A Letter to My Colleagues...the BEST Robotics Edition

So I've been off the radar for the past month or so and the silence is killing me. Twitter gets read while waiting in the check out line. My Reader has 893 unread posts. And while I have been taking pictures left and right, I have no idea what day it is on my 180 blog.

For the second year, I have sponsored a Robotics Team at my school. Last year was a crash course for us and we were immediately addicted*. I never really followed up on that experience because it took me so very long to recover. Somewhere around February, I felt like myself again. Between that and just not sure what had hit me, I didn't really feel like I had any insight into the whole process.

But now....

Now I am sure that I simply must convince everyone that I possibly can. This is something that you simply MUST bring to your school.

There are a few different robotics competitions out there. FIRST, VEX and BEST are probably the most well known, but we participate in the BEST Program. Initially, this was simply because I got a card in the mail inviting us to the competition. I have found out since that, for us, anyway, this was the "best" way to go. (I know. There is a lot of wordplay that can be worked in with that.) 

When you start something like this at your school, word tends to get out. I have had a few teachers who have contacted me about starting a robotics team at their school and I cannot recommend it enough. When asked, I often find myself at a loss for words. There is really no good way to describe the chaos, the challenge, the excitement, the reward that comes from being a part of a program like this. It really is something that simply needs to be experienced.

Top Ten Reasons to Sponsor a BEST Robotics Team

1. There is something for everyone. This is not just about building a robot. This is a common misconception among just about everyone I talk to. The first part of the BEST competition is, of course, the robot. He**takes center stage because, well, he's the robot. Part two is THE Notebook. (This is actually how we refer to it as well; we treat it with the reverence that it deserves.) All teams are required to keep an engineering notebook that documents the entire process: brainstorming, prototypes, research, safety, recruitment, fundraising, testing, team building. All of it. The judges want to see that you didn't just jump in and throw something together at the last minute. They want to see how you decided on your ideas, how you decided whether or not something was going to work. They want to see the PROCESS at work. These two components are required for all teams to compete in Game Day. 

There is then the optional BEST competition. Against all advice, we participated in this our first year. I made this decision because I had kids who would not have been a part of our team if we hadn't. This turned out to be a good idea for us.

Because then they want you to sell your robot. So you have this robot, huh? Why should they choose yours over someone else's? The marketing presentation is done a few days before Game Day. We get all dressed up and take the robot into a board room filled with men in suits. We present as a company and talk about our budget, our company, our process and our product. 

 

 The fourth component of the BEST competition is the public relations booth. This is similar to what a company would have at a trade show and is set up at Game Day during the robot competition. It sort of ties everything together as it gives you a chance to show off your program to all the other teams. Pictures, CAD drawings, demographics and the ever popular free pen handouts can all be included here. 

Finally, we get to the spirit component. As Game Day is going on, your team is judged on how you interact with other teams at the competition. Did you bring people that are not a part of your team? How about cheerleaders? A band? Are you making noise? All of this is important and makes for an amazing atmosphere on Game Day.

2. Sleep, clean laundry and cooking supper at home are totally overrated. However, should you happen to spend your birthday building a robot, kids feel like they need to celebrate with you and will bring you ice cream cake...

3. You don't have to buy anything. This was the deciding factor for my administration. Not only was there no registration fee, but we did not need to buy any supplies. Your BEST hub provides all the materials you need to build your robot. In fact, you are not allowed to use anything else. Not only does this cut down on cost, but it also keeps everyone on a level playing field. Now that is not to say that you will not need money. You will need to get your team to at least three activities during the season. You will need some tools. Power tools. We have our essentials: scroll saw, miter saw, jigsaw, cordless drill and screwdriver (two), sander and dremel tool, plus various hand tools such as a hammer, hacksaw, screwdrivers (large and small), bolt cutters, wire strippers, compass, ruler, scissors and solder iron. We have quite a bit of other tools running around, but these seem to be the basics. If you participate in the BEST competition as well, then you will run into printing costs for flyers and brochures, booth materials, poster board, glitter (apparently we can't do anything without glitter), markers. Not a lot, but I think I spent around $700 this year on stuff like that. 

