Annual FIRST Robotics Competition Coaching
Purpose: The FIRST Robotics Competition is the varsity-level
international robotics tournament for high school students. Each year, they issue a different challenge
then give students six-weeks to work with engineering mentors to build a
functional robot to meet the challenge.
Elaboration: The 2011-12 school year was my sixth year
of teaching, but my very first year teaching high school, my first year
teaching technology, my first year teaching robotics and my first year coaching
a team through FIRST Robotics Competition. That first year was a disaster
and we all left the competition determined to be better for the next year.
Rationale for
Inclusion: I included information about FRC because I have found that the
intensity of the preparation and actual competition are a crucible for my
development as a coach. After the first
two years, I had the following epiphanies about the process:
- I learned through my graduate school coursework at Texas A&M Commerce that the competitions' entire set up was a model of constructivism. The first year, I did not understand how to make the transition from "teacher" to "facilitator." I realized that I must help the students fully buy in to the challenge of the competition and feel the pressure of the deadlines as they would as real engineers.
- I had to let my mentors take the lead on content, but I had to take the lead on program management. The first year, we did not have the mentors we needed. The second year, we had a few very faithful engineering volunteers who supported us through the entire process the second year. I thought that they would swoop in and "save us" and all would be well. Evaluating the situation using the TPACK model from Mishra and Koehler, I realize now that the mentors had the content expertise, but they did not have the pedagogical know how to explain ideas to my team in a meaningful way.
- The competition for 2012 turned out to be an example of true team teaching between myself and the engineers once I made the decision to be okay with not knowing the content, but still leading the implementation. The Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy PengWINs Robotics Team were Regional Finalists that year at the FRC Dallas Regional Competition.
Rube Goldberg Project, September 2014
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| Click here to watch the video of our first attempt running our machine. |
Purpose: My 11th-12th grade
Engineering Mathematics students suggested that we make a Rube Goldberg
machine. So, our first six weeks’
project was to create an overly complex machine while applying physics concepts
and formulas.
Elaboration: Check out the video of our first time running the machine after working on it for weeks.
Rationale for
Inclusion: This project marks the
first time that I did not allow my lack of content knowledge to force me into
the “teacher as facilitator”. For the
Rube Goldberg project, I truly used backwards design as described by Jay
McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their book Understanding by Design. Although this was my first year teaching Engineering Mathematics and my
first year teaching seniors, I still successfully positioned myself as the
authority in the classroom. I chose to
mimic the approach taken by one of my professors, Dr. Chris Bigenho, and
embrace my role as facilitator. My job
was to do my research and provide them with just enough new information when
needed to help them reach each milestone as we went through the process of
discovery together. The energy and
fervor from my students was contagious.
Research Methodologies Research Project, July 2014
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| Click here to read my research paper skeleton in its entirety. |
Purpose: Each graduate student in the Research
Methodologies class was charged with choosing a topic of interest and creating
a mock scholarly research article.
Elaboration: This class was, by far, the hardest
course I have taken to date. Partly
because of the volume of work and the high level of thinking involved in
designing research. Partly because I
made the decision to really use the assignments to learn more about educational
technology instead of choosing an “easy” topic.
Rationale for
Inclusion: This project represents
the ultimate example of me learning through constructing my own knowledge and
reflecting on my actions. I have a
deeper understanding of what my students feel as they process through my
project-based technology lessons and struggle due to my constructivism
philosophy. My experience with this
project has allowed me to make more empathetic decisions as I interact with my
students. Also, I want my students to
experience that wonderful feeling of reward and accomplishment when they finish
a hard task just like I felt when I submitted my final paper.
