Tomorrow starts the National Football League Draft. With much anticipation I’ll be watching to see where the best college players will end up. Now, I know you are like me and these last couple weeks have been a fever pitch of following the rise and fall of players as they… or I should say their agents jockey the players up and down on the draft boards. Hours of film and looking at the combine score cards matched with interviews, team visits, and show casing on the sports talk circuit have placed players in position to be drafted to one of the 32 teams of the NFL.
So what’s this all have to do with Scouting? I know that you would all love to talk football, but we really need to get to the point here. For more football talk head over to the ESPN College Football blog. What all this has to do with Scouting is Character.
As I have been following the mock drafts and the trying to keep up with the who’s who and where they are going on the draft board I have been taking a real hard look at the players this year. What is interesting is that they move up and down the draft board for many reasons. What I have learned is that coaches, GM’s and the NFL have really taken a turn toward character.
In the past it has seemed that the NFL has over looked character issues. But like any business the lack of character ultimately will start to hurt the company. Players like Pac Man Jones can no longer get away with the shenanigans that they used to. Teams want men that they do not have to baby sit and worry about representing their organization.
Look at the circus around the Manti Te’o “fake girlfriend” issue. A great football player is more than likely going to drop as low as the third round in the draft. The fact that he lied is enough of an issue to the NFL GM’s that they consider it a blemish in his character. The problem I have with this particular case is that Manti Te’o is an Eagle Scout. In a moment when he could have shared his Scouting values with the world and maintained his place on the draft board, he chose to lie, he made a choice to turn against the Oath and Law.
So what’s the big deal? Money. A first round draft pick will make an average of $500 thousand more than a third round pick. That’s a big hunk of change and that’s just a guess.
Looking at the big name players this year it is easy to see how much character is playing is the board movement. Geno Smith from West Virginia has been bouncing around because of rumors about his work ethic, LSU’s Tryann Mathieu has been all over the place because of character issues. Mathieu “the Honey Badger” is a fantastic football player and was expected to go early in the first round. Now, it looks like he may go as late as the third round. All because of issues off the field. Playing the game is no longer enough to get a spot on an NFL roster.
As many of you know, my son is a great football player and there are multiple Division 1 schools looking at him as a prospect to play at the next level. The one thing that they stress in our visits and communications is education, keeping the grades up and character. The on the field play is already good enough to be considered. They really don’t want to have a player that they need to worry about. They would prefer to focus on the play.
I love to find parallels in life and no matter were I look I find opportunities to live the Oath and Law. Character is moving multi million dollar football players up and down the draft boards.
I am going to be glued to the draft, at least for the first couple rounds. After that.. I will follow the players that I have interest in. You can see the difference between the players that may be shorter on talent and those that drop because of character. Follow the law and you will get picked higher in life.
Great life lessons always to be learned in Football… and Scouting.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
picture in this post courtesy of http://www.buffalobills.com
Category Archives: Leadership
Action from the Middle
Last night our Troop held it’s Patrol leaders council meeting. The meeting was unlike most of the PLC meetings in that this meeting was kind of a reflective meeting as our troop is going through, like most troops go through in the course of time, some transition.
We have gone through growth spurts, and seen Scouts come and go. For a time, we had more older boys then young ones, then we had more young guys than old guys, now our middle is flush and our older guys are few and far between.
The Senior patrol leader is a real great kid. He loves the Troop and wants it to be the very best. Last night the discussion in the PLC meeting was focused on what the middle was going to do to run the troop. In short. It’s their troop now.. what do they want to do with it?
For some of the guys this is a hard question. Some of the guys would rather just follow and not take on any leadership, while others are willing to step up. Unfortunately, the followers out number the leaders three-fold.
While at the camp out this weekend, I shared with some of the leaders that it was time for them all to step up and take over.
There are older Scouts that feel that the troop is boring… that there is no reason to come to meetings… that Scouting is becoming a waste of time. Well, maybe… but it’s because they don’t want to be a part of the solution. They would rather just max the minimum, get their Eagle and go about their lives. Good for them, but it does nothing to help the Troop. That’s really too bad, they could really do great things if they wanted to. But as we discussed last night, if that is what they want, that is what they will get. The younger guys are officially taking over the Troop as of last night. And I am so proud of them. I think they are about to take this Troop in a direction that will be fun and adventurous. They are dedicated and motivated and most of all willing to put the effort into taking care of their Troop.
