A quintessential bittersweet moment: the last week of camp! After spending nine weeks with my co-counselors and my campers, forming bonds and friendships, gaining ideas and inspiration, and making connections to leadership and teaching, it is time for me to return to campus for my senior year of college. But first, I will describe my last few days as a counselor. What activities worked well this week?: The best activity we had this week was one of the caricature artist! We had a woman come in and illustrate the campers doing a favorite activity, and drew it onto a T-shirt for them to take home. The kids loved it, not only sitting for the portraits but also watching the artist draw the other campers. They were totally enthralled by it, and their parents loved having a fun souvenir to take home. What did I do right, in terms of leadership? How can I further develop this?: I think this week, the quality of leadership that I best exemplified was that of reflection. A good leader is reflective on their skills and how they can improve on their leadership. I think that not only was I doing this during this week, but also throughout the whole summer as I wrote my weekly blog posts. This is something I can continue to do in my leadership positions in the fall, since reflecting on your own leadership style helps you become a better leader. Any applications for student teaching?: It's hard to say goodbye to my summer campers, and I'll probably see them again next summer, so I can't even imagine how hard it is to say goodbye to a classroom that you've spent all year with. This week helped me realize how to properly say goodbye to your students (or campers, in this case), and end the year in the best way possible. Biggest takeaway from the week: My biggest takeaway this week was how much I am going to miss my campers! Their joy and enthusiasm added a positive light to my day, and I hope I will be able to return as a counselor again next summer. Pictures: Here are a few of our campers wearing their caricature shirts! |
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It's hard to believe that we're in the second to last week of summer camp! What's even crazier is that it is the last week for one of my co-counselors. It feels like summer just started. But with our head counselor back, and all of the camper troubles figured out, it will be nice to ride out these last weeks and really enjoy the experience before heading back to campus in August.
What activities worked well this week?: One activity that the boys really enjoyed this week was the paper airplane contest. All summer, the boys had been making paper airplanes during free time with various pieces of paper. This week, I decided to have every camper make a paper airplane, using whichever design they wanted, give their plane a name and a cool design. Then at the end of the day, we had a paper airplane contest where we flew each airplane in the gym and saw which airplane traveled the longest. The boys were all over it, and it was even better to see some of the older kids help the younger kids constructing their airplanes. Any room for improvement?: The one thing that I want to improve before our last week of summer camp can also carry over to next year, if I am a camp counselor again. I want to keep a better organizational system of our craft supplies, so we know what we have before trying to introduce a craft that morning. My co-counselors and I plan on cleaning out our crafts tomorrow in order to see how we can best use them up in our final week. What did I do right, in terms of leadership? How can I further develop this?: This week, I did well in terms of servant leadership. Though I typically display this type of leadership every week as a camp counselor, I was hyper aware of it this week. Since these are the final weeks of camp, I was making even more of a conscious to ask the campers what they wanted to do during their last weeks at summer camp, so I could carry these plans out and allow them to have the best end to the summer as possible. Reflecting on this, I should continue being my best servant leader every day I am leading, as it helps create a positive morale amongst the community you are leading, and will allow you to better envision the goals, needs, and wants of the people around you. This is something that I can exhibit in student teaching, in my leadership position in my sorority, and in life in general. Any applications for student teaching?: This week my application for student teaching was cleaning up the classroom, or the camp room. Boy is it exhausting! Definitely something that you need to start doing a few weeks ahead of time, so you're not rushing to get everything organized and packed up. Biggest takeaway from the week: The most rewarding in the entire world is seeing a 5 year old girl not only go off the low dive, but the high dive after spending the entire summer in fear of both of them. It may take a while, but encouragement pays off! This was the week I had been waiting for, to put my individual leadership skills to the test! I'd had six weeks to practice and refine them, and now our lead counselor was on vacation, leaving the summer camp in the hands of me and our other college-age counselors. I was pretty ready; I knew these kids, I knew what to expect, I knew how to monitor and redirect their behavior. I thought I had everything ready to go. And then, we had another returning camper that threw me for a loop. This camper had not signed up for this week, but rather showed up on Monday with signed forms. I was incredibly apprehensive, as I knew what we were getting into. This child was a very bright and eager to please kid, with a love for swimming and Angry Birds. He had a lisp and other kids couldn't understand him very well, which led them to leave him out of activities. It didn't help that this child had problems with losing (and would throw fits when he did), and would sometimes strike out at other kids when he didn't get his way. I knew I was going to have to be careful with how the other kids interacted with him, and what we games we played to avoid a meltdown. Things were going pretty well until Friday, when this camper got into a fight with another camper while I was taking someone else to the bathroom. The other counselors quickly broke it up and resolved the issue, but of course I had to talk to the parents to make them aware of the situation. Talking to the parents was the most stressful part, but it went way better than I expected; each parent was understanding and agreed with how the situation was handled. In the end, though there was an issue, my counselors and I resolved it, and I was relieved to see the good, albeit stressful, week come to an end.
