Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

artdutra##, you are not the only person who is the sole webdeisginer on your team.
what i have to do, is manage my time as eficiently as possible.

3:00 - get home, talk to freinds, get ready for homework
3:30 on- do homework
whatever time is left before 7- web designing, Cad, Forums, ET, More chatting.
7 - 9: robotics
9-on: solve webdesing and coding issues with dad.
11-2AM: go to bed....
and then it continues...

it is seriuosly very difficitl and strict to manage such a busy schedule (even tho i realize it is nowhere as near as busy as some of yeh guys), but i live with it. u just gotta realize when you have free time, and use it to the best of yer ability.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

For me, it really all depends on the homework;
If it is worth points, or in a subject I know I need to study for (APBIO generally demands a bit of a chapter review), I get it done. Otherwise, it goes on the pile of "I should really review this before finals" handouts. Last year I put in about 50-60+ hours a week on the team (thats what I get for having a team leader/founder as a dad) during the build season, but I was also taking college courses and independent studies, so the homework situation was handled by just not sleeping. I have it easier this year, because I am only putting in about 20-30ish hours a week(back in public school, about an hour away from the team by train...ugh!), and the end of the semester is a week from tomorrow, and I'm a senior. I dont study for my tests in most subjects because I dont need too, and if I need to I can generally get extensions by explaining to my teachers that I was up until 3am working out the kinks in a telescoping arm or a particularily buggy piece of code.

Basically, do the homework if it is important. FIRST is awesome at getting you into college, but grades are more awesome at accomplishing the same task. If you know you will be pulling a late/all nighter, talk to your teachers; you will be suprised at the number of people willing to accomodate you if you are responsible and ask for the extra time BEFORE the project/homework/paper is due, and dont do it every time. Sometimes you need to tell your team leader you need to go home an hour early, no matter how hard it is.

Just remember that both FIRST and School are pretty important in most of our lives, and that a happy medium can be reached. One thing I've found is that you can generally find extra time in the day, on dinner breaks during robotics meetings, or by not going home after your meeting and reading your favorite web comic/gaming/chatting/making phone calls/browsing chief delphi/whipping up a CAD drawing of that new robot part you just thought of.

Grades suffer, as a rule, but be aware and sensible and you should be good.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

you gotta play the system, especially in public schools, u can find loopholes in any class, even AP's, by the beginning of build seasan i understand every aspect there is to know about each and every class, understand teachers personalities and how they would react to certain events, etc... i seriously do research on how to do as little work as possible and get an A in the class. You can miss homework assignments and do well on tests for a test-dependent class and do hw assignments and not study for a hw-dependent class for example. :)

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

I'm spending in excess of 6-8 hours per day on robots, and more on weekends, so it's tough to balance that and taking 15 units of classes.

I try to get as much done during random free blocks of time that I can, as well as using any days off as wisely as possible.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

At my school none of my teachers give me any slack, and since all my classes are either advanced or AP, it's rough.
Pretty much internet gets chopped off my schedule and you're always tired.
On our team we have a few teacher mentors, and our team is super serious about keeping your grades up. If you need any help you can bring it into a meeting and if there is a moment they - or some other member - will help ya.
Speaking of homework... I should be doing some right now.... :ahh:

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

well from between homework, school, robotics, and the included job, many things go unanswered. you cant really plan a schedule, many late nights will occur without warning. me for instance, im about to quit working so i can do robotics. its hectic at this time right now. im just letting things take the path least expected, and just following the river. its my third year and last as a student, so im not gonna overwork and fall under the radar, something has got to give, and for me its work.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

Lucky for me I don't get too much homework assigned and if I do, I do as much as I can at home and do the rest in my first period study hall :) Lucky me

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

During my Highschool years I lucked out and always had enough time during the school day to get homework done before I ever left the building. If there was anything that I didn't get finished at school then I would usually end up doing it at our shop before I started working on anything robotics related. From others I've met here at college, the amount of actual homework I had during highschool was pretty much slim to non compared to most people also,so that helped a little.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

That's kind of what I do. I try to finish up as much hw as possible during my classes so I have time for robotics. In fact, I do that all year. It's just that much extra time you are gaining. I personally like to get a good nights sleep so I'd rather not sit up and do homework. And it is hard to squeeze in homework while concentrating on the class going on but I do so. Warning: Use this technique at your own risk. It's not everybody's cuppa chai. :)

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

Robotics is part of a class at my school, a couple, actually, so, I generally have very little homework during the robotics season. It's nice.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

whats homework?... i do it all at school...