This weekends camp out forced some of the Scouts to do some reflection on who they are and what they want out of Scouting. It was great to see them take it serious and think about what they wanted success to look like.
I suppose the good thing about having older Scouts that don’t want to make a difference is that they are showing the young guys what not to do. Yeah, I guess I am spinning that a bit. We typically want our older Scouts to set an example of the right way to do things, but sometimes we learn from the lack of action or failure of others.
I am not happy about the attitudes of the older guys that are not making a difference in a program that I think gave them a lot. But, it is what it is.
The silver lining is the results are going to be great in the actions of the younger fellows of the Troop.
I am looking forward to seeing them kick into gear here and get things moving.
More later on this. Stand by for great things!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Running to action
Bare with me while I try to collect my thoughts and try to share them in a coherent way…
We just wrapped up the first session of Wood Badge course W1-492-13 and as is the case in or of the Wood Badge experience, there are plenty of opportunities to do some reflection and looking inward at the person that you are.
Learning leadership is just part of the Wood Badge experience and can’t really be placed into action until the leader has made internal commitments to be a better person. Thank goodness we in Scouting have this wonderful set of values that we find in the Scout Law. Assessment tools that are learned and practiced in our quest to find knowledge and self-realization of our strengths and weakness’.
What I am saying is that once again, I have had an opportunity to reflect and take that critical look inside. Couple that with the rest of the fun of Wood Badge and we are on that emotional roller coaster that comes with the experience.
What I am always amazed about is the people. The 53 Scouters that paid, took time off, drove out to the coast, and make the choice to attend Wood Badge are dedicated Scouters in their respective programs. They are enthusiastic about learning how to be better Scouters, husbands and wives, Fathers, Mothers, and employees or employers. The Wood Badge program makes all of those aspects of our lives better.
The amazing part is the dedication that they demonstrate. They are great people.
Last night when I got home the news was filled with the Boston Marathon bombing. Thank God that the damage was relatively small. I am not going to rant and rave about the scum bags that would do something like this. You all know how I feel. Here is what I saw when watching the never-ending coverage. The reactions of the people. You see as the first bomb exploded we saw three groups of people. The first group was those that were injured. The second group was those that ran away from the danger. And the third group were the people who ran to the explosion. What makes people do this?
I saw this over and over again in my Southwest Asian vacation in Iraq. When the shots starts soldiers face the fire and move toward the danger. Yesterday, we saw runners, members of the National Guard, First responders, all heading to the danger. They selflessly give, forgoing their own safety and comfort. They put other people ahead of themselves. They are living the values that we promise in the Oath and Law.
I am proud of these people and thank them.
Now this is going to sound like a stretch… but it is how I feel, so please bare with me here.
I have served on two Wood Badge course’s now as a staff member. The number one thing that I have learned on those two staff’s is that there are terrific people who care so much about Scouting and Scouts that they give and give and yes.. run to the sound of the drum. They are like the first responder that runs to danger. They are dedicated and motivated to help. They take the Oath and Law and apply it in their daily lives and it makes a difference.
Our Course Director is a Scouter that I have looked up to for many years. He has a love for Scouting that shows in everything he does. His passion is contagious. On Thursday night at our staff dinner, he shared something with us just hours before the participants arrived. He shared with us that it had been a long time since he served as a Scoutmaster in a unit. For many years now he has been serving at the District and Council level primarily in a training capacity. We all agree that where the runner meets the road is at the unit level where Scouters and Scouts interact and we teach, train, coach and mentor our youth to achieve the mission of the Boy Scouts of America. John, our Course Director shared this with us. While he has not served at the unit level in a long time do the math on the impact that we make as Staffers at Wood badge. 53 participants, mostly from Packs, Troops, and Crews will be learning from us. By myself I can only impact say 40 boys that are in my unit. Over 10 years or so, I may have a direct impact on a couple hundred Scouts. Imagine though the impact of a Wood Badge staffer. 53 participants will go back to their units and apply what we teach them. Lets go low and say that each of those 53 have 25 Scouts in their unit. That is about average. Over the next 10 years this one Wood Badge class will impact thousands of Scouts. That is far more reaching than I can do myself. Over the next few years, these Scouters will run toward the target… they will run toward the Scouts that need help, coaching, and mentoring. They will put hours upon hours into making Scouting and Scouts better. They will dedicate time, money, energy, and love to our program. This makes me proud to a part of it.
