Pathfindersonline

In teaching both the Explorer and Ranger Classes I have found some discrepancies with the class diary and the class cards. On the card for example for the Ranger the Pathfinders are asked to Illustrate the meaning of the law but in the diary it says illustrates the menaing of the pledge. I now have decided that the Explorers will illustrate the pledge and the Rangers will illustrate the law. There is always a bit of confusion with this each year as we refer to the cards and the diary Please if possible make the correction in the next batch of Ranger diaries that are printed, as this is what the Pathfinders take home to complete their weekly assignment. I am always heart broken when they bring there illustrations all completed, but then I have to tell them they need to redo the assignment and illustrate the Law not the pledge.

I hate to say this outloud but many of the resources we recieve through purchasing from NAD are riddled with typos (like my posts here).

Explorer is Pledge and Ranger is Law. You raise an interesting point and so I want to ask the question of the whole forum: How many AY instructors and clubs utilize the AY Diaries?

I ask because I never really have, despite being form large clubs with good financing most of the time it never seemed like a practical expense to me. We have bought some from time to time to help with certain special cases and I have known other directors who do use them. I think most I know do not though.

Also since there may be some time before AdventSource could distribute corrected versions I would remind everyone to double check them against the AY Instructor's Manual before using them and make the appropriate corrections.

Thanks for pointing that out.

God Bless,

Chris Fishell
Xtreme Youth Resources International

Our current Director is using them. It is kept in a notebook that is to be brought to every club meeting.

I always had a problem with them never showing up at a meeting or being lost so they stayed at the clubhouse and did not go home. Because they never went home, the card and manual worked just fine.

How do directors get the members to consistantly bring the class diaries (or anything else required) to meetings.
Handing out demerits has never worked.

Mr. Mike

As I am a new director, and my club is small I bought each Pathfinder a binder in which they keep their diaries and other handouts, honor worksheet etc. The binders are theirs to decorate and keep and I am happy to say they are very diligent in bringing the binder every week with all its contents. The Pathfinders do write quite a bit in them and we do use it for discussion. In Canada the diaries cost $6 cnd. But as I said our club is small. At the end of the year, the club is suppose to keep the diaries and class cards so if for any reason a Pathfinder drops out and decides to come back at a later time they will know which class they stopped at and can pick up from there.


Nicole
Director, IIW Gemini
Toronto, ON Canada

We have used the binder and class diaries with sucess. We use a point system for attendence, uniform, behavior, being current with classwork, etc. If the pathfinder hits 80% of possible points for the year, they are allowed to go on an extra outing of the groups choice. The last year in AZ, the pathfinders wanted to do a lockin. They each invited a friend and it was held in the fellowship hall. We played games, ate pizza/snacks and watched movies.

If anyone is intrested in our point system, I can post it on this forum or email to you.

You should post it. I am putting together an adminstration packet for clubs to consider but it is not ready yet. Some clubs do not have a very intact point system, many of us in Arizona use similar systems that are much more comprehensive.

I suggest posting it as its own topic under the Director's corner of Staff training.

Thanks,

Chris Fishell
Xtreme Youth Resources Internaitonal

As an educator, I would encourage counselors and instructors not to get SO USED TO THE DIARIES that Pathfinders becomes just another form of pencil and paper "school" done in the evenings or on Sabbath. The Pathfinder Curriculum (AY Classwork) should be fun, interactive, and multisensory. . . . We are not constrained by some of the things (like state standards) that schools are. . .

I've seen way to many times where the Diaries become a terrible crutch that turns what could be riveting discussions and interactive explorations into dull and excruciatingly long club meetings sitting at a table and filling in blank lines in a book.

Sure, the diaries have their place, but PLEASE USE WITH CARE!

(P.S. This is my own personal view and does NOT reflect the official view of the NAD. . . The NAD's role though is to provide RESOURCES to ASSIST the local club, knowing that each club will/should use the resources differently )

Mark O'Ffill

My Conference PF Council requirements is that the Director must sign off each diary of the pathfinder recommended for investiture. The Director must then give it to the area co-ordinator who then takes all the diaries, reviews them, makes her comments as well as say it ok for the Pathfinder to be invested.

The same sign off can and should be done with the class cards if cards are used rather than diaries.
We allow any Master Guide to sign off, but the card/diary needs to be reviewed by the Director.

Mr. Mike

I forewarded your correction to Brad Forbes at AdventSource and here is his grateful response:

Thanks for giving me this specific information. I have made the change in our master and when we reprint (next month) everything will match!

If you can please thank the person that wrote this comment.

bf

So does an area coordinator sometimes say that the diaries aren't filled out well enough or something? I guess I'm not sure how this "added level" of verification is useful. Can you enlighten me?

What I did for my class was made worksheets for each of the items that were required which are kept in thier Pathfinder notebbok (folder or binder) which is to be brought to every meeting. It saves money and the kids don't have to feel intimidated byfeeling like they have to complete the entire book. I they want to go the advanced route, I would develop new worksheets as necessary.

When I was making the Pioneer Diary, I noticed quite a few typos from the resources I was working with. (Other class's diarys, the AY honor answer book, etc.)

I hope these errors are resolved--this makes us look sloppy and those materials aren't cheap!

Our club began utilizing the diaries big time last year, when our new directors took over. The result has been better classes, better answers from the kids, more thinking and discussing (because a simple answer of I don't know doesn't work for me, my kids have to write in a correct answer, even if they don't know it - they learn by doing that), and more discipline on handling questions. It also helps in the long run when they get to the voyager and guide classes, in which there is WAAAAY more writing assignments, not to mention the year they start Master Guide. The diaries also help keep me more organized, because I can just mark the pages I want to cover in the class time and go over it with the prepared material instead of trying to think of how I'll get the cards done.

Using the diaries also gives them a resource that they can use in the future. I still have mine and periodically go back and review some of the things I wrote back then.