See? Six bottles of glitter...

4. You don't really need to do any labs in your chemistry class. You can totally convert your lab room into a machine shop. I have actually, for the most part, managed to contain the robot to one lab table and a corner. My classes know that they are not allowed to touch anything over there and I have not had any problems with that.

5. Insanity can be wonderful.

6. We in education give a lot of lip service to preparing our kids for the real world. We talk a lot about how important it is to turn homework in on time (every day) and why kids should only be allowed to use the restroom at the beginning of the hour and for goodness sake, do NOT exchange ideas with your neighbor. Sorry guys, that isn't getting it done. THIS is the type of experience that employers want our kids to have. They want to know that these kids have been presented with a challenge and come up with a plan to get it done. They want to know that this kid can work under pressure and not crack at the first hint of adversity. 

7. Failing is okay. Just fail faster because we only have six weeks to get it figured out. Learn when something isn't working and move on to the next idea. Last year, our big downfall was not letting go of something that wasn't working. I had kids who became emotionally attached to an idea and couldn't let it go because it was "his" idea. This year we were much better about seeing when something really wasn't going to work out and trying something new. If someone just couldn't let it go, I had them build a prototype of the idea. While this took time, it gave us a chance to visualize and decide. Sometimes that led us off in a completely new direction, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

8. This is not just for the "smart" kids in your school. When I try to convince someone to join us, the number one excuse is "I'm not smart enough to build a robot." That type of thinking drives me insane anyway, but what really bugs me is that those kids really believe what they are saying. I had one of "those" students in my first hour this fall. He has a lot of issues that all culminate in him not being successful in school, but he would come in every morning and ask how the robot was coming along. His down time in class? Spent discussing with another student their next steps in restoring an old truck. Seriously? Not smart enough to build a robot? Please. Every once in a while, he would wander over to the chaos and look over what had been accomplished. Once I was explaining one of the problems we had run into and he made a suggestion. I told him to write it down and leave a note. He did and we ended up using a slight modification of his idea. He was interested, but I never could convince him to come to a meeting. I am going to keep trying because I think next year, I might be able to convince him to come around.

9. Your robot does not need to be overly complicated. Keep It Simple, Stupid is a good mantra to live by in something like this. This served us well this year. Our challenge was insane: our robot had to pick up stuff off the floor, carry it to the top of a ten foot pole and put said stuff into various containers. We knew with our young, inexperienced team that we would not be able to do it all. So instead of trying to make our robot move in two dimensions, we stuck with one: pick up the stuff directly in front of us and that was it. That whole complicated thing will come with time, but realizing our limitations was a giant advantage for us.

10. Seriously...have you ever BEEN to one of those competitions? Quote from our first year..."Game Day was like a professional football game, a college basketball game, a NASCAR race, and epic science all in one!" - Mary

Still think you can't pull it off? You can. Jump in. Accept the challenge. If we can do it, so can you! 

We are a small school with 223 students in our 9-12 building. We are one of the smallest schools in our hub. This year, we had 22 members on our team roster, with 15 of those kids being the reliable, core workers. This was actually a pretty good number for me to be able to handle and keep on task. As the only sponsor (NOT recommended), I mostly just kept circling and asking whether or not there was something that needed to be done. 

I am not telling you this will be easy. It's not. It is chaotic, exhausting, messy and pretty darn difficult. But you know that person who said nothing worthwhile is easy? 

Yeah, that person was on a robotics team.


*I am finding that robotics is a lot like childbirth. While it is actually occurring, you start to wonder what in the world could have possessed you to do this, but a few months later you look back and think, hmmm...that wasn't so bad...

**Yes, we personify our robot. This year, it is a boy named Magic Mike. He has one arm... he had to climb a pole... anyway... didn't I warn you about the insanity here???


P.S.  This was written as an assignment in my graduate class as a way to explain the BEST program and why you should try it.

Missing Class

For the second day in a row, we have not had class during second hour. Three hours worth of class time gone.

