Kitchen Table Training

What do you do if you have only 1 or 2 people to train? How do you make interactive training fun for a really small group?

Shelly's a trainer in a small community 200 miles from the Council office, so she has to do a lot of this sort of thing. She needs lots of small-scale demonstration stuff instead of the usual large posters-like things we use for classes of 15 or more.

Her goals for the presentation:

• to expose all of us to a number of techniques for relating material for new leaders to a class of only one to three people.
• to familiarize the class -- us! - with different parts of both old and new resources which relate to planning troop/group meetings. Quote: "Let's not give them 50,000 handouts. Let's get them into the books!"

A number of ideas for presenting parts of BLT in a hands-on manner. hors d'oeuvres:

first card

I'm a Girl Scout. I wear my membership pins on my bright blue tunic. There are ten girls in the troop and our two leaders say we can't have any more unless they can find another adult to be a leader too. We have lots of fun and keep a scrapbook of everything we do.

second card

I'm a Girl Scout. Our troop just earned the "Girl Scout Ways" Try-It by making Sit-Upons. These are great for keeping yourself clean and dry when you sit on the ground outdoors. I'm going to ask my mom to put my Try-It badge on my brown uniform vest. Next week we're going to learn how to make good snacks. Our handbook tells how to make "Gorp" but I like "Ants On A Log" better: it makes me giggle when people think we really eat ants.

third card

I'm a Girl Scout. My bright green vest is already half full with badges, and I've got lots of special patches on the back of it. My patrol decided we would make our own patrol flag next week when we're making vagabond stoves for the October campout. The Court of Honor decided that out patrol should also do the shopping for all the food for the weekend.

fourth card

I'm a Girl Scout. I like to wear my blue bandana with the T-shirt and my blue badge sash. Last year we worked mostly on badges with the tan background but now I'm working on an Interest Project, which takes a lot more time. I hope I can get everything accomplished in the next two years to earn my Silver Award. I don't know whether to take the training for Program Aide or to apply for a Wider Opportunity. There is so much you can do at this level.

fifth card

I'm a Girl Scout and I wear a yellow bandana with my blue badge vest. Last year I was one of four United States Scouts selected to go to an International Encampment in England. I still write to Girl Guides I met from England, Belgium, and Switzerland. Now I'm working toward my Gold Award. I'm going to talk to people at school to see if I can get credit for some of my activities in Girl Scouts.

sixth card

I'm a Girl Scout. I like to wear the white uniform T-shirt with the dark green pants. Because I believe everyone needs to practice certain skills to become a good citizen, I'm helping young girls learn how to solve problems, set goals and make decisions through fun activities.

1. Register your troop and adults
2. Hold a Parent Meeting
3. Determine a regualr meeting place and time
4. Recruit and register adults to help (see also #10)
5. Troop Box
   possible contents:
   • game and song books
   • game equipment such as jump ropes
   • flag(s) and stand(s)
   • Kaper chart
   • craft supplies
6. Recruit people who can occasionally teach special skills at meetings
7. Safety-Wise for every activity
8. Troop monies: dues, council fund-raising (cookie sales and ?), sponsor(s), troop fundraising
9. Permission slips when away from regular meeting place and/or time or when meeting activity may be controversial
10. At least one adult to attend scheduled adult meetings (Service Unit or ?) for information
11. List of phone numbers of people to call when you need help or information
12. More training!

Jargon Juggle 1

1. ______________ is the founder of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
2. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts throughout the world are members of _______________ and can wear the ____________ _____________ pin.
3. The Girl Scout _____________ has three (3) parts.
4. The first Girl Scout meeting in America was held on March 12, 1912 in _______________, ______________.
5. Girl Scouts frequently end a meeting with a ______________ _______________.
6. The Girl Scout motto is ______ _______________.
7. A ____________ ______________ lets everyone know which girls will be doing which tasks at a meeting or campout.
8. When girls are ready to move to the next level of Girl Scouts, they may have a ____________ ceremony.
9. Any time a troop/group gets together at a different time or place than usual, they must bring ______________ ____________ from their parents.
10. When a girl repeats the Girl Scout Promise, she makes the ____________ ________ ____________.
11. The Juliette Low Girl Scout National Center is also known as ______ ________________.
12. There are five levels of Girl Scouts. The first level is ___________.
13. The final level of Girl Scouts before becoming an adult member is ___________.
14. Usually, middle school and/or junior high school girls are members of the ___________ level.
15. Many people mistakenly think the ____________ level of Girl Scouts are the only "real" Girl Scouts.
16. First- through third-graders are usually in the ____________ level.
17. The Girl Scout slogan is ________ ______ ___________ ___________ __________.
18. When a girl has been a Brownie Girl Scout and moves up to the next level, she is awarded her ___________ __________.
19. A Junior Girl Scout earns a ____________ when she learns a new skill in a speicifc area which she can teach to other people.

The answers to Jargon Juggle 1 are found in the box below. All words read right to left. Try your puzzle-solving skills, then look in the Leader's Guide and girls' Handbook for more information.