Watcha Say?

[Arefin Bari]

You know... I have a feeling that if you were to ask Team 1114 for some help, they would be laying out plans in front of you.

There are few members from Team 1114 that are on this forum. Try shooting them a pm...

[lemiant]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Just a quick word of warning; remember that FIRST's goal is not to teach, but inspire. While they are often intertwined, they aren't the same thing.

Good point, I will remember that. I don't mean to be hating on our mentors, they have helped a lot and I respect that. It's just that they often design without us instead of with us, and its frustrating.

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

He should try it one more year, but this time he needs to do a LOT less and delegate MUCH more to students. Either they do it or they don't, but it's not HIS team it is the students', and if they don't do it THEY fail.

Originally Posted by RogerR

I'll reiterate that adding another school to the mix will help relieve some stress on the faculty and mentors. Don has good advice as well. Starting a new team with new mentors won't fix this; it may be another 8 seasons, it may be next season, but mentor burnout is a team killer that needs to be handled now.

The thing is that, that is pretty much how our team is run right now. Mr. W spends time at the school so that we can be in, but it is us and our mentors who do almost all of the design and building. It is not so much that this hurts us, it is just that I have had engaged coaches in the past (on an FTC team), and I know how much it helps.

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

You mean overproductive.

As a mentor, I can say that it is darn hard to *not* get deeply involved in construction. It takes a conscious effort.

You can bring this to them, as a group, and ask if they might back off a little, so students can have some fun too. But you do risk them leaving, since everyone needs their WIIFM (What's In It For Me). If hands-on is their WIIFM, and they can't get any, they will leave.

I do not think that doing this would actually make the mentors back off, but I guess it can't hurt.

Originally Posted by RogerR

It sounds like you've gotten something out of your FIRST experience, even if you are frustrated now. If this is the case, you owe it to your team, your mentors, FIRST, and yourself to help your current team rather than just abandoning it.

This is the truest and hardest thing you said in your post. I did get soooo much out of this program. It is just that I have put so much into the team (both in hours and in effort to work with mentors who don't seem to want to work together, and with people who don't seem to care (although I'm certain that the students care, the way they act is just a function of the atmosphere)), and its tiring to have it improve the team very little. It seems like the team is stuck in a rut, and that is the reason that I would like to start again. Still, I see your angle .

Thank you for your advice,

Lemiant