The GS Juniors have plowed right ahead with their project plans. Tonight I received the following letter in my e-mail (it was sent to the SU Team). Please keep in mind, when reading it, that it was composed by two girls who begin fourth grade in two weeks and typed and e-mailed by one of those girls - except for replacing the name of the Service Unit for privacy, I have left it exactly as it was typed for integrity's sake.
Dear [Name Removed for Privacy] Service Unit,
As troops 51088 and 51060 we would like to redecorate the GS room. In our Journey, we need to accomplish a take action project. We would like to add more color by sponging the wall different colors.
We are writing to you so we can get permission to add more color and paint donations. The colors we would like are bright green,light blue,red and, yellow. We will greatly accept any other colors.
Along with the paint we could use donations of
paint brushes
sponges
paint tape
letters
or money to shop with
$50 would be great, if we did not use it all we would return the balance. We also want to put the GS Promise and GS Law on boards in the room for all to see.
We want to bcome agents of change!!
Thank you for your time.
Sincerily,
troops 51088 and 51060
On another front, my Junior went with me to the laundromat this morning, and while we were waiting for the dryers to be done, she had her book open to the GS Promise and GS Law. She told me the letters and punctuation needed, and I made tally marks for her. Finding out that they would need 50+ "o"s and 30+ "e"s was enough to make her and one of the other girls rethink their plan. They agreed to ask the other girl's parents if they could borrow their stencil set. My daughter and I are supposed to go over to their house next week with some paper and tape. They'll trace the stencils and then color in the letters for the Promise and Law.
For labeling the troop areas on the wall, they'll use pre-sticky letters and numbers from the store. They're now polling the other 3 girls to decide whether each box will be labeled with "Troop #####," "Tr. #####," or simply "#####."
The other update I was given today was that the 3 C words (Courage, Confidence, Character) and the troop area frames/lines are going to be stenciled using sponge brushes so there's a "bubbly look" to them (I think they mean "stippled").
Color me impressed!
Tomorrow my daughter is spending the afternoon and evening with my mother who has offered her group two framed posters for the room. One is purple with a gray-scale photo of Girl Scout memorabilia; I don't remember what it says. The other is from GS of Philadelphia (or a council name like that) and is titled "Words of Well-Being." It also has a GS trefoil shape made using quotes from a variety of women. It will be interesting to see if my daughter believes they have value for the redecoration process.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Third Session - Project Planning
Tonight's session was busy for all of the groups! As the program co-coordinator, I learned tonight that we should have given the group leaders posterboards with project planning on them. I have a knack for project planning and seeing it in my head - I have to remember that not everybody can do that, and not everybody understands that when learning or teaching project planning to girls, things have to be spelled out. For example, I think it would have been beneficial for each group to have a simple chart with the Project Goal at the top, and a chart below with Task, What Is Needed, and Who Is Doing It as column labels. With that blatant set up, I think some of the planning might have been easier for the girls to understand. Without that physical structure, I found that groups were planning one step and trying to act on it right away instead of looking at the big picture first (an example of this is in the GS Junior description below).
Here is how tonight went. I wasn't in every group, but the descriptions are from what I saw and heard and what my GS Brownie and GS Junior reported to me.
1. Welcome and Gathering.
2. GS Daisy Flower Garden.
3. GS Brownie Quest.
4. GS Junior Agent of Change.
Well, we have 5 Agents of Change for sure... the challenge for them is that they are 5 strong leaders and 5 weak followers. This made tonight's planning very difficult for them. They ended up needing lots of direction and structure as girls were breaking down in frustration and zoning out because they didn't know their particular role in the conversation.
5. Dismissal.
Next week will be interesting. We'll have three projects occurring at three locations. I hope to be able to see part of each one, but I might be recruited to help on a project. The girls all seem excited to work on their projects.
Here is how tonight went. I wasn't in every group, but the descriptions are from what I saw and heard and what my GS Brownie and GS Junior reported to me.
1. Welcome and Gathering.
- The families are getting really good at arriving shortly before 6:30 or right at 6:30. Our last girl arrived just as we were forming our Opening Circle. We had every girl in attendance tonight: 3 GS Daisies, 6 GS Brownies, 5 GS Juniors, and 1 GS Cadette.
- The GS Cadette made me smile and laugh in a good way tonight. She was so excited when she arrived that she was dancing and jumping around. She wanted to show me her GS Journey backpack with her GS books and her Journey notebook in it. She had written down the song/game she was going to play with/teach to the girls tonight along with some service project ideas to help them get started in their brainstorming. She was just as excited when the Brownie group leader arrived and was ready to talk with her. The notebook is an important piece for this Cadette. She needs the organization of having a written reminder. It is serving as a communication tool between her and the Brownie group leader - the group leader wrote in the notebook tonight what she would like the Cadette to lead next week. This way the Cadette can work on what she needs to do and how she needs to present it during this week.
- Our Opening Circle was a practice in using the Quiet Sign and reminding the girls that it's an open hand, not the GS sign that is used. After that, the Cadette led the group in the GS Promise. Then we sang "The Button Factory" about Joe who has to press buttons with all parts of their bodies - the favorite song of a few girls in my own troop, and what the girls decided was a good song to sing. This got the girls moving and active, but also got a lot of their wiggles out.
- We have established that an opening ceremony is important, but we don't plan a full ceremony as leaders or organizers - this might sound strange, but it has a purpose. The girls learn best by experiencing (Leadership Essentials: Learn By Doing)... rather than telling them what we're doing at each opening ceremony, we let them decide step by step. It's already been decided that next week, the opening ceremony song is going to be "Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic."
- After that I revved up the program by telling the Daisies that I heard they have new friends to meet tonight, the Brownies were going to have an awesome time because that's what Brownies do, and the Juniors have some challenges tonight. Everybody was cheering, and when I told them to go to their group leaders, they practically ran to them.
2. GS Daisy Flower Garden.
- Well, the bad news was that the real estate agent for a building in town that has flower boxes that could use some gardening said we can't help him. Apparently the building is a foreclosure and they don't want people working on the property for liability reasons. That's too bad, but the group leader noticed a nearby dentist office that might allow the girls to at least plant flower boxes in front of part of the office building.
- On the good side, the group leader brought worms tonight. She had a tub with dirt in it, and the girls got to put the worms in along with some newspaper they'd ripped up and some tomato skins. They are hoping the worms work on composting the pile.
- I had the chance to talk with the girls about their project. They really hadn't come up with something solid for next week. I said to them that the grass and clover in the park looked like it was hurting in places. Could they figure out why? One of the girls said it was because of the trash. So next week they're going to organize a group to clean up that park (it had been used for the town's summer recreation program). I tried to get them to draw a shopping list for me. They listed garbage bags, gloves, something to clean hands with, and sticks with a "sharp pointy thing" on the end to grab the garbage. One unfortunate step here was that the group leader wrote down the list instead of letting the girls draw/write it themselves. I asked the girls what they thought about getting adults or other people to help them clean up - what it would be like if the three of them were in charge and telling the adults what needed to be done. There was a maniacal laugh from the cutest, quietest 5-/6-year old, followed by "Yessss." They each started making a list of who they could ask to help them... sounding out the words as they went.
- Next week they'll be Taking Action in our community by organizing their group of helpers to clean up the park. They believe that Clover (we actually have some blooming) is hurting, and they need to help the Earth.
- I mentioned to them that maybe if they do the Journey as a troop during the school year, it could be fun to talk to the cafeteria director and the elementary school principal about putting a composting pail in the rear of the school. The girls could take care of it weekly and make sure the worms were okay... including figuring out how to insulate the container during the winter months. The leader looked at me like I had three heads, but I really think that if the girls worked at finding out what it takes, they could really do it. They could suggest to the two adults that it would decrease some of the food waste going to landfills and provide compost for the bushes and flowers on the school grounds. Well... at least I can see it happening, even if it doesn't.
