An Update!

Discussing efficiency and team goals

We have been keeping busy and having lots of fun!
We practice time management by grouping into subteams each meeting to accomplish our team goals efficiently.

Testing an idea

We finished programing our myblocks library and mission programming is underway! The robot subteam is furthering their knowledge and skills by trying out some in-depth programming concepts this year. The lead programmers help mentor the less experienced ones. We found a couple robot modifications we need to make, but we are up to that challenge.

Field trip to work with a professional

The project subteam has completed the planning and designing of our project. They went on field trips to meet with professionals in the field and learned a lot. Now we are working closely with one expert who is thrilled with our innovative solution and is helping us find resources to actually make our project a reality! Isn't that super cool? Currently we are working diligently to write a creative skit to share in the community and present to judges. So far it is looking great!

Working together

We have also been practicing fun teamwork exercises and core values interview prep. We know how important it is to have an even balance on all three aspects of FLL, robot, project, and core values. Through teamwork exercises and fun games during meeting breaks, we have really bonded as a team and friendships have grown.




We have kept active outside of meeting times too!

A few completed models

Our coaches and mentors are involved with the FRC team, CORE, who run an FLL tournament every year. This year we helped them assemble the mission models for the competition fields used for upcoming tournaments.

At the scrimmage

We participated in a scrimmage in Cudahy with 7 other teams. It was a great opportunity to prepare and practice for our regional tournament. Here is a link to pictures of us at the scrimmage:
https://picasaweb.google.com/11278502105
3295249322/Scrimmage20141028

At 4-H

We also have plans to present our project in the community in a few different ways. Besides the usual general sharing we do individually, we are scheduled to meet with a team of experts and a 4-H club.




We can't wait for tournament season to begin and are looking forward to the Waukesha regional where many of our team members, coaches, and mentors will be volunteering.

Everything is pulling together and we are all excited for our regional tournament which is just a few weeks away!

A Teamwork Exercise

Madeline came up with another fun teamwork exercise for us. It was a little different than what we usually do. It's good to practice different things that make us think, plan, and respond in new ways.

Team Building and Subteams

On Wednesday our team had a great meeting. We started off together to discuss our project as a team. After we had figured our where we wanted to direct our research, we headed outside and worked on team building by playing a super fun version of tag.

When we went back inside, we dispersed into our separate sub-teams. One group worked on finishing up our strategy for the robot game board, while the other group spent some time learning about one of our two project ideas.

At the end of the meeting, we all met back up and shared what we had learned with the team. The robot group had planned out all the missions and come up with a prototype of a super handy attachment that works for all the missions we have planned for the robot runs!

      

Teamwork Exercise

We have a lot of fun practicing our Five Step Decision Making Process during meetings. Our coaches come up with some really fun things for us to do. This is only our second Teamwork Exercise this season.

Rookies Learn Programming

Our rookie team members are learning to program the EV3 and they're having a lot of fun!

Here are two team members as they program their first-ever programs. They had to program the robot to go forward until the light sensor detects the line. Then it was supposed to "celebrate and dance."

And the later they learned to program using loops. One of our more experienced team members worked with them to teach them to use sensors and loops.

Our World Class T.E.A.M.

 With every new season comes new team members and this year our team is excited to be welcoming three of them! Our newest team members are Alanna, Christopher, and Kenneth. Great new additions that fit right in with our returning members: Alex, Jessica, Peyton, and Avery. We also have three former team members that have graduated out of FLL and now are returning as mentors: Madeline and Curtis who have been mentoring for three years, and Spencer who just graduated from the team.

 Our team kicked off the year with a meeting the night the project was released. This way we could start our brainstorming process as soon as possible. With a marker board and dry-erase marker in hand, we spent the meeting coming up with different ideas. By the time the meeting was over, the board was filled with tons of different problems and ideas for our project.

At our next meeting we built this year's robot field! After about two hours of building and a pizza party, the board was finally done! When the board was finished, we had a short team meeting until the parents arrived. We had another short brainstorming session and came up with a whole bunch of ideas. Then we discussed possible robot designs and what sort of chassis would work best for this year's board.

On Thursday night some of our team members got the opportunity to learn more advanced programming from another team (last year known as the Glow-Getters). We had a great meeting with them and learned some great tips for programming the gyro sensor and at being more accurate, more consistently. It was awesome to be able to work with another team and see each other work with out all the pressure of the tournament. Thanks Glow-Getters!

Be sure to check back here to hear how our team is doing! You can also see our team by visiting our YouTube channel or check out some fun pictures of our team through out the season!

Summer Fun at the County Fair

Over the summer our team presented FLL at the Waukesha County Fair. The FRC team, CORE 2062, was also there. We talked with many youth and families.