English Camp Day 1 (6/25)

Today was our first day of camp. We all got there at 8am sharp to meet the other teachers and set everything up. It turns out that this school is fairly close to my apartment, so it really doesn’t take long to get there. The teachers of this school helped us settle into our classrooms and unlock doors. There was really only one teacher who was really present and talked with us. She is the English teacher, so it is easier for her to communicate with us. This school is so cute and completely perfect for a camp setting. There is a little auditorium to the right of the entrance into the school. It’s decorated with flowers and painted pictures and paper globes hanging above. We took over 5 classrooms on the second floor. Three of the classrooms are used for English classes, and the other 2 are for crafts and snacks. We play the games in the auditorium.

Kids starting coming around 8:30am. There seemed to be a flood of them all at once, and most of them were in 7th grade. Melissa and I manned the registration table while everyone else came up with games to occupy those who had already registered. Melissa made these nifty name plates that were distinguishable by the color on the back. Each kid got a name plate and were assigned to two different groups: their color group and their grade group. We started the camp all together in the auditorium. Our icebreaker was teaching them The Interlude. The only problem was that our music system wasn’t loud enough. So, after we taught them the moves and started the music those poor kids were so lost. Several of them kept asking if this was a traditional American dance.

Next, we prepared a skit for everyone. The story line is about a man named Edwin who wants to become a superhero. Zach is his old, retired superhero mentor. Levi plays the evil villain (yet to be introduced), and Rachel and Rachel play Levi’s evil minions. They did a fantastic job. The kids didn’t really know what was going on at first, but I was laughing up a storm. Then, we divided up into our grade groups for English class. Rachel Smith and I are teaching the 5th graders. Edwin and his 4th graders joined us since we only had a handful of students. We talked about what makes a superhero. We taught them adjectives such as nice, strong, respectful, brave, smart, etc.--all words that describe a superhero. After we did that, we played charades. It was fun to be animated with them. I think playing this game really broke the ice for our group. Rachel, Edwin, and I do have a girl named Jana who is very talkative and speaks English better than most people at this camp. I think she may be a handful, but we tried to include the other ones who were quieter.

After 30 minutes of English time, we came back downstairs to divide into our color groups. I am the green team leader and we combined with the red team who is led by Levi. We went to games, snacks, and finally crafts. Note to self: there is no need to run around so much during game time. I seriously could not stop sweating after game time was over. We played rock, paper, scissors ultimate style and this other game that has no name--we each had a number and when Melissa threw the ball up in the air, she called out a number and that person caught the ball, took three steps, and tried to hit the closest person.

For snack time, we ate trail mix and watched 20 minutes of MegaMind. For craft time, we made banners for our color team. My team took 10 minutes to just figure out what they wanted to do. They took forever to plan our banner. I had 2 kids who completely took charge and decided to make our banner look like graffiti. One of the girls put what I think are gang symbols on our poster, but I could be mistaken. I got to see the stressed side of several of my team members. It was a bit rough going, but we eventually finished and I think everyone was pleased in the end. They put my name on it, so I think it looks great! Crafts was our last stations, so afterwards, we went back to the auditorium for the final skit before calling it a day.

My group the Green Team!

This camp is going to be a lot of fun. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it.