Pony Express District Roundtable20 November 2008December Theme: Holiday Lights

Door Hanger Template
During our 'Good News Minute' I had mentioned the success we had experience in implementing the Door Hanger reminders.
The template I had created is available here; it is a Word document.

Scouting Online2008 UNPC PowWowClass Helps

This post is for those Cub Scout Leaders attending my class at the 2008 Utah National Parks Council "Grand Howl" PowWow. Here, you will find all the information we talked about in class, plus more. This post is an updated version of my post made a year ago entitled "The Creative Web."

You can view and print the handout (in PDF form), from here. All the websites that we discussed in class are listed below as links, so you can just click on them instead of having to type in all those addresses.

Enjoy!

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“Scouting Online”

Do you need something different and can’t get ideas to flow? This is the place for you. Here you’ll learn how to get some of those great ideas you’re always hearing about with just a click of your mouse.

Great Resources

Let’s dive right into some great resources. These are the places where you will find a lot of Cub Scout-oriented material quickly and easily.

http://www.scouting.org - BSA National Site

http://www.usscouts.org – Large collection of Scouting resource materials

http://www.usscouts.org/usscouts/bbugle.asp - Baloo’s Bugle Monthly Theme Newsletter

http://www.utahscouts.org – Utah National Parks Council Scouting Information

http://www.scouter.com - Your Guide to Scout Out the Net

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/cub-scouts - Cub Resources

http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/home.html - Virtual Cub Leader's Handbook

http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/aol-cere.html - Arrow of Light Ceremonies

http://www.napwb.com - National Archive of PowWow Books

http://www.cubmaster.org - Resources for Cubmasters and other Cub Leaders

http://www.wtsmith.com/rt.html - Bill Smith's Unofficial Cub Scout Roundtable

http://cubmasterchris.com - "An Hour a Week?" Podcast

http://scouting.org/CubScouts/Cubcast.aspx - The Official Cubcast Podcast

http://www.madsenco.com/scouting.shtml - Rank Trackers


http://trax.boy-scouts.net - More Rank Trackers

http://www.scouting.org/CubScouts/Leaders/CubScoutHelps.aspx – ‘Hidden’ Program Helps pages

http://www.goodturnforamerica.org/ – ‘Good Turn for America’ Official Website for recording your Den and Pack Service Project Hours

http://www.scoutstuff.org// – Official "Scout Shop" onine for purchasing various scout-related items

Online Advancement

You probably are familiar with the online Cub Scout advancement system. To access the online advancement, you must use Microsoft Internet Explorer and go to https://scoutnet.scouting.org/iadv/UI/home/default.aspx

But, did you know that you can save time by using one of the many Pack Advancement Software tools to simply ‘upload’ your advancement info instead of having to re-enter it into the online advancement program? You may want to check it out if you have or are considering a purchase of one of those Pack software programs.

Other Creative Resources

There are lots of other websites where you can get some creative help. Here are just a few suggestions…

http://www.scoutresources.org.uk/SR/experimental/stunts/index.html - UK Scouting Source Cub Scout Skits

http://www.macscouter.com/Skits - MacScouter Big Book of Skits

http://www.e-scoutcraft.com/ - Exciting Scout Craft

http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/Program/CraftsGeneral1.htm – Scouting Web Crafts

http://www.familyfun.com – Family Fun magazine (lots of crafts and recipes)

http://www.kaboose.com – more great craft and treat ideas (formerly kidsdomain.com)

http://www.funandgames.org - featuring fun and, um, games for children and youth

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/icebreak.html - Icebreakers and Warmup Games

http://www.theteachersguide.com/Recyclinglessonplans.htm – The Teacher’s Guide: Recycling lessons and activities

http://www.hightechscience.org/activities.htm – Fun Science activities and links

Using Search Engines

Most of us have used them before, but many of us do not quite know how to best use search engines. Ideally, you want to come up with a minimum of three key words. Why three? Because it helps you to refine what you are looking for and eliminate what you don’t want to find.

As an example, let’s say you were looking for information about butterflies. If you were to search on one key word of “butterfly,” you would not only find web pages with information about those colorful flying insects… but you could also possibly get pages with information about butterfly bandages, butterfly-print handbags, and the butterfly stroke for swimming.

Now, if we add another key word... let’s say we are interested in the Monarch butterfly, specifically. Then, when we search on the key words: “Monarch butterfly,” we eliminate the websites selling butterfly bandages and web pages about the butterfly stroke for swimmers. But we still may come across pages selling Monarch butterfly printed handbags or artwork.

So let’s add one more key word. Now what we are really interested in is the habitat of the Monarch butterfly – where can they be found? SO we search on our three key words: “Monarch butterfly habitat.” We have eliminated what we don’t want, and zero in on what we really do want. The resulting pages should all deal with the habitat of the Monarch butterfly. Of course there will be some results that are just news stories about a Monarch butterfly habitat, or sites that ask for help to protect a Monarch butterfly habitat; but you should also find information about the habitat, itself.

Now, if I was looking for websites where I could purchase some butterfly bandages, I might use the keywords, “purchase butterfly bandage.” …Or if I wanted to find out how to do the butterfly swimming stroke, I might search using the keywords, “butterfly stroke swimming.”

What keywords can you come up with? Give it a try!

Getting More out of your Searches

There is a great article called Search Engine Math by Danny Sullivan. It is a way of getting more from your searches. You can find the article over at SearchEngineWatch.com, at this address: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156021.

Popular Sites for Searching

There are several Search Engines and Directories out there. Here is a list of some of the most popular ones.

Alta Vista - www.altavista.com

Ask - www.ask.com

Ask Kids - www.askkids.com

Dogpile - www.dogpile.com

Excite - www.excite.com

Google - www.google.com

Lycos - www.lycos.com

WebCrawler - www.webcrawler.com

Yahoo! - www.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Kids - kids.yahoo.com

Your Suggestions

I encourage you to add a comment with any websites that you find to be helpful to your position in Cub Scouts.

Thanks!

Pony Express District Roundtable18 September 2008October Theme: Adventures in Books

'Book about Me' Gathering Activity

The Gathering Activity for tonight's Roundtable was creating a "Book about Me." The instructions and a template for use for your cubs can be found here as a PDF file.

There is one difference between the template here and the one you used at Roundtable: instead of a page for "My Cub Scout Pack and Position," the page is for "My Favorite Movies."

Other Helps

Baloo's Bugle (PDF version) for this month's theme is now available.

This month's Program Helps has not yet been been posted online. :(

KISMIF.org (Keep It Simple, Make It Fun) is another Cub Scout-related blog with links to lots of helpful information, including this month.

The September 2008 Scouting Magazine online edition is now available, as well.

Pony Express District Roundtable Cubmaster Class July 17, 2008 August Theme: S'more Summer Fun

Resources to help you plan Pack Meeting

• This month's section from Program Helps
• Access to this month's issue of Baloo's Bugle
• July Cubcast from the National Council

Cubmaster Helps: Family and Parent Involvement

• The official BSA Family Talent Survey Sheet
• Information about the BSA Family Activity Book that can be purchased at the Council Office store.