3. GS Brownie Quest.
- The Brownies started off by identifying community helpers like veteranarians, doctors, ambulance workers, police, teachers, and phone line workers (we have an eccentric Brownie!). The girls each made a paper bag puppet of a community helper and then talked with/about their puppets. In the discussion, or just after it, the group leader showed them the concentric circles with themselves in the middle and community helpers eminating out from them - the helpers they are directly connected to, I believe.
- They looked at the pages in the Brownie Quest book where things need to be fixed in the community. Since they had been sitting for awhile, this activity was discussed quickly - each girl announced one thing they saw in the picture that needed fixing.
- The girls then moved over to another area where they could sit on the ground and played "La Quaka Dilly Oh Ma" which the GS Cadette taught to them. They sang other songs or played other games as well I think.
- When they came back to their work area, they brainstormed Take Action Project ideas. My Brownie reported that every girl stated one idea. They then voted on the projects. Apparently the winning project is collecting book donations to give to the local library and shelving kids books at the library for one night. Our librarian has a system where once a book in the kids section is taken off the shelf, the kid puts it into a white basket to be reshelved by the librarian or her assistant. This makes for a lot of books to be reshelved.
- Each Brownie is supposed to come up with some books to be donated. I think these are going into the library's book give-away program. One girl is going to speak with the librarian tomorrow to get permission for this project. I'm not sure what we'll do if the librarian declines the help. We'll probably have to schedule an "emergency" meeting for the Brownies so they can come up with another project.
4. GS Junior Agent of Change.
Well, we have 5 Agents of Change for sure... the challenge for them is that they are 5 strong leaders and 5 weak followers. This made tonight's planning very difficult for them. They ended up needing lots of direction and structure as girls were breaking down in frustration and zoning out because they didn't know their particular role in the conversation.
- They have decided to decorate the Girl Scout room that our village has given us. A few years ago, one troop's Silver Award project was painting, fixing up, and putting curtains and bulletin boards up in the room. It's a beautiful job, but we've had leaders mention that it would be nice to have some variation on the wall, like GS quotes or the key words like "Courage, Confidence, and Character."
- Without looking at the room, going on their knowledge of it (some of the girls have had meetings in it), they decided that they needed paint, stencils, and paintbrushes. They spoke with the SU Manager and the SU Outdoor Program Consultant to find out what they as adults would like to see in the room. The Outdoor Program Consultant mentioned that a craft store nearby had a number of the things they had mentioned on clearance. We talked about a budget... and if they would need money. It was decided that they needed to write a letter to ask the SU for a small donation for the project (it was hinted to me by the SU Manager to do it).
- This was a breakdown point because two girls ran with the write-a-letter task and left the others doing nothing. I suggested that maybe one of the three girls might want to ask one of the adults if they would take them to the GS room so they could look at it and really get an idea of what they could do.
- They came back with a list of tasks and tools - and very excited. Apparently they are going to take down some of the bulletin boards and put them up in more visible areas. One will have the GS Promise on it while the other will have the GS Law. I thought it might be neat for them to consider putting the GS Law in the colors of the Daisy Petals or in the shape of a daisy... but it will be up to them. They want to put up words using decorative border or decorative letters that already have the adhesive on the back. They also want to designate an area of wall space for each of our troops. This way each troop can hang up pictures or things they've made for everyone to look at when we have SU meetings or when other troops meet. My own Junior wants to get painter's tape and use that to mark out the lines for the troops boxes so that she can paint straight lines... she's been watching those Extreme Makeover and Hometime shows lately.
- I saw the letter they wrote to the SU team. It's very polite and explains why they would like to do this project, what they would like to do, and what they would like from the SU. They asked for paint rather than money. However, a few of us spoke to three of them after, and they decided that it was best to add in a line requesting $50 - that way they had a little wiggle room if things weren't on clearance, they could give back what they don't use, and if the SU says that $50 is too much and gives a lesser amount it's still reasonable. The funny part of this was that rather than mailing the letter, one of the girls rationalized that the SU team is online a lot, so she is typing the letter tomorrow and e-mailing it with her mother's supervision and help. She was warned that some of us might ask her questions about the project just for clarification, and she seemed ready to explain anything.
- Two of the girls are going to figure out how many of each letter and number they'll need for the project. Right now they say they need cut-out letters for the GS Promise, the GS Law, and "Troop #####" for 13-15 troops. They envisioned having a Crickut or Sizzix machine there for their use, but no body could think of someone who might have one to help them. My mother scrapbooks, so I suggested to my Junior that when she's with her grandmother this week, she ask if she would have any resources and be willing to help them next week.
- I'm excited to see what the girls create. I believe they're recruiting parents to help them physically next week.
- After they had utilized their individual strengths ("Powers") to work as a team, they had the opportunity to find their Power of One badge. I had taken 5 of their Val U. Spiders off the web and hidden them on the playground set; each spider was guarding a Power of One badge. They were to find the spiders and badges... and when they found one for themselves, they had to help the others since they were all a team.
- The Power of Team badge was a little more challenging to finally earn. I used yarn to build a spider web at the backstop at the park; it was similar to the Spider Web on a ropes course. We hung the 5 Power of Team badges in 5 different sections of the web. The girls had to work as a team to get through the web - each space could only be used once. Once on the far side of the web, they had to figure out how to get their badges off the web... and help each other if needed. To get back, they had to cross through the web again - this time they couldn't use any of the lower level spaces. They were supposed to go one by one, but with 5 leaders and no followers, that didn't really happen. They did help each other as feet, flip-flops, and sandals got caught in the web.
- After they all made it, we had a short discussion about having 5 strong leaders in their group and that in their own troops and patrols, they have the potential to be awesome leaders. However, the challenge for next week will be for them to figure out how to work together to get the project done - how to trust each other to take care of their parts.
5. Dismissal.
- It was made clear last week that an official closing was important to the girls. Therefore, I put the girl who spoke up about it in charge of tonight's closing. She decided we were going to "spell out" of the circle again. Since this week's theme was working as a team, the Junior decided the word was "teamwork." Just as in the first session, the Junior started spelling the word, and whoever ended up with "k" said, "Good night, Girl Scouts" and left the circle. By the time everyone had spelled out, the area was cleaned up. Most of the girls were gone before the official ending time, and even those of us who stayed to talk left within 15 minutes of the official end time.
Next week will be interesting. We'll have three projects occurring at three locations. I hope to be able to see part of each one, but I might be recruited to help on a project. The girls all seem excited to work on their projects.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Decompression from the Second Session
Well, the kicker of today was when I was mid-conversation with the Brownie group leader and realized that for the past 3 days while talking with her and the Daisy group leader I'd been shorting us all a week in our planning. I've been reassuring them that they'd have enough time to work through a plan and do the project with one scheduled meeting and a week to meet on their own time with their group. Mid-conversation, I realized that we have TWO scheduled meetings and a week to meet on their own if needed. Talk about relief (for me and the group leaders)!
Tonight brought more girls to Join the Journey! We're now up to 3 GS Daisies, 6 GS Brownies, 5 GS Juniors, and 1 GS Cadette. The Cadette was a surprise, so for tonight she worked to motivate the Brownies and learn their names. The Cadette has her own special challenges, so getting her to interact with the girls and calling them by name was a step forward. Of the 6 Brownies, one didn't show (disappointing), and one joined Girl Scouts tonight in order to do this program and will be joining my troop in the fall. The other score of the night was convincing one of the mothers who is stepping up as a Daisy leader in the fall that she could stretch herself and work with the Juniors on their Journey.
