Planning Meetings and youth discepline

[914_SPL]

Hello again, I have quite a dilemma. I have recently been elected into the position as SPL for my troop and I feel like I am doing a great job. I have received many compliments from parents and leaders alike. However, some things still bother me.

 

Usually I have no trouble motivating and inspiring (my crew could move a mountain in about 15 minutes if it was necessary) my youth leaders and scouts but it seems like I always have one problem scout at a meeting or event. A perfect example of this was last weeks meeting. As a senior scout, my scoutmaster lets me teach certain lower level merit badges such as canoeing. I was going over the basic safety info... (That is every badge)...and it is quite boring. Moreover, one kid kept acting out so I asked him to be quiet repeatedly then told him that if he did not want to listen then he needs to call his mother to pick him up. (And I offered my cell so that there were no excuses)

 

Did I do anything wrong? It got to the point that I felt it was taking away from the other 25 scouts that were listening attentively.

 

 

In addition, I need some help planning meetings. So far this month I am going to enlist and adult leader to teach the boys camping merit badge. The class will culminate into a weekend long campout in the beginning of December on an out island in the everglades.

 

Is this a good way to run meetings (work on achievement that is applicable to a certain event) or should I try a different method?

 

 

Thanks again for all of your help,

 

Joe

 

[allangr1024]

Joe,

 

Your discipline problem can be solved in a couple of ways, and it should involve an adult. You should take no action against a disruptive scout. You would have to recruit an ASM to watch the meeting from the back of the room. Arrange this before the meeting. Then, if you see a situation occurring, signal the ASM, and he should tap the boy on the shoulder quietly, and they can have a private discussion in the hallway.

 

Better yet, arrange for the adult to have a length of rope on hand. When he calls the boy out, he will have the boy review the required knots, as well as some special knots, perhaps those found in the pioneering merit badge book. That way, you remove an irritation, and give some one on one instruction at the same time.

 

I applaud you for your diligence in taking up the responsibility of running the meeting. Some of my SPL's never did do more than an opening flag ceremony and some announcements. We are working on that.

 

As for the meeting plans coordinated with the camping event, be open do doing a variety of things. Sometimes, the meeting instruction can nicely correspond to the monthly outing, and sometimes you will do something else. There is no correct answer, and the needs of the troop will change. But you are on the right track.

 

 

 

 

[Eagle92]

Congrats on the election, SPL was a position I never formally held, alwasy the ASPL.

 

In referecne to discipline, that's always a tricky one. i'll let others discuss that in detail. What we always did was put the troublemaker on display, basically asking him questions and letting him "teach" the class. That usually shut them up when I was in your shoes.

 

As for planning your meetings, if you unit doesn't have a copy of the old "Woods Wisdom," or newer 'Troop Program Helps, Vols. 1-3" I would urge your SM to get a copy. each volume covers 12 topics, so with all three you can do 3 years of program without repeating. Also recomend Troop Program Resources.

[Eagledad]

>>Did I do anything wrong?

[Kudu]

914_SPL writes:

 

"Did I do anything wrong? It got to the point that I felt it was taking away from the other 25 scouts that were listening attentively."

 

You handled the situation very well. The very best SPLs can ALWAYS deal with minor problems directly without getting too harsh. If you let the adults handle the discipline then you signal to your Scouts that you are NOT their real leader.

 

Note however that it is natural for boys to get bored when you make them sit and listen. In the olden days Scouting was the OPPOSITE of school. Beavah points to these "old school" methods in another thread:

 

"It's a safety thing, I have to lecture for a long time first". Balderdash. Doesn't take much effort at all to select a location where a bunch of lads who are swimmers can safely hop aboard a canoe with a quick example and a helping hand and begin to paddle. Takes even less if yeh have a troop with real patrol method, and the older, more experienced boys in each patrol are providing an example and helpin' out the younger lads.

 

See:

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=216219#id_216598

 

914_SPL writes:

 

"Is this a good way to run meetings (work on achievement that is applicable to a certain event) or should I try a different method?"

 

Back in the olden days before Leadership Development was invented, all leaders (both Scout and adult) were taught to do EXACTLY THAT: All Scoutcraft instruction should lead to a specific outing. To do anything else is to turn Scout meetings into a boring school classroom.

 

Why won't you be teaching the Camping Merit Badge yourself? If you are good at it, then mention "Scout Led" to a flexible Counselor and he or she should be willing to partner with you on that. If not, then consider picking a different Counselor.

 

Be careful of the Woods Wisdom/Troop Program Helps. They can be very boring.

 

If your PLC has any say in the matter, use your weekly Scout meetings to work on outdoor Badges that lead to a specific outing (to keep your meetings focused on the outdoors, and therefore interesting). Try to farm out the boring schoolwork badges like Citizenship elsewhere so that only the interested Scouts have to suffer through them.

