Online Safety for Girls/Parents

Archive for the ‘Quick Tips’ Category

Quick Tips: Can You Hear Me Now? or How to Communicate with Your Troop Families!

2012
09.11

Tags: Girl Scouts, GS, troop website
Posted in Quick Tips | 2 Comments »

Communication is the key…you hear it all the time! But what is the most effective way to communicate with your parents and with your girls as they get older and more communication-savvy?

How about a website? I told you a couple of posts ago that I attended a meeting in August and learned lots of cool new tips/tricks (see post on the Safety Activity Checkpoints App!). One of the other tips someone shared was a troop website.

There are lots of places on the Internet to create free websites. Some of them maybe secured/private, others are not. You can pay for the privacy for some websites. The one I learned about is through Shutterfly.

You may have heard or used Shutterfly in the past. It is a photo website. You can upload your digital photos and have them printed and sent to you for a low-cost. I have an account and I loved using them to process my digital photos.

Then I heard about their free website sharing! I think I am in heaven! They create different pages for your website – calendar, message board, sign-up (think cookie booths!) and photo/video sharing! This was the one that got me hooked! AND its private!

Last year our troop went to Savannah – birthplace of Girl Scouting! Every parent that attended the trip took photos or videos. Unfortunately I still haven’t seen most of the photos! As with most digital photos, people don’t print their photos. I took probably over 200 photos. I’m not going to e-mail (or print) all of those to my parents. I’m also not going to upload all of those to Facebook. But on this Shutterfly site, we can all upload our photos to the website and we can see everyone’s photos!

The site will also send out e-mail reminders to the parents when you have updated the site.

OR…the girls can update/create the site! The Senior level has a Website Designer badge. The girls could help create and set up their troop website or help a Daisy or Brownie troop set up their website (and earn a badge!)!

I see a lot of potential with this site. Let me know in your comments if there is a website that you use for your troop.

I am not receiving any money from Shutterfly for talking about their website. I just happen to like it!

Yours in Scouting,

No Comments

Quick Tip: Scout Notes is on Facebook!

2012
09.07

Tags: facebook page, Girl Scouts, GS
Posted in Quick Tips | No Comments »

It’s true! I have made the leap and have a page on Facebook! Please join me at: GS LakeMom Scout Notes page.

I will post quotes, questions and just regular GS things that go through my GS brain! I would also appreciate any feedback from you guys! You are the reasons that I do what I do – write about Girl Scouting! If you have questions, SWAP’s to share, let me know and we can work together to discuss them!

Thanks for joining me over on my Facebook page!

Yours in Scouting,

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Quick Tips: Safety Activity Check Points App

2012
08.29

Tags: girl scout apps, girl scout tips, Girl Scouts, GS, gs apps, gs tips
Posted in Quick Tips | No Comments »

I haven’t posted any new quick tips in a while but a couple of weeks ago I attended a meeting and got a ton of new tips! I will post about the others in the weeks to come (need to check them out first). For today’s post, I downloaded this the same day and have already used it at a troop meeting!

I love Apps (smartphone applications!)! I have been thinking for a long time (at least since I got my new iPhone and the new Girl Scout Activity Check Points [replaced SafetyWise] came out!) that this would be awesome as an app! Girl Scouts of the Heart of the South has done just that! They created an app that includes (among videos, event calendar, news, etc) the new Safety Activity CheckPoints! Now we can hand the girls the smartphone or iPad and let them find out what we need to do before we go ride a Segway!

Here is there blog post where they introduce the app. Have fun and enjoy!

Yours in Scouting,

9 comments

Tuesday’s Tips: Summer Activities

2010
06.01

Tags: girl scout summer activities, Girl Scouts, gs summer activities, leaders, troop summer activities
Posted in Quick Tips | 9 Comments »

The troop year is winding down (cue the sound of leaders across the US cheering!). Many troops have scheduled year end awards ceremonies. The sumer months are the time for leaders to rest, recover, recharge & research (some troop leaders never know when to stop! Myself included!)

Unless you take your troop core camping, the girls in the troop don’t see each other for those 3 months. How about scheduling 1 troop activity during the summer. No strict meeting, no structure, just time to give the girls to get together.

Here are a couple ideas:

Pool Party. (Remember to follow Safety Wise requirements – life guard on duty!) Buy a couple of pizzas and gather the girls at the local pool.
Bowling. This can happen rain or shine & everyone can be successful (with the bumpers). Let those patrols battle it out for a “trophy”.
Roller or Ice Skating. Can seem a little individual at times, but the time off the rink/ice can be group time.
Local minor league baseball game. Our local teams offer sleepovers on the field! The troop gets to enjoy the game, movie & sleeping on the baseball field! How many people get to say that!

Enjoy your summer! Only 90 days until your next troop meeting!

Yours in Scouting,