Go to Post The culture has shifted, people. You can act shocked and complain, and likely lose the attention of the students you want to reach through FRC and other activities, or you can shift with it, and make FRC relatable and relevant to a bunch of good kids with foul mouths. - mrnoble [more]
Home
Go Back   Chief Delphi > FIRST > General Forum
CD-Media   CD-Spy  
portal register members calendar search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read FAQ rules

 
 
 
Thread Tools Rating: Thread Rating: 4 votes, 5.00 average. Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #41   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 02-05-2007, 23:42
technoL's Avatar
technoL technoL is offline
Registered User
AKA: Noelle Manning
FRC #0108 (SigmaC@T)
Team Role: Mechanical
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Rookie Year: 2006
Location: Sunrise, FL
Posts: 214
technoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud oftechnoL has much to be proud of
Send a message via AIM to technoL
Re: Grades and Student Travel, Etc

I've debated this quite a few times about what side of the fence I want to be on for this one. From personal experiences, I've summed up that grades ARE important.

As with any other extracurricular at our school, our minimum participation requirement 2.0. I completely understand the reasoning behind this. Besides the band, our team misses the most school out of any group. I suppose in this sense we are using GPA as a measure of responsibility. Regardless of the learning situation, you should strive to do your best, thus a 2.0 is not out of anyone's reach on our team. Most of the time it is just laziness and not lack of knowledge. With our minimum requirements, we are not preventing opportunities, but simply ensuring that we have a team of quality members.

As far as the team is concerned, students are usually only held back if a teacher or parent notes that the student is falling behind. We make it clear that it is the responsibility of the student to make up all missed work and settle all discrepancies with their teachers. I do admit that the build season has an effect on grades, and that is understandable (my grades dropped almost a whole letter grade between Jan and April, but I'm finally getting back up to an A average again), but in the end, school is more important. I've been on trips where it seems as if some people have packed more books and homework than clothes, but you do what you need to do. It's hard, but the rewards are worth it.

I have lost the respect of a teacher or two along the way for my dedication to robotics and not fully to their classes, but I've recently gained it back . Many teachers don't see the value of FIRST, and they have little sympathy if you dare mention the word robotics, therefore we need students to keep up the good rep of the program by maintaining their grades. Having students with the highest GPAs in the school and outside success looks great to the administration, rather than a bunch of students with a massive amount of practical knowledge, but nothing but a robot to prove it.

I think that the combined success of academics and robotics is more rewarding that just one or the other. Sure, I can say that I have learned more about physics in robotics than in school, but being able to say that I've done so without sacrificing my grades feels SO much better. It's the same the other way around too. Sure, I might have had straight As, but I didn't get to enjoy anything else. A C+ or B won't hurt much for one quarter.

-No L
__________________
Team Leader | Mechanical | Driver | SOAP | Anything
2008: NJ GM Industrial Design Award, 4th Seed | FL Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award, 1st Seed, Semifinalists
2007: FL Finalists | LV Xerox Creativity Award, Quarterfinalists | Mission Mayhem Champs
2006: FL Delphi's Driving Tomorrow's Technology | Curie Quarterfinalists
Reply With Quote
 


Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
**FIRST EMAIL**/Safety At the Events, NEW Eye and Face Protection Policy and Student Pavan Dave FIRST E-Mail Blast Archive 9 25-03-2007 23:07
Problems Getting Started etc. etc. Descartes FIRST Lego League 5 09-11-2004 07:32
FIRST and good grades Anne Lam Chit-Chat 13 30-06-2001 22:50


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 14:06.

The Chief Delphi Forums are sponsored by Innovation First International, Inc.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi