sailingpj

I got the voice of the Venturer one. They offered the chance to be entered into a drawing for a $10 iTunes gift card. Below is the full text. I did not know that the BSA had a "Director of Research & Innovation."

>>>>>>

Hello,

We want to know what you think about Venturing. Please take five minutes to answer a few questions about your Venturing experience. At the end of the survey you will be given the opportunity to register to win a $10 iTunes gift card.

Please take the time now to answer the survey. All survey responses must be received by April 21, 2011.

Click here to begin...

Thank you for answering the survey.

Pat Wellen

Director of Research & Innovation

Boy Scouts of America

National Office

Happiness is anytime out sailing. That is when everything else just melts away and I can truly live completely in the moment. I just pick a place and enjoy the trip there. Of course I am even happier when I get to that place in front of 20 other boats.

What you mentioned about elementary math being a building block is a very important piece of the puzzle. I just started tutoring in a after school program at a local Middle School, and every day I am showing kids who are in Algebra 1 how to do multiplication and long division.

There also seems to have been a shift in when different things are taught recently. I know that when I was in middle school just a few years ago my 8th grade class started algebra 1, but we were an advanced class. My math teacher said that the 6th and 7th graders at that time probably wouldn't be doing the same math we were doing when they got up to 8th grade. He occasionally had us help correct the 7th grade tests or worksheets, and they definitely weren't doing the math we were doing in 7th grade.

I am now tutoring these 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who are doing math that is way above them. The pre-algebra that the 7th graders are doing was what my 8th grade class was taught as algebra 1. The 8th graders are doing stuff that I didn't even see until I took intermediate algebra at my first community college. It is obvious from their work that they are completely unprepared for it. If someone is having trouble multiplying and dividing + and - numbers, and doing squares, and square roots, how can you even think about trying to tech that person how to complete a square, or use the quadratic equation?

These aren't just isolated kids either. The ones in this program make up a solid percentage of there class, and almost all of them need help with everything I have mentioned and more. If that doesn't signal a problem then what does?

I guess my suggestion for improving education is to give teachers more latitude in when they teach different things. That is how it was done in my catholic school. Of course it was a small school. There was just one math teacher, one english teacher, one social studies teacher, and one literature teacher for the 6th-8th grades, and one of them was also the religion teacher for a class. That school most definitely never taught to a test, but overall the school did very well on the standardized tests we did take. Almost everyone in my class scored above the 80th percentile on the IOWA tests, and a good chunk of us scored above the 90th percentile. I attribute that to the teachers taking an active interest in each student, and the teachers having the freedom to teach at whatever pace they felt was best.

I was just skimming back over this and noticed that there seems to be a common thread amongst what everyone is saying. Even the BSA literature that keeps being quoted seems to agree.

"Use the right tool for the job."

It is no different than when using all the different types of wrenches out there. Each one was created for a certain task, or type of task, and though others may work, it is best to use the right tool for the job. Just as when you need a 3/4" socket with a 6" extension, and a breaker bar, you don't grab the adjustable wrench; you don't grab a swiss army knife or a leatherman when you need to fillet a fish.

"Use the right tool for the job."

Actually, I made a square pie once. I dropped the glass pie pan so i had to use a square pan instead. It tasted exactly the same.

Wow, I never would have thought of doing that. Of course other people wouldn't have thought of having races to see who could get to the top of their laser mast before the boat flips over. I guess it all depends on what you grow up with.

You know, this topic has gotten me thinking. Perhaps my ship should do some knife safety training. The other weekend I came across a couple crew members. They were sitting there dropping two knives point down to see who could get the second one to stick closer to the first. Think vertical darts, but with knives.

I think the tastiest day ever was March 14th, 1592.

I am amazed that nobody here said anything given the apparent obsession with pie.

We had a very good apple pie on my ships cruise this weekend. The galley crew heated it up, then put some vanilla ice cream on the side. Best meal we've had in a while.

Awesome, Thanks you very much.

