leaderladies.mee.nu

Picking & Choosing (It and Other)

If you have been a leader for any length of time you have been faced, especially at game time, with 20 children hopping up and down, screaming "ME ME, PICK ME".  If you don't have a system for choosing you will find that inevitably you are picking the same children over & over.

I have found that the time tested method that the Girl Scouts use for the Brownie age level (primary grades) to be the best system for picking & choosing -- anything!  I have found that it works for all age levels.  They call it "It & Other", among  other things, but I like the term "It & Other".  Typically the Brownie troops use an "It & Other" box, all decorated and will use it for picking and choosing a game leader.   Here is my simplified and expanded system.

You will need envelopes, both standard sized and twice as many as the smaller envelopes and 3x5 cards or pieces of paper.  On the outside of the standard sized envelope write the activity: picking the game to play, passing out supplies, cleaning up, etc.  On the smaller envelopes write on one "It" and on the other "Other.  Each standard sized envelope gets "It" and "Other" envelopes.  Each set of envelopes gets a set of 3x5 cards ... each card has the name of a child in your group.

To start, all names go into the "IT" envelopes.  When it is time to pick someone, or a couple of someones to do something (that everyone wants to do -- or no one wants to do), pick names out of the "IT" envelope.  The name cards then go into the "OTHER" envelope.  You will continue to pick names out of the "IT" envelope for that activity until all the name cards end up in the "OTHER" envelope and then the process starts all over.  Very simple.  Everyone gets a chance to be picked to do everything, good and bad, so it eliminates any feelings that Ermatrude has to do all the "nasty" stuff or the Phoebe always gets picked to be the game leader. 

OK, so what happens if you are having a meeting and you only have one name left in the "IT" envelope and that child isn't there that day?  Go ahead and put all the name cards back into the "IT" envelope and pull a card.  However, in pencil (so you can erase it), put the child's name on the front of the large envelope.  The next time you have a meeting and need to pick for that activity, you will see that little Ermatrude should have been the one to pass out cookies but wasn't there at the last meeting so she is automatically picked for the next time she shows up.

As I mentioned, I've used the "IT and Other" system for all age levels, up through high school and it has been a successful tool that the children like using -- in fact, it was the Brownies that I had many years ago that suggested I expand the system from picking a game leader to picking & choosing for everything!

Posted by: wee wifey at 03:17 PM | Comments (52) | Add Comment
Post contains 537 words, total size 3 kb.