FLL Jr. ADMINISTRATOR INFO
1) Equipment
Each team is supplied with the following:
OFFICE SUPPLIES BIN
LEGO BIN CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING (indicates the LEGO set number)
MISCELLANEOUS
OFFICE SUPPLIES BIN
- 20 AA batteries
- 6 pencils
- 2 black sharpies
- glue or glue sticks
- 2-3 pr. scissors
- colored markers
LEGO BIN CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING (indicates the LEGO set number)
- 1 15"x15" Baseplate (10701)
- 1 Bricks Set (9384)
- 1 Community Minifigures Set (9348)
- 3 Power Functions Battery Boxes (8881)
- 3 Power Functions M-Motors (8883)
- 3 Simple Machines Sets (9689)
MISCELLANEOUS
- We Do 2.0 kit
- iPad, iPad charger and case
- FIRST Inspire Set
- FIRST annual challenge notebooks for the coaches (1) and children (6)
- 1 trifold display board
- 1 three ring binder with notes
Bins G-1, G-5, G-8 and G-12 were stored at Nayaug in spring 2018. (G-8 is reserved for Coach Woolard.)
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Contents of the bins stored in the spring of 2018 at each elementary school are as follows:
LEGO BIN CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING (indicates the LEGO set number)
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2) Registration
In the past, the superintendent has asked the elementary school principals to email an announcement to the parents in each school that sign up is opening, and to check the G-REC website for details.
The administrator of the program sets up a central way to register participants in two waves:
COACHES
Each team is required to have two adult coaches. These are usually parents of children on that team. The strategy for recruiting volunteer coaches is to guarantee participation in FLL Jr. for all of each coach's children.
1st WAVE
Coach children are first to register. Participants must reside in Glastonbury, they must not attend GEHMS (the magnet school has its own program), and the students must be either 6, 7, 8 or 9 years old by the start of the program. No exceptions, because we always have a waiting list of students in the specified range.The number of coaches you get will determine the number of teams. As of 2017, we have equipment to accommodate 14 teams, requiring 28 coaches.
2nd WAVE
Once you are certain you have the coaches, you can open up registration to fill each of the remaining spots, up to a maximum of 6 children per team. The smallest team size is 2. As of right now, we have had a waiting list each year, so all teams have been 6 children since the program began in 2015, totaling 84 student participants.
Ideally you could collect the required information AND payment at the same time. RevTrack is the current method of payment, and a Google Form is the current method of collecting information. Getting everything at once would be much easier for the organizer, because then you aren't chasing down one or the other. Once people do one, many lag behind bothering to do the second. The first year the program was free due to a grant. The second and third years the fee was $25, plus a $2 fee to pay for RevTrack. In 2016 and 2017, the BOE covered the remaining funds to meet expenses for registration, the Expo and equipment replacement.
INFORMATION TO COLLECT AT SIGN UP
~ Student's name
~ Students's gender, it's not always obvious from the name
~ Student's age
~ Student's grade
~ Student's school
~ Parent's name
~ Student's home address
~ Parent's home phone
~ Parent's cell phone
~ Parent's email address
~ Coach name, if known
~ An emergency contact, different from the parent already listed
~ Emergency contact's phone numbers
~ Have they participated before
~ Concerns or requests, for example should siblings be placed together or apart
The above are suggestions for registration for the G-REC program. Each team also needs to register with FIRST to participate and receive the curriculum materials. There are two options currently available (in 2018) to do this. As administrator, you can purchase a season's pass for 12 teams. You will receive the materials for the 12 teams, and you would then ask two teams to register individually through FIRST. The second option is to have each of the 14 teams register and receive the seasonal materials through FIRST, and not do the season's pass. The advantage with option two is that each of the teams would then be eligible to apply to attend the national Expo and other local Expos. Under the season's pass, 11 of the 12 teams can only participate in an Expo that we put on ourselves.
The FIRST registration process has changes a few times in the past six years, so I am reluctant to provide tips on this website. It would be best to follow the instructions directly on the FIRST website. Each team cannot purchase the season-specific curriculum notebooks and Inspire Set unless the two coaches register the team with FIRST, pay the registration fee to FIRST, and have passed FIRST's background check.
The administrator of the program sets up a central way to register participants in two waves:
COACHES
Each team is required to have two adult coaches. These are usually parents of children on that team. The strategy for recruiting volunteer coaches is to guarantee participation in FLL Jr. for all of each coach's children.
1st WAVE
Coach children are first to register. Participants must reside in Glastonbury, they must not attend GEHMS (the magnet school has its own program), and the students must be either 6, 7, 8 or 9 years old by the start of the program. No exceptions, because we always have a waiting list of students in the specified range.The number of coaches you get will determine the number of teams. As of 2017, we have equipment to accommodate 14 teams, requiring 28 coaches.
2nd WAVE
Once you are certain you have the coaches, you can open up registration to fill each of the remaining spots, up to a maximum of 6 children per team. The smallest team size is 2. As of right now, we have had a waiting list each year, so all teams have been 6 children since the program began in 2015, totaling 84 student participants.
