Teachers - FIRST® LEGO® League Discover
Teachers are a huge part of what makes FIRST® LEGO® League Discover possible. But whether you are a teacher, parent or volunteer we want to say a massive thank you! You are enabling your team to engage in a fun, positive experience that will enhance their skills for the future.
FIRST® LEGO® League Discover is an in-class STEM programme designed to be run by teachers
You don’t need years of STEM experience or any specialist knowledge to run FIRST® LEGO® League Discover – just the desire to develop your children’s STEM skills and a bit of enthusiasm.
The Team Meeting Guide will support you through the programme with ready-made lesson plans and learning objectives and there are plenty of online resources designed to support and guide you should you need it.
Six top tips for running FIRST® LEGO® League Discover
Get to grips with the programme
Read through the Team Meeting Guide to familiarise yourself with the whole programme. You might find some sessions will fit in with parts of the curriculum you are covering so you can link these sessions accordingly.
Think about timetabling
The Discover division is designed to run over 10 weeks with an hour for each session, but the children will be so engaged and have such a great time you might want to allow for longer! You could even run the programme as an intensive focus over a week or two if it fits in with your curriculum.
Think about space
Where will you run the sessions? Can you get into the school hall regularly or is the classroom the best space? Will you work on the floor or at tables? Do whatever works best for you and your class. Also, think ahead to the Celebration Event – this will need a bigger space than a regular session to allow for all the parents and other adults from the school or community to come and see the children’s fantastic work!
Don’t get bogged down with extra planning
There are lots of online resources to support you in delivering the programme, but you might want to do some further preparation in terms of pre-teaching concepts or content. But don’t worry about going overboard with extra planning – you’ll be surprised with how effective it can be for learning to just let the children explore the resources freely and discuss what they are discovering as you go.
Talk, talk, talk...
Ask open questions, encourage the children to ask their own questions, discuss ideas together, encourage the children to talk together when they’re problem-solving. Communication and discussion are fantastic learning tools and FIRST® LEGO® League Discover works perfectly to develop these.
Make it fun!
Encourage excitement and curiosity. Let FIRST® LEGO® League Discover feel different from a normal lesson and put your own flair and creativity into how you deliver it – you’ll enjoy teaching it just as much as the children enjoy learning through it! To get your class involved, click on the registration pack that fits your class size.