Being less in charge of the individual parts tonight, I'm less positive of what each activity was. However, I can relay what I know.
1. Welcome and Gathering. As the girls arrived, they joined their friends on the playground. Forms were given to parents (or collected from them), and I asked four girls who were playing near by to gather the rest of the girls into a circle. The three group leaders, the co-organizer, and I all joined the circle. We went around the circle introducing ourselves and telling what level we are in Girl Scouts. The co-organizer tapped into her inner cheerleader and led the group in a chorus of, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii, [name]!" We said the Girl Scout Promise in echo fashion since we had two new Girl Scouts with us. Then one girl taught the Quiet Sign. We followed that with practicing the Girl Scout Handshake. Then I reminded everyone of what we had done last week, how values are in the Girl Scout Law, and built up this week's session since every group had a craft to do. We then split into the groups.
2. GS Daisy Flower Garden.
SO, once again, it was a successful session (IMO). Next week is "offical" team forming symbolized by the team agreements and brainstorming/planning. We have one Brownie and 2 Juniors to catch up from this week, too. I know the model in the books includes writing letters to officials, but since this is the first Journey for all of us, I'm choosing to use progression. We're going to work within systems that won't require months of town/official meetings... a huge accomplishment on a small stage is a better thing in my book than a flop or an incomplete accomplishment on a huge stage.
Additionally, the Juniors have requested that their Power of One awards be given with something fun to equal the hunts the other groups have been on.
Co-operative Learning? Check!
Learning By Doing? Yup... especially as we work through the planning process next week.
Girl led? We're getting there! The Juniors are going to bring me leaps and bounds forward (even though I thought I was there).
Tonight brought more girls to Join the Journey! We're now up to 3 GS Daisies, 6 GS Brownies, 5 GS Juniors, and 1 GS Cadette. The Cadette was a surprise, so for tonight she worked to motivate the Brownies and learn their names. The Cadette has her own special challenges, so getting her to interact with the girls and calling them by name was a step forward. Of the 6 Brownies, one didn't show (disappointing), and one joined Girl Scouts tonight in order to do this program and will be joining my troop in the fall. The other score of the night was convincing one of the mothers who is stepping up as a Daisy leader in the fall that she could stretch herself and work with the Juniors on their Journey.
Being less in charge of the individual parts tonight, I'm less positive of what each activity was. However, I can relay what I know.
1. Welcome and Gathering. As the girls arrived, they joined their friends on the playground. Forms were given to parents (or collected from them), and I asked four girls who were playing near by to gather the rest of the girls into a circle. The three group leaders, the co-organizer, and I all joined the circle. We went around the circle introducing ourselves and telling what level we are in Girl Scouts. The co-organizer tapped into her inner cheerleader and led the group in a chorus of, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii, [name]!" We said the Girl Scout Promise in echo fashion since we had two new Girl Scouts with us. Then one girl taught the Quiet Sign. We followed that with practicing the Girl Scout Handshake. Then I reminded everyone of what we had done last week, how values are in the Girl Scout Law, and built up this week's session since every group had a craft to do. We then split into the groups.
2. GS Daisy Flower Garden.
- The Daisy group leader had taken the poster that came in the adult guide and temporarily mounted it on a piece of posterboard. She introduced the girls to all of Amazing Daisy's friends (after giving them each their own Journey book). The two who were already Daisies noticed that the flower colors were Petal colors... so the natural path to the parts of the GS Law was set out.
- I had set out a treasure hunt for the girls. They were given a note that was addressed to the girls by name and said, "Three Girl Scout Daisies I see, a surprise waits for you underneath a tree." They looked near all of the trees and finally found a small, antique music box (no longer working, unfortunately - and it was from the 1950s or so, but found in an antique store). They turned it all around and finally figured out they had to open it up; that was ensued by a race back for their group leader to read the new note that accompanied a package of Coriander (Cilantro) seeds and a package of Lemon Balm seeds. The second clue read something like, "Seeds can grow right before your eyes. Beneath a fun ride, you'll find your next prize." Under a slide, the girls found six small terra cotta flower pots with a third clue: "Growing plants need water to flow. Where the water shoots to the sky is where you must go." We have a water fountain/wading pool area that is off 98% of the year; in that dry pool was a plastic bag full of wooden beads to act as spacers beneath the potting soil. The final clue in that bag was "Return to the start, and you'll find the earth's heart." When they returned to their workspace with all of the pieces, they found a bag of organic potting soil.
- Everything I'd purchased for the treasure hunt had a significance. The music box went along with the box the 3 girls dug up in the Journey story. The herbs were chosen because the Cilantro can be used as a cooking herb while the Lemon Balm is a medicinal herb - according to the package, placing a fresh leaf over an insect bite will help soothe the itch. The terra cotta pots and wooden beads were chosen for their natural materials (instead of plastic pots and marbles). The organic potting soil was chosen for the organic nature of it.
- After planting their seeds, they decorated the outside of the pots with some of the Crayola Paint Brush Pens (child-sized brushes with paint in the handles). The terra cotta soaked up the paint pretty quickly, so they were dry by the time the girls went home.
- The group leader then read the first chapter of the story to the girls... and they realized what they had in common with Campbell and her two pals. For those who haven't noticed, I don't think it's coincidence that the names of the three girls all start with "C" - after all, the next logical connection will be to "Courage, Confidence, and Character."
- She encouraged them all to read the story with their families and gave them a couple of worksheets made from the pages of the book. The worksheets are home-session connections that may be completed if the girl and her family wish.
- The Brownies began with their craft activity. They had plastic suncatchers in the shape of a trio of flowers. In the center of each flower I had written "E," "L," or "F." Apparently the girls noticed the letters and figured out what it spelled. At least one girl (my Brownie) knew that a Brownie Elf was important to their Journey story. The girls painted the suncatchers using the appropriate paints/glazes.
- While the suncatchers dried, the group leader took them out to a grassy area where the girls shared their family stars. I know our new Brownie had decorated hers with stickers (she lives in our neighborhood, so I was able to get the papers to her before tonight); my daughter made hers out of craft foam. I don't know what other girls did to theirs.
- They then read part of the story. The group leader was going to gauge them to decide whether they wanted to read or be read to. I know they sat with her for quite awhile - from my point, they looked pretty attentive throughout. I haven't debriefed my Brownie yet, but I'm confident they were as observant as the Daisies when it came to their story. The girls' bracelets should have made a connection with the suncatchers our Brownies had painted.
- They were then sent out on their own scavenger hunt. Scattered throughout the park were blue stars with the chant typed on them. Each star had the Discover/Explore award safety-pinned to it.
- These girls started out by taking the beads with values written on them and turning them into spiders using pipecleaners and smaller beads. They worked quite diligently and completed all the spiders with humor and socializing. Since the three girls who were present are from two troops but one of the girls from the same troop is new to Juniors, this socialization time was important. After they got cleaned up, one of the moms folded spider legs around the yarn of the web where the girls had placed them. Now all of our Val U. (short for Ursula) Spiders (Dez I. Ner Spider's cousins) are firmly attached to the web.
- I was grabbing the papers for the rest of the evening with the Juniors (I had agreed with their group leader to guide them tonight and turn it all over to her tonight since she just agreed this week) when I heard my own Junior begin the conversation to review the "Her" Stories they had researched. Foolish me was put in my place by my daughter (and rightfully so): I had been asking guiding questions rather than having the girls read directly from their papers - after I'd finished with the first one, my daughter said, "Now will you let her read her paper, I want to hear the story." The take-home piece was written in complete sentences with blanks to be filled in, so reading it aloud made a cohesive paragraph. It really wasn't mouthy - it was a clear indication that I was leading too much. One girl researched Abby Wambaugh (soccer player from our area) and my daughter chose Harriet Tubman. The third girl didn't prepare anybody, so I let her pick from the four women listed in the adult guide. She chose the woman who was/is a chef and who helped start a program in schools where the students grow vegetables for the school to use.