 

Kudu

 

[Bob White]

Hi 914_SPL

Congrats on your new position.

 

As far as if you did anything wrong that's is really hard for anyone to say for sure without having been there. Hopefully your Scoutmaster was able to give you clear and helpful feedback as that is what he or she is supposed to be able to do.

 

There are a few tips I will give you. When teaching a skill, teach to those who want to learn. as SPL coach the patrol leaders on how to lead their patrol members not you as SPL or the presenter.

 

AS far as sending the scout home let the Scoutmaster deal with that, your role is to help Patrol Leaders to succeed. You can help coach patrol leaders on how to control the patrol, you can even give positive counseling to the scout in private.

 

As a trainer one method to head of boredom is in the method you use to present the topic. Involve the scouts as much as possible. Give them hands on active things to do. This can even be done in safety training. For instance have life jackets on hand to show the scouts different types and the proper kinds for canoeing and how to fit them properly. I saw a great presentation on re-entering a canoe and on righting swamped canoes that was done indoors at a troop meeting using canoes sitting on innertubes to recreate the action of the canoe on water.

 

Another way to get the interrupting scout to quiet down is to include them in the demonstration.

 

I would talk to your scoutmaster and ask him or her if they thought you handled the situation well and ask them for suggestions of other ways that you could have dealt with the situation.

 

Good luck in your term as SPL.

BW

 

 

 

 

[Mike F]

Joe,

 

Congratulations - you're doing fine!

The comments you've received on keeping it as active as possible are right on. After being in school all day, boys don't want to spend more time sitting in a class.

 

Another idea on improving overall discipline is to discuss it in a PLC. I've found most older scouts find the disruptions from less mature scouts very annoying. Work out a plan to get all of your leaders actively involved in maintaining discipline. Patrol Leaders are the first line of defense and need to be responsible for their members at all times. But it's very powerful when all the older scouts send the message that this behaviour is unacceptable. They don't have to be harsh - just send the message that "we don't act like this in our troop." By presenting a unified front, you can change behaviour very quickly. The SM and other adults will be overjoyed to support you in this effort.

 

Keep up the great work!

 

-mike

[Eagledad]

GREAT post Mike. Once the PLC starts working as a team as you described, bad behavior seems to almost disappear because the scouts learn to deal with it quickly before it turns into a problem.

 

Barry

 

[ozemu]

Young teacher the world over take years to work this stuff out 914_SPL. All behaviour has a reason and much of it is communication. What is the Scout trying to tell you - why is he misbehaving? Without having a mind reader or a really upfront Scout we have to figure that out ourselves. Try these:

 

ADHD - needs to move constantly, sitting still is almost impossible, so let him be involved or change the lesson to become more active, perhaps say 'I know it is really hard for you to sit quietly so just let us pay attention to this bit and then we will start doing things - this is important so hang on for a sec'

 

Attention seeking - feels bad when he is not noticed, give the Scout attention and they will probably want more or the others will want some, arrange the layout so you can move around and stand next to them, give them the evil eye, ask questions of all the Scouts as you go but single this one out for the more involved one - not the no brainers that he can make a performance over, say 'I know you want people to pay attention to you and it is hard to let me have the floor. This is important so let everyone listen without you making a scene or you'll have to get attention somewhere else'; obviously that someone is an adult.

 

Doesn't like you - that's his problem not yours. Be fair with him as with all and if he needs to exit the room then kick him out respectfully. If everyone knows this is the reason say 'I know you don't like me and enjoy trying to make things difficult for me. This is important info and everyone else needs it so give them a break. You can make my life difficult later if that is important to you'.

 

You are a terrible presenter - join a big cub, we're all in that one at times. Make sure every session is focussed on the one key thing they need to know. If they all get that then you are doing fine. If they get three bits of info you are outstanding, any more and you are overdoing it, back off and take a pill. Make all sessions active at least in part, allow Scouts to learn by making mistakes at meetings so they know what won't work on camp, divide and conquer - us ethe Parol system and try to never have a group bigger than eight in front of you - if possible train /refresh the PL's and get them to train their own Patrols, divide the 'class' into small teams and arrange the lesson to be in chumnks with each team doing a different chunk then rotate them.

 

He could be having a bad day; he got bullied, failed an exam, Dad walked out on Mom, gilrs looked at him that way they do that makes you feel like an idiot, - give him a break, let him know that he is safe at Scouts and if he is upset with someone or something before Scouts that he should not take it out on Scouts. Say 'i think you are having a bad day as normally you don't do this stuff. If you can't focus on this you should go and talk to ?? about it. So can you put your brain on this stuff or do you need to take a break while we get on with it?'.

 

I hope some of that was useful - teaching skills at Scouts, school or workplace can take years to perfect and even then we all stuff it up - we are human, 80% success is definately good enough.