Ideally you could collect the required information AND payment at the same time. RevTrack is the current method of payment, and a Google Form is the current method of collecting information. Getting everything at once would be much easier for the organizer, because then you aren't chasing down one or the other. Once people do one, many lag behind bothering to do the second. The first year the program was free due to a grant. The second and third years the fee was $25, plus a $2 fee to pay for RevTrack. In 2016 and 2017, the BOE covered the remaining funds to meet expenses for registration, the Expo and equipment replacement.
INFORMATION TO COLLECT AT SIGN UP
~ Student's name
~ Students's gender, it's not always obvious from the name
~ Student's age
~ Student's grade
~ Student's school
~ Parent's name
~ Student's home address
~ Parent's home phone
~ Parent's cell phone
~ Parent's email address
~ Coach name, if known
~ An emergency contact, different from the parent already listed
~ Emergency contact's phone numbers
~ Have they participated before
~ Concerns or requests, for example should siblings be placed together or apart
The above are suggestions for registration for the G-REC program. Each team also needs to register with FIRST to participate and receive the curriculum materials. There are two options currently available (in 2018) to do this. As administrator, you can purchase a season's pass for 12 teams. You will receive the materials for the 12 teams, and you would then ask two teams to register individually through FIRST. The second option is to have each of the 14 teams register and receive the seasonal materials through FIRST, and not do the season's pass. The advantage with option two is that each of the teams would then be eligible to apply to attend the national Expo and other local Expos. Under the season's pass, 11 of the 12 teams can only participate in an Expo that we put on ourselves.
The FIRST registration process has changes a few times in the past six years, so I am reluctant to provide tips on this website. It would be best to follow the instructions directly on the FIRST website. Each team cannot purchase the season-specific curriculum notebooks and Inspire Set unless the two coaches register the team with FIRST, pay the registration fee to FIRST, and have passed FIRST's background check.
3) Coaching
Core Values
FIRST has core values for each program, changing slightly as the kids mature. These are essential for every team to learn, and are judged once the children start competing in FLL. Do the children a favor and introduce these at your first team meeting and reinforce them all season long.
Equipment to Coaches
It's nice to have a meeting to introduce yourself to the coaches and to hand out the equipment all at once. Be sure to record the serial number of the iPad that is given to each coach, linking the coach to a specific iPad. Coaches need to sign a form holding them responsible for the return of the equipment. In the past, coaches have been billed for losing items like a Simple Machines Set or a plastic storage bin, but not for losing individual LEGO parts or office supplies. It is helpful to collect donations of used LEGO from FLL field kits, as there are many replacement parts available! The administrator could choose to sort and keep these parts in a central location, so when you sort the kits at the end of the season, you can replace missing pieces. The Inspire Set prices should just be added to the misc. LEGO pieces in the main 12-gallon bin at the end of the season.
Background Checks
Coaches need to pass two background checks. There is a no-charge online background check required by FIRST. Instructions are provided when registering at firstinspires.org. Glastonbury Public Schools (GPS) has been covering the cost, $70 in 2018, to run background checks on all the coaches. This is required when volunteering in the schools. Parents may ask if they can help out without going through the GPS background check. I've been using the rule that if they attend more than two meetings, a background check is required.
Communicating
I like to post the coaches' names and emails on the website, so that parents can get in touch with the coach. It is important to tell the parents that the children need to follow the rules they would follow if they were in school, and to tell the coaches that they must communicate with the parents if there is a problem. The coaches are volunteers, not trained teachers. They have the right to require a parent to attend if their child is disruptive to the team. If the parent cannot or refuses, the coach has the right to terminate the child's participation on the team. Because of the disappointment this may cause to the child, coaches should make every effort to communicate with the parents right away if there are any issues. In general, it is best if the coaches communicate regularly with the parents on their team. The administrator can send out a few emails over the season, maybe a welcome email or ones regarding the Expo, but in general the Admin emails the coaches who pass on the information to the team. This sets the tone that parents should contact their coach with questions, not the administrator, who would just redirect to the coach in most cases.
Facilities
As of 2017, GPS has provided facility use at no charge to G-REC. Only the Administrator should reserve rooms on behalf of G-REC for teams. The contact is Mary Wilbor, and the GPS website provides the current community use form for download. These can now be submitted over email. It is important to communicate to the coaches the imperative that they respect the GPS Building Use Guidelines. These can also be found on the GPS website.
Safety
Ideas for coaches - Discuss with your team what to do in the event of a fire alarm. Make sure you find out if anyone on your team has a health concern that could affect them while you are supervising them, like seizures, asthma, or allergies. You aren't allowed to eat any food in the classroom, but it still might be good to know. Make sure you have eat least one contact phone number for each child's parent or guardian in the event of an emergency. You might want to consider having parents sign students in and/or out. Use the restrictions feature on the iPad to protect children from inappropriate internet content and apps.
