ASM's giving Scoutmaster's Minutes.

[matuawarrior]

I was just curious to know if the Scoutmasters on this forum allow their Assistant Scoutmasters or any unit scouter the opportunity to give or share a word of encouragement or an idea during Scoutmaster's Minutes.

 

I usually state to my scouters and parents that this is MY time with the Scouts to pass on a word of encouragement or an idea for them to reflect on.

 

However last Tuesday at our Troop meeting, one of my ASM's approached me and requested if he can give the SM's minutes that night. He briefed me on his topic. Most of my ASM's, (I have six) were surprised that I honored his request. The thought never crossed my mind that an ASM could give the minutes. It was always tradition that I give the minutes. By the way, this ASM is my no.1, like an Executive Officer (XO). He will be my successor one day. Who knows it maybe next year. He's been with me since he was in middle school thru high school (6-yrs). He became the unit's first Eagle Scout. He joined the military three years ago and is now returning.

 

Anyway, the look on the Scouts faces when the ASM gave his minute. He had their complete attention. He did a pretty good job.

 

Matua(This message has been edited by matuawarrior)

[OldGreyEagle]

Interesting idea, that only a scoutmaster could give a scoutmaster minute. In our troop its been open to anyone who has a thought, usually its me. The Scoutmaster has never objected to anything I have said, and has occasionally suggested topics. I think this is a "whatever works" kind of thing

[saltheart]

Rarely did I have the occassion to give another the opportunity to impart the "minute" to the Scouts. Although I did have a handsome corps of adult leaders, few ever gave thought to the notion that they might participate in that arena. But every once in a while one of them stepped forward, usually with something on their mind regarding a past or upcoming event in the troop for which they felt they had sage advice to share. And I never refused the opportunity, for being as rare as they were, I knew the subject they felt keen on speaking to was important to them, and the boys.

 

Regarding the whole notion of the SM minute, I always felt that the last 10 minutes or so of the meetings was, indeed, the SM's time for sharing and speaking directly to the Scouts, as a group. Whether or not that time included the traditional SM minute (it usually did) pretty much depended on the situation, and who else might desire time to share a thought with the troop. There was no hard and fast rule that only the SM could play that role. Certainly, if the SM were ill, another would have to take the part for the night. And as such, I did not hold fast to any rule in that regard other than the last 10 minutes were mine...for whatever purpose I felt necessary or appropriate .

[Scoutmaster Ron]

Matua,

 

I'm an ASM and actually just gave a Scoutmaster minute during a troop meeting. I found something very insightful to speak on, however I made sure I was not the last one to speak that the actual Scoutmaster had the last say. I kinda of did it for two reasons 1. It was a real good Scoutmaster minute. 2. In hopes our own Scoutmaster would actually start doing it during the meetings instead of waiting till the COH to do it. Instead his minutes are filled with "your not doing this" "your not doing that"

[evmori]

We operate the same as OGE's Troop.

 

Ed Mori

Scoutmaster

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[acco40]

If one reads the the Scoutmaster Handbook with an open mind, you can tell that it uses the term "Scoutmaster" to refer to SAs and SMs sometimes and to SMs only sometimes (note to National - be more clear!).

 

Similar to giving SM conferences, each Troop has their own way of doing things. As a SM, I have no problem letting SAs give SM conferences or SM minutes. In fact, I prefer the SAs to give SM conferences to my sons. Otherwise, it becomes more of a Dad conference!

[red feather]

We tend to be a liitle loose with the SM minute. If I have somithing that I wish to use I bring it up to the SM and go from there.

 

yis

[Gags]

This is a bit off topic - but I unfortunately don't even do a SM Minute. I have a very small troop (4 boys), and the few times we actually have a closing (rather than - I have to finish homework, my dad's here early to pick me up, can I go?), I always get the feeling that the scouts are too distracted and uninterested to listen to a story or quote. (Yes, the mtgs. do need to be MUCH more structured than they currently are - a whole other thread!)

 

So I guess the question is - for those of you who have started using SM Minutes recently (or remember from way back when you first implemented them) - how did it go? What were the scouts reactions?

 

Thanks,

 

--Gags

[Scoutmaster Ron]

The last one I gave I received applause...I was surprised

[saltheart]

Gags,

 

I think the key to using the SM minute can be stated in one word...relevancy. When I first learned of and started to use the SM minutes, I rarely made the connection between what was going on in the troops life at that moment. But eventually I began to see that making the SM minute more than just an arbitrary fable, but something that embraced real current events in the troop could be an attention getter. Planned or recent trips? Meeting agendas? Good or bad experiences by a Scout or 2 or 10? Basically taking in the big view of where the troop was, what they were working on, the problems, the initiatives, the goals, and the successes or failures within. And then tailoring the minute as best I could to that subject or experience. It does take some work, especially when first starting to use them. There are a multitude of available choices.

 

But, if one sticks with it, and makes the effort to use the minute as often as one can, eventually the mind begins to remember not only the ones used, but the ones passed by in favor of another at a certain time.

 

And after a while, the effort comes not so much from finding one, but from choosing between the ones stored mentally all pertinent to the moment...which one does the best job. You'll know if you've hit the nail squarely by the looks on the face at the moment you finish, not during the tale.

 

A SM minute that is as relevant to the matter at hand as it can be will be the most provocative in the Scouts mind, setting the stage for a young man to really think...an action we sometimes find in short supply in young men and women.

 

:-)

(This message has been edited by saltheart)