New Teacher, Old Team.

[EricH]

How about this: sometime during the summer, see about having a team meeting. Express your concerns with the new teacher; allow the teacher to do the same as she may have a different set of concerns about you guys. Work out some form of compromise if needed. Just make sure to do it as a team, possibly with some non-directly-involved member of the administration as a cool head in case of trouble. (Also to represent the administration if need be--they have a stake in this too!)

[GaryVoshol]

So who pays for this team? I see nothing in this thread about corporate sponsorship or mentors. Check other threads about mentors, but if you don't have them, you're missing some good experiences and inspiration. Nor do I see anything about the roles of parents in organizing and supporting the team, another important facet of successful teams.

If the school is paying for the team, they can set it up how they want it. It's the cynical Golden Rule: Them that has the gold makes the rules. You will have to work with the new teacher and with the school administration to get things to work.

One other thought, perhaps the other student reported the new teacher's autocratic style because the students on her team weren't self-motivated like the ones on your team seem to be. If the students don't step up to take responsibilities, then they have to be assigned or things just won't get done. The issue of other drivers could have been seen as horsing around with the robot, which could have led to damage. Every second-hand report is filtered by the reporter's inherent biases and values. Have a team meeting with the new teacher as soon as possible.

PS If your old teacher is at college, could he return as a mentor as well? Many colleges work in partnership with FRC teams.

[Bob Steele]

First and foremost, be happy that you have someone that is interested enough to want to be your coach. Having a strong school contact is important to advance your team's abilities and resources.

Second, you are actually getting someone who has experience doing this... how great is that?

I think you arrived at a suitable solution... see what happens... be courteous...be appreciative.... work with your new coach.
Remember you are laying the groundwork for new teams to come.

Above all, be positive.... don't think about how bad things could be... look for the good aspects and celebrate them...

All the best in your coming season!!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Mush,
It's hard to say things are going to be one way or another for a team that has just gone through their rookie year. Your were destined to change as all teams do after their first year (or fifteenth). Keep your eye on the prize, getting a robot up and working during the build. How you get there varies from team to team. Remember above all, you are part of a team. A team works together.

[Mushrooshi]

Well, it has been a few weeks, and all I can say is that our new leader is just great. She has tons of connections for robotics and sponsorship, was able to get us to a presentation plus a small Q&A time with Dean Kamen, and start off robotics nearly right away in the school year. I can tell that this year, the veteran members will need to change the 'workflow' a bit, but we will be able to achieve success as before. Two robotics camps != Knowing everything about a person.

As far as I know, the only possible caveat we might have this year compared to last year is due to a larger team; my speculation is either budgeting (We went overboard on the budget last year with 1 team... what about 4 teams now?), or team control. To be honest, I find working in smaller groups works better, but for this, we will be having 3 or 4 full teams of 10 or less, not some massive 40 person team. We also had a major company who sits only 100ft away from the school sponsor us... I think they are contributing multithousands at this point, and they also happen to be a webhosting company, and at the moment I am trying to get hosting from them in order to start up a team blog and forum to help the massive volume of members be collaborative and organized. The engineering notebook entries are primarily to be harvested on the forum aswell.

This year we are really hitting the ground running.