Introduction to VEX IQ to my Electronics and Robotics class

In two weeks, my class will begin to use the VEX IQ robots to learn about structure, engineering and programming. This gives me time to prepare some essential things for the classroom to make sure that the transition and implementation of the next unit will be smooth. Some of the things I have to think about are:

Effective storage space - I have 5 Tech Ed, Electronics and Robotics classes that are being taught in the same classroom so project storage is always important.

Groups management - Even though students want to work with their friends I have to come up with groups that are beneficial for the learning environment.

Software - We are currently using RobotC with my older students who are working with VEX EDR but I believe it is a bit hard for the beginners so I have ordered a classroom set of Flowol 4.0 . Now I am just waiting for the IT department to install it for us (we can not install any software ourselves).

Hardware (programming) - I have 8 computers (bunched up together) and 6 laptops in the classroom what are currently being used by my older students for programming. Students prefer the laptops because they can be taken anywhere and students have their own space for building then programming then right away testing their bots. This is working out quite well because there are 6 groups and 6 laptops, however it might not be enough for when I introduce VEX IQ because there will be more groups. For that reason I have requested 6 more laptops from BC Technology for Learning Society https://www.reusetechbc.ca/ who have been amazing in the past.

Hardware (VEX IQ) - I would like to build a charging station for all the batteries for VEX IQ. I would like it to be wall mounted like I have with the VEX EDR. This would allow students to easily plug the batteries at the end of class and always have freshly powered batteries for class time. Another thing I want to make sure my students are on top of from the start is, proper care for all the parts. I am going to make a model set with all the parts properly sorted and take a couple of photos so students will know how their sets should be.

So all in all I have quite a bit of work to do over the next 2 weeks to ensure we have a very successful time working on the project!