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! |
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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