Evaluating with Girls

Girl Scouting is committed to building leaders through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, where girls: Discover + Connect + Take Action = Leadership. This leadership experience encourages a lifestyle where girls: explore and discover their world (and all the positive and negative things it contains); connect with the people in their world, especially those who are different than they are; and take action in their community to make it a better place. It is very important that girls take action / evaluate after every activity/trip. Taking a few minutes after activities to evaluate the experience enables girls to gain a fuller meaning and develop leadership skills for the future. Safety-Wise shares the following evaluation tips: "After the trip, the girls discuss and reflect on their trip. Follow-up activities may include dramatizations, stories, or art activities, such as paintings of what impressed them. They should send thank-you notes to anyone who helped make the trip possible or memorable, and they may include a painting or a poem they have written. They make plans for future trips, basing these plans on what they have learned, enjoyed, or need to practice." "Evaluate the trip with the girls. Discuss what was fun and worthwhile, decide what the group would like to change or eliminate on future trips, and report back to the council with the group's evaluation." Helpful Evaluation Hints Let the GIRLS do most of the talking. Ask questions that require more than "yes" or "no" answers. Keep the discussion casual and fun. If you have gone to someone else's organized event, the girls may have many ideas of what the organizing group could or should have done differently, but return to what the girls could have done differently. For example - been better prepared, gotten more information up front, etc. Helpful Evaluation Questions What did you notice during the activity? Did anything surprise you? Why? How did you feel when...? Why? Were you successful? Why/why not? What did you learn during the activity? How is this like another experience you've had (school, sports, church, etc)? What was the purpose of this event? There can be more than one purpose. "Fun" can be an appropriate answer from time to time. Was the purpose satisfied? What did you like best? What did you like least? What would you do differently if we were to do this again? Let's Review: 1) Allowing girls the opportunity to evaluate activities/trips is an important part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.      A)  True      B)  False 2) Girls can evaluate their Girl Scout experiences by:      A)  Dramatizations, stories, or art activities      B)  Casual discussions      C)  Organized discussions      D)  All of the above 3) Girls should evaluate their activities/trips because it allows them the opportunity to:      A)  Share ideas      B)  Discuss what was fun and worthwhile      C)  Gain a fuller meaning from their experience      D)  Decide what the troop would like to change on future trips      E)  A and C only      F)  All of the above

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