Friday, October 27, 2017

Upcoming Outreach Events

Hi Guys!

We need to figure out some plans for our upcoming signature programs:

1. Hour of Code - we typically do this during lunch and sixth period, going to each elementary site to facilitate the hour of code for all students in K through 5th grade.  We were thinking of going during the two weeks right after Thanksgiving break, as this would be closest to the nationwide push for Hour of Code. Can you all think about your availability for these two weeks and let's talk about it on Monday to see if that will work for this year?

2. Super Science Saturday (November 11) - it's coming in TWO WEEKS!  We need all hands on deck for this, our signature program!  If there is a work-station that you really enjoy running, please comment here with a quick description of what it is so others know what you're taking and so we can see what we've got covered and what needs to be done still.

3. Dash and Dot plus more (tbd) - we need to figure out when you guys are available to visit individual classrooms to help teachers use and become comfortable with Dash and Dot.  These won't be whole school visits, but more like the 1 hour at a time in a small class setting like we did in the spring.  Because of the smaller target audience, we can be a little more flexible with our time for visiting. When we meet on Monday, please have in mind if you can participate (transportation and school work load-wise) and what days and times would be best for your schedules.

4. Engineers Week (February 19-23) - still a ways away, but keep in mind, we like to do an assembly at each school site, and with Tompkins, we did an evening program.  We are going to be working with the sites this month to make sure we are on their schedules for E-Week in February.

5. Mentoring to other teams - we have a few rookie or really new teams that we are trying to support this year.  I'd like to have a student liaison for each team to help us keep in touch and be the point of contact for those teams. If you are interested in being the "face" of FIRST Team 585 for another team, please let us know so we can get those connections made and relationships started.

You guys are awesome! It's so great to work with an enthusiastic and committed group like all of you Cyber Penguins!  Keep up the good work and I will see you tomorrow (at the Quarter Auction) or on Monday at Junior Robotics!

-- Mrs. E


Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Junior Robotics planning for 10/16

Hello team!

We had an outstanding day today!  All of the Inspire kits for FLL Jr. arrived and Morgan, Toby, Justin, and Julian worked with me to make sure that all of our Junior Robotics teams had their bins loaded appropriately.  Your bins now have their official team numbers on the sides and the "temporary" numbers that we had given you at the start of the program (so you don't wonder where on Earth your bin has gone).

All of your kiddos now have their official Engineering Notebook (Yay! No more photocopies!), so make sure you get your kids names on their books, first thing.  We also printed and distributed the instructions for building the pump and for attaching a motor.  Now, the instructions show using a WeDo 2.0 motor for driving the pump, but remember, each of your totes contains the simple battery box and gray motor that we have used with LEGOs for years.  Use that "unsmart" motor and battery box to control the pump so that you can use the WeDo 2.0 to find a way to convey the "water" from the pump to a reservoir of some sort that is located at least 6" away.

After today's session, we will have only two meetings left until the Expo at Super Science Saturday.  Remember, you have a LEGO model to build and a tri-fold display about your team's learning process.  Make sure you are talking about these two deliverables so the kids are ready to work on them for the last two meetings.

Can't wait to see all the cool stuff you guys build!  Check out the tote video from our Snapchat feed today! Snapchat Video of FLL Jr. totes.

-- Mrs. E