Thank you, luckily I have enough gray matter between my ears that when I put my mind to something I get it pretty quickly. It helps when I find someone in class to compete with. When that happens I am guaranteed to ace the class.

You wouldn't happen to know of any schools on the west coast that have similar programs? I might just check one of them out.

Well, Pack posted a link to this a couple days ago and I just have make a few comments about the homeschooling stuff.

I was "Homeschooled" for 5 or 6 years. 4 in elementary school and sort of 2 in high school. I really wish I had never done any of it. My mom pulled me out of a Catholic school because she had visions of sailing around the world. She wanted to get a couple years head start on homeschooling me, so after the second or third grade I stopped going to the catholic school. My mom did a ton of research and bought some school books. She spent a couple days going over them and writing out a couple months plan. For the first few weeks she checked my work almost daily, then it became weekly, then very rarely.

For a while I continued to do the work laid out for me, but then I started to slack off and just play and read fun stuff. I was a third or fourth grader left mostly unsupervised while my mom worked on the boat. The Hardy Boys were much more fun and interesting than analogies.

The first couple years I got most of my work done eventually, but I kept getting worse and worse about doing it. The second or third year homeschooling my mom basically just gave me school books and said learn. I just wasn't really feeling the school thing at that time, so I didn't do much. After a while my mom found out and there were repercussions, but that didn't stop it from happening again. Neither my mom nor I were really suited to homeschooling and my dad was at work all day. After 4 years of me not doing much I went back to the catholic school and was very surprised.

I couldn't relate to any of the other people in the school. Academically I caught up pretty quickly, but I wasn't interested in any of the same things as the rest of my class. I didn't even know what they were talking about half the time.

During those four years of homeschooling I spent most of my time in my room reading. When I wasn't there I was helping my mom work on the boat, or helping other people in the marina work on their boats (I was small enough to fit in places they couldn't).

Academically I am sort of in limbo. I have a lot of bad habits that I am trying to fix (they all have to do with not doing work). Socially I still have no clue and can't really relate to anyone outside of the Scouting and Sailing communities, and even there I don't mix very well.

As i said earlier, I really wish I had never started homeschooling. I think I would be a lot better off for it. Of course I would be a completely different person. I probably wouldn't be anywhere near as knowledgeable about sailing as I am. When I say I have been sailing since I was 5 I really mean it. I have been actively sailing since then. I was driving the boat and trimming sails as soon as I had enough weight behind me to do it effectively.

My point is that homeschooling isn't always a viable option. Both the parent and the child have to have the right personality to do it.

Wow, this sounds almost exactly like my ship, though the parents don't have quite that much power yet.

I can tell you from the perspective of a youth, if they have any idea of how a troop is supposed to be run then they will be dissatisfied with the way the troop is currently run. They will jump at any chance to make a change.

I hadn't thought of staples. I think I'll check them out, thanks.

Yeah, I already have 3 binders overflowing with various Sea Scout materials. That is one of the hazards of being a boatswain or boatswain's mate in 3 different ships, and a crew leader in a 4th ship.

Knowing my current crew though, they are likely buy the manual, bring in on a cruise/meeting and open it for the first time there. Then at the next work party/meeting we will be finding pages all over the boat/meeting room. That is the real reason that I thought the manual should come with a binder.

Plus I like the front cover and I think the manual would look really good in a blue binder. Also, there are those binders that have like 8 rings I think that would be better than the current three ring format. It is much less likely that a page will get torn out of one of those binders.

Yeah I looked again where they reference it, I was just reading what they said strangely.

There was a crew leaders manual? I have never heard of it. Where can someone find a copy?

Well, I just picked up the new Sea Scout manual last weekend. I'm the first in my ship to get it. From what I have seen so far it is much better than the old one. It is organized in a much more usable manner, and the information is written so that someone who has no clue can understand much of it. The loose leaf format is actually kinda nice. It makes it easy to make photocopies.