- We then chatted about leaders in their real lives. They each chose their mothers; two because we're helpful and one because she's caring. I shared that I probably would choose my high school music teacher because she gave me confidence in my theatre skills and confidence to be on stage which has led to my creation of a youth theatre program in another town and the creation of one in our town this year. They had trouble thinking of a non-Mom choice, but that's okay at their age... it's nice to know we're still so important to them (especially as puberty is hitting hard!).
- I asked them why it was important for a leader to be a good listener, and they all agreed that we had to listen to make sure that the followers' ideas were being used and being heard. They unanimously voted for a troop that was run with the girls' ideas and interests rather than the leader's desires. I know, big surprise.
- They went off across the park to figure out examples of how people embody the various parts of the GS Law. When they came back, they didn't have too much time to share with the adults, but they were quite proud of the work they'd done. I prepped them for working with the group leader next time and told them to start thinking of projects. I spouted out a couple of ideas: building bat boxes for our rural flying rodents; decorating the town Girl Scout room because a number of leaders have been commenting on it. I couldn't spout off any more because all three jumped on that idea.
- Over the week, they're reading the graphic novel, coming up with project ideas, and completing their Power Logs. They know that they will receive their Power of One award if they get their Power Logs completed.
SO, once again, it was a successful session (IMO). Next week is "offical" team forming symbolized by the team agreements and brainstorming/planning. We have one Brownie and 2 Juniors to catch up from this week, too. I know the model in the books includes writing letters to officials, but since this is the first Journey for all of us, I'm choosing to use progression. We're going to work within systems that won't require months of town/official meetings... a huge accomplishment on a small stage is a better thing in my book than a flop or an incomplete accomplishment on a huge stage.
Additionally, the Juniors have requested that their Power of One awards be given with something fun to equal the hunts the other groups have been on.
Co-operative Learning? Check!
Learning By Doing? Yup... especially as we work through the planning process next week.
Girl led? We're getting there! The Juniors are going to bring me leaps and bounds forward (even though I thought I was there).
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Little Bit of Feedback
This past weekend found my daughters and me with my co-organizer and her daughter, my SU Manager and her daughter, and the SU Outdoor Program Consultant (OPC) and her daughter at the OPC's family cabin for an overnight camping trip. Unfortunately my co-leader and her daughter had a prior commitment, so we missed them.
While we were there, the OPC said that one of the Sorta Juniors who she brought tends to be difficult to please/entertain. However, after the first session, she is extremely enthused and excited about the Journey program. Unfortunately, she and the SUM's daughter will be missing this coming session due to the opportunity to see a professional soccer game in a local city.
The second piece of feedback came from the OPC again. This time it was about the take-home piece for the Juniors. One part was to find out a little bit about a famous woman who could be a role model. Apparently within three days' time, her daughter had done a bunch of research on Abby Wambaugh (US Women's Soccer player) - and even learned that Abby isn't her true first name. My own Junior had finished her sheets by Friday. On Sunday I asked her if she would share them with me or if I had to wait until the next Journey session. She has a special affinity for Harriet Tubman. We are a very Caucasian, Irish-Italian family, so there's not the ethnic identification thing going on. For my daughter, the fact that Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913, is doubly important: first because it's the same day as she was born (obviously in a different year); second because it was the year after Girl Scouts started. She has visited Tubman's home in Auburn, NY, so when she was given the opportunity to write about a famous woman, it was a no-brainer to her.
The third piece of feedback came today. The SU Manager watched my daughters while I ran a number of errands today, one of which was to the GS shop to pick up the Journey books. I handed an Agent of Change book to the SU Manager's daughter, and she immediately started reading through it with a big smile on her face.
While we were there, the OPC said that one of the Sorta Juniors who she brought tends to be difficult to please/entertain. However, after the first session, she is extremely enthused and excited about the Journey program. Unfortunately, she and the SUM's daughter will be missing this coming session due to the opportunity to see a professional soccer game in a local city.
The second piece of feedback came from the OPC again. This time it was about the take-home piece for the Juniors. One part was to find out a little bit about a famous woman who could be a role model. Apparently within three days' time, her daughter had done a bunch of research on Abby Wambaugh (US Women's Soccer player) - and even learned that Abby isn't her true first name. My own Junior had finished her sheets by Friday. On Sunday I asked her if she would share them with me or if I had to wait until the next Journey session. She has a special affinity for Harriet Tubman. We are a very Caucasian, Irish-Italian family, so there's not the ethnic identification thing going on. For my daughter, the fact that Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913, is doubly important: first because it's the same day as she was born (obviously in a different year); second because it was the year after Girl Scouts started. She has visited Tubman's home in Auburn, NY, so when she was given the opportunity to write about a famous woman, it was a no-brainer to her.
The third piece of feedback came today. The SU Manager watched my daughters while I ran a number of errands today, one of which was to the GS shop to pick up the Journey books. I handed an Agent of Change book to the SU Manager's daughter, and she immediately started reading through it with a big smile on her face.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
First Session
WHEW! The first session of Join the Journey is over, and I am exhausted and happy.
We had the following girls show up:
1 GS Daisy (actually, she registered tonight so she could take part)
4 GS Brownies
3 Sorta GS Juniors (they Fly Up over the summer)
1 GS Junior
Plus, we know that there is another GS Daisy, Brownie, and Sorta Junior joining in next week. Two group leaders couldn't be there this week due to prior obligations, so we did the whole meeting together. In chronological order, here's what we did in our first Journey session:
1. Greet parents and girls. We meet in a park, so the girls got to play on the playground for a few minutes while parents received their welcome letters and permission slip & health form to complete before they left.
2. Gather girls. I asked who thought they knew why we were gathered, and one girl gave a good general answer that I could then tell everyone was a "Journey" in Girl Scout words. We figured out who was in each GS level and then I gave them one copy of the Journey book from their level to go explore as small groups for a few minutes. The Daisy had a few cute questions for me - she wore her tunic and wanted to know how to earn badges to put on it. I heard the Juniors discussing the word search, graphic novel, and Dez I Ner Spider. I also heard the Brownies noticing the Elf, some of the graphics, and "vlalues" as my own Brownie tried to explain. The Daisy asked as we transitioned, "Where are we going on a journey to?" Perfect? Absolutely!
3. Welcome circle. For this activity, the co-organizer and I gathered the girls again and formed a circle - then we had them rearrange so there was no girl from their own troop next to them. I had a ball of yarn that we tossed around for two rounds. The first round's task was to say, "hi," and introduce themselves. They had to keep a hold of part of the string when they tossed the ball of yarn. The second round was to tell the group one of your favorites... favorite dinner, favorite animal, favorite color, whatever - and they had to toss the ball to someone different. After two rounds, we looked at the yarn in the middle of the circle and described it. The answers were precious... a spider web, a bunch of stars, and a crazy flower. I had them hold up their hands in turns if their Journey had a spider or web... stars... and flowers... I couldn't have asked for a better connection moment! Then I explained the cool part of spider web creation where the web is built from the inside to the outside... just like the Journeys they were starting where we'd explore from inside themselves out and into the community. We set the web-star-flower down where we were as a visual reminder throughout the evening.