John inspired me to give my best when it was my turn to present course material, lead a song, and participate in a skit. He made me want to give so that others would follow my lead. John runs to the help needed as a trainer. Most of all, he made Scouting better by leading us.
A lot is going on in our world. We need Scouting and we need Scout leaders that run to the boys!
Thank you all that do what you do to make our world just that much better.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Brave
I have listened to the answers of many Scouts as they explain to me during Scoutmaster Conferences the parts and meanings of the points of the Scout Law.
I always asks the Scout to tell me which part of the Scout law is most important and what they struggle with daily. I get pretty much the standard answer that all of the parts of the law are important and no one part is greater than any other. But this Saturday I sat as both the Scoutmaster and the Scouts advocate during and Eagle Scout Board of review. When the board asked the young man to discuss which part of the law he thought was most important, without hesitation, the Scout answered Brave!
He explained that as a teen ager it to courage and bravery to live the Scout law every day. Among his peers, he felt that many points of the law are not “Cool” or popular in today’s culture. Without the ability to stand up for what you believe and know is right, the rest of the law is immaterial. Without being brave, you won’t live the rest.
I thought it was an interesting answer and tend to agree. I wish it did not have to be that way, but the truth is, the world that our Scouts find themselves in does not value the way of life that the Scout law represents. It’s really to bad.
Last night during my Scoutmaster minute, I shared that if we live the Scout oath and law daily we will be men of character and I made our Scouts a promise. If any of the values found in the Oath and law ever cause them to do the wrong thing, or if any of the points of the Scout law are wrong, I will stop talking. They know that I love to talk, so they know that I am serious.
Challenge: If you can explain to me that there is something wrong with the Oath and Law I will send you a grand prize. You better come strong though. Be prepared to discuss.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Just do something…
It has been an interesting week or so and the blog once again, while always on my mind took a back seat to the daily working of being a Scoutmaster. As we prepared for the camp out and then went out on another winter adventure the Scouts of Troop 664 kept me busy
and looking for new ways to reach our Scouts and peak their interest.
On our way home from our camp out yesterday, I had an interesting conversation with the Senior Patrol Leader of our Troop. We were talking about the morning and some of the challenges that we encountered. Taking advantage of a good teaching and learning opportunity we shifted the conversation to what we could have done different. James talked about how he could have been a better example in that he should have got packed up before the young guys allowing him to be more available to assist were needed and he could have worked better as a team with the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and the Patrol Leaders. I told him that he was right, a leader needs to always set the expectation by being a good example and that pretty much goes for everything. We talked about some of the decision-making of the group this weekend and why some Scouts seem to get it and others don’t. It comes down to decision-making and common sense. We agreed that common sense is not as common as we would like and then talked more about decision-making.
When it comes to making decisions, especially in a cold weather camping environment, there is a simple rule in that for every action there is a positive or negative reaction. The worst thing that a leader can do is nothing.
A Scouts skills is the knowledge base that his decisions are formulated and made from. The Scout can choose to do the right thing, or he can choose to do nothing. What we have seen from our Scouts is that when the make the choice to do nothing, they are cold, wet, and tired. In short, they do not have a good time. We have watched as Scouts that do not have fun on camp outs tend not to camp as much and lose interest in Scouting. There are a few arguments for and against. I have been told on one hand that it is my job to make sure that the Scouts have fun. I have also been told to stay the course. Now, before anyone jumps down my throat about this, let me tell you that we are not weeding kids out by camping in the snow and maintaining our Troop camping as backpackers. Every Scout that joins our Troop knows how we camp and see the calendar so they know when, where, and how we are camping, climbing, and find adventure. They make a choice at that time to join us or find another troop. As long as our Patrol leaders council wants to head down that trail, we will. We do a great job in training up our Scouts to be successful. But we require that they make a choice. They need to make a choice to learn or not to learn. That is up to them. Like I have explained over and over again, it is the jobs of the Scoutmaster and the Assistant Scoutmasters to assist Scouts in making it to First Class. I am not to interested in Eagle Scouts, that will come with hard work, determination, and developing as a young man. the skills learned and habits formed on the trail to First Class is the foundation of the making a man. Camping Skills, Citizenship, Fitness, and Character are all elements of the trail to First Class. But the first step on that trail is a choice.