Curriculum
FIRST provides curriculum for the coaches. The LEGO Simple Machine sets come with build instructions for experimenting with simple machines, and much is available online for teaching these concepts. Since the FIRST LEGO League Junior program is constantly evolving, it is best to direct the coaches and parents to the FIRST website, firstinspires.org, to get information about the program's curriculum. Coaches can also call FIRST in New Hampshire with questions. There are various Expos that teams can consider attending, in Connecticut and nationally. It is important to direct folks to the FIRST website so they understand that this is a global program, not a Glastonbury one.
FIRST has core values for each program, changing slightly as the kids mature. These are essential for every team to learn, and are judged once the children start competing in FLL. Do the children a favor and introduce these at your first team meeting and reinforce them all season long.
- We are a team.
- We do the work. Our coaches and mentors help us learn, but we find the answers ourselves.
- We share our experiences and discoveries with others.
- We are helpful, kind, and show respect when we work, play, and share. We call this Gracious Professionalism®.
- We are all winners.
- We have fun.
Equipment to Coaches
It's nice to have a meeting to introduce yourself to the coaches and to hand out the equipment all at once. Be sure to record the serial number of the iPad that is given to each coach, linking the coach to a specific iPad. Coaches need to sign a form holding them responsible for the return of the equipment. In the past, coaches have been billed for losing items like a Simple Machines Set or a plastic storage bin, but not for losing individual LEGO parts or office supplies. It is helpful to collect donations of used LEGO from FLL field kits, as there are many replacement parts available! The administrator could choose to sort and keep these parts in a central location, so when you sort the kits at the end of the season, you can replace missing pieces. The Inspire Set prices should just be added to the misc. LEGO pieces in the main 12-gallon bin at the end of the season.
Background Checks
Coaches need to pass two background checks. There is a no-charge online background check required by FIRST. Instructions are provided when registering at firstinspires.org. Glastonbury Public Schools (GPS) has been covering the cost, $70 in 2018, to run background checks on all the coaches. This is required when volunteering in the schools. Parents may ask if they can help out without going through the GPS background check. I've been using the rule that if they attend more than two meetings, a background check is required.
Communicating
I like to post the coaches' names and emails on the website, so that parents can get in touch with the coach. It is important to tell the parents that the children need to follow the rules they would follow if they were in school, and to tell the coaches that they must communicate with the parents if there is a problem. The coaches are volunteers, not trained teachers. They have the right to require a parent to attend if their child is disruptive to the team. If the parent cannot or refuses, the coach has the right to terminate the child's participation on the team. Because of the disappointment this may cause to the child, coaches should make every effort to communicate with the parents right away if there are any issues. In general, it is best if the coaches communicate regularly with the parents on their team. The administrator can send out a few emails over the season, maybe a welcome email or ones regarding the Expo, but in general the Admin emails the coaches who pass on the information to the team. This sets the tone that parents should contact their coach with questions, not the administrator, who would just redirect to the coach in most cases.
Facilities
As of 2017, GPS has provided facility use at no charge to G-REC. Only the Administrator should reserve rooms on behalf of G-REC for teams. The contact is Mary Wilbor, and the GPS website provides the current community use form for download. These can now be submitted over email. It is important to communicate to the coaches the imperative that they respect the GPS Building Use Guidelines. These can also be found on the GPS website.
Safety
Ideas for coaches - Discuss with your team what to do in the event of a fire alarm. Make sure you find out if anyone on your team has a health concern that could affect them while you are supervising them, like seizures, asthma, or allergies. You aren't allowed to eat any food in the classroom, but it still might be good to know. Make sure you have eat least one contact phone number for each child's parent or guardian in the event of an emergency. You might want to consider having parents sign students in and/or out. Use the restrictions feature on the iPad to protect children from inappropriate internet content and apps.
Curriculum
FIRST provides curriculum for the coaches. The LEGO Simple Machine sets come with build instructions for experimenting with simple machines, and much is available online for teaching these concepts. Since the FIRST LEGO League Junior program is constantly evolving, it is best to direct the coaches and parents to the FIRST website, firstinspires.org, to get information about the program's curriculum. Coaches can also call FIRST in New Hampshire with questions. There are various Expos that teams can consider attending, in Connecticut and nationally. It is important to direct folks to the FIRST website so they understand that this is a global program, not a Glastonbury one.
Decisions
Questions:
Storage Options
Administrative Options
Payment Options
Expo
- Equipment Storage - School based vs centralized
- Equipment Collection - School based vs administrator
- Payment - Coach based or administrator
- Coach Support - yes or no?
Storage Options
- Store all 14 FLL Jr. kits in a central location.
- Store a 2-3 kits in each elementary school, based on previous year’s interest. (13 kits would be divided between the schools. Hebron Avenue has a PTO kit they would always get to keep.)
Administrative Options
- Allow parents to contact their school directly to sign out the equipment, in which case there would be no administrative support, and each school would be responsible for getting the equipment back.
- Administer as had been done from 2015-2018
Payment Options
- Coaches collect the money directly from the participants and split the cost.
- BOE can decide to reimburse coaches or possibly to just pay FIRST directly to register the teams.
Expo
- Attend other Expos in Conencticut
- No Expo
- Glastonbury Expo - who will do it?