4. Values scavenger hunt/Values spiders. This part was done as Daisy/Brownies and Juniors. While we had been working on our web-star-flower, two parents who had stayed cut apart some values words I had printed out and spread them throughout the park. Before we split up, we figured out what "values" were. The Daisy/Brownies were sent on a scavenger hunt to find the 33 values words around the park. The Juniors started on some spiders made out of wooden beads. Tonight they wrote values words on at about 20 wooden beads with permanent markers (I emphasized that spelling was important, but not to stumble over it) - next week we'll add the head beads and chenaille-stem (pipe-cleaner) legs. They had to make sure that they were talking with each other to come up with some words and to make sure we didn't end up with duplicates. They worked steadily. At one point I heard the Daisy/Brownies come back to the pavilion and count up the 29 they had... then they ran off to find the other 4 (oh, they were in a buddy and a truddy [3-person buddy] and had been told it wasn't a race or a competition, they were 2 parts of one team). The two moms helped give a little directional guidance to the girls. One was hung on the lowest tree branch that was just out of the girls' reach. The mom's point was to see how they would solve the problem - she expected, "MOM! Can you get this?" but hoped for different - she witnessed the buddy of girls find it, each take a turn jumping to get it, and then the stoutest (my own little butterball) got down on her hands and knees and made sure she was under the paper . Then her extremely light-weight buddy climbed up on her back, and stood up to grab the paper - the mom/leader was watching to make sure there were no injuries - the other 3 stood nearby, cheering them on. The team work and creative problem solving made for a VERY proud moment for all of us moms. For the record, they found 32 of 33 words.
We gathered back together as a big group and went through some of the words they had found and written. The girls tried to define the words (often by using similar concepts), and when they couldn't, they gave examples or non-examples, showing they knew the concepts. Funny moment: when one Sorta Junior (the SU Manager's daughter; apparently she likes to ask for reasons a lot) defined "obedience" as "when you're told to do something, you do it without saying, 'I don't want to.'" Her leader said, "I'm telling your mom that you KNOW what that word means!"... and we did.
5. Ethical dilemmas. For our last active part, the girls voted that the moms had to take part. We took our web and made it into one thick line on the ground. All the girls and moms stood on the line. I stood slightly in front and off to the side where they could all see and hear me. I read them some short, adapted ethical dilemma scenarios that all ended with, "If you would [action A], take a step forward; if you would [action B, opposite of A], take a step backward." I made it clear that there were no "right or wrong answers," that they needed to step honestly, and they HAD to step (they couldn't stay where they were). We started with: "When you grow up you have to pay taxes, especially when you work. That tax money helps the government run, builds roads and schools, and helps poorer people. Imagine that you are the richest ladies in the world." At which point, a darling little one pops out of the line and shouts, "Hey, I'm a boy!" - it was a boy who had been playing in the park and decided to join our activity - so I adjusted to "Okay, I'm sorry! Imagine that you are the richest ladies and YOUNG MAN in the world. If you think that you should pay more taxes to help poorer people, take a step forward. If you don't think that you should have to pay more just because you have more money, take a step backward." I'm pretty sure everyone stepped forward (one adult hesitated I think). The other dilemmas were:
6. Optional (but encouraged) family activities. We went back to the pavilion where I handed out some papers (My Family Star for the Brownies, Power of One and Tell "Her"Story for the Juniors, and All About Me and Me and My Family for the Daisy). I emphasized that it was not homework, but if they bring it back to the next session they attend, they'll have finished the first award on their Journeys (for the record, with the activities between both 1st and 2nd sessions, they'll have definitely earned it).
7. Closing circle. Rather than singing "Taps" and doing the friendship squeeze, we spelled our way out of the meeting. We went around the circle (starting with the Daisy) and spelled "journey" letter by letter. The girl who had "y," said, "Good night, Girl Scouts," and went to clean up and then play on the playground as their parents allowed. The next girl in the circle started the word over again with "j." I was out on the third round, and by the last one out, everything was cleaned up.
Like I said, WHEW! But I'm encouraged and excited about next week. We'll give the girls their individual books next week (parents handed in the money tonight, hence worksheets for the family activities). They are all excited to get their own book that they can write in and draw in. I can definitely tell the two group leaders that I think they'll have fun with their groups... and since it's a small group overall, I think my co-organizer and I will really be able to stand back, observe, take pictures, and troubleshoot as needed.
We had the following girls show up:
1 GS Daisy (actually, she registered tonight so she could take part)
4 GS Brownies
3 Sorta GS Juniors (they Fly Up over the summer)
1 GS Junior
Plus, we know that there is another GS Daisy, Brownie, and Sorta Junior joining in next week. Two group leaders couldn't be there this week due to prior obligations, so we did the whole meeting together. In chronological order, here's what we did in our first Journey session:
1. Greet parents and girls. We meet in a park, so the girls got to play on the playground for a few minutes while parents received their welcome letters and permission slip & health form to complete before they left.
2. Gather girls. I asked who thought they knew why we were gathered, and one girl gave a good general answer that I could then tell everyone was a "Journey" in Girl Scout words. We figured out who was in each GS level and then I gave them one copy of the Journey book from their level to go explore as small groups for a few minutes. The Daisy had a few cute questions for me - she wore her tunic and wanted to know how to earn badges to put on it. I heard the Juniors discussing the word search, graphic novel, and Dez I Ner Spider. I also heard the Brownies noticing the Elf, some of the graphics, and "vlalues" as my own Brownie tried to explain. The Daisy asked as we transitioned, "Where are we going on a journey to?" Perfect? Absolutely!
3. Welcome circle. For this activity, the co-organizer and I gathered the girls again and formed a circle - then we had them rearrange so there was no girl from their own troop next to them. I had a ball of yarn that we tossed around for two rounds. The first round's task was to say, "hi," and introduce themselves. They had to keep a hold of part of the string when they tossed the ball of yarn. The second round was to tell the group one of your favorites... favorite dinner, favorite animal, favorite color, whatever - and they had to toss the ball to someone different. After two rounds, we looked at the yarn in the middle of the circle and described it. The answers were precious... a spider web, a bunch of stars, and a crazy flower. I had them hold up their hands in turns if their Journey had a spider or web... stars... and flowers... I couldn't have asked for a better connection moment! Then I explained the cool part of spider web creation where the web is built from the inside to the outside... just like the Journeys they were starting where we'd explore from inside themselves out and into the community. We set the web-star-flower down where we were as a visual reminder throughout the evening.
4. Values scavenger hunt/Values spiders. This part was done as Daisy/Brownies and Juniors. While we had been working on our web-star-flower, two parents who had stayed cut apart some values words I had printed out and spread them throughout the park. Before we split up, we figured out what "values" were. The Daisy/Brownies were sent on a scavenger hunt to find the 33 values words around the park. The Juniors started on some spiders made out of wooden beads. Tonight they wrote values words on at about 20 wooden beads with permanent markers (I emphasized that spelling was important, but not to stumble over it) - next week we'll add the head beads and chenaille-stem (pipe-cleaner) legs. They had to make sure that they were talking with each other to come up with some words and to make sure we didn't end up with duplicates. They worked steadily. At one point I heard the Daisy/Brownies come back to the pavilion and count up the 29 they had... then they ran off to find the other 4 (oh, they were in a buddy and a truddy [3-person buddy] and had been told it wasn't a race or a competition, they were 2 parts of one team). The two moms helped give a little directional guidance to the girls. One was hung on the lowest tree branch that was just out of the girls' reach. The mom's point was to see how they would solve the problem - she expected, "MOM! Can you get this?" but hoped for different - she witnessed the buddy of girls find it, each take a turn jumping to get it, and then the stoutest (my own little butterball) got down on her hands and knees and made sure she was under the paper . Then her extremely light-weight buddy climbed up on her back, and stood up to grab the paper - the mom/leader was watching to make sure there were no injuries - the other 3 stood nearby, cheering them on. The team work and creative problem solving made for a VERY proud moment for all of us moms. For the record, they found 32 of 33 words.