Yesterday, the sophomores took a field trip to Flint Hills Technical College to explore options there. This is important. Technical colleges are not what they used to be. And that is a good thing. Most people, when asked, will give a pretty negative review of a technical college even if they have no idea what goes on in one. Welding. I would venture to say that is the first thought that comes up. But it is not an accurate one. So it's a good thing that kids get out and explore those options.

I'm okay with letting kids go.

Today, we had an assembly featuring the Butler County Community College Headliners. I had never seen them perform before. Mostly I was upset to lose another class day to go watch singers.

And then they sang.

Wow.

It was impressive. I couldn't find a video anywhere to share and to be honest, I can't even find a link to the Headliners on Butler's site. This is as close as I could get.

We got back to class and the kids couldn't stop talking about the show. These are kids that don't talk about anything in a good way. They were as impressed as I was.

One kid, one who is in danger of not getting a degree, now wants to join our school singers. Unfortunately, he will not be able to. Even if his schedule allowed it, our administration probably would not. He was not proficient on the state math assessment. So he gets pulled out of his "unimportant" classes to take a refresher math course. Maybe he will pass it this time around. He was also not proficient on his state reading assessment. Same thing. There is no chance this child will be able to take a class that he might enjoy and maybe even excel at.

What are we doing for our kids if we take them out of those things that they really are interested in?

How do we convince them that we are "doing this for your own good" when they hate every second of the day?

How do we make education about the kids and not about the adults?

Calling an Audible and Adjusting My Grading

Okay, so I have had some major shifts in my grading this year. As we start thinking about closing out this trimester, kids are really, REALLY starting to panic. And to tell the truth, I am getting a little nervous. As of this moment, out of all of my classes, I have one B. And that is as high as it goes. A smattering of C's. Lots of D's and a few too many F's. While it is not uncommon for my principal to comment that I have the lowest grades out of anyone, I normally don't care how my grades stand up against other teachers'.* But even for me, I feel like this is a bit on the low side.

I love the grading out of two. If I could just get my kids (and some teachers) to let go of the percent thing, all would be well (well, better anyway). I didn't realize how stressful and time consuming it was for me to have to decide whether or not a question should receive a 2 or 3. Oh yes, this is the way to go.

But not all is well. I am rethinking how I have set up my chemistry standards. This summer, I loved the idea of having a few overarching ideas that were non-negotiable in terms of understanding matter. Actually, I still do like that idea, but it is truly driving everyone crazy. This whole system has been a much larger shift for my kids than I anticipated, and adding in the extra step in deciding your grade is about to push some of us over the edge. It just seems like too much to decode at this point. So I have changed every standard to a gold standard and adjusted my figuring accordingly.

       F = 3 or more 0
       D = Any 0
       C = Any 1
       B = All 2
       A = All 2 plus 3 successful capstone projects

Capstones in chemistry are turning out to be a huge challenge. I knew this would be true, so I have not been surprised at my kids really not knowing exactly where to start. Physics is, I think, a little easier to come up with something to test. Go outside and observe nearly any phenomena and you can turn it into a physics project. In chemistry, even if you have an idea what it is you want to test, there are so many unknowns to take care of that really aren't common sense-type things. How much sodium hydroxide do we need? Should we do this in the fume hood? Will it blow up?**

At first, I told the kids that their capstone had to be in the form of a lab investigation. I still prefer this, but I have also opened up on that requirement. Students can, of course, still do the lab investigation, but they also
have the option to write a research article, create a podcast or a KA style video. I am also allowing them to work in groups of up to two, but each student has to have a separate write-up.

Really, though, I have only had two groups even attempt a capstone. I have one girl (who stares out the window a lot) who keeps saying her parents are soooooo mad that she doesn't have an A. In the same breath, she tells me a capstone would be too much work. I guess we'll see how that turn out.

Tomorrow is an early release for us. My plan is to show everyone what their grade would be at this point and talk about what can be done to show what they know. Maybe getting everyone on the same page and reminding them of the deadline will put a fire under them.

