get on the table.

Robot Construction

Keeping in mind the information gathered during the design phase, have the kids start building.

• If you have a large team identify a few to do the main robot construction. – Let the other kids know that there will be lots of opportunity for construction of attachments, and

changes to the robot later that they will need to make.

• If you have the access to more than one NXT brick, have multiple build teams, but set a short timeframe for a team decision on the final robot design to use.

• Have the kids build the first attachments to solve the easiest missions, giving the students an early sense of accomplishment.

• Add on or modify the robot and attachments following the short, medium, and long term project goals.

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Robot Programming

Have your coaches all go through the programming tutorials that come with the LEGO Education version of the NXT software.• Teach the kids how to program basic actions on a table with only one or two

missions set up.– Movement: forward, reverse, sharp turns, gentle curves– Distance: rotations (Learn how to calculate number of rotations for a given distance)– Sensors: Touch, Ultra Sonic, Light, Color

• Once they have some basic knowledge to work with have the kids begin to solve specific missions. Try to divide up the tasks between the team members so there is not too much overlap of effort.

• Some helpful hints to make the programming more successful:– Use the base walls to align the robot, or add a ‘jig’ to make setting up the robot in base as

consistent as possible– Use the walls out on the field. Run along a wall or drive into a wall to straighten out the robot– Use a light sensor and the black lines when traveling long distances

• Save early and often!15

Robot Timeline

Have your team set a timeline (project schedule)• Start with the date of the competition and work backward identifying dates for

milestones such as:– Mission goals and strategy– Robot design complete– Robot base construction complete– Short, medium, and final missions complete– Robot construction complete.

• This is a very important date to set at least one week prior to the competition. After this date no changes to the robot nor the attachments should be made. If an exception is made the whole team should agree.

– Robot programming complete• Also is important and should be at least one week in advance of the competition. Teams

which practice getting the maximum possible points with what they have at that point typically will do better than teams which make changes the day before a competition.

– Table run practices

Have the kids create the timeline they will understand it much better than if it is just told to them. 16

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Basics of Coaching a Team

The Project

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The Project

Through the Senior Solutions Project your team will:• Find a senior partner• Identify and learn about a problem faced by seniors• Create an innovative solution to the problem you identify• Share your problem and solution with others

– Be sure include information about how you shared your project with others in your presentation

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Items to note for Senior Solutions season:1. Each team must find a Senior Partner

2. Can research a famous senior if they cannot find a real senior

3. Look for an adult who is 60 years or older

4. The team’s Senior Partner does not have to experience the problem that the team has identified for their project.

5. Senior Partner is not required to attend the qualifying tournament

6. We strongly encourage teams to share their project with someone who could benefit.

The Project

Use the project guidelines provided by FLL• Learn and understand the project rubrics!• Dedicate certain practice days to working only on the project• Find at least one fieldtrip the kids can take related to their research or have

someone come to your meeting.• Identify a presentation style the kids enjoy, it makes practice go much smoother• Set goals for the project that are age appropriate for your team• Assign research as homework and engage the parents to make sure they can

help guide the activity• Have the kids develop and write the presentation script, but be there to help

them organize their materials and time.• Just like for the robot set a schedule for project with key milestones:

– Topic selection– Problem identification– Solution brainstorming, and selection– Presentation design and scripting– Practice start and completion

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The Project

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Awards and Judging

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Awards and Judging

Qualifying Tournament AwardsChampion’s Award

Robot Design Award

Project Award

Core Values Award

Robot Performance Award

Rookie Team Award

Judges’ Award (optional)

A team can win only one judged award plus the Robot Performance Award

State Tournament – Awards

Champion’s Award• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will be awarded.

Core Values Awards:• Inspiration Award• Teamwork Award• Gracious Professionalism Award

Robot Design Awards:• Mechanical Design Award• Programming Award• Strategy and Innovation Award

Project Awards:• Research Award• Innovative Solution Award• Presentation Award

Robot Performance Award• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will be awarded.

