Lean into the chaos. Students are exploring before you formalize anything. The goal of Week 1 is identity and trust, not mastery. Mastery comes from competitive pressure — that starts Week 2.
Get every student physically moving a bot by Day 1. Get every student's bot named and posted on the wall by end of Day 2. Get every student feeling capable — not correct, capable. This is the foundation every subsequent week builds on.
One stat per day. Day 1: Speed only (one formula, maximum simplicity). Day 2: + Endurance. Day 3: + Turning. Day 4: + Power. Each day's stat builds directly on the previous day's math. Introducing all four on Day 1 collapses the sequence.
High movement, high noise, high improv. Three of the four Hook activities this week require you to model them physically. Students read your willingness to look foolish as permission to take risks. The Failure Bow matters because it normalizes visible mistakes before competition begins. Protect it unless safety, time, or student distress requires adjustment.
Week 1 asks you to model energy, vulnerability, and comfort with mess. If this feels awkward, that is normal. Students do not need polished performance. They need you to participate first.
Walk yourself through setup, transitions, instructions, movement, bot pairing, MakeCode loading, and cleanup — in real time, without students. This takes 20–30 minutes and will surface at least two things that take longer than the schedule assumes. Find them now, not during class.
Students who struggle with math see a question sheet and immediately associate it with prior difficulty. Frame the diagnostic before distributing it: "This is not a test. There is no grade. I'm using this to understand where to start — not to evaluate you." Use the exact framing script. Ensure contexts are non-bot (speed, distance, ordered pairs) so no student feels disadvantaged for not yet knowing the stat system.
Sound and Movement and Mirror both require you to participate first, not describe first. Students take their energy cue from your willingness to look foolish. If you stand outside the circle and explain, the activity loses its function.
Respond with: "Show me where that number came from." Do not accept a correct answer without a correct explanation.
LO 1.1: stat-to-formula matching on reference card · LO 3.1: coordinate grid navigation, first attempt (informal)
This is the program's first permanent artifact. Bot names and origin stories are posted on the wall for all four weeks. Exhibition visitors read them on Day 16. If the naming ceremony gets cut or rushed, the narrative thread that runs from Day 1 to Day 16 breaks. Protect this time.
The naming ceremony is a team decision. If one voice is dominating, pause the group: "Does everyone agree on this name? Does everyone feel like this bot is theirs?" Do not let the ceremony move on until all members have had input.
LO 2.1: slope meaning described from bot decay graph · LO 2.2: Endurance decay equation written in slope-intercept form
Students often expect their bots to trace a smooth arc. They discover today that Turning controls the approximation — a series of short straight segments. This surprise is intentional. Let students discover it in the test drive rather than explaining it in advance.
Respond with: "Where did the bot actually end up? That's the number that goes in the log." The gap between planned and actual is the math — don't let teams skip it.
LO 2.1: slope meaning with two specific bot examples from graph · LO 3.1: coordinate navigation attempts logged with error distance · LO 3.2: distance formula introduced on life-sized grid, verified against two coordinate pairs
Students now have all four stats on their reference cards. It is tempting to preview how they combine. Do not. Day 5 carries that reveal. Let today's discovery — that Power is non-proportional — be the cliff-hanger. End the day with: "Tomorrow you'll see why this changes everything."
Power 4 = 16% charge speed. Power 8 = 64% charge speed. This does NOT double — it quadruples. This is the first time students encounter a non-proportional relationship in the stat system. When teams notice this, let the surprise land before you name it. "What did you expect? What did you get? How big is that difference?" Then: "What would we call a relationship where doubling the input more than doubles the output?"
By end of Day 4, students have each stat on their reference card with one formula result they calculated themselves. Tomorrow (Day 5) combines all four into the 20-point budget equation for the first time. The cognitive reveal sequence is complete. Do not rush the Day 4 discovery to get ahead of Day 5.
Respond with: "What does the math predict for Power 2 vs. Power 8? Let's run the numbers first, then test." Intuition is not data.
LO 1.2: proportional vs. non-proportional contrast — Speed scales linearly, Power scales as P² · LO 3.2: distance calculations verified against bot kick test data