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

Remember that if any regionals or Atlanta is not during a vacation, You are probably going to have to get your teachers to sign off for you to go. If you aren't getting good grades, they probably wont sign. IT also is usually the same with parents!

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

I take it by your concerns to school you are a rookie to FIRST. FIRST is made to influence us young adults to go into science and math based careers. I know speaking for myself and most other future engineers u will want to take a lot of math and scienc classes at your school, your school might also have a drafting or design class you will want to look at. Ask you teachers if you can use robotics as a project for a grade or perhaps even extra credit. And if the teacher is into your ideas you will be surprised by how well you can do in some classes. You can even turn in you teams chairman's report to your english teacher and see what she thinks and tell het that you were one of the main ones to write it. Most of your classes can be used hand in hand with FIRST. I hope I can get backed up on this but that truly is what FIRST is about, being abnle to use your skills you already know and have learned from school and bettering themwith robotics. Ask your teachers what you can do to make up assignments while you are on trips and pick up flyers and adds about place you went to on regional trips. And if worst comes to worst just try hard and ask your mentors, I gurantee that if a mentor cant help you with your school work then a fellow student could. Teams that i have talked to have physic majors, engineers, teachers, and more all these people can and will help. If it werent for the mentors most of us wouldnt be involved.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

I think that a lot of people have touched on the main way to keep grades up while at the same time successfully participating on a FIRST team: Priorities.

While it seems simple, having your priorities straight is the key. If you have never really thought about priorities, writing them down can help. It allows you to really see everything you do.

To me, grades come FIRST, period. However, during build season, generally I get by by 'riding the edge,' working just hard enough to get an A- or so. However, as many people have mentioned, don't miss too much FIRST. It is really an amazingly educational program that will teach you more about engineering and science than most classes. Just look at some of the threads about ball distance. People are using a lot more math than they would learn in High School

Overall, just suck it up. Build season is really just 6 weeks. If you really feel overloaded, skip a day of FIRST, but try to just live without sleep for a couple weeks.

Re: How do you manage homework and robotics?
 

Allow me say first that I praise those of you with the opportunity to do your work at school. It is very much a blessing, take advantage of it.

I am one of the many students who can't do that. My AP Bio, AP Chem, AP English, and AP Calc teachers don't allow other homework in class usually, because the majority of the class period is taken up by lecturing or laboratory work (in the case of AP Bio and AP Chem). English teacher simply prefers attention over students doing homework, which I respect. Though not always AP, my schedule has been crammed since I started robotics.

But I don't fail my classes. I don't drop grades at Robotics season. Why?

Prioritizing only does so much. Do your work. Period. There is nothing much more I can say. Everyone does extracurriculars, everyone does "too many activities." As someone said very well above, you can't let the fear of an A- rather than an A deter you from enjoying experiences. Here is a lovely list of Genia strategies for maintaining As during build season (or whatever you want to maintain).

1. Do your work during lunch, while eating. I can't stress this enough. How long does it really take the average person to eat a sandwich, a piece of fruit or whatever, and take a drink? It shouldn't take you that long unless you eat a gigantic lunch. Try to do homework while eating, and don't spill. Multitasking is key.

2. So you arrive at Robotics. Do homework there sometimes. I have done this number before: "Mentor A, I finished all the tasks we had agreed on for the meeting. Is it alright if I go do Calculus for a while?". I've never had problems. Your mentors and teachers will understand if you take a short break at Robotics to do your work, especially if you're otherwise productive. Eat your dinner while doing your work...it cuts down on idle time and puts you in the favor of mentors.

3. Weekends solve a lot, but not everything. Yes, I know everyone likes to go out on Saturday night or Friday night. I certainly enjoy being with friends. Always get your "recreation time", because if you miss out on too much of it you go insane. But do your homework on those awkward times when not much is going on, i.e., Sunday early morning (when you wake up or after you go do Sunday morning stuff).

If you understand your schedule, and if you've been getting good grades since the beginning with effective studying, you should have absolutely no problem maintaining them. No, I am not on the official "build team" but I put in similar time, on top of doing 4-5 hrs a day of science research.

You can do it if you work hard :). Good luck.