FIRST Lego League Journal, Week One

I’m a normal, run-of-the-mill mom. I wasn’t born with any special powers, and I can’t say that I’ve ever knowingly played with Legos.

Nevertheless, here I am, coaching a FIRST Lego League team. 

I’ve never been to a Lego League tournament, and I have no clue how to program a Lego Mindstorm robot. 

The courage of fools, that’s what I have.  Oh, yeah, and I’ve taken bold leaps into the unknown before.

Odyssey of the Mind 

A few years ago, I coached not one, but two, Odyssey of the Mind teams simultaneously.  I’d never coached any kind of team, ZERO, NONE, NADA, before.  I’d never even been on a team, except a half-hearted intramural softball team in college, once.  Actually, I wasn’t on that team except when they invited me to a couple of games to round out the numbers.

Despite my ignorance, I tackled OotM with my usual enthusiasm, and somehow, the teams thrived.  One team even won the regional tournament, and went on to compete at the state level.  Pretty awesome for first timers.

Not that winning is the goal. 

Lego League Core Values

I’ve already warned the Brick Busters – that’s the team name – that it’s highly unlikely that we will bring home any trophies.  These upper elementary students are going to be competing against experienced middle schoolers.  Anyway, Lego League isn’t about winning, it’s about having fun. 

I shared the Lego League Core Values at the Informational Meeting, and also at the first team meeting.  I’ll probably end up saying it over, and over, again until we can all recite them by heart:

1. We are a team
2. We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors
3. We honor the spirit of friendly competition
4. What we discover is more important then what we win
5. We share our experiences with others
6. We display gracious professionalism in everything we do
7. Most important, WE HAVE FUN!!!

Let The Games Begin…

In keeping with this spirit of fun, we began the Brick Buster meeting with a Circle Name Game:

One person shared a fact about themselves at the center of the circle (ex. “I’m Sandra, and I have one dog.”)  Then, everyone who shared that trait left their spot in the circle, and tried to find another.  Whoever was last got to take a turn sharing.

Next, it was time for a Team Building Activity to help the kids become more comfortable working together.  Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous Problems are a great resource for these kinds of activities.

I went with the classic Spaghetti Tower Challenge.  It’s easy.  It’s cheap.  It’s not too messy.  And, it doubles as a snack.  Don’t ask.

Both of these games provided a necessary ice breaker that made it a lot easier to launch into the brainstorming part of our 3 Hour Tour.

The Research Project

It turns out that the FIRST Lego League isn’t just about building Lego models.  In fact, it’s a lot like OotM in that you have a problem and solution that the team must present creatively.  This year, the Smart Move Challenge asks the teams to tackle transportation safety in a community.

It’s left to the team to define the community (which can be anywhere, even in Space) and the mode of transportation.  Reflecting current events, some teams are even tackling viruses as a transportation system.

In one hour, our team came up with a list of communities and of modes of transportation.  Then, they took a vote as to which communities interested them the most, and narrowed the list to just two.  Now, as a homework assignment, they will investigate the types of problems associated with their preferred community.  Next week, they’ll present their findings so that they can decide which one is worth pursuing further.

All in all, the research project is off to a good start.

Lego Robot Missions

This side of the challenge proved to be more problematic.  Although we have a Junior Coach who is an “expert” at building and programming Lego models, called “missions,” we didn’t take into account how difficult it would be to work with a team of 10 to build 8 different missions.

We learned on the job.  Next week, we’ll break up the team into sub-teams that will work independently to build the missions.  We’ll see how that goes.

Sharing Is Caring…

See, this is how the kids, and the adults, learn how to work together.  Sharing our triumphs, as well as our downfalls, is what FIRST Lego League likes to call “coopertition:”

Coopertition produces innovation. At FIRST, Coopertition is displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition. Coopertition is founded on the concept and a philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other even as they compete.
Coopertition involves learning from teammates. It is teaching teammates. It is learning from mentors. And it is managing and being managed. Coopertition means competing always, but assisting and enabling others when you can.

More Team Building Games:

• Kids Who Think
• Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous Problems
• Arizona Odyssey
• Wikipedia Resource List

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