Session 2

Remember, you can guide students as they build the Hero Bot, but you CANNOT complete any of the build steps for them. Refer to the Mechanical Design, Physical Construction, and Inspection section of the student-centered policy for more details about what the coach/mentor can and can't do while the team builds.

Keep in mind that the building stages outlined in the task card are just a starting point—you can adjust them as needed to best meet your team’s needs. What matters most is that every team member has a hands-on role in the building process.

You may want to have the Team Number and Virtual Skills Key written out and posted at this station. Use the accessing V5RC Virtual Skills with a Virtual Skills Key article to help you as needed.

Remember, you can guide students to strategy or scoring ideas, but you cannot dictate a strategy for them. Review the Game Strategy and Match Play section of the student-centered policy for more details about what coaches can and cannot do while students are driving.

There are so many ways to drive and score with Virtual Driving Skills Practice. If students need help staying engaged in this station, you can offer ideas for exploration, like:

• Changing the camera views to see how that affects their perspective
• Changing the starting position to see how that affects their plan
• Experimenting with the different Drive Modes 
• Testing out the robot controls 
• Trying to set a new high score! 

You may want to have your Team Number and Virtual Skills Key written and posted at this station. Use the accessing V5RC Virtual Skills with a Virtual Skills Key to help as needed. 

Remember, you can help team members learn about coding concepts, but you CANNOT build their code for them. Review the Programming/Coding section of the student-centered policy for more details about what coaches can and can't do while students are coding. 

• Encourage team members to use VEXcode API Reference for support with Virtual Skills.
• For students with no coding experience, you may want to have them complete some of the CS Level 1 - Blocks course to learn some basics before trying out Virtual Skills.

As students are working together, be mindful of their collaboration skills, so that both students are actively involved. Students can take turns coding and documenting/researching. You can use a timer to dictate when to change roles, so students swap at regular intervals. Learn more about pair programming in this article.

The goal here is not to become an expert in every facet of the game, but for students to stop and think a bit more about what they will need to know and learn to be successful for the season. Read this Insights article to learn more about the thinking behind the questions on the task card, and how to scaffold students' thinking in open-ended challenges. 

Students should practice finding answers to questions on their own by using available game resources. This builds independence and sets them up for success throughout the season. This exercise may also generate additional questions from students—and that’s great! Consider posting any unanswered team questions at the end of the session in a visible place, so students can keep them in mind during future sessions.

The game manual is a big document, with a lot of information in it. You can use this article to help you as you support students to navigate the game manual. They should not be expected to read the manual in its entirety during this station, but to instead use it as a reference.