We gathered back together as a big group and went through some of the words they had found and written. The girls tried to define the words (often by using similar concepts), and when they couldn't, they gave examples or non-examples, showing they knew the concepts. Funny moment: when one Sorta Junior (the SU Manager's daughter; apparently she likes to ask for reasons a lot) defined "obedience" as "when you're told to do something, you do it without saying, 'I don't want to.'" Her leader said, "I'm telling your mom that you KNOW what that word means!"... and we did.
5. Ethical dilemmas. For our last active part, the girls voted that the moms had to take part. We took our web and made it into one thick line on the ground. All the girls and moms stood on the line. I stood slightly in front and off to the side where they could all see and hear me. I read them some short, adapted ethical dilemma scenarios that all ended with, "If you would [action A], take a step forward; if you would [action B, opposite of A], take a step backward." I made it clear that there were no "right or wrong answers," that they needed to step honestly, and they HAD to step (they couldn't stay where they were). We started with: "When you grow up you have to pay taxes, especially when you work. That tax money helps the government run, builds roads and schools, and helps poorer people. Imagine that you are the richest ladies in the world." At which point, a darling little one pops out of the line and shouts, "Hey, I'm a boy!" - it was a boy who had been playing in the park and decided to join our activity - so I adjusted to "Okay, I'm sorry! Imagine that you are the richest ladies and YOUNG MAN in the world. If you think that you should pay more taxes to help poorer people, take a step forward. If you don't think that you should have to pay more just because you have more money, take a step backward." I'm pretty sure everyone stepped forward (one adult hesitated I think). The other dilemmas were:
- You're walking down the street and find President Obama's wallet. It has $1000.00 in cash in it. If you take it directly to the nearest police station without taking anything out, step forward. If you take it to the police station but take out a little bit because he probably won't notice, step backward. All but one girl moved forward
- You're on a jury for a trial where someone stole something - the person was a thief. She stole a loaf of bread to feed her family. If you punish her because she stole, step forward. If you don't punish her because she was trying to feed her family, step backward. One mom and daughter took a step forward, all others stepped back.
- Imagine you're a teenager (adults, remember your teens). It's nearly 11:00 p.m., and that's your curfew - your mom had told you to make sure you were not late, not even by a second. But you've been playing the most awesome video game at your friend's house, and you just noticed that it's a few minutes before 11:00 p.m., and you know there is no way you'll make it home in time. If you call your mom, apologize, and leave immediately, step forward. If you try to sneak in so your mom doesn't catch you, step back. All went forward except one parent who then stated that even a phone call wouldn't have woken her mother if she was asleep.
- Your fairy godmother has made you an offer. She make it so you'll live forever! However, in order to do that, you need to choose a type of animal and wipe it off the face of the Earth - make it extinct. If you take up your fairy godmother on her offer and choose an animal, step backward. If you decide to live a long life and keep the animals on the planet, step forward. They split about in half, and two of the parents took about 4 steps backward with (joking?) comments about rodents and flying rodents of which they are extremely afraid.
6. Optional (but encouraged) family activities. We went back to the pavilion where I handed out some papers (My Family Star for the Brownies, Power of One and Tell "Her"Story for the Juniors, and All About Me and Me and My Family for the Daisy). I emphasized that it was not homework, but if they bring it back to the next session they attend, they'll have finished the first award on their Journeys (for the record, with the activities between both 1st and 2nd sessions, they'll have definitely earned it).
7. Closing circle. Rather than singing "Taps" and doing the friendship squeeze, we spelled our way out of the meeting. We went around the circle (starting with the Daisy) and spelled "journey" letter by letter. The girl who had "y," said, "Good night, Girl Scouts," and went to clean up and then play on the playground as their parents allowed. The next girl in the circle started the word over again with "j." I was out on the third round, and by the last one out, everything was cleaned up.
Like I said, WHEW! But I'm encouraged and excited about next week. We'll give the girls their individual books next week (parents handed in the money tonight, hence worksheets for the family activities). They are all excited to get their own book that they can write in and draw in. I can definitely tell the two group leaders that I think they'll have fun with their groups... and since it's a small group overall, I think my co-organizer and I will really be able to stand back, observe, take pictures, and troubleshoot as needed.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Preparation for "Join the Journey"
I've spent probably 24 hours customizing worksheets and letters to our program's use. I found an old dart board in our house that with the help of some yarn and a staple gun became a green spider's web. Perhaps while the Brownies and Daisies do a Values Treasure Hunt, the Juniors will make bead spiders that my Junior found in her Highlights magazine today (talk about coincidence)... maybe they can label each spider they make with a different value.
The hours of preparation have been worth it so far. I seriously hope they remain useful and the program doesn't tank. I've adapted a number of worksheets that would be nice if we didn't have to use (I loathe worksheet-based activities)... hopefully they can be sent home to use as a home-session connector or to use at the beginning while everyone is showing up.
I also figured out a "fun" way to give out most of the Brownie Quest Keys. The first one will be attached to a star that has the appropriate chant typed on it (these will be printed on cardstock). These will be stapled to the triangle-shaped key award and then hidden around the park where we will be meeting. The girls will be set loose to find them, and when they find one, they read the chant loudly and keep the one they find... it'll be up to the girls whether they look individually or as a group (definite pros to each way). For presentation of the second key award, I took a picture of the new Brownie Elf and set it up so on the reverse side the appropriate chant is typed. These will be printed on cardstock and laminated; then they'll have a hole punched in them and a ring put through... making a key chain/holder... then we'll attach the award to the ring using a safety pin. I haven't figured out a "fun" way for the third key award yet... I have a graphic of a heart with wings and the appropriate chant typed over it, but I don't know what we're doing with it yet.
As for the Daisy Flower Garden awards, we're going to put the background pieces in individual plastic bags and bury them in the potting soil the girls will use for planting their garden/flower. I can envision putting the watering can in a plastic baggy with a marble to weight it, and then submerging them in the watering cans the girls will use to water their garden/flower. Golden Bee and Amazing Daisy awards... don't know yet. Any ideas?
The Junior Power awards are lagging sorely behind. I think the Power of One could easily be made into a spider for presentation. The Power of Team and Power of Community?? No clues yet.
Hopefully the people working with the GS Daisy and Junior groups can come up with something creative and "fun."
The hours of preparation have been worth it so far. I seriously hope they remain useful and the program doesn't tank. I've adapted a number of worksheets that would be nice if we didn't have to use (I loathe worksheet-based activities)... hopefully they can be sent home to use as a home-session connector or to use at the beginning while everyone is showing up.
I also figured out a "fun" way to give out most of the Brownie Quest Keys. The first one will be attached to a star that has the appropriate chant typed on it (these will be printed on cardstock). These will be stapled to the triangle-shaped key award and then hidden around the park where we will be meeting. The girls will be set loose to find them, and when they find one, they read the chant loudly and keep the one they find... it'll be up to the girls whether they look individually or as a group (definite pros to each way). For presentation of the second key award, I took a picture of the new Brownie Elf and set it up so on the reverse side the appropriate chant is typed. These will be printed on cardstock and laminated; then they'll have a hole punched in them and a ring put through... making a key chain/holder... then we'll attach the award to the ring using a safety pin. I haven't figured out a "fun" way for the third key award yet... I have a graphic of a heart with wings and the appropriate chant typed over it, but I don't know what we're doing with it yet.
As for the Daisy Flower Garden awards, we're going to put the background pieces in individual plastic bags and bury them in the potting soil the girls will use for planting their garden/flower. I can envision putting the watering can in a plastic baggy with a marble to weight it, and then submerging them in the watering cans the girls will use to water their garden/flower. Golden Bee and Amazing Daisy awards... don't know yet. Any ideas?
The Junior Power awards are lagging sorely behind. I think the Power of One could easily be made into a spider for presentation. The Power of Team and Power of Community?? No clues yet.
