distracted youngsters

[dwhitman]

I am a rookie coach with a rookie team of 10 3rd/4th/5th graders. I'm getting frustrated with their progress. Of the 10, there are 2 or 3 solid programmers that have some experience. The rest have no experience. We have one robot set for the season and a couple of computers. I am thinking of splitting into groups of 3 (assuming one absentee) and having 2 groups work on a mission each with programming and building an the other group work on research. How does this sound and how do you work with inexperienced and very distracted kids like this. Thanks for the advice!

[timdavid]

Yes, splitting the kids into smaller groups, and giving the groups specific areas to work on is a good idea. I've worked with teams of up to 8 kids, and we usually split the kids into groups of 2 or 3. The groups work in a specific area (project, mission planning, building or programming, etc.) for an hour or so, and then switch up.

It can be a challenge having only one robot for a large group of kids. One technique that can be useful is building a "stand-in" for the robot. This is something made of Lego that is the approximate size and shape of the robot. The stand-in can be used by one group of kids for mission planning and trying attachments, while the other robot is used by another group. Have the kids plan missions on paper using the stand-in. They can write down steps like "1. Leave base going east for 12 inches 2. Turn left 90 degrees 3. etc.".

Most importantly, relax, and don't get too frustrated at the kids' lack of progress. Most teams haven't even started yet this season, and most teams don't make a lot of progress during their first few sessions. You are working with fairly young kids who have a lot to learn. Realize that they will make a lot of mistakes, and it is not unusual to have weeks where seemingly nothing useful is accomplished.

[jeffd]

I second breaking into smaller groups. 2 per mission works out best for us. Any more than that and they get too distracted. When programming and there is robot contention I ask them to do additional code reviews and will ask them to walk it through manually with a mock up robot as described above (which they should do anyway).

If also like splitting them into robot/mission time and project time. We have 2 coaches so we can do them in parallel. Lastly I try to schedule 2 times per week for robot missions when I can which also helps to distribute the team naturally. Some kids can do the friday after school and others can do the sunday morning. Some do both which is fine too.

We also found that there is a 2 hr productive limit to their attention (at least as 4th graders). Maybe this year they can go longer but lots of shorter sessions led to less frustration and happier kids.