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.
  • 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.
3. Brownie Quest.
  • 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.
4. Junior Agent of Change.
  • 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.
5. Dismissal. Each group dismissed on its own tonight. I figured it would be better that way because the groups ended at different times (all within about 20 minutes of each other). However, I now know better because one of the Juniors was disappointed that we weren't going to do a closing circle like last time. I'll have to see if she wants to lead the closing at the next session.

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).

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