Additional Awards:• Team Spirit Award• Rookie-Team-of-the-year

Award• Judges’ Choice Award• Ambassador Awards

o 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will be awarded

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Awards and Judging

Champion’s Award - This award recognizes a team that embodies the FLL experience, by fully embracing our Core Values while achieving excellence and innovation in both the Robot Game and Project. • Determined by equal weighting of the following categories

Robot DesignProjectCore Values

• Plus these additional requirements:

Robot Game score in top 50% of teams participating at the event

Team must complete all 3 parts of the Project Team must adhere to all Core Values

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Judges’ Choice AwardDuring the course of competition the judges may encounter teams whose unique efforts, performance or dynamics merit recognition.

– Some teams have a story that sets them apart in a noteworthy way.

– Sometimes a team is so close to winning an award that the judges choose to give special recognition to the team.

– Judges Awards allow the freedom to recognize remarkable teams that stand out for reasons other than the Core Award categories.

Awards and Judging

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Rookie Team Award• Teams must register as a Rookie Team before the

Qualifying tournaments by sending an email to contactfllillinois@gmail.com indicating that all members of the team are new to the activity this year including

Coach Assistant Coach All team members

• An announcement will be sent to all coaches through the Announcement List inviting Rookie Teams to register.

• The winner will be determined using Champion’s Award criteria.

Awards and Judging

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Ambassador Award

Selection Process

1. Teams must first qualify for the Illinois State Tournament by advancing from a qualifying tournament.

2. Teams submit a completed Illinois FLL Values Ambassador application.

This is an award that Illinois uses to honor teams who demonstrate strong FLL Values and who will act as ambassadors for FLL in Illinois.

The team selected as the Illinois FLL Ambassador will be presented with a trophy at the state tournament.

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Who qualifies for the State Tournament?

• Determined using the same criteria as for the Champion’s Award Robot Design – one third Project – one third Core Values – one third Teams must be in the top 50% of table scores, must do

reasonably well in all 3 categories and demonstrate adherence to FLL core values

• We will have between 72 and 80 slots at the State tournament in Illinois (Last year we had 64 slots).

• We expect approximately 300 teams to participate in qualifiers in Illinois so approximately 25% of the teams will advance to the state tournament

• For a 16 team tournament - approximately 4 teams will qualify for state. There may be some differences due to rounding.

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Judging Highlights

Teams will be judged in 3 categories:– Robot Design: 10 minutes

• 4 minutes for Robot Design Executive Summary • 6 minutes for Q & A

– Project: 10 minutes• Presentation before judges in separate room• 5 minutes for setup and presentation, 5 minutes for questions

and answers

– Core Values: 10 minutes• Teams complete a fun activity while judges observe• Core Values judges will ask questions about the Teamwork

Activity and the how they approached core values throughout the season

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Awards and Judging

Core Values Poster

• The Core Values Poster will not be required at any of the qualifying tournaments in Illinois

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Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES)

Will be required by all teams attending a qualifier or championship tournament in Illinois

Basic Outline:

The RDES should include the following elements: • Robot Facts• Design Details• Trial Run – demonstrate one mission of your choice

The entire RDES should not exceed 4 minutes!

Awards and Judging

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Judging – Good things to know

The Coaches’ Handbook – know it!

Rubrics• Scoring for the judged areas is based on the RUBRICS

which can be found on the FLL website at this link :

http://firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/Challenge/Combined%20Rubrics.pdf

The score sheets that judges will be using are exactly the same as the rubrics!

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Judging – General Policies

• FLL awards policy dictates that no one team receive more than one team-based award– Exception: A team may win two awards if one of them is for

Robot Performance• Judges and Local Awards may only be used to recognize teams for

an accomplishment not addressed by a Core Awards category• All teams should exhibit Gracious Professionalism and demonstrate

FLL Core Values at the tournament and throughout the season– An egregious issue in the eyes of the judging team may

disqualify a team from receiving any awards, advancing within the qualifying tournament system or participating in other FLL events for the remainder of the season

Tournaments

The Qualifying Tournament

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Participation in Qualifying Tournaments

• Each team must be registered with the FIRST national organization($225 registration fee).