So as I talked with the Senior Patrol Leader on the way home from the camp out we discussed possible reasons why the Scouts we have now are less mentally tough and unwilling to push themselves. Why can they not take what they have learned and apply it? Why have they not made the choice? Is it a lack of training? Is it a lack of want to? Is it something that we have done or failed to do? We could not put our finger on it. Whats different in the Scouts we have this year opposed to the Scouts we crossed over 4 years ago or even 2 years ago? We don’t really know. They all come from good homes, great parents, and none of them have learning disabilities… so they all have the ability to learn and make sound choices. So what is it? We will find out I guess.
In the mean time, what does this mean for the Troop? Tonight the PLC met and started getting ready for the next camp out. Next month we will head into the woods to develop our Wilderness Survival Skills. The plan won’t change and I am sure that some of the Scouts that have not been having a great time, well, they won’t go camping. I asked the PLC what they thought about that.. they said that it was fine, at least they won’t have to have bad attitudes on the camp out. I think the boys get tired of dealing with it too. It’s that “one bad apple” thing and the majority of the Scouts really would rather camp with the guys that want to be there and have a good time.So what? I think it is great the SPL is aware enough to have this talk. I am encouraged by a PLC that is willing to stay the course and take a part in having a Troop that they want to belong to, that they want to lead, and that they want to share with their friends.
We will have to see where this takes us. For now, we just get ready for the next outing and keep working with the young men that want to be there. These last few months have been challenging for the Scouts of our Troop, some are stronger for it, some developed better leadership skills because of it, and some have made a choice not to camp in the winter. I am ok with all of it.
What do you think? I think that things will be just fine. I think that the Troop will be fine and that we will continue to have great adventures in the future. I think that while some of the Scouts choose to turn away from challenges, most boys want to be challenged and want to see just how far they push themselves. I think this is the way boys are no matter how hard we try to be over protective and keep them in a bubble. Some how.. some way.. boys need to be boys and Scouts gives them that outlet when we provide the program and allow them to make a choice. That’s what I think. I am curious to see what your thoughts are.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Scouting for all?
Allow me to play devils advocate here for a minute. There has been quite a bit of discussion lately via email and in Scouting circles in which I find myself regarding Scouts in our programs. One argument is that Scouting is for every young man, the converse is that Scouting is not for everyone.
Boys enter our program with certain expectations and needs. Those Scouts have parents that also have certain expectations and wants. What I have seen and heard lately is that some parents and Scouts are not getting what they thought they would out of Scouting. I have been in discussions in which parents believe that their son is not having fun in the program. The question that I ask is simply, is Scouting really for everyone?
I submit for the sake of discussion that maybe Scouting is not for every boy. It may be that what Scouting offers is not what they want or need. It may be that the boy is not ready for the adventures that Scouting offer and well-intentioned parents do not really understand what Scouting is all about. It is also true that many Scout leaders do not know what Scouting is all about and therefore have promoted a program that misses the mark when it comes to achieving Scouting’s aims. This has led to young boys joining troops that quickly disappoint or fail to deliver on the expectations they and their parents had on the join night.
Scouting at its core is about adventure and when a boy joins a unit that is full of adventure he may not be ready or willing to participate. Now, some would argue that participation is really not something that is of real importance in Scouting, but it is through participating fully in the program that the Scout gets the most out of Scouting. I had a mother say to me the other night that her son does not attend winter camp outs because he did not have a good experience during last years winter camping season. Why? Well, maybe he does not like camping in the winter.. I am ok with that. But does that paint the whole program as a negative thing? No, but maybe the Scout is not ready or willing. Once a boy starts down the road of picking and choosing those activities that he does not wish to participate in he will find it easier to reduce the level of activity he does. This is not true in all cases, remember that I am not suggesting anything here other that this is a question that we should ask. Maybe Scouting is not for everyone. Here is what I am saying…
Scouting is not for everyone. Scouting should not change to meet the Scouts needs. Scouting needs to stay the course on being an organization that has values, ideals, and adventure. Scouting should not “dumb down” to allow for boys to have a club to join. There are plenty of clubs out there that he can find a place in. Now, before you all jump on me let me say this here and make it very clear that I am not talking at all about Scouts or I should say boys with disabilities. This discussion has nothing… I repeat nothing to do with disabilities. That is another discussion and I think that needs to be addressed another time. I will say that there are ample opportunities for boys with disabilities to participate in Scouting and I encourage every young man who shows interest to try Scouting no matter the “ability”. I will also say that no.. I do not consider ADD, ADHD, Autism, and a lack of focus a disability. Not when it comes to Scouting and the Scouting program. We prove over and over again that Scouts that have been diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and Autism can participate in Scouting and high adventure activities. My Troop is proof of this. Moving on…
Scouting should not promote that everyone will be an Eagle Scout just because he joins and has a pulse. Scouting should continue to push the Scout to discover his world and find his limits.. then push them outside of his comfort zone. If Scouting decides to become the YMCA or Boys Club it will no longer deliver the promise. It will just become another after school club and that is not Scouting. That is not what Baden Powell, William Hillcourt, James E West, and the rest of the men that founded and established the direction for Scouting had in mind. We can met Scouts where they are, but we can never get away from the intent of the Scouting movement. We can not stray from the methods that lead us to achieving the aims and we can never allow Scouting to just be another club.