What activities worked well this week?: This week, we didn't really introduce any new activities. We continued to stick with popular ones that we knew the campers would respond well to: yarn crafts, coloring sheets, hidden picture games, relay races, glow stick parties, etc. We also drew a chalk illustration on the sidewalk for the kids to pose with, took pictures of the kids posing with the drawing so we could print them out and give them to their parents at the end of camp. Any room for improvement?: One way I can improve is to find new and different games to introduce during swimming. Most of the students are able to entertain themselves while at the pool, but for a lot of the campers who have been here all summer, they are getting bored with the monotony of the swimming games. To combat this, my counselors and I discussed introducing new pool games and using the remainder of our budget to buy pool games, noodles, and floats for the campers to use. What did I do right, in terms of leadership? How can I further develop this?: This week, in terms of leadership, I did very well with resolving the problems in front of me by developing a step-by-step course of action. I did this by communicating with my other counselors, but we immediately came up with a game plan for our problem and implemented the solution as quickly as possible to save the rest of the day. Our solution, talking to each child one-on-one to determine the source of the fight, have each child write an apology note to the other, and explaining to the parents what happened, worked as well as it could. I can continue to develop this by continuing to develop plans for problems when they face us. This is another tool I can use while teaching. Any applications for student teaching?: When the returning camper showed up on Monday, I knew that I was going to have to be watching him and making sure that he was following the rules throughout the week. To do this, I laid out specific rules for him. I would remind him of the rules, and right before the activity, have him repeat the rules back to me. This can also be a classroom strategy for specific students. In this case, I knew that he had difficulty following directions and lacked some social skills, but he was a bright kid and very well behaved one on one. Reminding him of the rules allowed him to check his own behavior. Biggest takeaway from the week: Coloring can be utilized as a calming tool for children. I had recently read an article about how art is soothing and relaxes students, and that was a technique that I used to help calm down a camper before things got really bad.
As we enter week five of summer camp and are quickly approaching our halfway point, I began to notice a pattern of our summer so far...rain! It had been raining and raining and RAINING for the majority of the summer so far. This does not necessarily make for happy campers! Thankfully, we have a great indoor pool at the fitness club, and other amazing games and areas for us to utilize during rough weather. The rain can't stop our summer camp from having a good time!
What activities worked well this week?: Our fitness class, as mentioned in previous post "Rough Waters", continues to be a hit with the kids! Because it was raining, we held our class inside this week. The instructor had the kids do push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and squats; in addition to some fun indoor games (Red Rover and Freeze Tag). It was pretty funny watching second and first graders trying to hold a 30 second plank, but it was also fun watching them get so competitive with the workouts, and wanting to improve! Any room for improvement?: This week, I noticed our morning care activities were getting a little stale. The kids are getting a little too used to just sitting around and coloring in the morning as they wait for the rest of their campers, and are beginning to get restless, which can effect their behavior throughout the day. I am going to look for some new activities and individual projects to introduce during morning care to give these campers a wider variety of things to pick from as they wait for camp to begin. What did I do right, in terms of leadership? How can I further develop this?: A big thing that I think I have begun to improve throughout summer camp is communicating with my fellow counselors. We have fallen into a great routine, and I have really sharpened my communication skills not only with them, but also with parents who have questions and comments during pick up at the end of the day. I can continue to develop this by working with my counselors in the same way throughout the rest of the summer, to keep fine-tuning my communication and collaboration skills. Any applications for student teaching?: This goes hand-in-hand with my leadership skill this week, but parent communication is a huge thing that I will have to deal with during student teaching this year. I am hoping that by practicing these skills during the summer and really perfecting how I communicate with parents and families, it will prepare me for any and every type of parent I may encounter come fall. Biggest takeaway from the week?: The sequel to "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is without a doubt, "The Girl Who Cried Diving Board".
This was a difficult week at camp. Specifically, one day that made the rest of the week seem difficult in retrospect.
