InquisitiveScouter

Ordering patches now

So did we! Wait... are we in the same unit??

Well... 30 days... right? 6b. Develop and describe a plan for improvement in each of the activities listed in Tenderfoot requirement 6a. Keep track of your activity for at least 30 days. 6c. Show improvement (of any degree) in each activity listed in Tenderfoot requirement 6a after practicing for 30 days. 30 days later Push-ups ________ (Record the number done correctly in 60 seconds) Sit-ups or curl-ups________ (Record the number done correctly in 60 seconds) Back-saver sit-and-reach _________ (Record the distance stretched) 1 mile walk/run _____________ (record the time)

Agreed. But there are some who cannot "get it", even though you explain it ten times. Also, I do let Scouts use the laser to point out the North Star to me, as a check of whether they have "got it." I was surprised at how many, for instance, know the method... pointers stars from the Big Dipper , then five times the distance to hit Polaris... but in practice it seems only about 70-80% can do this. That is, I ask them to tell how to find the North Star, then they explain it, and point in the general direction, but when I give them the laser to show me, they are off by a lot. This even even after I have them use the two sticks in the ground method of aligning a "gun sight" (so to speak). This also helps tremendously with Astronomy MB, Req 4: (a) Identify in the sky at least 10 constellations, at least four of which are in the zodiac. (b) Identify in the sky at least eight conspicuous stars, five of which are of magnitude 1 or brighter. For these, I use star charts, drawings, apps, telescopes or binoculars on a tripod, and pictures before pulling out the laser 😜 It is just one of many resources to use...

If you see that as the point, then please, follow your beliefs and never go into the woods again. Also, please stop using electricity, because the windmills are killing far more birds... As for me, until something more conclusive than your concoction emerges from scientific study and observation, I'll happily bring out my laser pointer to educate Scouts. Happy Scouting

From post yesterday...

And btw, I am a Leave No Trace Master Educator. Never in any syllabus item or class of instruction have we discussed laser pointers. Just did a quick search of ALL my Instructor materials issued by BSA and LNT.... how many hits for 'laser'?? Zero. And, you can use "Mr. Google", too! (and it is rather sexist of you to assume Google is a 'Mr.' 😜 but we will allow it ) Search the lnt.org site for the word laser, and you know how many hits you get? Zero. OK, so I'll go another mile in those shoes... https://www.sfvaudubon.org/a-guide-to-bird-locating/ Laser Pointers: Pen-sized lasers are now available in various powers and produce either a red or a (preferred) green beam. Many professional tour guides use them; not all are equally adept at using them. The key is to start from something obvious like a large rock or tree trunk. Starting somewhere close to the bird is far less important. Once everyone sees your laser “dot”, they can follow it as you move it along trunk, limb and twig to the bird. Never shine the beam on the bird. Keep the dot where the bird cannot see it so you don’t startle it. Just below the bird works well, as does slowly circling the bird. The dot will display better on solid objects like trunks or twigs than on leaves. Avoid jerky movements. In a forest of leaves, a moving laser beam scatters over many yards. Birders more than a few feet to either side of the pointer-holder sees only a series of bright dots scattered over many leaves and won’t have a clue as to which dot is nearest the bird. Warn the viewers of this scattering and reduce beam movement to a minimum. Your Honor, I rest my case.

I'm not gonna do the heavy lifting on your argument. If you actually have a position to support, then support it. Thanks @qwazse! And the dispersal method is actually to aim the laser at the birds! https://biglasers.com/blog/2022/08/16/understanding-green-laser-pointers-for-canada-goose-control/ Of course I would never do this... And, if you've ever used one responsibly, you know it only takes a second or two of pointing at your star to have everyone know exactly which one you are talking about. It's nothing like the duration of say, those Christmas laser light displays people put up on their houses which go all night, in indiscriminate directions.

Citation required.

Your house lights, and the lights in your neighborhood and city disorient migratory birds more than any laser you will use in the wild... Physician, heal thyself... https://www.birdconservancy.org/lights-out-for-birds/#:~:text=Light from big buildings%2C street,visibility of the night sky.

LOL, that's for those inconsiderate people who point them at animals. Certainly check the rules for wherever you are going. And I recommend adults only handle the pointer.

Actually, looking at Scoutbook to refresh my recall... There are THREE dates recorded for a rank: Date Earned Date Approved/Recorded Date Awarded The clock for advancement to next rank starts from Date Earned.

Ahh... our procedure is to "Approve" as soon as the BoR is complete... same date. And OP did specifically ask about what happens in SB. BTW, @Alec27, you can go back in SB and manipulate an "Earned" date to match the BoR date, if that is an issue.

Approved. You can accumulate several ranks in Scoutbook "to be awarded". But, you should not be waiting until a Court of Honor to award a rank or badge. You should be doing this as soon as possible after the rank or badge is earned. Read your Scout Handbook, approx page 414. "As soon as possible, you are recognized for your achievement at a troop meeting where you recevie your badge. (You'll later be recognized again at a special ceremony call a court of honor.)" Once we "award" at a troop meeting, we mark it in Scoutbook. Then for your future Court of Honor, you can run the "Scouts BSA Recognition Report" backdated to your last CoH, for a complete list of everything to be recognized at the upcoming CoH. Our Scouts rarely wait more than a week to get their badges... just enough time to get to the Scout store to purchase. Fortunately, our Advancement person lives a few blocks from the store, and has a weekly routine of going the day of our Scout meeting to pick up items. Your mileage will obviously vary...