Not everyone wants what Scouting offers. Numbers, while they drive much of what the professional Scouters track are not the program. A great program that stays the course will bring in the numbers of boys that seek adventure, values, and ideals that are the hallmark of the Scouting program. Numbers for the sake of numbers will be just that and we see this play out each year with amount of boys that leave our units. They don’t want to play the game with a purpose and we should not make them. A football player is not allowed to join a team and then make up the rules of the game or change the team uniform. He joins and plays the game that has been established. Not everyone can or wants to play football, not everyone can or wants to be a Scout. I recently sat with a group of Scouts and asks a few simple questions. The first I asked was if they thought Scouting was nerdy. They all said that they did not think so, but their friends at School did. I asked what they thought the ‘nerdy’ part of Scouting was.. aside from wearing the uniform. I figured I would take away the obvious answer. They all said that their friends really didn’t know what we do. I asked them if they ever tell them what we do. They all pretty much said, no. They did not want to bring it up so they could talk about something else. Then I asked why not? Why not tell their friends that we rock climb at Smith Rock, that we snowshoe and build snow caves. That we have hiked the Oregon Coast trail, shoot shotguns and paddle the Deschutes river. That we backpack miles of the PCT and go caving in some cool volcanic caves. That we spent a week hiking in the Canyon country of New Mexico and that we have gone across the country to tour our Nations Capital and camp with 70,000 other Scouts. I asked why all of that sounds ‘nerdy’. They couldn’t tell me. But these are the guys that want to do all of that. These are Scouts and they want to be Scouts. Their friends could not nor would they be willing to do all of that, even given the chance. One of the Scouts spoke up and said that his friends thought Scouting was all about doing good deeds and being in Flag ceremonies. His friend said he didn’t want to be in a club that did crafts and sang songs. So I asked this young man what he told his friend. He had a great answer, he told me that he said to his friend that “yeah, we sing songs, but it’s out in the middle of the woods at our campfire at the end of a day that was full of fun”. But then again, that’s a kid that wants what Scouting has to offer.
Ok so what’s the point here. The point is simply this. We beat ourselves up to make sure that every boy joins Scouting. Why? If they join great, but if they quit, did we fail? Did Scouting fail? No.. they just did not fit in our program. I have seen many Scouts come and go from our Troop and I can honestly say that the ones that left did not want to be there. It was nothing we did to chase them away, they just did not want to be in Scouts.
I have said it many times, I would rather have a Troop of 10 motivated boys that want to be there than have a Troop with 50 that don’t.
Am I not supporting Scouting by saying this? Nope I am delivering the promise of Scouting to those that want it.
Once again, I am a fan of the writing of William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt. I have a copy of something he wrote way back when regarding the 10 Essentials of Scoutmastership. It goes like this.
A belief in boys that will make you want to invest yourself and your time on their behalf.
A zeal focused upon one point-the boy’s happiness through his formative years- “A happy boy is a good boy, a good boy is a good citizen.
An immense faith in Scouting as the program that will best serve to mould our youth into fine men.
A realization that to the boys Scouting is a game – to you, a game with a purpose: Character, building citizenship training and physical fitness.
A knowledge that to your boys you are Scouting. “What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say”.
