I was wondering if anyone had ever done a paper comparing being a teacher in FIRST with other school activities. I thought that something like this might be good for giving a realistic time commitment to new teachers getting involved. This could prevent drop outs mid season or at the end of 1st season that they are involved. If there is some paper that also weighs the pros + cons of FIRST involvement over other activities that also could be a good tool. I know that there have been threads along this topic but papers would be great to copy and hand out.
I could really use something like this too…I’m working with a school to get a team started, and something giving the teachers an idea of what they were getting into would be a great help.a
I haven’t any paper but I am more than willing to talk about my experiences with FIRST. This will be my 8th season with FIRST and I like to think I am still going strong. Please have interested parties private message me here on Chief Delphi.
I suppose I’m the person to write this.
12 years in teaching
I’ve coached middle school, high school, college, youth in summers
been a school newspaper advisor
co-advisor for a literary magazine
and FIRST advisor/mentor
How long do I have to complete the assignment?
And we want to attract people right? …and be realistic …
this could take a little while 
…
Can I have until next week?
would it be possible for whoever who actually writes this assignment to upload it onto CD in the white paper section, because I think a lot of students would like to see things from a teacher/mentor’s perspective.
Thanks,
– shyra
Rich, take what you need. I just thought that it would help a lot of teams and be of great interest to others. I know by watching the teacher at our school that there is a lot of time balancing that goes on. I think that it would be good for teachers to see what is involved PLUS the great benefits that come with the job. I would lie to thank you in advance for considering doing this for FIRST.
I have a comparison brainstorm list finished. Hopefully I will be able to hammer out the document later in the week.
This is going to be the 5th year that I’ve been the sole teacher (and chief mentor) on our team. Some benefits that have come from it are that the school district has given support for the team finiancially (for 3 years, $5000 / yr) and have allowed me to teach it as a class (part of my teaching schedule). They do this because district admin’s like to embrace unique programs that other schools don’t do, and this definitely fits the bill. Also since I do a lot of activities centering on real world applications of science anyways, this isn’t a big stretch. Also since starting a team at our school, I’ve been selected as the district’s teacher of the year (nice plaque), AmGen’s California Science Teacher of the Year ($10,000 cash), and California Technology Teacher of the Year ($2,000 for my class) and have been awarded numerous teaching grants (not necessarily robotics) totaling more than $18,000. Of course, many teachers deserve these kinds of acknowledgments, but being involved with FIRST Robotics makes yourself a bit more higher profile. This also helps the team get more publicity and $$. Of course, it comes down to how it helps students gain awareness and inspiration to go on to be engineers, scientists, etc… At last count, 97% of my students that have been on our FIRST robotics team have go on to college / university, with 80% choosing a field related to math, science, or technology. There are some great .pdf documents on the first website that have some more %'s …
http://www.usfirst.org/4vol/resourcectr/index.html
You really got to find a teacher that will really get into it and may find out that it will help open many doors for their class, department, or school. For myself, it’s almost become my hobby. Anyway, that’s enough of my rabblings… feel free to PM if you need more.
the actual truth might scare new teacher away haha
I’ve been doing this for 6 years, and I try to avoid this question when potential teachers ask…simply answer–as much as you want to put into it.
Truth is, if they really knew how much time we actually do FIRST—(before they learn to love FIRST) they might have an anxiety attack.
When my physics students wanted to start a team in Nov, 2000, I said no way, it’s too much!! Not listening to me, they went ahead and got a loan from the student body and entered in Dec. If I remember right we were 2 weeks past the payment due date and FIRST accepted it anyways. Darn it all! The Kickoff was recorded and we didn’t watch it until Wednesday of the first week. We didn’t receive the KOP until Thursday of that week and didn’t open it up until that weekend. My how things have changed.
I am sure that this is true. There are many programs that once you get into them become overwhelming. The reason for the paper would to be to help prepare teachers (and other mentors) for what was to come AND the huge benefits that come with FIRST. Most of us have to admit that we are not doing what we signed up for. We are doing a lot more and the reason IS FIRST. Once people can see the benefits they become hooked.
This paper could also help new teams to search a bit harder for additional teachers, mentors or parents ahead of time. I know that I talked to some teachers last year that were really swamped but did not have any time to look for help. You know the feeling. Also some of us that are not teachers, don’t have to spend all day with the students and then all night as well. There are 2 sides to that. One is that some of the students can wear on you (you know who you are) and the other side is that we non teachers have to learn about all of the students and their personalities as well as their names (my weakness). This is why a paper written with honesty and from the inside would really benefit the new teams starting up and new mentors coming in.
Thanks to all that have responded so far and keep up the input. Rich, I am really looking forward to seeing your paper. I am sure that it will have great insight because of the MANY years that you have been involved and the many teams as well. 
OK,
Steve got me motivated here. I’m working on a final draft which will state purpose/rationale at the beginning and include a comparison chart of my major activity involvement over the past 12 years as a teacher. With any luck, I should be finished in a hour or so. I’ll upload it to whitepapers and post here when done.
[EDIT] - OK it took two hours, but the paper is finished. I uploaded it to the “team organization” section of white papers. Once it’s approved for release, look for Teacher_Comparison_Paper.doc [/EDIT]
The white paper has now been posted. Rich I believe that you did a great job with the pros and cons. The comparisons with other activities was great. I would like to thank you for the time that you took to give us this valuable tool.
My pleasure Steve. I forgot to include the following info in the paper, so if you need a more detailed background of my experience to go along with the paper (the person behind the paper), my resume is posted here:
http://home.comcast.net/~rkressly/resume.htm
To anyone who uses in the paper in any way:
- I’d love feedback on how you used it, it’s effectiveness, and what information I left out that should be included.
- Do not hesistate to have anyone contact me with further questions.