I sent my kids to the other side of the state for a week to camp. My kids told me that had a great time in their first time going to overnight camp.. It seemed like they were worried about going to a predominately white camp, but I could tell that they really enjoyed the camp. Even my son, who is usually stoic, talked about it almost all the way home. They both told me that they want to go next year. They did a lot of exciting things, enjoyed the Bible study which was infused with modern Super Hero comparison of what is morally right and wrong. I am glad that my son seemed to get something out of it, and was cooperative. Now I got to figure out a way to save up 800 bucks so I can get them there next year.
The city summer camp that I worked at has been over for several weeks, and I have almost recuperated from the experience. Although I want to work the camp next year, I have been thinking about finding another job that pays more. But I feel that a similar program would be great at my church's community center also, when we get it finished and operating. I did learn a lot about working with kids, and know that I need to learn more. Classroom management is my biggest problem. I felt that I was able to connect with my class, but dealing with the kids that wanted extra attention, or did not know how to socialize properly, is where I am very weak.
I did become attached to some of the kids, (All Names have Been Changed!!!!) like a busy little boy named Eric, who is like an old man in a child's body. He already loves older women as I observed when he hung around some of the older girls in the program. His mother, uncles, and grandfather works for one of the major auto companies, and that is all he wants to do when he grows up. Eric also had a great sense of humor and at times, it was hard not to laugh especially at inappropriate times. One he told me that he wanted me to be his mother, and I had to tell him that he already had a nice mother and grandfather, whom I did meet. There were also three girls that I really did enjoy. I guess I identified with them because they were the chubby girls of the class. Although they were lively and outgoing, there were times that some of the boys would make fun of them about their size, and I had to comfort them. Also at times, some of the other girls would exclude them from their clique, so I was glad that they had each other.
My main student challenges were three boys named Russell, Greg, and Scott, and also a girl named Celeste. Although smart, Russell was very out spoken and disrespectful. He did lived in the suburbs, but was a know it all, insensitive, angry, spoiled little boy that just did not seem to have a conscious. I had to intensively get up in his face several times and put him out of the class several times for his behavior. His parents told me that I could deal with him as in spanking, but that was not allowed. Around the end of the program, our administrator who was the person of last resort when the kids misbehaved, had to verbally thrash Russell. He had pushed some of the other kids when the campers attended a local college's sports seminar. I knew his mother was tired of me reporting his behavior to her, and I stopped after the fifth week.
Greg was very intelligent, and aware of many things that his other classmates had no knowledge of, but had some issues. He was also spoiled, and always wanted to be in control and wanted a lot of attention. I had to put him in timeout so many times that I lost count. I also had to physically remove him from my class a couple of times because he threw tantrums. I saw only his father, who looked and seemed so weary when I had to report some of Greg's behavior to him. Around the end of the camp, Greg got in trouble for inappropriately touching another student, and the parents had to have a conference. I felt for his father as I observed the administrator talking to him in the office. I could not help but feel that way, because the kid revealed to me that he plays a lot of violent video games and also watches movies that I believe are inappropriate for his age. Hopefully his father realizes that and will rectify his son's behavior.
There was a boy named Derek who was considered the class nerd, but was very helpful and could play some ball. Although he was of a small stature and wore bifocals, Derek had a lot of heart, but was very sensitive and was made fun of because of his looks. Around the end of the program, I noticed that he was ready to whip both Russell's and Greg's behinds because they picked on him a lot. I had to stop several potential fights that Derek was initiating. There were times I secretly wished that he could pop them upside the head because those boys could be verbally cruel, and I knew that they saw him as being weak. Seeing what Derek had to deal with, reminded me of what I had to deal with in third grade while being a poor kid, wearing worn clothes and raggedy sneakers.
Scott seemed so much younger than the rest of the class. He could barely read or write and later I found out that Scott was on Ritalin, although the information was not revealed to the camp. However, I knew that something was wrong with him on the first day he came into my class. Scott could not be still, asked the same questions over and over again, could not keep up with the class, and had a glazed look in his eyes. He enjoyed being the class clown, so he rarely did any classwork. Scott did tell me that he lived with his paternal grandmother most of the time, sometimes with his Dad, and only visited his mother on the weekends. His stepmother, also had a son at the camp. She rarely asked about Scott's behavior, so after mentioning it to her once, and finding out about Scott's situation, I did not bring it when she picked him up. He was a trusting, cute little boy, that could be sweet sometimes, and I kept him close to me on our trips. I hope that his family gets him off of the medicine. After dealing with him, I feel that what Scott mainly needs is a stable life with a regulated schedule and proper diet, but I know that I do not know all the details of his life.
Being very sensitive, attention seeking, and easy to have an attitude, Celeste definitely needed some self esteem counseling. She always complained about not being treated fairly, and I had to get on her several times when she tried to dominate the other children. I tried to give her extra attention, especially in the morning when she came in because she always seemed angry. Celeste also had her brother Paul in my class also. They had an older brother who was very quiet and was two years older than them. She was a tough looking chick that was dressed in pink a lot, but had informed me that she hated the color pink. Celeste was slender , whereas her brother Paul was chubby, with him being more academically advanced than she was. She could barely read and write while he was an excellent reader. But she had a lot of bravado when she would demand to read out loud and the other kids would openly complain how she would stumble over words and take a long time to get through the material.
I had to verbally reprimand some in the class about making fun of the students that were slower than them. I had to lecture them about being compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others. I just hope that the message sunk in. I did ask Paul to work with his sister Celeste after camp was over, but he did not seem to be interested. They lived in the suburbs also, but went to a school in the city. Paul could be a very blunt speaking child, although he did not like anyone to be the same with him. He told me once that although his grandmother had just turned 65, she looked much younger than me.
At first I told him that he could not say things like that to ladies. Dealing with almost 100 kids everyday can be exhausting and it made me abandon the daily makeup routine. However his comment did remind me that I needed to keep up appearances with the children also. But after pondering over it that evening, I informed him the next day, that if his grandmother had my job dealing with bad kids like I did every week, she would look ten times older than what she is now. Paul just grinned and did not say a word. When I told his mother of his comment on the last day of camp, she was shocked. I did assure her that I was not insulted when I told her what my response was, which did crack a grin from her usual serious facade that I saw when she picked her children up.
I did realize that I have lost some weight when I put on my regular pairs of pants this week instead of my camp uniform pants. The pants are drooping and I definitely need to wear a belt. I want to keep up the weight loss momentum and have to work on not snacking at the home. Talked to old High School Crush for a moment last week. We are talking again, just friendly with no expectations on my part. I forgot that I had suggested for us to meet this evening and he suggested that we see each other tomorrow. I had already committed to going to church and picking up a friend who was stuck in the northern suburbs. She was able to get her sister to pick her up much to my relief. As I went home, I was so sleepy that I knew that I would not be able to drive to church. I crashed on my bed when I got home. I was just so happy to make it home without having an accident.
