Quote:
Originally posted by JVN
These days, I find myself thinking long and hard about working in the realm of education. This competition can also be a breeding ground for TEACHERS.
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Amen, brother. Last year I competed on a rookie team at a neighboring school as a freshman (I was also the only underclassman on the team College Mentor: You"re a senior, right? Me: Uh...no...I"m a freshman...) This year I"m starting a team at my own school where the only teacher interested in sponsoring the team is an AP BIo teacher. Under her guidance, I"ve become a teacher of a class that meets once weekly. All I know is what I experienced through FIRST last year, but it"s still enough to get cynical students to stare slack-jawed at me while I explain building a robot.
I used to be one of those slackers whose grades were held up by test scores but dragged down by homework grades. This year I still don"t do HW, but that"s only because I spend so much of my time organizing classes, meetings with sponsors, and grant applications. I"ve spent the last two months getting students who have potential that they waste hacking into computers and NETSENDing the entire school messages like "i wiLl eAt alL yOuR cHilDRen" interested into building a robot. I showed them a kit I had ordered that consited of two wheels, a PC board, and two servos, and they couldn"t get their hands off of it for 10 minutes.
Success for me is getting these students to work towards success, instead of it to be handed to them. I"ve only had a taste of this, but I"m already addicted to the feeling of affecting someone"s life (who knows? they may someday be MY boss.) Any teachers here probably know what I"m talking about.