Webinar: How to Start a Junior FIRST LEGO League Team

Posted by on Apr 25, 2014 in FIRST, General, Jr FLL, Technology | No Comments

So back at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, the Independence School District made a push to start Jr FLL programs outside of school. We got wind through one of our kids’ teachers, Mary Fritchie, and attended an informational meeting in September led by Bradley Drinkwater of FIRST Bots of Independence. We rounded up some friends and got rolling, forming BlitzBotz23. I had a great time as coach, and the kids had a blast as they learned basic engineering and problem solving principles.

Back in March I was delighted to be asked to participate as a panelist in a webinar about how to start a Jr FLL team. LEGO Education’s Lacey Taylor moderated the panel discussion and Chrissy Knutson, a first-grade teacher at North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, and myself answered questions. You can check it out online at the LEGO Education website, or view their library of other great webinars.

webinar-how-to-start-a-junior-first-lego-league-team

Title: How to Start a JrFLL Team

Description: Since its founding in 2004, Jr.FLL has captured the imaginations and minds of thousands of kids, teachers, and parents around the globe. We understand that starting your own program from the ground up can be an intimidating task, so we have recruited two Jr.FLL coaches to discuss their journeys as coaches. In this 30-minute webinar, these two coaches will talk about the highs and lows of coaching as well as provide some helpful tips for starting your own team.

Timecodes:

00:12 Introduction
2:28 Introduce Panelists
3:55 How Does Jr. FLL work? (Chrissy)
8:50 What is in the base kit and what do I use it for? (Brad)
10:40 How much does it cost? (Chrissy)
12:52 What is the timeline for Jr FLL? (Chrissy)
15:05 How do I prepare (Brad)
19:07 How much science or engineering knowledge does a coach need? (Brad)
20:33 How do I continue each year? (Chrissy)
21:35 Why do you feel this type of program is important for kids? (Brad)
23:03 Why do you feel this type of program is important for kids? (Chrissy)
25:07 What advice do you have for new coaches? (Brad)
26:12 What advice do you have for new coaches? (Chrissy)
27:38 How many kids can be on a team? (Chrissy)
28:22 How many kids can be on a team? (Brad)
28:48 What is the age level? (Chrissy)
29:52 What is the age level? (Brad)

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