An Hour A Week? Scout Podcast #3

Podcast #3 covers some Scout internet news and Part 1 of the Blue & Gold Banquet.

To receive this Podcast, e-mail me.

Links:
Scouts In Action-Water Rescue
Address to help USScouts.org

Podcasting

I'm working on getting the podcast listed on the iPodder.org directory and pinging it to audio.weblogs.com.

Once that is done, who knows what will happen.

An Hour A Week? Scout Podcast #2

Hot on the heels of last night's debut comes tonight's podcast. A few less "Uh"s; I'll keep working on it.

Podcast #2 covers a couple of Scout news items, a wrap up of our Pack's Pinewood Derby and "An Hour A Week" explained.

To receive this Podcast, e-mail me.

Links:
Home Schooled Scouts
Alabama Council Investigation

An Hour A Week? Scout Podcast #1

Finally! I just sat down and did it.

Podcast #1 is an introduction to my part of the Scouting world and the standard "thank-you"s. Feedback is appreciated.

To receive this Podcast, e-mail me.

'night Johnny

He's one of my inspirations for my Cubmaster style.

I remember watching his last broadcast and knowing that I was watching something important, but also not knowing exactly why it was important. I know now.

I'll miss Mr. Carson.

Today is the big race

It is way too early for me to be up.

I woke up a couple of hours ago and just can't go back to sleep. I keep thinking about the Pinewood Derby and making a podcast. If it wasn't so early, I think I'd just record it right now. Maybe tonight.

Usually I can't sleep the night before a big Scouting event because I'm too nervous-thinking about what I've forgotten to Pack, what announcement I'm going to forget to make, how I'm going to make a fool of myself (and not in that 8 year old boy "cool" sort of way).

People started calling around 5:00 yesterday, asking about last minute preparations and seeing what I needed help with. That's when an event truly begins for me. That first call from another parent, when they tell me they're working on something or just want to clarify some last-minute detail, always makes me feel like I'm not the only one worrying.

Unfortunately, I usually am the only one worrying and losing sleep over Cub Scouts. Normal people don't worry this much about Cub Scouts. The other volunteers are helping out, leading, running errands, picking up food, you know-normal people tasks. I'm sitting up trying to figure out how things could go wrong (they never have) at 4 in the morning.

Sane people don't lose sleep over activites for a group of 7-10 year old boys, do they? I'd like to think that doesn't reflect bad on me, but I will admit it's a little odd.

Also, thanks to Jim at Posithink.net for the positive words earlier this week.

Dealing with ADD & ADHD Scouts

Our Pack has a few ADD & ADHD Scouts, which I have found to be difficult to handle at times. Some of these boys are also my favorites to just sit and talk with at campouts or after meetings. I find it difficult to keep them engaged in a Den or Pack setting, even though I can do it when we're in a smaller setting, with only 1-2 other people around. It's been like that for the last 2-3 years and I've never really found a good list of advice that was specific to Scouting.

This morning I found one and here it is. Please forgive me for not giving credit- I found this on a Scouting mailing list.

--------------------------
Keep all activities down to 15 minutes or less. I would add that allowing and encouraging the boys to be creative in their projects helps tremendously.

Separate the ADHD boys from each other, and from other boys who are liable to follow the ADHD boys' lead in going wild. I seat my boys in a "U" shape with the Den Chief and my Asst Den Leader at the bottom of the "U". The three ADD and ADHD boys along with the most reactive of the other boys are seated in an alternating arrangement with the quieter boys. The two ADHD boys are seated right next to the leaders (DC and ADL) to allow for personal one on one control and the ADHD boys work harder at self control as they can get immediate words of praise from the leaders.

Let the boys know the plans for the meeting at the begining. Give them a goal and keep reminding them why they are doing what they are doing. Give recognition in the meeting for their achievements.

Maintain control of the meeting. I use a carrot and stick approach. The carrot is the "good conduct jug". Each boy places a bead in a clear water bottle at the start of each meeting. When disruptive or dangerous behavior happens, the Denner removes a bead. There are lines on the jug that will take about 3-4 months to cover. We just had our first reward, by their choice a trip to a local pizza/game center. The stick is first to "signs up", while using direct eye contact with the boys. A firm, non-stressed voice helps. Don't dwell on control, but quickly move to the focus activity.