A steadfastness of purpose to carry out a planned program with energy and perseverance, patience and good humor.
A willingness to submerge yourself and make boy leaders lead and grow through and effective application of the Patrol Method.
A desire to advance in Scoutmastership by making use of training offered and material available on the subject.
A readiness to work hand in hand with home, church, sponsored institution, school, Local Council, National Council for the good of the individual boy and the community as a whole.
A love of the outdoors in all its phases and a vision of the hand that created it.
With an effective program that offers the “want to” so a boy joins, stays, and grows in Scouting we can see that Scouting is a great program. But that is not for everyone. If you as a Scouter can honestly read the 10 essentials of Scoutmastership and apply it to your unit you will create that environment. If you do not feel that you can do that, well then you prove the argument, that nope, Scouting is not for everyone, to include adults.
Before I get lots of hate mail… I am playing devils advocate here, but the point for me is taken well. I do not think that everyone needs to be in Scouting. I think those boys that want to be in should and once in we will do everything in our power to deliver to them the very best program.
Now, I do want to hear what you think. Please leave your comments, I would not ask if I didn’t want to know.
Thank you all for all you do in Scouting!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
The Promise Continued
It is the Scoutmasters obligation to work to achieve the Aims of Scouting… that’s pretty much it. To do that it should be every Scoutmasters goal to get every Scout to the rank of First Class not Eagle Scout.
If you take a look at the requirements to achieve the First Class rank you will note that its pretty much all about Character, Citizenship, and Fitness.
Through the working of these requirements the Scout will learn about the three aims of Scouting and coupled with the skills learned, the teamwork developed, and the fun of the program, the Scout will assist the Scoutmaster in attaining his goal.
Once the foundation has been laid in the working to First Class, the Scout then should be prepared to work toward Eagle Scout where he can explore his world while working merit badges. He can learn and demonstrate leadership, and he can develop a sense of service to his community. Putting it all together we will have produced a good young man.
So back to the First Class rank. When we do not put in the proper perspective and make it all about skills and a means to the end (Eagle Scout), we lose focus on what we are trying to accomplish in Scouting. We are not here to make Eagle Scouts, we are here to make good men. Good Citizens of Character that are fit, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
So, the next time you sit down with a Scout to chat during his Scoutmaster conference for Second Class.. take a look and see if that young man is getting it. If not, reinforce those ideas and share with him your goal.
This is a part of the promise that we make to our Scouts. The adventure comes when the rest is worked.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Guided Discovery
This weekend at the Trainers EDGE training we got into a discussion about “letting Scouts fail to learn”. About half of the room agreed with the idea and the other half agreed that the Scout needs to learn, but using the term ‘fail’ did not sit well with them.
I think its semantics but the goal is to get the Scout to learn. In Scouting we call it Guided Discovery. Allowing the Scout to learn by making mistakes, problem solving, and executing solutions to the situation. The adult leader is there to maintain safety, offer advice, and keep the Scout heading in the right direction. The leader does that in a subtle way, not doing the task, making the decision, or being up front. The leader is there to keep the Scout ‘in bounds’ so to speak. The Scout knows he has a safety net.
So how does this “Guided Discovery” concept work or get put into action. It is not about letting a Scout hang in the wind. It is not about allowing failure to occur just for the sake of letting a Scout fail. No, Guided Discovery happens when we ask questions. This implies that the leader is engaged fully in this process. Now that does not require the leader to hover and maintain an arms reach distance. It simply forces the issue through leading questions to assist in the Scout finding the answer.
Problem solving and role-playing can play a big part in guided discovery. Many times I ask a simple question, what do you think? Not what do you think is right.. rather, what are you thinking? Most of the time this question provokes enough thought and produces a clearer picture of the desired outcome. Problem solving and role-playing can spark thought and allow the Scout (s) to see possible out comes both good and bad and allow the decision making process to happen. This is not lofty and can happen at every level.
Using the Start, Stop, and Continue assessment tool in the middle of a task is also a great way to discover solutions and assist in decision-making. The leader can act as a referee in some cases and step in with a well placed questions that may get the group thinking about alternative solutions.
The goal to allow the Scout to make decisions and learn. Through Guided Discovery, we teach, coach, train and mentor the Scout to better understanding of skills, leadership, and self-reliance.
