Democracy Badges Guide - Girl Scouts

1 CIVIC Democracy BADGE GUIDET roop Leader Guide on Hosting a Virtual Troop Meeting on Zoom Are you a Troop Leader hosting your first Zoom Meeting and don t know where to begin? Are you a Troop leader hosting her second or third meeting and want to bring in new perspectives or activities to make your meetings more engaging? If so, this Guide will help you do just that! Steps to Creating a Virtual Meeting on Zoom1. Go to to create a free account or you can sign up for a $36/annual account that allows your troop(s) to meet for an unlimited time here. If you sign up for free account, you will receive an email from Zoom to activate your account and create a After signing in, click Schedule A Meeting .3. Fill in the details about your meeting: topic, description, time , etc.

2 The Zoom Basic plan has a 40-minute time limit on meetings with 3 or more participants. However, you can reset your time by having everyone leave the meeting and then Girl Scout Super Power:4. Once finished, click Save .5. To send the Zoom meeting link to your Troop, click Copy the invitation .6. Once you copy the invitation, you can paste it into an email or text to your Troop. Attendees can join by desktop, laptop, tablet, or out our Girl Scouts of Greater New York Virtual Troop Orientation here on some tips and tricks on hosting your next Virtual Troop Girl Scout Super Power:Before Your Meeting 1. Send a welcome email to your Girl Scouts instructing them to do the following for their first Zoom Meeting. o Put on your favorite Girl Scout t-shirt.

3 O Choose a quiet area in your home with a plain wall to utilize as your background *If you do not have a plain background at home and/or your computer has the capabilities to utilize Zoom backgrounds feel free to use a fun Girl Scout Zoom Background. PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: To get your Girl Scouts excited for their meetings host a virtual theme week on Zoom where Girl Scouts dress in their favorite garb that is representative of what you will discuss for your meeting. 2. Test your audio & video equipment to make sure it works If you have earphones feel free to utilize those in order to cancel the probable noise around you. *If you are not aware how to check your audio and video equipment in Zoom watch this short video. 3.

4 Log into Zoom meeting between 10-15 minutes before your meeting takes place. 4. Change your name on Zoom utilizing the example below First Name, Last Initial., GS Level * If you are not aware how to change your name on name on Zoom watch this short video. 5. Introduce/Greet other attendees than mute yourself until meeting gets Girl Scout Super Power:During Your MeetingArrival Activity: (5 minutes) Consider having a WELCOME QUESTION on the screen for the girls to answer either in the chat box or on screen if you enable the annotation tool. *If you are not aware how to annote on Zoom watch this short FOR LEADERS: Some great WELCOME QUESTIONS are:1. How was your day?2. What interesting thing did you learn in class today?

5 3. Share a fun fact and in-turn get the girls (5 minutes) Give girls a few minutes to join the meeting and get settled. Encourage the girls to take this time to chat with each other before the official meeting beginsGround Rules (5 minutes) Review the ground rules or use this time to create list together. Promise and Law (5 minutes)Recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law together. Ask girls to keep themselves muted as they follow your lead. Internet connectivity issues can cause a lag in audio, which can be discouraging and frustrating for the girls when they aren t hearing themselves in can encourage girls to have their cameras on, but it shouldn t be required. PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: For your next meeting have a Girl Scout lead out in the Girl Scout Promise and Law.

6 An excellent way to get your Girl Scout involved is to create a Girl Scout Kaper Chart for the week. Girl Scout Kapers are a fun tradition that helps girls take the lead, learn by doing, and practice cooperative learning to get things done. If you are not aware how to create a Kaper Chart watch this short video. DemocracyMy Girl Scout Super Power:Activity of the day: (15 minutes)This is a great time to work on a badge or Journey series. Consider sending a list of materials to your Girl Scouts the week before meeting so that they can come in prepared to are some specific ideas to get started: Get silly: Play charades, Taboo, or Pictionary about the topic or theme for the day. Get the wiggles out: Do yoga or have a dance party together.

7 Quiet together time : Read stories aloud or do a group add-a-line story. If you have a Daisy troop, read a Petal story! Get artistic: Draw portraits of one another and share. Invite: Have a guest speaker or subject area expert join your troop meeting to help with badge : You can screen share, so anything that you can put on your screen can be shared like videos, pictures, and more.*For a list of Digital Activities visit the GSUSA Digital Icebreakers and Games Website. Prep For Your Next meeting (5 Minutes) If the girls will complete an activity on their own, set them up for success and explain what they ll need to do. If not, give them a sense of what to expect for the next meeting. Looking for feedback on what to do next?

8 This is a great time to poll the girls!Make New Friends (5 minutes) Wind down your meeting by singing Make New Friends. Just as you did with the Promise and Law, ask the girls to mute their microphones and follow your Circle (5 minutes) Encourage the girls to share this special time of the meeting with a sibling or even their favorite stuffed animal. Just as you would with an in-person meeting, ask them to cross their arms and give them a moment to squeeze their own hand (by making a fist) to virtually pass on the squeeze. Then, on the count of three, instruct the girls to lift their arms over their heads to virtually twist out to close the meeting. PRO-TIP FOR LEADERS: A modified Friendship Circle is possible!

9 Instead of squeezing a hand, have each girl say the name of another person in your virtual circle after she makes her wish? Encourage the girls to be creative!*For additional ideas on for planning your next virtual visit the Tips, Tools, and Ideas GSUSA website for Planning a Great Virtual MeetingDemocracyMy Girl Scout Super Power:The Anatomy of a Badge Traditional Badges allow Troop Leaders and Girl Scouts to choose from a series of activities they d like to conduct. In order to complete these activities, there are FIVE steps that your Girl Scout need to follow. The FIVE steps to complete any given badge are the following. Activity 1: Opening CeremonyActivity 2: DiscoverActivity 3: ConnectActivity 4: Take ActionActivity 5: Closing CeremonyTo adhere to social distance guidlines, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York has pre-selected the activities in this Guide for Troop Leaders and Girl Scouts to complete during a virtual troop meeting or girls really enjoy a particular activity and want to continue to explore a topic, we encourage them to do so.

10 Activity 1: Opening Ceremony Each level will start the badge program with where they will recite the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Take a few minutes here to talk about the badge and what they will be 2, Activity 3, and Activity 4 will allow Girl Scouts to learn about their local, state, and federal government. Through the Discover, Connect, Take Action framework, girls earn, lead, and teach others to be aware of their surroundings. Girl Scouts scan their world for things they want to change, work together to plan that change, and take action to make it happen, all while becoming strong, confident leaders along the 5: Closing Ceremony is a great time for reflection. Girl Scouts should each share one thing they learned through these activities, their favorite part, and something they d like to explore further.