Use short simple sentences. Ask the boys to repeat requests and directions back to you.

Have the boys draw up their own den meeting rules. I have a list that my boys made up posted in our meeting room. They point out infractions to each other.

Serve refreshments last. My boys do a round-robin for "snack". Every kid seems to prefer red drinks. The food coloring used, plus sugar in the cookies is guaranteed to have the kids bouncing off the walls in a half hour. Snack is a time for quietly going over the days activities and letting the boys know what will be done at the next meeting.

Be prepared. I prepare a month in advance what will be done at each meeting, and what must be done at home for each boy to earn the current activity pins. Having a well thought out plan gives me the freedom to adapt as the situation changes. In addition make one or more of each craft in advance so the boys have a model to "touch and feel" and so that you know how to do it, and that the boys are capable of doing the tasks needed for the craft.

Get the quick boys to help the slower boys. With supervision this can be a help. But watch out. Boys this age switch from cooperative to competitive modes very fast.

Keep the boys focused. ADHD boys are very easily distracted by external stimuli. I and my leaders constantly walk among the boys asking them to tell us what they are doing, complementing creativity. This seems to help in the longer more complex Webelos crafts.

Many ADD and ADHD boys take drugs (Ritalin, etc) to allow them to control their responses. Parents try to give the boys their dose about 1/2 hour before the meeting. But in real life, this does not alway happen. Be prepared for lasts week's angel to be this week's terror. My Asst Den Leader will become the terror's shadow when this happens. This is vital to a
controlled meeting.

Contact the ADD Warehouse, which has a catalog of reading and other things relevant to ADD/ADHD. You can call them at (800) 233-9273. I sat down with my ADD/ADHD parents and selected books that covered symptoms that were most common with their boys. The public library in my town had several books that gave me a good insight to the problem, but be warned, my parents told me that some the information was out of date.

ADD/ADHD kids need even more complements than other kids. But don't forget the other boys. Make the complement real, and word it in such a way as to encourage future growth. One of my ADHD boys has become quite an innovator in fishing for complements. He is begining to understand what actions will and will not earn him a complement and his behavior is slowly improving.

Cycle your activities. I have an active gathering game, den business, a focused activity, another short game, and then snack/reflection all within a 1 1/4 hour period.

My parents stay away from den meetings unless we are doing an activity that requires lots of supervision or assistance. The parents state that their boys are learning that all adults (Akeylas) require the same behavior, not just parents and teachers.

Relate information and activities to "doing" things. Somatic language that connotes physical activity helps. Many ADD boys learn best by doing, and are very poor at memorizing remote facts. This can slow meetings down, but will improve the experience for everyone.

I'm in a bad mood

I'm still getting ready for the Pinewood Derby this weekend, but just had the wind knocked out of my sails by someone. Since I'm new to blogging, I'm not sure who is reading this (if anyone) and don't want to mention specifics about what happened.

I think I'll work on some freelance jobs tonight, maybe not think about Scouting. Everything should look better in the morning.

Lazing on A Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday was a lot of fun; we had a few "Leader Meetings" during our Pinewood Derby trial run and picked up a new Den Leader! It seems like such an easy concept-just ask for help and people will help. No cars were damaged and the track is still in one piece. We're just about ready for our PWD next week.

It also gave me a chance to talk to a lot of the parents about their opinions of the Pack and it's leadership. I don't get to do it as often as I would like; there's never enough time. Or privacy. Or not having excited Scouts around. It is nice to have a minute ir two to look a parent in the eyes and really listen to them. I learned a lot about the Pack from the "other side".

I ordered a mircophone today from eBay. I am SO ready to start Podcasting. I'm hoping I can get it this week, so I can do my first one this weekend; maybe I'll even do two.

But for now, it's Sunday afternoon, 44º outside, and I'm going to spend some time with the kids.