Hopefully the people working with the GS Daisy and Junior groups can come up with something creative and "fun."
Huh, who'da thunk??
I admit, I'm a grown-up. I am not the market for which the Journey books are being written. Having said that, my first impression of the program is that it's quite do-able... hence organizing the program for the entire Service Unit. However, that does not mean I don't find fault... well, didn't find fault in some cases... with the girls' books.
Originally I thought the Brownie Quest book had too complicated a story to keep the girls' attention. I also think the first half and the second half are too disjointed. The way it is presented, the first half of the book is for the Brownie to do on her own or with her family while the second half is the Journey that is meant to be done with her troop/group/team.
Similarly, I thought the Junior Agent of Change book's graphic-novel presentation was too out of sync with what the girls would actually like. I also think the story sets up an example for the girls that raises the bar awfully high out of their reach... to expect a few 4th and 5th graders to be able to pull of a pet adoption day and shelter clean-up as a first project is a bit unreasonable (IMO). Expect them to aim high? Absolutely! However, as GS taught previously, a "Smart" goal is attainable with some stretching... not with pulling a miracle out of a hat. ...I digress.
Earlier this week, my daughters (a GS Brownie and a GS Junior) were begging for something "new" to read. They noticed the books lying around since I have been working on the organizing the first session, neither the Daisy nor Brownie group leader can attend, and asked if they could look at them. They both liked the books when they first came out and the girls first looked at them... but after the first half-hour to forty-five minutes, the books were set aside like Christmas/birthday presents. The Brownie realized her book contained a story first... causing a slight tinge of jealousy in the Junior until I pointed out the graphic novel in her own book. I didn't see the books again for two days!
I've been chatting with the girls over the past day and a half, and it turns out that both girls really liked the stories. The Brownie told me excitedly that she wanted to read the second part of the book with me to find out what happens next to Campbell, Alejandra ("Al" as my daughter calls her), and Jamila. She was so disappointed when I explained that the second half wasn't a story... she brightened a little when I explained that the Join the Journey program was going to go through the second half of the book. She is completely intrigued by the map, and after she summarized the first half chapter-by-chapter for me, we picture walked through the rest of the book and figured out how the activities matched up with the map. It is her not-so-humble opinion that the Brownies and Daisies should start out tomorrow with scavenger hunt, looking for "vlalues... whatever they are." So, it's clear that she's intrigued... and she's willing to figure out what this "vlalues" word means (yes, she does actually say it that way, it's not a typo).
The Junior has decided that she wants to read more graphic novels (Yay, for literacy!). After reading it, she said it gave her a "better" idea for her Bronze Award project. She had been talking about holding an event for GS Brownies and Daisies where they would make Happy Socks for cats and Spread the Bread dog biscuits for dogs in a local animal shelter. Now she's thinking she can organize a shelter clean-up and adoption day. She's so used to being the outsider in a troop - for the 3 years we've been in this school district, she has been a member of 3 different troops because her grade level's troop was full, and the one that took her mid-year Flew Up to Juniors a year before her, leaving her to join a troop that didn't bridge until a year after her; this year she had another Junior in the troop, but that one didn't come all that often, so she was often the only Junior with a bunch of Brownies. Because of her experiences, she automatically thinks of project management as an individual thing rather than as a group effort... she often bites off more than she can chew, so the Journey Take Action Project should help her take on something more manageable with the help of her peers. Last night she asked if she could do the word search in the book... for a kid that finds word searches extremely difficult, this request was definite progress.
Color me amazed that the girls have taken to the books as they have... hopefully the other participating girls will, too.
Originally I thought the Brownie Quest book had too complicated a story to keep the girls' attention. I also think the first half and the second half are too disjointed. The way it is presented, the first half of the book is for the Brownie to do on her own or with her family while the second half is the Journey that is meant to be done with her troop/group/team.
Similarly, I thought the Junior Agent of Change book's graphic-novel presentation was too out of sync with what the girls would actually like. I also think the story sets up an example for the girls that raises the bar awfully high out of their reach... to expect a few 4th and 5th graders to be able to pull of a pet adoption day and shelter clean-up as a first project is a bit unreasonable (IMO). Expect them to aim high? Absolutely! However, as GS taught previously, a "Smart" goal is attainable with some stretching... not with pulling a miracle out of a hat. ...I digress.
Earlier this week, my daughters (a GS Brownie and a GS Junior) were begging for something "new" to read. They noticed the books lying around since I have been working on the organizing the first session, neither the Daisy nor Brownie group leader can attend, and asked if they could look at them. They both liked the books when they first came out and the girls first looked at them... but after the first half-hour to forty-five minutes, the books were set aside like Christmas/birthday presents. The Brownie realized her book contained a story first... causing a slight tinge of jealousy in the Junior until I pointed out the graphic novel in her own book. I didn't see the books again for two days!
I've been chatting with the girls over the past day and a half, and it turns out that both girls really liked the stories. The Brownie told me excitedly that she wanted to read the second part of the book with me to find out what happens next to Campbell, Alejandra ("Al" as my daughter calls her), and Jamila. She was so disappointed when I explained that the second half wasn't a story... she brightened a little when I explained that the Join the Journey program was going to go through the second half of the book. She is completely intrigued by the map, and after she summarized the first half chapter-by-chapter for me, we picture walked through the rest of the book and figured out how the activities matched up with the map. It is her not-so-humble opinion that the Brownies and Daisies should start out tomorrow with scavenger hunt, looking for "vlalues... whatever they are." So, it's clear that she's intrigued... and she's willing to figure out what this "vlalues" word means (yes, she does actually say it that way, it's not a typo).
The Junior has decided that she wants to read more graphic novels (Yay, for literacy!). After reading it, she said it gave her a "better" idea for her Bronze Award project. She had been talking about holding an event for GS Brownies and Daisies where they would make Happy Socks for cats and Spread the Bread dog biscuits for dogs in a local animal shelter. Now she's thinking she can organize a shelter clean-up and adoption day. She's so used to being the outsider in a troop - for the 3 years we've been in this school district, she has been a member of 3 different troops because her grade level's troop was full, and the one that took her mid-year Flew Up to Juniors a year before her, leaving her to join a troop that didn't bridge until a year after her; this year she had another Junior in the troop, but that one didn't come all that often, so she was often the only Junior with a bunch of Brownies. Because of her experiences, she automatically thinks of project management as an individual thing rather than as a group effort... she often bites off more than she can chew, so the Journey Take Action Project should help her take on something more manageable with the help of her peers. Last night she asked if she could do the word search in the book... for a kid that finds word searches extremely difficult, this request was definite progress.
Color me amazed that the girls have taken to the books as they have... hopefully the other participating girls will, too.
Friday, August 7, 2009
It's Your World - Change It! in a small-town Service Unit
Setting the physical stage:
In the world of Girl Scouting, the national organization (GSUSA) is broken up into councils... my state has five or six of them after the Great Realignment. My Council covers 9 counties, including 3 major cities, 2 minor cities, and an abundance of towns and villages (one county has more dairy cattle than people - in an almost 3-to-1 ratio). The counties are then broken up into smaller Service Units - mine is one of 4 (I think) in my county. Service Units are broken into troops... my Service Unit covers two villages and the towns immediately surrounding them - it's easier to say that the Service Unit covers the school district. This past year we had 1 GS Daisy troop, 4 GS Brownie troops, 4 GS Junior troops, 2 GS Cadette/Senior troops and 1 GS Ambassador troop. We live in a pretty rural community near a relatively large city.
Got all that?