We also have parent conferences next week. I have this strange feeling that I will have a better turn out than normal.


*This was a BIG deal when I started teaching chemistry with SBG.

**This is more often than not said in an extremely hopeful tone.

Why My Kids Don't Want Me to Be District Attorney: An SBG Tale

So today in some really weird tangent in my ocean science class, we started discussing our district attorney. Now, several students in that class have direct experience dealing with this particular lady and not all of those experiences have come out in what you would call an equal ending. They don't like her and think we should get a new one.

Last election, she ran unopposed, so there really was no other option, and my kids suggested that I should run next time.* They would vote for me!

Then someone piped up and said, "but, wait a minute, you only grade out of 2!"

This really caused some concern, especially with some of the kids that had gotten off lightly. Apparently, should I get to decide, you would either be a yes or no case. They weren't so sure this was a good idea.

Someone else jumped in and said, "well, even if you were perfect, Mrs. Schroeder would still make you do three hours of community service to get out of jail!"

At least they seem to be lightening up about the new grading and capstones. While they still aren't happy about the changes, the have decided to accept it and move on. I have had a couple ocean kids and one chemistry who have come up with some type of extension activity. So far, they are not as in depth as I was hoping for, but I am thrilled that they are trying.


*Not gonna happen.

**I realize they were not exactly clear on the difference between a district attorney and a judge. I'll leave that to the government teacher.

Chemistry Capstones...OK...Now You Can Freak Out

Earlier this week, my chemistry class got their first taste of my new take on that whole "rigor" thing.


Because this year, I have introduce capstones. We are close to half way through our first trimester, so many of my kids are starting in on the grade anxiety. I have never really had a giant uproar over the standards part of my grading, so that isn't so much the problem.

But now...

"You mean, I'm not going to get an A in this class?"

Not easily, no.

"You mean I can be perfect and still not get an A?"

Nobody's perfect, sweetie.

"But, I'm a senior, you can't go changing the status quo now!"

Okay, I see your point, but too bad.


"So, this is like extra credit?"

Well, no, not exactly. Extra credit implies not a lot of work in order to get your grade up to where you want it.* When a student says, "can I write the definitions out twenty times to get my grade up to an A?" I just want to scream.


We discussed capstones this morning, and to be honest, I can't believe I haven't heard from a parent yet. For the most part, the reception was not favorable. We talked about why it is important for them to be able to not just memorize all this important chemistry stuff, but also why they should be able to apply it. And not just because it is chemistry class. This is a life skill, children.

To kind of ease them into it, we did a practice capstone with the last part of our conservation of mass lab. In that part, we add Alka-Seltzer to water. The mass at the end is not the same as the mass at the beginning. For our system, technically, mass was not conserved, but most kids recognized that it was because the gas escaped. So I had them think about what we could do to show that this incident did, indeed, support the law of conservation of mass. While much simpler than what I would probably require for a capstone, this was a good one to walk through and get them in the questioning mode.**

There was arguing. There was bribery. There was attempted blackmail and coercion. But we stuck with it and eventually, everyone came up with a plan and submitted a draft proposal. We went and did the experiment and I talked about what kids should have in a formal write up. There was even one or two, very grudging, "that wasn't so bad" mutterings in the back.


When it was all said and done, my kids seemed a little bit calmer. At this point, they are terrified at the idea of having to come up with ideas for a project. I totally get that. I am terrible at writing engaging questions, plus this is brand new to these kids. We spent so much time beating the curiosity out of them, that when we try to instill it back in, of course there is going to be some struggles.

But I'm sticking to my guns on this one. If I have learned nothing in the last few years, it has been that big changes can't be made if you give in even just a little bit.


*The most accurate portrayal of education in the media, ever, is the Spongebob episode where Mrs. Puff tries to give him extra credit so she doesn't have to have him back in class.