Last week, we had a returning camper who had a history of behavior problems. He had been kicked out of camp four years previously. Now an upper elementary school kid, he is a lot bigger than the rest of the campers and does not always know how to act in social settings. He has trouble connecting with the other kids, and ends up antagonizing them with taunts or violence when he doesn't get his way. I had this kid in camp last year, so I was familiar with his behavior and knew how to deal with it. However, last year he had been fairly well behaved. This year, we were constantly redirecting his behavior, trying to get him to use nicer language around the other campers, and so on. Thursday, this camper had two incidents that resulted in our head counselor making the decision to expel him from the summer camp. The first incident happened at the pool, where he lost a pool game he had been playing with some other boys. He then screamed at the boys while getting out of the pool, and retreated to a pool chair and wouldn't move. Thankfully, the pool was empty except for summer camp. I sat with the camper for about twenty minutes, trying to calm him down and get him to come inside. Throughout our twenty minutes together, he told me about his problems with anger, and how there was nothing he could do to fix it. I tried to resolve the situation the best I could, and we went inside for tennis. I could still feel a storm brewing inside the boy. During tennis, the main incident occurred. He struck another camper with his tennis racket, and made like he was going to hit him again. The other camper told the tennis instructor, who led him away. The camper then went on to tell the tennis instructor some very violent things involving the other camper. Under these circumstances, the head counselor spoke with the management of the fitness club and agreed that the child needed to be kicked out of the camp. He was making other children feel unsafe and that was not something we could not tolerate. This was a very difficult situation to watch unfold and to deal with the aftermath. I was working with other children during tennis, so did not see this camper hit the other camper with his racket. I felt enormously guilty, and then felt guilty for not being able to help him through his anger issues. However, after speaking with my other counselors, I knew the hard decision was the right decision. It made me feel better seeing how my coworkers and I were able to handle this situation in an effective and safe manner. What activities worked well this week?: My coworkers and I revamped our scavenger hunt this week, and the students really seemed to enjoy it. Instead of taking pictures with different places around the fitness club, they had to work together as a team (with no help from the counselors!) and find different objects around the club (such as cafe menu, tennis ball, and so on). Not only did they love it, but they really worked together as a team and were very successful. Another popular activity implemented this week was a fitness class. It was led by one of the trainers at the club, who taught the kids some basic exercises and workout routines. They really enjoyed the class, which is now a weekly activity, and got a good workout in too! Any room for improvement?: Each day, there are some students who opt out of swimming for the week. Since swimming is a big chunk of our day (up to 2 hours sometimes), I wanted to come up with an alternative activity for these kids, so they aren't just sitting at the pool. I decided to tell these kids to bring books to camp, so they can read at the side of the pool while the rest of the kids swim. For the younger kids, I would read to them if they couldn't read yet. This adds a learning aspect to the camp, and by picking their own books, it gives them the value of their own choice. I hope to implement this book strategy next week. What did I do right, in terms of leadership? How can I further develop this?: One leadership skill I wrestled with this week was knowing your limitations. I previously mentioned the behavior issue we had with one camper. I was very torn up about the decision of kicking him out of the camp. I wanted to do my best to help him, but eventually realized that this was not the correct place to do so. I also wasn't qualified to help him deal with all of the emotional struggles he had going on in his life. As a leader, it is important to know when enough is enough, and when you may have to turn to someone else for help. I can further develop this by analyzing my decision making skills in other leadership scenarios. Am I helping the situation move forward, or are my actions making things remain stagnant? If so, should I try a new technique, or maybe reflect on if I have reached my limits? Something to chew on throughout the rest of my summer at camp. Any applications for student teaching?: This week, especially the serious behavior incident mentioned earlier, had so many parallels to teaching for me. I know without a doubt that I will have a student whose behavior will test me to the limits that will require me to seek assistance from a peer (in this case, a head counselor, but in school, a principal or administrator). It was a shaky situation, since it was so extreme, but it brought with it a valuable learning experience for my future in the classroom. Biggest takeaway from the week: Beware of runners. Seriously, some little kids can be flight risks! We had one camper this week who was so excited for swimming lessons, he went ahead of the rest of the group while we were still putting on sunscreen! I realized he was gone, and got him back within a minute; but it was served as a constant reminder the rest of the week, as I double and triple checked our camper count and made sure the "flight risk" camper stayed by my side throughout the rest of the week.
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AuthorAn early childhood major blogging about how both her education and leadership skills play out in her role as a summer camp counselor. Archives
August 2015
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