Two things I don't like so far is that they don't provide a binder. You have to provide that yourself. Also, there are a few other resources that the manual points to that do not currently exist, such as a "Sea Scout Leaders' Manual" supposedly this is a manual for youth leaders, and is available for download on the seascout.org site, but it doesn't exist there yet.

I think it is a little expensive, but not extraordinarily so. I paid $27 for it. I would be very happy if it was more like $20-$25.

The manual comes with a cd/dvd that has some useful info. The videos are very instructive, and useful, especially the one about how to use a boatswain's pipe. There is one where the guy ties 10 bowlines in 3 minutes, I really didn't see the point of it because it really didn't tell you how to actually tie all the knots.

There are a bunch of PDF docs on the disk too. They are a little difficult to find. You have to know they are there to find them. Mostly they have info that while useful, doesn't need to be in the hardcopy. Stuff that most people don't use often, like celestial nav, and the guide to starting up a sea scout ship. I have copied below the table of contents for the pdf files on the disk. Just to give an idea of what all is there.

Sea Scout Manual 2010

Supplemental Activities

Table of Contents

Advancement

Ordinary 16g Boatswain Calls

Ordinary 16a, Able 14c, Quartermaster 13f Drill

Able 14f Maritime History

Quartermaster 13b Engines

Quartermaster 13e Celestial Navigation

Leader Materials

History of Sea Scouts

How to Organize a Sea Scout Ship

Landship Ceremonies

Landships and Equipment

Marine Careers

Obtaining Boats and Equipment

Sample Activities

Sea Scout Adult Leader Responsibilities

Sea Scout Adult Leader Training Record

Sea Scout National Flagship Nomination Letter and Scoresheet

Superactivities and Superactivity Planning

Training

Sea Scout Sail Training Plan

This is why I normally race one designs, it is a true test of the skill of the skipper/crew. I have been racing (quite successfully) for 6 or 7 years now and I can tell you that the most fun and exciting racing is in one designs. I have done lots of PHRF racing and it just isn't as satisfying to win against a boat that never even had a chance to beat you, or to 'win' even though you finish minutes behind the other boat.

If you just consider hull speed, if the normal hull is 6 inches long you get a theoretical speed of .9 knots. The tri with three times as much waterline will have a theoretical hull speed of 1.6 knots. I am not positive of the ratios between monohulls and multihulls, and those calculations don't take into account weight, or any other factors, but the tri will definitely sail faster. Add in the extra stability there is no way a monohull could compete with a trimaran in a raingutter regatta, or in any other regatta for that matter.

Sorry that happened to you. If you ever find yourself out here in California we would be more than happy to teach you about Sea Scouts.

OGE, how do you know what your horse gets up to when you aren't on it?

Really? I remember doing it back in 2004.

You know, I think the lack of respect and attention during the National anthem is a football player thing. Last time I saw a Giants game (baseball) in Pac Bell Park everyone stood up, put their hand over their heart, and at least hummed along. The players were all lined up on the field with their hand's over their heart's.

They even had someone local to sing.

There would be a huge outcry and we would be the laughing stock of the country for a while. Especially if it That video would probably get on youtube and the TV news.

Being afraid of the water is something you just have to get over. It takes time and effort, but that is not a reason not to try. I used to be afraid of the water. I spent a few weeks with my grandparents the summer when I was 7. I wanted to hang out with my cousins in the pool, but I didn't want to go in the water. My grandpa got tired of my whining and threw me in the pool. Now I love the water. I have been told that my form resembles that of a drowning fish, but I consider myself a strong swimmer. In fact I am going to be working on the lifesaving mb for Able soon.

The same applies to heights. I used to not even like sitting on high things, then I started riding my bike to school. There was a large bridge on the way to school. Between that and the necessity of climbing masts on occasion I am ok with heights now.

Getting over stuff like that isn't hard, you just have to have a reason to do it.

I didn't mind so much that she made a mistake with the words. What I didn't like was that for the second of the song you can't hardly understand what she is singing. I think she might have lost focus after she messed up the line. I know I probably would have.