Girl Planning
³As a leader, it may seem easier for you to make plans first, then consult with your girls. But girl-adult planning, the cornerstone of Girl Scouting, is too valuable a step to skip. . . Girl Scouting is all about empowering girls and encouraging them to make their own decisions in partnership with adults.² GSUSA encourages the Girl-Adult Partnership by offering tips and explains why itıs worth the effort. The formerly named GSC of Greater Minneapolis, MN expanded upon this philosophy with their helpful Girl Planning Tip Sheet (internet archives)
Iıve listed a variety of troop-tested techniques below to help girls plan a new year of Girl Scout adventures.
All levels of Girl Scouts can participate in planning activities to some degree. Start simply with the Daisy GS Circle and the Brownie GS Ring. Junior GS and GS 11-17 have three troop government options to choose from: Executive Board, Town Meeting, or Patrol System (resources from Leaders Landing). If the girls choose the Patrol System, they may want to include a Patrol Leader Cording Ceremony.
Should you wish to include goal-sitting activities along with Girl Scout planning, please refer to my Happy New Year page where I have compiled a variety of resources & ideas on this topic to coincide with new years resolutions.
A cute character calendar or a detailed planner can help girls keep track of dates in their Girl Scout binder. And, hereıs a special Troop Leader Planner just for you, complements of Liz Ripke in Oregon!
The following advice is from GS of San Gorgonio Council, CA
Remember,
council events supplement good troop program but are not intended to replace
it. Donıt overdo the scheduling. Be sure the choices are girl choices. In
Girl Scouting, program activities include a balance of subjects and areas of
interest to girls. They enjoy experiences that broaden their perspectives and
enable them to interact with individuals beyond their immediate group.
1.
Before spending a meeting
going over the program events, the troop should set goals for the year. What
are the most important things the troop wants to do: badge work, outings,
career exploration, sports?
2.
The leader may want to
underline with a marker all events for which the troop is eligible (see age
limitations). Use one color for each event the troop can attend as a group,
another for individual participation.
3.
Discuss the various
events with the girls. How do they tie in with badge work, the troop budget and
goals? Have each girl list the events in which she is interested.
4.
List on a chalkboard or
butcher paper all the events the troop would like to do, with dates. List other
planned troop activities. Discuss the tie-in with troop goals. Vote on which
activities the troop will attend. Are there small groups within your troop that
would like to attend others? Decide on the events for which the troop or
interest group will register.
5.
You can follow this with
discussion on how girls register for individual events, the value of expanding
horizons by going places without the troop and the fun of making new friends.
Be sure to provide information to each girlıs family on those events that are
for individual and family registrations.
Anne
DeFranks, a GS Leader and Research Analyist in Georgia, came up with a unique
way to help girls ³clean out their attic²of activities for the year. . .
On a poster board,
draw the frame of a house, mark off the (large) attic and then draw 10 to 12
rooms below. In the attic, have
the girls write ideas of things that they want to do for the year - ANYTHING -
meetings, field trips, activities, silver award, IP's! - THE SKY'S THE
LIMIT. (And if they forget some
important things - like doing some service - you can suggest it).
When they are done with
that, label each room with a month and include a room for summer and/or the
future. Then start "cleaning
out that attic" by putting each item in a month - that will help give them
some direction and they will be amazed at what they plan to accomplish. Someone could then, also, see what
things would apply to what IP's or pins, etc
Here is a way to get input from all members by taming the loud overly assertive girls and encouraging the quiet hesitant girls to participate equally. The Teaching Effectiveness Program at the University of Oregon explains that, ³Students are often anxious about contributing to discussion because they don't want to look stupid in front of the class. The beauty of the nominal group technique is that it short-circuits that fear by soliciting anonymous contributions from everyone. The core of the technique is the use of anonymous cards . . . ² Try Leading A Discussion Using the Nominal Group Technique with your troop.
When Della Martin was a leader of a Cadette GS troop in North Carolina, she shared: ³My girls are the type that want to do far more activities than they have time to do -- trying to plan 10 pounds of activities with the proverbial 5 pound sack (calendar) is tough. Rather than taking their requests and attempting to fit it into a calendar, I made them do it, and they are having a blast! Review her successful Group Planning technique and suggest it to your girls..
Expanding on Dellaıs idea, Jennifer Swayne shares how her troop in Tennessee had a successful planning session. . .