• Each team must be registered with INSciTE Illinois ($70 fee and completed registration form) www.insciteillinois.org– Registration fee covers both qualifying and state tournaments

• Each team must bring a completed waiver/consent form for each team member to the qualifying tournament and the state championship tournament. Team members include coaches and any other adults who help the team. – Have the forms filled out several weeks prior to your qualifier. Make photocopies

and retain one set. If you make it to state, you wont have to repeat the process since you will have copies in hand.

– Teams will not be allowed to participate in their Qualifier if a signed consent form is not provided at the qualifier. This will be enforced without exception.

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Qualifying Tournament Assignments

Teams select top 3 choices when registering for the Illinois tournament series. We will do our best to give you one of your choices.

Teams that have registered first will be given priority if a conflict arises. So register early if you can!

Qualifying team assignments will be posted on our website by October 31st. Teams should hear from the Qualifying tournament coordinator by November 15th . Qualifying Tournament Coordinators (QTCs) are all volunteers so be nice to them!

– When you hear from your QTC be sure to respond ASAP. – They should not have to track you down.– If you are not intending to attend the qualifying tournament, call or email the

QTC in advance so they can adjust the schedule before the tournament.

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At the Qualifying Tournament

The Qualifier is an all day event, held on a Saturday or Sunday in November or December.

– Arrange for extra parental help in guiding the children during the long day– You will receive a schedule which is very tight. Know where you need to

be and when. Get your team to their appointments early. – Assign a parent as the schedule keeper, as coaches are usually taking

care of last minute crisis with the robot, programming, or project.

Find out if your qualifier will be selling food, or make arrangements for food to be brought in for your team.

– Make sure parents know if their child needs to bring money for food

Teams may be ask to provide– A volunteer for the day to help at the qualifier (or multiple volunteers splitting shifts)– A table and/or mission elements (to be shared with other teams for practice)

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Feedback From Judges

• FIRST has directed that teams should receive feedback and not scores or quintile rankings at any state or qualifying tournaments.

• The scoring system used at all regionals this year will be based on the Rubrics

• Qualifying Tournament Coordinators (QTCs) may choose to hand out the feedback forms at the end of the day or email them to teams after the tournament.

Tournaments

The State Tournament

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State Tournament

Friday Night January 18th & Saturday January 19th

72 or 80 teams competingLocation:

Forest View Field House2121 S. Goebbert Rd.

Arlington Heights,IL

Family members and friends are encouraged to attend – no charge for admittance.

Food and beverages will be available for sale both Friday (snacks) and Saturday (breakfast, lunch, snacks)

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At the State Tournament

Teams from cities within 50 miles of Arlington Heights will be required to participate in presentation, teamwork, and robot design judging on Friday night.

The State Tournament is also an all day event, so same recommendations can be made regarding help

– Arrange for extra parental help in guiding the children during the long day– Know where you need to be and when. Get your team to their

appointments early. – Assign a parent as the schedule keeper

There are a lot of things going on at the State Tournament, so make sure your team knows what is expected of them.

Don’t miss the coaches meeting where very important information and guidelines will be provided!

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Resources

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Resources

• Resources section of INSciTE Illinois website

www.insciteillinois.org

• Team Resources from FIRST at http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources

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Resources - COMMUNICATIONS

contactfllillinois@gmail.com• Email address for the state organizing committee

Announcement List• Email tool we use to get information out to all of the teams• Coaches receive an invitation to subscribe when they register

nationally• Can also request to join the announcement list on the website at

www.insciteillinois.org.

Yahoo Group• Tool you can use to communicate with other teams• Coaches receive an invitation to join when they register nationally• Other members of the team can join by contacting us at

contactfllillinois@gmail.com

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Review of Table Missions

• Robot Game Video (YouTube): http://youtu.be/116QPFHygYk

• Introduce Brian Gravelle and proceed to tables