**Looking back, this was actually a lot more difficult for them than I thought it would be.

Inner Peace...A Modeling Update

I don't think there has ever been a time in my teaching career where I could say that I have truly become comfortable with what I am teaching. I taught at my first school for one year before getting married and moving on. My second year teaching was at a school so far away from my home that I moved to a closer district the next year. I taught at the middle school level for two years before being non-renewed, and fell into my current position the next year. I have now been in my district for eleven years, which might have found me in a fairly comfortable place if not for all the new classes I have been "allowed" to develop. In those eleven years, I have taught twelve different classes. Now, some have a little overlap, but creating a new class from scratch nearly every year was a lot more stressful than I realized.

Until today. Today, I got an idea what it really feels like to know what is going on.

Right now I have two sections that are working through the Modeling Chemistry. One is a regular chemistry class and one is what we call applied, that is made up of "those" kids.

My first year with Modeling was, well, tumultuous. The entire situation was new to my kids as well as to me. Even if they hadn't been so incredibly resistant, I am pretty sure they would have sensed my unfamiliarity with the process. They can smell fear, you know.

Last year was my second year, and while I was at least more familiar with the material, I still had some issues and wrinkles that I needed to iron out. Luckily, the kids I had were much less resistant. I think word had spread that I could take whatever they could send my way and stick to my guns. I am pretty sure that if I had given in, just a little bit the year before, I would have had a lot more testing of boundaries. As it was, I had a great group of kids who for the most part bought in to what I was trying to do. For my part, I spent a lot of time writing out exactly* what I wanted to accomplish with each lesson just so I could go back and remember what worked and what didn't. While I'm not obsessed enough to read it all out during class, it has proved invaluable to look over beforehand and remember what types of things tripped kids up. Since I seem to know where I want them to go, my questions and prompts are actually leading them there.**

The other day, I assigned the first worksheet in my chemistry class. This is not a common occurrence, as I really try to save homework for special occasions. The worksheets in the Modeling units are wonderfully done. These are not "right there" questions that kids can google, nor are they all repetitions of the same problem. When my kids came to class today, there was true panic going on. They had tried. They didn't get it. Their parents didn't get it. They were never going to pass this class.

It took awhile, but I reminded them that we had had this conversation about homework awhile back. Remember how it's practice? And struggling is actually a good thing? This doesn't count toward a grade, so let's whiteboard the problems and see what we come up with.

Then things got really tense.

The first couple of questions were pretty straightforward. The group presented and every head in the room turned to me to see if I was confirming their excellent work.

Cue the crickets.***

Finally someone, almost with a twitch, said, "well, is it right??"

So I said, "do you think it is?"

These pauses are going to kill me.

The group presenting, of course thought they were correct. When I asked if anyone had written anything different, no one spoke up. So I asked them if they had any questions about how this group came up with their answers. Again, not a sound.

As the group started moving towards their seats, one student turned around with her paper and asked me if what she had was acceptable. So I stopped the group and had them go back up to their whiteboard.

Now, here's where it got tricky. We stopped and talked about the overall purpose of whiteboarding. It isn't just about copying down the right answer on your paper. This is about learning from each other and being able to ask questions when you don't understand. Not necessarily asking ME, but asking your classmates to explain their thinking.

The big question for this question was that the student had done the problem in a different manner, but came up with the same answer.**** There followed a huge discussion about whether or not this was "correct" for this problem. Apparently, in the past, there has been only one way to get to the right answer, and that is how the teacher has already explained it. No free thinking allowed.

Yeah, whatever. Personally, I would like to see this every time. While this student explained how she came up with her (same) answer, a couple other kids were nodding their heads. Comments like, "oh, I get it now" started rumbling around the room. Kids were talking to one another, asking good questions. There was really only one smart-alec in the room and he was put down pretty quickly.

By the end of the hour, I had students fighting to present their problem on the whiteboard. I had retreated to the back corner and didn't say another word.

It took us two days to whiteboard this worksheet. In fact, with this class, we are taking quite a bit longer on everything, but I am so okay with that. All of those little details that have taken all trimester to even get the nerve to bring up the last two years are being addressed here in the first month.

And they are buying into it!

