Judge Training

Meet the Head Judges: Audrea Moyers & Lonny Stern Lonny Stern, STEM Director at Skillpoint Alliance, Affiliate Partner for FIRST® Robotics Audrea Moyers, Head of Engineering & Architectural Design Program at McCallum High School

Agenda Overview of the Judge role Pre-event preparation Match Observers Reorganizing after Interviews Schedules Deliberations Process Award Scripts

Overview: Judge Role Why your role is critical – You are the team’s main interface to FIRST® Key components of your role – Ambassador – Detective – Reporter Judges handle the subjective issues

Pre-Event Preparation Check out the game animation, documentation, and pertinent resources – Read the Game Manual Attend this training session

Interviews You will have 25 minutes per team – 10 min | Interview - with the team – 7 min | Core Values Activity - with the team – 8 min | Notebook & Evaluation Sheet – w/o the team This is an informal chat with the team – Ask open questions and be sure to listen – Students may be nervous or shy. Help them out by being actively engaged. – Try very hard to stay on schedule. You will feel rushed, and that’s okay!

Rubric Preview

Tips for Judge Success Only write comments on the evaluation sheet that you want teams to see Try to be consistent between teams Stay organized during the interviews – Hint: Keep your top 3 teams ranked at all times Take good notes on scrap paper – Remembering a team 6 hours later is tough! – Take a photo with your camera phone

Reorganizing after Interviews 1.Judges will pair up with a new Judge Partner to visit with teams in the Pit and Gym 2.Judge pairs will be assigned a specific award category 3.Judges will ask teams questions to determine the 3 finalists for their award

Match Observers Match observers help track quality of teams by observing and recording notes during practice and qualification matches on tournament floor Can visit teams in Pit if needed Did the robot – Work in Autonomous mode? – Successfully and reliably play the game? – Otherwise stand out on the field? Report back to interview judges in deliberations

Match Observer Sheet JUDGE MATCH OBSERVER SHEET Team Number: ____________________________________

The Judges’ Schedule 7:00 AMVolunteer Check-in 7:30 AMJudge Meeting (Hospitality) 8:30 AMJudging Interviews & Match Observations Start 10:30 AMJudge Interviews End 11:00 AMOpening Ceremonies 12:30 PMLunch Begins (Initial Deliberations) 1:15 PMMatches Resume (Reorganized Judges visit teams) 3:45 PMAlliance Selection for Finals (Final Deliberations Begins) 4:15 PMElimination Matches Begin 5:30 PMClosing Ceremonies

Initial Deliberations Each Judging room nominates 0-2 teams for each award with a 20 second description Leave Inspire blank

Final Deliberations Narrow each award down to the final three Assign INSPIRE Award first – Can be finalists for other awards but can’t win Assign the other categories’ winners and two finalist nominees

Award Scripts A good award script is usually three sentences. The structure of the sentences is important. – Sentence one could apply to many teams, but has a subtle hint. – Sentence two has a hint which the winning team might pick up on. – Sentence three has a bigger hint which the team is pretty sure refers to them but not 100% positive – The last is the 'And the award goes to...‘ Good award scripts require notes and input from your judges. Things they can make notes on include – Team Colors / Name – Robot name – Any quality about the team that makes them unique

Top Ten Tips for Judges 1.You may feel rushed, and that’s okay! 2.FTC judging is subjective. You can’t be wrong. 3.You are not REQUIRED to nominate teams for every award. If you don’t have a contender, don’t nominate. 4.Judging is an interactive discussion with the team. Ask questions & listen. 5.Pay attention to the clock. Stay on schedule. 6.Keep your evaluation sheets organized. 7.Take a few notes to help you remember each team. Take a picture with your camera phone of teams with their robots. 8.Be gracious and professional. 9.Never discuss team rankings with anyone but other FTC judges. 10.Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth without washing your hands. Use the hand sanitizer often!

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