Concur, to a point... We had a Scout who was working on Tenderfoot. He did not take good care of his book, and his requirements page ripped out, and he lost the page with his progress. I sat with him, read through the requirements, and asked him if he could remember which requirements he had completed, and with whom. I was going to help him verify, and was prepared to take him at his word for many. For some, he said he could not remember. He asked me if he was going to have to re-do the requirements, and I told him yes, for the ones you cannot remember or that we cannot verify. Later that week I got a message from his Mom that he was leaving Scouting. Now, there were many other factors at play with that young man, and I know he was having a rough go in other areas of his life. This seemed to be one thing he simply was unwilling to stick with, given the speed bump he had hit. I do believe, had his items been backed up in Scoutbook, and allowed for an easy recovery from this, he'd still be in Scouting today. We tell our Scouts that the primary written record is their Scout Handbook. But we warn them (this Scout included), that written records are fragile, especially in the hands of an active 12 year old. We are happy to help them by recording things in Scoutbook, but the responsibility for seeing that is done is on their shoulders! About 80% of our Scouts are diligent in syncing the two systems of record. Very few do not have anything recorded in Scoutbook, and we do as @curious_scouter does above... when they meet their BoR with their Scout Handbook, the Advancement chair records the BoR in Scoutbook, and we award the rank. Without a backup record, it is only a matter of time until this happens again. We also tell Scouts to take a picture of their requirements page, as a sufficient record, especially if it becomes detached. We have reconstructed a record in Scoutbook from a picture like that....

All great ideas... - You do not need a flag pole. You can make own. Pretty easy with some staves, rope and stakes. Check out the Scout handbook Woods Tools Section for round lashings. Lacking staves, you can throw a rope over a tree branch to raise a flag. (My preferred method.) Just need a long rope and a flag for that one... - For your astronomy, recommend you invest in a modest pair of binoculars (instead of a telescope) and/or a green laser. I use the laser all the time with Scouts to point out stars. Be careful not to use when aircraft are in the area you are pointing. (Flashing aircraft with a laser is a felony! https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/protecting-aircraft-from-lasers ) In March, you might be able to catch Orion. Pretty cool and easily recognizable constellation and has the red giant Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice). The color of the star is very noticeable to young eyes. Old farts might need the binoculars for better acuity. You can project forward in time with Heavens Above interactive sky chart to get an idea of what you might see. https://www.heavens-above.com/skychart2.aspx?lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT Then, you can also download and use some good apps on your phone for real time sky chart. - Webelos are allowed to use bowsaws! You could incorporate some sawing. https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/HealthSafety/pdf/680-685.pdf - We always plan for a faith service on camping trips. "Scout's Own" The challenge to our PLC is that they have not met the Gold Standard unless they have a flag ceremony and a worship service. - How about some Leave No Trace principles?? Lots of stuff to do there...

Could Mom stand on her head??

If the registrar likes you, you will have no problems with recharter 😜 Want to get the registrar to like you? Complete your paperwork properly, file it in a timely manner, and have sufficient funds to cover registrations... Pretty simple recipe.

Agreed. That is the primary resource for the Scouts. Scoutbook is the primary tracking tool we adults use, as it provides much more utility.

After reading the memo, I cannot help myself... Duck, Duck, Moose!!

It is best if you can get Scouts to "take care of themselves" as @mrjohns2 indicates. However, this requires a few things: 1. The Scout must have an email address to have their own Scoutbook account. (Many parents balk at this for 10.5 - 12 year olds... don't get me started there.) 2. A parent who is connected to Scoutbook and can reasonably navigate the application. 3. The parent must invite the Scout to connect to Scoutbook and finish creating their account. 4. The Scout has to find out how to enter logbook activities, which is not an intuitive process. 5. A Unit leader who monitors Scoutbook routinely and goes through the process of approving entries. Now, imagine if you will, 20 Scouts went on last week's camping trip. Not all 20 are gonna make an entry. Of the ones who do (say 10), they are gonna call that activity 10 different names and will put in 10 different accounting for days, nights, miles hiked, frost points, service hours, etc. Our solution: for every event, we have a youth planner (who reports to the PLC), and an adult planner who mentors that youth through the process. At the end of the event, there is an accounting (if you will) of everyone who went on the event, how much it cost, how many miles, nights, hours, etc. This is done with a spreadsheet. The adult planner is responsible to work with someone with edit access to input all data in Scoutbook. Scouts should absolutely track all their data in their Scout Handbook, reconcile that with Scoutbook from time to time, and point out discrepancies to whomever is designated to handle that stuff (in our unit, that's their assigned ASM, and/or the Advancement Chair) One technique we use is that, any time a date or data is input into Scoutbook, we then highlight it in BLUE in the Scout's Handbook. Makes it really easy to tell what is new stuff, and what has already been input. If you have a more elegant solution, I'd love to hear it and copy your success!

Check your roster in my.scouting.org ---> MENU ---> Your Unit ID ---> Roster Once this is updated, your Scoutbook roster update should follow within 24 hours. Any youth who aged out may linger on a bit longer. Our recharter went very cleanly with 52 Scouts / 28 Leaders. The absolute key is to have all your roster updates / applications processed BEFORE you submit for recharter.

Putting bling on their uniforms is gonna be tough!

And, if you are paying someone to create a good program, do you think they are going to come back to you and say, "The solution is less programming, and and more emphasis on unstructured fun in the outdoors!" ??? https://childmind.org/article/why-kids-need-to-spend-time-in-nature/

Mad props to that Scout!!