My troop used this
(Dellaıs) method of planning at a sleepover... I changed it a little. I made a twenty five foot long calendar
on freezer paper and filled in all the pertinent info for our girls (holidays,
school schedules, etc.). I set out
handbooks, badge books, STUDIO 2B books, Safety Wise, a list of service project
ideas, and a list of local resources for trips.
I gave each girl (and
leader- we got a vote too) 2 purple post-its, 3 yellow post-its, and 5 blue
post-its. The purple were for
service projects, the yellow were for field trips, and the blue were for
meetings and/or badges. We made
the girls sit alone to fill these out so they would feel free to write their
own ideas.
We pulled the
duplicates, and spread each color of post-its on their own table. Then we all
got six stickers to vote with, and one "I'd rather die than do this
event," sticker (They loved the idea of this sticker.) I told them they had to vote for at
least one of each color post it, and after that, they could vote however they
wanted. We voted, and my co and I tallied the results. Then we spent the evening plugging
stuff in on the huge calendarâ
It was really hard...
they're used to picking stuff to do, and the leaders planning when and how
we'll do it. It was hard to keep
them on task, because they wanted to play and be silly. But we just smiled, and said,
"Fine, I guess we're done.
Looks like an easy year!"
And they came right back and got down to business. This morning, at
pickup time, every one of them took their parent over to the calendar and
showed them the things they'd planned, and they seemed really proud. I was pretty proud, too!
Liz Ripke from Oregon has compiled a selection of easy online Planning Tools, including a
Meeting Planner that generates a troop agenda, fill-in calendars, newsletters, safety forms, Kaper Charts, and more
Jan Schultz in Virginia prepared a free online survey for her girls to assist with their long range planning and shares . . .
1.
We had our Long Range
planning meeting where we set our 5 goals for the year (our troop crest is the
Falling Star, so we use the 5 points of the star as our guideline.)
2. Under each goal, we brainstormed ideas for about 15
minutes and wrote them all down (rules included "no discussion" and
"all ideas are good ideas.")
3. I went to http://www.keysurvey.com and registered for a
free one month, 20 response survey.
I followed the instructions to create my survey.
4. I used fun rating scales to choose favorite activities
or events (instead of 1 - 5, I used "Absolutely" to "No Thank
You"). I used radio buttons
to select their top four choices for IPA's to complete this year. They rated Service Project Ideas,
Fundraising options and more. I
ended up with about 15 - 16 questions. I asked for volunteers to lead
activities or events. When you create your survey, you can add color, photos,
etc. I added our troop crest at
the top of the form.
5. Just before I went on vacation, I sent the girls the
link by e-mail. When I return, the
survey responses will be complete (I asked for names in the survey so I know
who responded and who did not.) The online service compiles the information
into lists, graphs and charts that I can print out and use with the troop to
create our budget and long-range calendar. I thought this was a good method to
insure impartial responses and no peer pressure in a meeting where a hand vote
can sway a girl's preference.
This exercise (from GS training) is used to stress the importance of covering details as the girls develop a plan. It also helps the girls become more organized in their thinking.
1.
Divide the girls into
small teams. Give them 3 minutes to brainstorm all of the things that go into
making a muffin (preheat oven, get out pans, shop for ingredients, etc.), write
their steps on post-it notes and put them in order (yes, theyıll be in a rush
and not get it all, but thatıs the idea). Remind them that the last card should
say, "the Muffin is ready".
2. Gather the teams together and ask girls to volunteer
their groupıs post-its as you all go through the steps of making a muffin. Post
all the steps in order on the front board. If a step is missed, ask "What
about _____?" Summarize with
the importance of covering all details and putting them in order when making your
muffin.
3. Immediately follow this activity with planning a troop
trip or event. Repeat the same steps as a group, except use ³our trip/event
happens²in place of ³the muffin is readyì. Brainstorm the steps, put them in order, and review to see
if any are missing.
Crayola.com suggest the below organizational tool to help children count down and prepare for the first day of school. Your troop could easily use the same method as they plan for an upcoming event or activity. (Iıve refined the wording for Girl Scout planning of an event):
1.
Draw! . . . Make a poster
to help you get ready for an event.
. . Draw a large apple
tree, or any theme you choose. Draw the same number of apples as there are
troop meetings left until the event, or for the jobs left to do!.
2. Organize! . . . Inside each apple, use Crayola Erasable
Twistables to write things that you need to do to get ready for the event. For
example: decide on a theme, reserve a location, publicize your event, purchase
supplies - you get the idea.
3. Countdown! . . . As you complete each activity, erase
inside the apple for that day. Keep erasing until youıre ready for your event.
Updated September 2009