So today, we are whiteboarding a lab. The discussions going on are amazing and so beyond anything I would have expected up to this point. I am wandering around the room listening, waiting for questions. There are none. I hear one group who seems to be struggling say "well, we will present it and see what everyone else has done. Maybe they can show us where we messed up." Whoa! Really? I move on to eavesdrop on another group. They have a gorgeous multi-color whiteboard that oh-my-goodness includes a particle diagram!

I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming here. I am also a little nervous because I don't really know what I did to get here so quickly (or, for that matter, at all). I'm not entirely sure I did anything at all. I think, though, that it comes from knowing exactly where I want my kids to go and having a plan as to how to get there. What I do know is that I have never been so excited, or relaxed, about where my classroom is headed.



*When I say exactly, I mean word for word, every-question-that-makes-sense-OCD-scripted type of write out.

**Now this is probably not news to most of you. I can see you shaking your head, wondering, "is she serious?" All I can say to that is, yes. Yes, I am.

***There seems to be a lot of awkward pauses in my room this year.

****Seriously, the stars are all in alignment today.

*****My footnote addiction seems to be getting worse...sorry about that...

So Tell Me How You Really Feel

Now that we are a couple weeks into school, we are starting to get a little deeper into actually assessing some work. So now the questions on how to actually get an A in my class are really starting to be asked. There has been so much talk about GPA in my classroom lately that I am seriously starting to twitch.

My chemistry class is still pretty quiet. Most of them do not know me well enough to come right out and complain, but they are nervous, to be sure. I have an amazing first section this year, and they are pretty used to getting high grades. For the most part, they seem to be up to the challenge. We ended up walking through how to do a capstone* so they know what it should look like. I think they are slightly less anxious now.

However, students in my ocean science class, for the most part, know me pretty well. And they let me know exactly what they think about the new system. I have this class set up just slightly different than my chemistry. I don't have the blue and gold standards, mostly because wasn't completely happy with the standards I had written. This turned out to be good thinking because I have already changed some of the targets. I am really debating on this, because this system seems to be a little more straightforward with not as much in the way of decoding to figure out your grade. But then I like the idea of those big ideas, so who knows where this will all end up.

Today, I handed back an ocean science test along with a grade sheet. There was freaking out and some of them just can't let go of percentages. The majority of complaints seem to stem from the fact that they can't get away with not understanding something. To them, it is completely fine to not understand how waves travel through a medium because next week, they can do better on tidal movement. It will all average out and they will never have to come back to understanding waves. This is apparently a much bigger safety net than I had realized because there is some major panicking (and complaining) going on.

Going along with that is grading out of 2 instead of, say, 10. Or 50. Or some other arbitrary number. Basically, they either understand it or they don't. There really is no "partial credit" here. Again with the safety net.

I mentioned capstones to my ocean science and was immediately bombarded with the extra credit question. That is how they are viewing the idea of capstones. I am having a hard time getting them to see it from another angle, because they see this "extra work" as equating to "extra credit". I can honestly say I understand their perspective, but I think it's a little too overwhelming for them to cope with the idea of applying knowledge at this point. So we'll come back to that in a couple days.

I pretty much had two camps in my ocean today. On one side are those who kind of accepted the idea and are going to humor me in hopes I change my mind when everyone's grades are terrible. The other side is made up of those who are still pouting.

What I really need to do a good job of is guiding my kids through this system. I can't just throw it out there and hope they catch on. This is such an enormous shift in philosophy that I'm not sure they are all going to follow. Giving examples and keeping kids from giving up is going to be crucial. And exhausting.

Lucky for me, my principal is on board. I gave him a print out of my set up and he was intrigued. A couple days later, I stopped in his office and he pulled out a little green book called A Repair Kit for Grading and asked if I had read it. No, do I have to? I was a little nervous thinking I had really done something wrong and he was going to make me revert back to a more traditional grading approach. However, he congratulated me on already implementing what he thought was a good system. Whew.

So tomorrow is a new day. My ocean is going to get their first taste of capstones and what it really means to take all this information and use it. Hopefully, we will discover together the difference between extra credit and actual learning.


*Another post that hasn't been finished yet.