It was the best of times

CONTINUING:

(My last post ended in the TO BE CONTINUED. This is that bit...)

To be honest, I never thought the job would be a problem. I figured I'd waltz right on in and just knock every client group I had dead and walk around with a faint glow eminating from my aura. Egotistic and arrogant I know but I have had heaps of experience with kids and thought that this job would be a natural and smooth transition. Easy as. From the week I blogged about last that obviously turned out to be entirely false. Shocker, right? ...No.

Suddenly after the girls had gone and I'd gotten off work and had a night to decompress and have several beers I was at that moment where I took my cruise control off. I'd had half an ear open to the chatter of other Group Leaders (from here-on-out GLs) about strategies they used to help make their groups work better. I noted them but had at the time still thought "I don't need those tricks. I'll get by. No worries." That strategy failed so I recalled some of those ideas I'd discounted days before. One quippet of gold I'd heard came from my buddy Jordan. He said, "When working with children you need to consider you words like currency. You only have so much to spend. Spend it on things that matter. If you can figure out ways to save yourself a mouthful of words now you'll have some saved up for later." Great advise. I made a poster for my pack briefing. Worked like a charm. "Do we need ____? Where do we put ____? How many of ____ do I bring?" All I needed to do was point to the poster (trash bag with sharpie) and they'd find their answer. Saved a fortune. I did a silent briefing, pantomiming what needed to happen instead of saying it. Got my 401 K going.

I was amazed at the result and the functional truth of Jordan's advice. With that in mind the rest of my week went swimmingly. I was in control. Rather than constantly asking "Who wants to cook tonight?" I assigned duty groups and it was known who was cooking, who was cleaning, who was in charge of hygiene, who was on camp duty. Rather than waste my energy requesting kids to do things I simply asked, "Whose on camp? You need to monitor everyone else because if they drop food you need to clean it up." Kept the camp spotless. These little changes allowed me to stop worrying about the little things and enabled me to focus on the next level. I used several activities to achieve learning outcomes and prompted great discussions, primarily lead by the kids themselves, about Leave No Trace principles, the ethical dillemma of museums, and why it's important to conserve h20. By the end of the week I heard my group telling their friends, "I love hiking! It's so much fun!" Their freinds would reply, "Yea maybe but I just wish we didn't have to walk with these heavy packs the entire time." My kids would say, "Well if you did that you would lose some of the experience, right? Like I am pretty proud of being able to carry this pack all the way up that hill." It was like magic. Whereas the week before I conciously and honestly internally debated whether this job was actually out of my capability this week I reveled in the only reason one has to continue in this field: the feeling that I'd helped teach these kids something, enriched their lives a bit, challenged their understandings of themselves and challenge itself. Granted maybe they didn't think these grandiose thoughts per say. But the gist was still there.

I am glad I failed the other week. The act of failing is crucial. Without it life would be flat.

Actually let me rephrase (pay attention this is the take home bit): I am glad I struggled the other week. The act of struggling is crucial.Without it life would be flat. Failure is, in my mind, not an action but, rather, a reaction. Failure can only occur when you choose to close your eyes to your mistakes-your struggles-rather than open them widely and analyze why you made your mistakes-how you struggled. Walking away from a mistake without taking a lesson is the failure; hence, it is a reaction to the mistake not the action itself.

The past couple of weeks has reaquainted me with this idea. Which is why I find this palce and this job invaluable. Which is why I love it here.

Oh yea. I didn't forget......

#4 Way to Die in the Land Down Under: Saltwater Crocodile

The largest living member of the crocodilians and reptiles, the saltwater crocodile can grow up to 18 feet (5.45 meters) in length and is often found in Thailand, Vietnam and Northern Australia. They have been known to take on animals such an adult water buffalo and have often attacked people. It is usually well camouflaged both underwater or on dry land and strikes at an amazing speed. Its most powerful attack – the death roll – consists of grabbing its prey and rolling powerfully until it dies.