Thoughts on English Camp

Working at camp was an interesting experience for me after teaching in the classroom because each day I was leading kids without being in charge: not making lesson plans or even knowing what we’d be doing in the lesson on any given day.  It often was frustrating because I couldn’t think ahead about the best way to teach any given activity. Still, by the end of the week I’d gotten more used to who my students were and what they needed.  On Friday I handed out a bunch of different flashcards to my middle-aged girls (7-8) and instead of listening to me, they freaked out and didn’t listen to directions.  It took me a minute of trying to make my plan work before I just decided to change plans.  I took all the flashcards back and made them follow the cards I chose.  It worked much better. 

We also had an activity where students guided one blindfolded student along a winding piece of tape.  The directions to me were, basically, “have the students practice giving each other directions to complete the maze.”  I didn’t know beforehand what was written on the maze, how many blindfolds we would have, or what actions they would need to do.  As usual, the time with the youngest ones was crazy and probably unproductive, but each time I did the activity I figured out better ways to do it, learning from the mistakes I’d make with other groups.  I started having multiple people on the course at a time, rather than making all of them give directions to each blind-folded student (it cut down on “free agents” who find more interesting occupations.)  But then it was hard to evaluate if the students were speaking in English and giving directions properly.  So I finished up by blindfolding myself & making them guide me through the maze.  Sounds like a recipe for kid’s going crazy without supervision, doesn’t it!  Instead, it was interesting how much they didn’t want me to get hurt, especially when some of them had thought it quite funny to guide their classmates into walls or desks.  Anyway, it was a good “final exam” to see how well they could tell left from right and give directions (the point of the day.)  I think this is one of the things I find really fun about teaching: having to make spontaneous decisions about how to teach kids better.

Some of the monitors I hung out with at
camp - U.S. and Britain unite!

Each day after camp, most of the monitors & service team members headed to a little ice cream shop a few blocks away.  I wonder how much our 40-60 additional patrons multiplies the owner’s cash flow each day?!  In the outdoor seating area, the high schoolers form huge circles to talk and play group games.  I, being part of the honorary “old crowd,” tend to congregate in some of the smaller conversation circles that form further away from the pent up energy.  :)  But now matter who one hangs with, it’s a lot of fun to relax together over delicious ice cream flavors.  For instance, imagine a flavor called “bonbon ferrero” that is basicly like an entire scoop of one of those Ferrero chocolates.  Such decadence!  On  Wednesday when I went to get ice cream with everyone, however, dust blew in my left eye.  (For those who don’t know: not a huge deal breaker, since I don’t usually see out of it.)  I should have gone home right away, but I kept hoping my eye’s tears would rinse it out.  When I did go home & rinse my eye, it seemed that I had scratched the inside of my eyelid; my saline solution caused it to sting so much!  I realized I was pretty lucky not to have scratched my eyeball...although would I have noticed?  Do corneas hurt?  Or do they just get scratched like lenses, in which case I wouldn’t notice since I don’t see out of it?  Anyway, I wore glasses for a day to give it some rest.  My kids were all surprised, and my glasses-wearers felt a new connection to me as fellow, partially blind compatriots.  Soon the eyelid was all healed up, so I’m thankful that it ended up turning out ok.

"Posing" for the camera

Btw, I love the girls I had in breakout group!  The quietest girls in particular opened up over the course of camp, & I was able to better see all of their personalities.  The quietest one is an artist and tends to make friends with only a few people but in very close ways.  It was such fun figuring out how to let her feel the comfort of occasionally hanging out with her friend in another group while also drawing her more into this new circle of girls.  Such a privilege to get to know these girls at this stage of their lives.  

My boys' sense of humor!

At lesson time with the oldest students, I have these really intelligent boys who enjoy doing the class's activities quite a lot.  They understand the basics pretty well, so they creatively mold activities to reflect what they consider fun.  One day we were drawing and labeling in English the outsides of thier dream houses, & one of the boys skipped the whole garden and windows-with-a-balcony thing (typical in Spanish homes) to draw an enormous hockey rink (I think for roller hockey) and concession stand.  Hahaha!  The monitor who was supposed to lead this group has boys the rest of the day and requested changing with me during the last hour.  I’m so glad that I did!

Water bottles for campers &
monitors helped us deal with the heat

My trip to Spain coincided with some of the hottest weeks that Madison, WI has ever experienced.  Who would have thought that I’d go to Spain in summer to get a reprieve from hot weather!  I felt positively rich lying in bed as cool 72 degree breeze blew through my windows at night.  During the dist week, it stayed n the upper 80s most days, allowing things at the camp to run more smoothly every day.  (Even in the second week, it only reached into the mid-90s.)  Other years, it was in the high 90s to mid 100s each day, and tempers, health, and energy levels of both campers and monitors decreased.  I can't imagine what icky discomfort, lethargic campers, and discipline problems we'd have had if it had been twenty degrees warmer!  What a blessing to hold camp during cooler weather this year.