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Ideas
for Common Challenges
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Q:
How do I find a good coach?
A: Coaches can be parents, college students, members of the community,
board members, local business people, or others. Be creative. The most
important qualification is that they are excited to work with kids on
science and technology - not that they already know about these subjects.
They need to be able to commit to the full length of the project and respect
the excitement that the youth will have for learning. Ask them to fill
out the Coach Application and then talk to them about why they want to
join ScienceQuest. If they are not the right person for the team, offer
them another volunteer position in your center.
Q:
What sort of kids makes the best participants?
A: Teams should be between 2 and 5 young people between the ages
of 10 and 14. We have found that ALL kids make great team members and
have something to contribute and something to gain from participation.
We ask that kids with disabilities be able to join teams, and that coaches
and team members make the team welcoming for everyone. If a perspective
team members do not have a topic of interest, don't worry. The first stage
of working with a team is to find out what is interesting to them.
Q: What
do I do if I have a group bigger than five?
A: You may find yourself working with more kids for a number of
reasons-a fellow coach didn't show up, more kids came than expected, you
over calculated how many kids you can handle. So what do you do?
Working with larger groups takes more preparation and forethought. Getting the kids to work in smaller groups on their own projects is your first goal. Outline different activities for each group of kids, giving some more individual attention and then alternating. One group may be typing something, another may be searching the web, while another group practices interview questions in preparation for the up-coming field trip. Groups can report to each other about what they learned and accomplished during the session.
Q: Everybody tells me to 'be prepared before the team starts.' What does that mean specifically?
A: Here
is a checklist of common things to think about:
- How and where will kids save their data? The teams may save their research on one computer hard drive, on a network server, or zip, cd, or floppy disks.
- How many computers will be available for my team? Do I have enough computers for my entire team, or will I need to strategize around computer use?
- What will I do on the first day? Do I have a get-to-know-you game to play? A first immersion activity? What materials do I need? If I plan on using the Internet, do I have a back-up activity in case the Internet is down?