Setting the Program stage:
In my Service Unit, I have voluntarily taken on co-leading a GS Brownie/Junior troop, Adult Recognition Chair, Facilitator, and Leader Development Coordinator (sounds much nicer than "Training and Records Nazi," right?). I also organize a number of events for all of the girls in the Service Unit, including our annual World Thinking Day event, our SU Kick-off event, J-Low Birthday Party With A Twist (co-organizer), Brownie Weekend (co-organizer), and Junior Jamboree (co-organizer)... yes, in my perfect GS world, I would give up leading a troop and become SU Event Wrangler, but that's not happening anytime soon as far as I can tell.
Over the past couple of years, GSUSA has developed a new core program for Girl Scouts called "Journeys." As far as my council has said, and I pointedly asked the Director of Training, these Journeys are meant to be the core of the program, and Daisy Petals, Brownie Try-Its, Junior Badges, and Older Girl Interest Projects are the side courses on the Program buffet. The first Journey that was released is called It's Your World - Change It! The second Journey that is now being released is It's Your Planet - Love It!
Action:
SO, one of my co-leaders signed on to help oversee a program offering for the Service Unit where we focus on the first Journey for a number of weeks over the summer. It's win-win: she is in charge of an event but not on her own, and I'm able to teach someone else event planning and then hope to hand it off in the future. We got together a couple of weeks ago and looked over the adult and girl books for the GS Daisy, Brownie, and Junior levels. We figured out that within a session or two, they all paralleled each other - enough to make our idea feasible.
We have opted for the following set-up
1. A 5-week program meeting on the same night each week - excepting the first day of school - for an hour and a half in the local park.
2. A "Parent Zone" where parents can hang out and socialize without being "helicopter parents."
3. We'll open and do a small activity together, and then break into the three GS-level groups to complete Journey-specific activities.
4. Ideally, a GS Parent will lead each of the three groups with a current GS Leader as direct support - creating the potential for a small-theatre success for parents who are on the fence about becoming a GS Leader.
5. We're going to strongly encourage the girls to think of outdoor projects for their Take Action Projects.
6. The girls can participate regardless of their leader's level of participation or the rest of their troop's level of participation. The "Teams" as the Journeys call for will be created with the other girls in their GS level at the program.
Step one, planning... done!
Step two, recruiting...
I called a number of parents and leaders, and when all was said and done, we had a GS Daisy Parent, a GS Daisy Leader, and a GS Brownie Leader... I'm not giving up hope, but that is at least adequate for now. Within the last 12 hours... all heck has broken loose, it seems language became too muddled, and the short end of it is that we have a GS Daisy Parent-looking-to-lead-next-year and a GS Brownie Leader. Still, we're okay.
Step two, recruiting... done... well, maybe or maybe not.
Step three, advertising to girls and parents...
When we had at least a minimal number of adults to lead the program, I put together a flyer and sent it out through e-mail as a PDF file to all of the leaders, specifically asking them to forward the information to the girls in their troops and clearly stating that the girls were welcome to attend even if the leader did not want to attend. Within the last 24 hours, I found out the leaders of two troops haven't even told their girls about this offering. cue vocalized growling
Step three, advertising... done... at least as well as I can personally manage.
The first night of the program is on August 12th, so the next update will probably be posted near then.
In the world of Girl Scouting, the national organization (GSUSA) is broken up into councils... my state has five or six of them after the Great Realignment. My Council covers 9 counties, including 3 major cities, 2 minor cities, and an abundance of towns and villages (one county has more dairy cattle than people - in an almost 3-to-1 ratio). The counties are then broken up into smaller Service Units - mine is one of 4 (I think) in my county. Service Units are broken into troops... my Service Unit covers two villages and the towns immediately surrounding them - it's easier to say that the Service Unit covers the school district. This past year we had 1 GS Daisy troop, 4 GS Brownie troops, 4 GS Junior troops, 2 GS Cadette/Senior troops and 1 GS Ambassador troop. We live in a pretty rural community near a relatively large city.
Got all that?
Setting the Program stage:
In my Service Unit, I have voluntarily taken on co-leading a GS Brownie/Junior troop, Adult Recognition Chair, Facilitator, and Leader Development Coordinator (sounds much nicer than "Training and Records Nazi," right?). I also organize a number of events for all of the girls in the Service Unit, including our annual World Thinking Day event, our SU Kick-off event, J-Low Birthday Party With A Twist (co-organizer), Brownie Weekend (co-organizer), and Junior Jamboree (co-organizer)... yes, in my perfect GS world, I would give up leading a troop and become SU Event Wrangler, but that's not happening anytime soon as far as I can tell.
Over the past couple of years, GSUSA has developed a new core program for Girl Scouts called "Journeys." As far as my council has said, and I pointedly asked the Director of Training, these Journeys are meant to be the core of the program, and Daisy Petals, Brownie Try-Its, Junior Badges, and Older Girl Interest Projects are the side courses on the Program buffet. The first Journey that was released is called It's Your World - Change It! The second Journey that is now being released is It's Your Planet - Love It!
Action:
SO, one of my co-leaders signed on to help oversee a program offering for the Service Unit where we focus on the first Journey for a number of weeks over the summer. It's win-win: she is in charge of an event but not on her own, and I'm able to teach someone else event planning and then hope to hand it off in the future. We got together a couple of weeks ago and looked over the adult and girl books for the GS Daisy, Brownie, and Junior levels. We figured out that within a session or two, they all paralleled each other - enough to make our idea feasible.
We have opted for the following set-up
1. A 5-week program meeting on the same night each week - excepting the first day of school - for an hour and a half in the local park.
2. A "Parent Zone" where parents can hang out and socialize without being "helicopter parents."
3. We'll open and do a small activity together, and then break into the three GS-level groups to complete Journey-specific activities.
4. Ideally, a GS Parent will lead each of the three groups with a current GS Leader as direct support - creating the potential for a small-theatre success for parents who are on the fence about becoming a GS Leader.
5. We're going to strongly encourage the girls to think of outdoor projects for their Take Action Projects.
6. The girls can participate regardless of their leader's level of participation or the rest of their troop's level of participation. The "Teams" as the Journeys call for will be created with the other girls in their GS level at the program.
Step one, planning... done!
Step two, recruiting...
I called a number of parents and leaders, and when all was said and done, we had a GS Daisy Parent, a GS Daisy Leader, and a GS Brownie Leader... I'm not giving up hope, but that is at least adequate for now. Within the last 12 hours... all heck has broken loose, it seems language became too muddled, and the short end of it is that we have a GS Daisy Parent-looking-to-lead-next-year and a GS Brownie Leader. Still, we're okay.
Step two, recruiting... done... well, maybe or maybe not.
Step three, advertising to girls and parents...
When we had at least a minimal number of adults to lead the program, I put together a flyer and sent it out through e-mail as a PDF file to all of the leaders, specifically asking them to forward the information to the girls in their troops and clearly stating that the girls were welcome to attend even if the leader did not want to attend. Within the last 24 hours, I found out the leaders of two troops haven't even told their girls about this offering. cue vocalized growling
Step three, advertising... done... at least as well as I can personally manage.
The first night of the program is on August 12th, so the next update will probably be posted near then.
Why Blog? Why Now?
So some who read this might wonder why I'm embarking on such a "Journey" at this time. Easy answer: I've done Web page designing and updating... now it's time for blogging. More complex answer: I saw another Girl Scout Leader who is setting up her blog to focus on her troop's experience with the "new" Girl Scout Journey program, and I thought it was a good idea.
SO, this blog is meant to focus on my girls' (my own, my troop's, and my area's [Service Unit]) experiences with the Journeys. The next post will start the process with some background on how my Service Unit is offering the Journey experience to girls for the first time.
SO, this blog is meant to focus on my girls' (my own, my troop's, and my area's [Service Unit]) experiences with the Journeys. The next post will start the process with some background on how my Service Unit is offering the Journey experience to girls for the first time.
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