FLL Explore Program Management Master Task List
Project Manager
Registration
Team Management
Glastonbury FLL Jr. EXPO
Before
2. Draft and copy a list of questions to ask students 3. Prepare and copy two coach notes forms for each team 4. Clipboards, TY notes, pens, reviewer badges, review collection box
During
After
|
Budget
Coach Management
Equipment
Before
|
First Group Email sent to 2022-2023 Coaches:
Dear Coaches,
1. Thank you so much for your patience with me. This is the eighth year I've been running this program and this is the largest group of coaches I have ever had. I am also running the state championship for FLL Challenge on December 10th, and have been up to my eyeballs with planning.
I try to send as few emails throughout the season as possible, but they can be huge; please save me into your address book since they often go to spam. I organize the emails by numbered topics. That way, you can skip the topics you already know about.
For new coaches, here is a quick introduction: I have lived in Glastonbury for about 16 1/2 years, kids are in grades 8 and 10. I started coaching the program you are going to coach when my son was in 1st grade. I didn't know anyone else in town doing it, but saw over 20 teams in Farmington when we attended their Expo. I wanted that here for our town, so I got funding from the GEF to start this here. I paired up with a friend who ran the middle grade program while I ran this one. Three years ago she moved on and I now run both, and I also mentor our high school team. I am not a teacher in the school system, but GPS gave me this email because my long mass emails definitely go to spam otherwise. I would like to start a parent booster club for these programs for grades 2-12, but need help doing that. I spend a lot of time doing things for FIRST (the organization that creates the content of the program you are going to coach) but I also work part time as a content curator for 1440, dabble in travel planning, and my background is in chemistry (Pfizer and teaching high school) and environmental policy (US EPA, CT Green Bank). Okay, on to the nitty gritty:
2. Coaching pairs - I have finally paired all the coaches. Please check that:
3. Everyone will be meeting at the high school, 330 Hubbard Street. I will post a map on the website soon to help you find your classroom, but you will enter through the front doors. Meeting rooms are still being assigned and will be on the page. We are not allowed to use anything in the rooms except the desks, chairs, floor, lights, and we can write on the white board but NOT erase the teacher's writing. I will provide each team with a dry erase marker and a small eraser; we are not to use theirs. I am looking for an adult volunteer to be a hall monitor during the meetings.
4. I have not yet assigned the students on the team that don't belong to a coach. I need to run the lottery with the remaining students and then invite them to pay. I might wait until they have paid to assign them so I don't waste so much time chasing people down for their $35.
5. Speaking of, thank you for paying the $35 per student. The money goes to the T-shirts ($15.50 each plus tax), the registration fee (over $4,000 for us all), the equipment, the Expo, etc. If any of your employers want to sponsor your team, please let me know! Sometimes they can make a grant through the FIRST system and I also have a 501(c)(3) called Glastonbury Friends of Robotics that can accept TAX DEDUCTIBLE donations.
6. You will get a curriculum booklet to use for coaching the team, probably only one but you can make a copy for your co-coach. There are a lot of resources on the website I made - go to this one:
http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com/for-coaches-explore.html
but click on COACH PLANNING TIPS, please! Direct link here:
http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com/coach-planning-tips.html
I haven't updated it yet, but all the season specific info will be there as well as a step-by-step guide for how to do this!!!!! Please look at it.
7. All new coaches need to attend the COACH TRAINING MEETING and at least one coach should come because that is also the EQUIPMENT HANDOUT. I will give a short presentation in the Gideon Welles auditorium, starting at 7:20 on the dot, answer questions, then you will go to the cafeteria and get your equipment. The meeting is not designed to accommodate children. If you must bring some due to childcare issues, you can have them sit in the back or with you and read a book HA HA or play on their ipad or your phone quietly.
7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
Gideon Welles Auditorium
Monday, December 12, 2022
(snow date Wednesday, December 14)
8. Are there any kind souls that can help me before the meeting? I was in a car accident in late 2018 and can no longer lift or move objects over 10lbs without being in debilitating pain the next day and longer. I hate asking for help would prefer to just do everything myself, but I truly cannot. If yes, let me know. Everything is stored in Room 213 at Gideon and needs to come down and get set out on the tables in the cafeteria.
