Back in 2016, I understood that LEGO building and Robotics were the perfect ingredients to get our youth interested in Technology and Engineering from very early ages, but motivating them to continue on an extensive learning path was not easy, so I started researching how to motivate my students with competition-based training with real-life issues to create solutions to real-world problems, rather than just creating ‘fighting robots’ like some competitions are focused in.
It was soon that I realized that the solution to my mind-troubling project was actually very easy to reach, and somewhat difficult to implement. My determination drove me to learn more about FIRST LEGO League, and boy, was I surprised at who this project would enrich my life as an instructor while teaching me how to transition from teacher to coach, which, believe it or not, is VERY different.
Robotics Learning: life-changing
My first season (2017-2018: Hydrodynamics) was all about learning how to adapt and encourage kids to take on this project that I knew little to nothing about. It was very difficult to understand the rules, the missions, and how to create a community-based project shaped under the topic of the season but that tackled our community’s issues. We didn’t win any awards, but my mind was fueled, and I was ready to start a second season with new ideas on how to shape my team of kids and continue shaping their minds with friendly competition ideas.
The second season (2018-2019: Into Orbit) transformed my life and made me a coach. I was determined to go beyond the initial expectations and ideas of teaching my team to be the best at building and programming their robots. I understood that these competitions were more about life skills and how to become better human beings using Robotics as a vessel to overcome our fears and learn to address our inner struggles, rather than trying to form young engineers. By then I understood that my role was to guide my students in having more empathy, in learning how to work as a team and how to be more tolerant and accepting of one another. These were the real lessons that needed to be learned and this is how I became a coach and left my instructor’s days behind. This could be probably why we won the Rising Star Award.
New Season with City Shapers
The third season was more about understanding the needs of our community than anything else (2019-2020) We were on the verge of starting our all-girls TeKniK Force team. My instructors and I decided to dedicate more time to learning how to design viable community-based proposals while encouraging kids to understand everything behind creating a project with ground-breaking solutions. We were able to integrate our community partners like Lexus of West Kendall and proposed to create an electric eco-bus to help with transportation in our local Kendall community in South Miami. This time we won 1st Place on the Project Awards and we were all on the path of reaching major milestones and then…the pandemic hit!
Adapt & Learn…
2020 was a difficult year for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic forced me to close our TeKniK LABS brick and mortar location and with this, all the uncertainty with amazing challenges also came along to our TeKniK Force team. At first, our team members didn’t know if they would continue, and we lost some valuable members along the way. It was difficult to meet in person, online meetings were also a challenge and kids were not able to work in nurturing their social skills. We didn’t know if we would make it to the competitions for the 2020-2021 Game Changers season; but when times are difficult, from the garage at my home, where we meet twice a week; we were able to overcome the difficulties and, as a team, we worked on an interactive hopscotch project allowing us to advance to regionals and then to State (for the very first time!)
Why a Coach? There’s more to learn but even more to celebrate!
At the beginning of this blog post I mentioned that one of the biggest transformations that I had with our TeKniK Force team was becoming a coach, now let me elaborate more on this: When you are a coach, you go further in your student’s lives, by engaging with them on a more personal level, rather than just teaching them skills as a regular instructor does. Being a coach means being there for your students and focusing on soft skills for life teamwork, perseverance, dedication, and self-achievement. Being a coach means getting each student to explore his/her own potential thus allowing them to believe in themselves to succeed not only in that particular skill set you’ve been working on but also in life in general. Coaches play a greater part in each one of their students, and this has changed me and allowed me to reinforce my commitment thus permitting me to become a better person, a better mom, a better wife, a better person overall.
What’s next?
The best is yet to come! But right now, I also wanted to thank you all parents for trusting me with your child’s journey into the future through the use of LEGO and technology. We are all teachers and students, but we can also become coaches to make greater impacts on those around us. So, stay tuned for upcoming news about this amazing TeKniK Force team, as they are definitely a force to recon in the seasons and years to come. Congratulations Julian, Aiden, Robert, and Alex, we have major milestones to reach and together we can overcome all obstacles and pandemics! Go TeKniK Force!
Can YOU help us?
Thank you for reading this blog entry, I know that it was nothing like you probably expected since I had some friends and family read it and most of them agreed that I should have taken a more commercial approach. That I should have focused more on the amazing achievements that our TeKniK Force team has conquered, rather than my personal transformation on this amazing 6-year journey. But blogs are not commercials, for me, they are really a way of liberating yourself and telling your story and now I feel really good about not taking that commercial approach, and hopefully, for you the reader, can find inspiration within these lines to become a coach for all the people that surround you.
Last but not least, I wanted to reach out for your help as well with a small survey that will help our TeKniK Force team in our journey to State Championship. It only takes 3 minutes, and you can help Alex, Dylan, Robert, and Julian with their project! Please go to https://forms.gle/RtEfBTJpp5h9oDmr9
Thank you!
Lina Correa
Mom & Bricks 4 Kidz Kendall Owner