Pinewood Derby and a new Podcast

Tomorrow we're having the trial run for our Pinewood Derby, where everyone comes over to my house and makes sure their cars are within spec. I'm actually looking forward to it; I get a lot of energy from being around the other Scouts and their parents. We'll see if I still feel that way tomorrow night.

Also, Dave Slusher played a "shout-out" from another Podcast (http://www.posithink.net/). Amazing, but Jim talked about almost exactly the same thing I did in my first post. Good for you, Jim! I'll be listening to his Podcast; I think it's an untapped area in Podcasting (much like Scouting).

Boy Scouts of America Recognizes National Mentoring Month

Boy Scouts of America Recognizes National Mentoring Month

As part of its ongoing efforts to do a Good Turn for America, the Boy Scouts of America, the nation's leading youth organization, is recognizing January 2005 as National Mentoring Month.

Get out and do what you can to help inspire young people. They're going to look up to someone; why can't it be you?

Getting ready for our Pinewood Derby

Last night we tested our Pinewood Derby track. We do it every year to make sure we have all of the screws, the wires for the timer are all there, stuff like that.

So a couple of the Den Leaders come by and we open the box for the track-and the wires to the starting gate have been cut and there's a label on the serial cable (in MY writing) that says "Replace this Cord". Every year, it's something. 2 years ago, we broke the starting gate, last year we broke some of the other wires; it's always something.

So a couple of promises to go get new wires and one soldering gun later, we have everything set up. 3 lanes out of the 4 work right away. We haven't had a 4-lane race in a couple of years, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But the other 2 guys wanted to try and get it working, I just wanted to get it over with. So much for my great Cubmaster leadership.

After 10-15 minutes, they got all 4 lanes working and they labeled everything so we could put it back together next week at the real race. We broke it all back down and it is quietly sleeping in my garage.

The point: I have a real bad habit of trying to do as much as I can myself. If those Den Leaders wouldn't have come over, I would have just left it at 3 working lanes. We would still have our Pinewood Derby and it would still be fine, but I would know the Pack Leadership didn't do it's best and that would make it harder for us to ask the boys to do their best. If the parents and the Scouts know the leadership is giving as much as we can to the Pack, they will give as much as they can.

Let the Blogging begin

I've let the weblog turn into a retelling of new stories from other sites, which was not my intention at all. So let's try this again, from the top...

Interned Japanese-Americans embraced Scouting

KRT Wire | 01/10/2005 | Interned Japanese-Americans embraced Scouting
An old flag stored for decades in a suitcase under someone's bed. A stash of books, their spines barely creased, rescued from a classroom at a San Francisco Buddhist church. Combined, these items tell the story of a little known part of American history: how Japanese-Americans segregated in internment camps during World War II embraced Boy Scouting, a most American tradition, at a time when the United States restricted their freedom.

Ottawa - Scouts to assist with southeast Asia relief effort

Ottawa - Scouts to assist with southeast Asia relief effort
“As an organization that teaches its youth to help others, it is important that we provide our members with the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the relief effort,” explained Mike Scott, Scouts Canada’s Chief Commissioner. “I have therefore challenged each Beaver, Cub, Scout, Venturer and Rover across Canada to donate his or her weekly dues over the course of the next two weeks to a special national fund.”

Lennon's Scout group benefits from trust

ic Liverpool - Lennon's Scout group benefits from trust
JOHN LENNON'S former Scout group is among the beneficiaries of a trust set up to benefit the people of one of Merseyside's most popular suburbs.

Scout collects $1,800 in donations for tsunami relief

Scout collects $1,800 in donations for tsunami relief (Omaha World-Herald).
Gus Winner, the 11-year-old Cub Scout who responded to news of the Asian tsunami by going door-to-door in his Omaha neighborhood collecting donations, surprised even himself.

Scouts to buy Melita Island

Scouts to buy Melita Island (Daily Inter Lake).
Today is the deadline for a Boy Scout campaign to raise $1.5 million for the purchase of an island on Flathead Lake, and it appears that target will be met "by the skin of our teeth," the campaign chairman said Thursday afternoon.