9. Equipment - I have a link to the equipment page on both the Explore coach page and the Coach Planning Tips page; they link to the same info.
10. I am hoping I can get the school system to download the required apps onto the school iPads and they can be allowed to take them home on LEGO nights. If not, the app for programming the LEGO pieces can be downloaded for free on any Apple device that you are willing to let the kids touch. The team only needs one device at any given time.
11. Like any team, the coaches are expected to communicate with the other parents on your team. I will send a few emails to all the parents, which you will also get, but you will need to make sure they know what time to be where and what your expectations are for them and their children. You might want to have a sign in and out sheet - up to you. Please don't leave from GHS until all the kids are picked up. Parents should walk their children all the way to the classroom and pick them up at the classroom.
12. New this year I am going to host a parent meeting in the GHS auditorium during the second meeting, on January 18th. I will present some general information on the FIRST programs and answer questions.
13. Everyone should plan to attend the Expo. This is the culminating event for the program. The date and time are on the website but here it is:
Glastonbury High School
Sunday, March 19, 2023
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Snow Date Sunday, March 26, 2023
14. I need about 60 non-coach volunteers to make the Expo happen. Each team will be responsible for finding at least one volunteer to be a reviewer. That commitment is 12pm until approx 3pm on the day of the event. They are welcome to stay the whole time, but it's not required. I feed the reviewers lunch while I train them.
15. In order to get your T-shirts in time for the Expo, I will need your team to have a name and a T-shirt design completed by the end of the 3rd meeting. There will be an online order form for you to fill out. I will supply T-shirts for the two coaches, the six participants, and one student mentor IF you have one.
16. Student mentors are kids who have participated in FIRST, some of them in Explore. They can be in grades 5-12. I don't know how many volunteers I will get. If you would like a mentor to help you at meetings, please sign up on the coach website by clicking the link for "Mentor Request."
Two hours later... I hope I have been clear and informative. Looking forward to seeing you on December 12!
Wendy
- Completely skippable intro
- Coaching pairs
- Meeting rooms
- Students on the team
- Payment (thank you)
- Coaching resources
- COACH MEETING and EQUIPMENT HANDOUT
- Volunteers before coach meeting
- Equipment
- iPads
- Communicating with parents
- Parent Meeting
- Expo
- Volunteers
- T-Shirts
- Mentors
Dear Coaches,
1. Thank you so much for your patience with me. This is the eighth year I've been running this program and this is the largest group of coaches I have ever had. I am also running the state championship for FLL Challenge on December 10th, and have been up to my eyeballs with planning.
I try to send as few emails throughout the season as possible, but they can be huge; please save me into your address book since they often go to spam. I organize the emails by numbered topics. That way, you can skip the topics you already know about.
For new coaches, here is a quick introduction: I have lived in Glastonbury for about 16 1/2 years, kids are in grades 8 and 10. I started coaching the program you are going to coach when my son was in 1st grade. I didn't know anyone else in town doing it, but saw over 20 teams in Farmington when we attended their Expo. I wanted that here for our town, so I got funding from the GEF to start this here. I paired up with a friend who ran the middle grade program while I ran this one. Three years ago she moved on and I now run both, and I also mentor our high school team. I am not a teacher in the school system, but GPS gave me this email because my long mass emails definitely go to spam otherwise. I would like to start a parent booster club for these programs for grades 2-12, but need help doing that. I spend a lot of time doing things for FIRST (the organization that creates the content of the program you are going to coach) but I also work part time as a content curator for 1440, dabble in travel planning, and my background is in chemistry (Pfizer and teaching high school) and environmental policy (US EPA, CT Green Bank). Okay, on to the nitty gritty:
2. Coaching pairs - I have finally paired all the coaches. Please check that:
- You are only listed once;
- You are okay with your co-coach;
- That your children are assigned to teams per your request;
- When you click on your name, the email address I used for you is correct (I can save two on there, so that your spouse also gets it, if you like.)