So.. what are you thinking? Let us know, leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Random Thought
Its been a few days since my keyboard and I sat together and jotted down some thoughts… It’s been a long week and a pretty eventful one at that.
Monday we had our weekly Troop meeting, and to be honest.. I have no idea how it went. I was upstairs with a group of parents and a couple of the Assistant Scoutmasters showing what is expected in the type of gear our Scouts should have. In particular the winter gear that we need to see on the next couple camp outs. I thought it went well. It can be an overwhelming discussion to some parents and I try to keep it simple and show the parent that you don’t have to take out a loan to get the right gear. I reinforced with the parents that is about the Right gear and Not a lot of gear. To many grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles feel the need to get all the cool gadgets for their Scout and not the right stuff. Anyway, that went pretty good and I think will be an annual thing with all of the new Scout parents.
Tuesday, I got an email from a reader that really made my week. The reader called me an opinionated a**. That’s ok, I can live with that.. what really got me was the reader said that “someone who gets paid from the Boy Scouts of America should watch what I say”. Now that’s where I draw the line. There are many good Professional Scouters out there.. but I’m not one of them. I pay to do this thing called Scouting and like it. I have not worked a day in my life in the employment of the Boy Scouts of America… nope.. I’m just a Scoutmaster, a run of the mill volunteer. And yep.. I am an opinionated a**… but it’s my blog and so unless I am spouting off nonsense contrary to Scouting’s Values and methods… ahhh.. it’s just not worth the time. But thanks for that nice email and I appreciate your comments… Kill ‘em with kindness my dad always said.
Wednesday I replaced the continuous ridge line on my tarp. I ordered 50 ft. of 1.55 mm Z-line spectra cord from zpacks.com. This stuff is amazing! It will hold 200 lbs.. not that I will ever have that much weight on my tarp.. but what it really did was cut weight. The old continuous ridge line was Nite ize cord. It is really good stuff too and I like the reflective taping in it.. but the Spectra is super light and tough. I only need 25 ft for the ridge line.. so I configured it like I had the old set up and went from 38 grams of line to 18 grams. Considerable weight savings.. and I am going to need it to get to my goal base weight of 16 lbs.
Thursday my kids ordered (with my help) a birthday gift for me. They ordered me a Solo Stove. I got a tracking number Thursday night and it will be here on Tuesday.. more to come on that one.
And here we are Friday night. I am getting my uniform together for tomorrows Trainers EDGE class. I am helping on the staff. Looks like I am teaching and being a guide throughout the day. It should be a great Scouting day!
I’m not sure if what I am about to say is for public consumption yet.. but I’m going to tell you anyway. I got an email the other day from Chris, our partner with PTC Media. Actually he is the leader of our network, but anyway, after months and months of no contact, Chris sent an email to all of the show hosts of PTC Media stating that essentially we are done.
The network will remain up and available so folks can listen to the shows, but so far as the future. Well, PTC has run its course. So what does that mean for me and my podcast. Well, after all the great feedback I received I did promise to keep it going. I will do one more show on the PTC network and then my affiliation there will be over. I will look for a server or a way that I can run a podcast from the blog but in the mean time I will continue to blog and produce the videos. For those of you that came to the blog via the podcast, please know that the blog was here first and has always been that medium that I have preferred. It was the blog that got the attention of Steve and an introduction to Chris and then a podcast. So the blog (which I pay for) will remain unchanged.
I want to thank everyone that supported PTC Media for the last 8 years and in particular my show. I hope that I can find the time and passion to put more out.
I thank Chris for given me the opportunity and the forum to talk about Scouting! It was a real fun ride and along the way I have personally met many of you and have developed some great friendships. Again.. nothing really will change in that regard.
Well, time to go and get a good nights sleep… I get to hang out with Phil and Adam tomorrow and I am sure I will need all the rest I can get.
Thanks for letting me get random with you. After all… I’m just an opinionated a**!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Scouting Lighter
Yesterday I stumbled upon a great You Tube Channel. It;s called Scouting lighter. From what I gather, this Scouter put this together as part of his Wood Badge Ticket. So +2 for this fella! A backpacker and Wood Badger!! WhooHoo!
Anyway.. I found his You Tube channel full of really great information. I picked out this one video in particular because it really explains what we are trying to do in our Troop and more to the point what I am doing with my gear.
Enjoy, and I highly encourage you… Nay Demand.. .that you subscribe to his channel!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
