1st Class a Success....

     The first class was a success - at least I think so!  We learned about ...working on a team; time limits; importance of building sturdy structures; what the rules of the class were; what is in the Mindstorms kit; saw a demonstration of a spider made from one of the servo motors crawl across the floor; and made our own little robot to show how much creativity we had.  The kids did great!

     That is a lot for a first lesson as I look back on it...and I didn't even get finished.  I had many more things I wanted to accomplish.  I wanted to show the social skills movie about being "Flexible" and do some programming with Robomind.  Those activities, along with more, will have to wait till next meeting.  There is so much to learn.  I get really excited with all the possibilities.

     After talking to the parents, we decided that we wanted to meet every other week, due to some scheduling difficulties with prior commitments.  That opened up the opportunity to teach another whole group.  We sent out our registration notice, and within 24 hours we had 10 kids sign up (we have 21 kids in all).  Some of the kids are older that might not be able to be on a FLL team, but they can certainly be mentors for FLL and still learn about robotics. 

     We, also unfortunately, had to create a waiting list for participants because of the overwhelming demand.  I might have to see if there is some other option, because I certainly don't want to turn anyone down.  The only other day I can teach would be Saturdays, but I am not sure if Ms. Jane or Sci-Quest can work that out.  I will have to talk to them...keep your fingers crossed.  :)

     Meanwhile, my living room continues to look like Legoland.  I have been trying to sort bricks, so I can just bring what I need.  I finally finished that but, I have got to get it all put away, so we can put up a Christmas Tree.  I am learning what it is to be a coach.  Well ... off to plan Friday's lesson.

 

An Accounting of What We Bought With the Grant Money

I wanted to post how we spent the Grant Money.  

We bought 5  LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT Base Sets...

which totaled about $1399.75

Then we bought 4 LEGO MINDSTORMS Education Resource Sets...

which totaled around $391.95.


Then we bought 1 software license for 79.95.  I actually have 3 from kits at home and 2 education kits software in all...

So we spent  $1871.65 in all for the kits.

We bought two rolling Stanley totes to carry everything in...

this cost about $80 approximately.

Then of course shipping for all the kits was about $130.  I could have bought one more resource kit if I didn't have to pay for shipping.

This totals: $2081.65

I had $2100 to spend.

I have also loaned about $350 worth of legos and 3 of my own retail Mindstorm kits (one-8257, two-8547).  Other purchases I have loaned are containers for the legos, three wheeled folding dollies, and a portable table.

The hardest part is transporting back and forth all the supplies.

Video for Social Skills

Waiting...Waiting...Waiting!  One of our first Lego Education Kits came in. Woo...Hooo!  I found a great deal off of Ebay for a Lego Mindstorms NXT Education Kit and saved our team $130.  The rest of the kits which were ordered from Lego Education have not arrived yet.  Meanwhile, I am not sitting back doing nothing.  I have gathered my team together.  I have planned my lessons on how to learn robotics with the NXT's.  I have started a facebook page to communicate with parents.  I have also created a video (for visual learners) to help with our first social skills lesson, which will be about being a flexible thinking person.  I used Xtranormal to make it.  I would show you a preview, but I can't because the kids haven't seen it yet. 

Why is being a flexible person important especially for kids with Aspergers? The play of a child with Aspergers is repetitive. They enjoy rituals and can prefer to do the same thing over and over again. They love sameness and are troubled by changes or unexpected things happening. When they interact socially with peers there is a lot of things going on that are unexpected since they are unable to control the behavior of the other children. For children with Aspergers the inability to be flexible and handle changes makes it very hard to interact with others on a social level. This can make teamwork, one of the first core values, a wreck just waiting to happen.

Field Trip to Inspire Us

We decided to go check out Best Robotics one Saturday afternoon as a field trip.  It was real exciting to see the vehicles try to get the balls where they were suppose to be.  Lots of excitement!

I believe I can fly....

Whoooo-hooooo!  I believe I can fly.....the grant proposal was accepted and awarded!  Thank you AUSVI Pathfinder Organization.  I also want to thank Sci-Quest, the ARF (Autism Resource Foundation), Coach Wallace Willard of the Montessori School of Huntsville (for his generous donation and believing in us) and  I want to give a special thanks to Jane Veverke for her input into our Social Skills curriculum and volunteering her time. 


Now we are off to a running start........ 


After a week of working on other commitments and brainstorming, I gave a presentation to the Autism Resource Foundation about First Lego League and how we plan on implementing the Social Skills .  I took along a Robot my son and I had constructed together. This is what it looked like....

I think the presentation went well because I saw a lot of smiles and nods when I presented the social skills ideas.  The only regret was, the ARF wished that I could have done a Jr. FLL as well.  Let's see how we fly this year and work out some of the programming bugs, then we will think about adding more.

First, I want to request a tour from Alabama Robotics Technology Park to get the kids excited about robotics.  I would also like to take the kids to some robotic competitions to see what it is all about. 

Next week we will be ordering Lego Mindstorms Kits and other supplies needed.  Sci-Quest has generously offered help in getting a table and I already have a mat with puzzle pieces on it from the FLL Puzzle Power Challenge of 2007.  

We are almost at lift off....

Song by R. Kelly

From Concept.....

Grant Proposal

Purpose:  Starting a Asperger's First Lego League (Called Rocket City RoboSkills - Robotics plus Social Skills) that will aide in teaching  youth with Asperger's social skills, creative thinking abilities,  problem-solving methods, and emotional regulation through guided interventions.  

Goal: Enhance social skill development and to reduce anxieties or communicative disabilities which stand in the way of positive interaction through FLL.

Background Information:  Wikipedia defines Asperger Syndrome as an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development.  


How we plan to do this with FLL:  

1.  Direct teaching of social rules or conventions which guide interactions with qualified therapist and applying them to the core values of the FLL program.
2.  Modeling of social skills for the youth to observe through video programs, visiting other teams and going to a competition to observe what to expect.  Afterwards discussing interactions and team dynamics.  
3.  Providing specific and structured activities that include learning about robotics, programming, researching, and working together as a team for one common purpose.
4.  Identifying particular skills in youth and inviting them to help other children who are less advanced.  
5.  Encouraging participation and encourage youth to invite friend.  
6.  Provide a place where the youth can be themselves and have fun while they are learning about robotics, social skills and life skills.
7.  Small group of no more than 6-8 kids.  
8. Take field trips to research and learn about all that is involved with FLL.

Robotics can be a way of reaching children who otherwise struggle in the classroom.  It seems to be particularly appealing to youngsters with learning difficulties.  Children with dyslexia and Asperger’s Syndrome often excel in robotics competitions; the hands-on engagement gives them an opportunity to demonstrate creativity in ways that standard classroom activities do not.  Even children with severe disabilities (including blindness) have successfully and enthusiastically participated in robotics activities.

(Source: http://www.roberta-home.de/sites/default/file/Roberta%20article%20D&T%20Practice%205.2009_0.pdf)