- PLEASE REACH OUT to your co-coach, maybe I went to their spam folder and they didn't get this. :)
http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com/2022-2023-explore-teams.html
3. Everyone will be meeting at the high school, 330 Hubbard Street. I will post a map on the website soon to help you find your classroom, but you will enter through the front doors. Meeting rooms are still being assigned and will be on the page. We are not allowed to use anything in the rooms except the desks, chairs, floor, lights, and we can write on the white board but NOT erase the teacher's writing. I will provide each team with a dry erase marker and a small eraser; we are not to use theirs. I am looking for an adult volunteer to be a hall monitor during the meetings.
4. I have not yet assigned the students on the team that don't belong to a coach. I need to run the lottery with the remaining students and then invite them to pay. I might wait until they have paid to assign them so I don't waste so much time chasing people down for their $35.
5. Speaking of, thank you for paying the $35 per student. The money goes to the T-shirts ($15.50 each plus tax), the registration fee (over $4,000 for us all), the equipment, the Expo, etc. If any of your employers want to sponsor your team, please let me know! Sometimes they can make a grant through the FIRST system and I also have a 501(c)(3) called Glastonbury Friends of Robotics that can accept TAX DEDUCTIBLE donations.
6. You will get a curriculum booklet to use for coaching the team, probably only one but you can make a copy for your co-coach. There are a lot of resources on the website I made - go to this one:
http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com/for-coaches-explore.html
but click on COACH PLANNING TIPS, please! Direct link here:
http://glastonburyrobotics.weebly.com/coach-planning-tips.html
I haven't updated it yet, but all the season specific info will be there as well as a step-by-step guide for how to do this!!!!! Please look at it.
7. All new coaches need to attend the COACH TRAINING MEETING and at least one coach should come because that is also the EQUIPMENT HANDOUT. I will give a short presentation in the Gideon Welles auditorium, starting at 7:20 on the dot, answer questions, then you will go to the cafeteria and get your equipment. The meeting is not designed to accommodate children. If you must bring some due to childcare issues, you can have them sit in the back or with you and read a book HA HA or play on their ipad or your phone quietly.
7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
Gideon Welles Auditorium
Monday, December 12, 2022
(snow date Wednesday, December 14)
8. Are there any kind souls that can help me before the meeting? I was in a car accident in late 2018 and can no longer lift or move objects over 10lbs without being in debilitating pain the next day and longer. I hate asking for help would prefer to just do everything myself, but I truly cannot. If yes, let me know. Everything is stored in Room 213 at Gideon and needs to come down and get set out on the tables in the cafeteria.
9. Equipment - I have a link to the equipment page on both the Explore coach page and the Coach Planning Tips page; they link to the same info.
10. I am hoping I can get the school system to download the required apps onto the school iPads and they can be allowed to take them home on LEGO nights. If not, the app for programming the LEGO pieces can be downloaded for free on any Apple device that you are willing to let the kids touch. The team only needs one device at any given time.
11. Like any team, the coaches are expected to communicate with the other parents on your team. I will send a few emails to all the parents, which you will also get, but you will need to make sure they know what time to be where and what your expectations are for them and their children. You might want to have a sign in and out sheet - up to you. Please don't leave from GHS until all the kids are picked up. Parents should walk their children all the way to the classroom and pick them up at the classroom.
12. New this year I am going to host a parent meeting in the GHS auditorium during the second meeting, on January 18th. I will present some general information on the FIRST programs and answer questions.
13. Everyone should plan to attend the Expo. This is the culminating event for the program. The date and time are on the website but here it is:
Glastonbury High School
Sunday, March 19, 2023
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Snow Date Sunday, March 26, 2023
14. I need about 60 non-coach volunteers to make the Expo happen. Each team will be responsible for finding at least one volunteer to be a reviewer. That commitment is 12pm until approx 3pm on the day of the event. They are welcome to stay the whole time, but it's not required. I feed the reviewers lunch while I train them.
15. In order to get your T-shirts in time for the Expo, I will need your team to have a name and a T-shirt design completed by the end of the 3rd meeting. There will be an online order form for you to fill out. I will supply T-shirts for the two coaches, the six participants, and one student mentor IF you have one.
16. Student mentors are kids who have participated in FIRST, some of them in Explore. They can be in grades 5-12. I don't know how many volunteers I will get. If you would like a mentor to help you at meetings, please sign up on the coach website by clicking the link for "Mentor Request."
Two hours later... I hope I have been clear and informative. Looking forward to seeing you on December 12!
Wendy