Tips and Tricks for Summer Camp Teachers

Tips and Tricks for Summer Camp Teachers

Tips and Tricks

for Teachers

A Guide to Summer Camps at the Museum

Contents

Introduction

Planning for the Camp

Classroom Climate

Guidelines

Procedures

Dress Code

Lesson Plans

Supply Requests

Sunday Setup

In the Classroom

Overview of a Typical Day

Introduction

Icebreakers

Top 5 Icebreaker Games

Transitions

Snack Time

Acceptable Behaviors

Discipline

Museum Locations

Indoor Games

Outdoor Games

Game and Activity Resources

Introduction

Welcome to Tips and Tricks for Teachers! This guidebook is designed to help you plan your classroom structure and give you ideas and concepts for organizing and managing your camp. This document features simple 1-2 page guides that will offer suggestions on everything from discipline, to transitions, to games and activities.

Now that you’ve read (or at least flipped through) the Florida Museum of Natural History Teacher’s Manual, you should have all of the information you need to start thinking about the way your classroom will run. If you are currently a teacher, or have taught camps before, you have a pretty good idea of what a “typical” day in your classroom is, and how it will run. However, if you’ve never taught in a formal classroom setting, or even in an informal setting such as a camp, you may be wondering, “Ok, so what do I do now?”

The following sections will help you in the camp-planning process, from conception to implementation. The most important thing to remember is that nothing will ever go exactly the way you planned. Flexibility is one of the most important characteristics of a good teacher, and will determine not only your stress level during the camp, but the way that the campers respond to you, and to each other.

Planning for the Camp

Classroom Climate

The first thing you need to think about is the way you would like your campers to act in your camp. Do you want your campers to be silent and attentive while you are lecturing, or do you want their involvement via stories, anecdotes, and questions? Are campers allowed to talk during periods of transition between activities? Are they allowed to pair up during activities, or should they work by themselves? Are children allowed to get up and get additional materials, or should they raise their hands to ask permission? All of these things contribute to the climate of your classroom, the learning environment that you create.

There is no “right” way to run a classroom. Every teacher is different, and has a different comfort zone in which their teaching abilities lie. What’s more, each camp you teach will have different campers and junior volunteers, and the natural way that these individuals interact will contribute to the climate. You can control many elements in the classroom just by being present, attentive and engaging. An effective teacher is a healthy moderator for a camp, and naturally contributes to a positive classroom climate.

Spend some time thinking about how you want your campers to act towards you, your junior volunteers, and towards each other. Think about the way you would like them to act during lessons, indoor activities and outdoor activities. Your expectations of your campers will play a major role in influencing how they behave. It is important to voice your expectations for the camp early on (we will cover this in the Procedures section).

Classroom climate extends beyond the classroom. How your camp interacts with each other and with you continues as your camp tours the exhibits, eats snack, plays outside, and generally interacts with one another and with other children. A positive classroom climate is important because it shows the public that your camp is polite, well-mannered and attentive, and can be a model for other classrooms and campers to follow.

Guidelines

Classroom guidelines are one of the most integral parts of the classroom. The function of a guideline is to prevent or encourage behavior by clearly stating camper expectations.[1] Classroom guidelines should not be a mystery left for campers to figure out, or written on a white board and forgotten. Guidelines should be discussed as a camp on the first day of camp, often as one of the first things the teacher does.

There are several schools of thought as to how guidelines should be addressed. Many teachers have a standard set of guidelines that they post for their campers. Other teachers encourage their campers to help them determine the classroom guidelines as a group. Either method is fine, so long as the guidelines are discussed and clearly written where the campers can see them, and they can be referred to during camp.

Remember that it is much easier to address inappropriate behavior in a camp when the appropriate behavior has already been agreed upon. When campers understand what is expected of them, they often try to live up to these expectations and do not act out of turn. Most camps will have one or more campers who feel it is their job to test the guidelines and make sure that the teacher is paying attention and remembers what the guidelines are. This sort of behavior can be staunched by referring to the guidelines by name or by number as they are broken.

The Two Kinds of Guidelines

There are two kinds of guidelines you can have in your camp; specific guidelines and general guidelines. Specific guidelines deal with a specific behavior or circumstance, i.e. raise your hand to speak, keep your hands to yourself, or whisper while in museum exhibits. General guidelines are the more encompassing, open-ended guidelines, and may cover a range of behaviors and responses. Examples include: respect yourself and others, be polite, or share materials.

General guidelines are best to use when a positive classroom climate has already been established. If you are interested in using general guidelines, it is always a good idea to talk about examples of behaviors that fit the associated guideline. Specific guidelines are great for new or inexperienced teachers, or for teachers who like campers to exhibit specific behaviors. A combination of general and specific guidelines is often preferred in the classroom.

Keeping it Simple

As a child (and as an adult), we don’t like to store a lot of information in our brains all at once. We suggest limiting the classroom guidelines to five (5) total. Having a short list of clear, simple guidelines helps campers remember the guidelines and prompts them to follow the guidelines more closely. Can you imagine a classroom where the teacher says, “Jimmy, stop making faces during the lecture. You’re breaking guideline #37!” Not only would no one have the time to memorize 37 guidelines in a week, but the teacher would have a very hard time keeping up with all of them.

For Museum camps, we suggest these simple guidelines:

1)Be respectful of your classmates, your teacher, and yourself

2)Do not speak while others are speaking (alternative version: raise your hand to speak)

3)Use inside voices in the classroom

4)Walk while you are inside

5)Teacher-specific guideline(use this last guideline to reflect your personal teaching style. Examples of this include: stay together, do not write on the board, be helpful and kind, or my personal favorite, have fun.)

Consequences

When a camper breaks a guideline, what happens? Make a camp list of the consequences of broken guidelines. I find it very helpful to list these on the board, just under or beside the guidelines. This reminds campers that if they choose to break a guideline (and yes, once the guidelines are established, it is a choice), there will be a reaction. Establish the consequences together as a camp, so the campers feel like they have chosen their own “punishment”. When a camper does break a guideline, you are less likely to get backlash when they had a hand in the decision process.

Suggested Consequences:

1. If you break a guideline the first time, you will get a warning
2. If you break a guideline the second time, you will get a time-out
3. If you break a guideline the third time, you will go see an administrator (Ms. Tiffany or Ms. Amanda)

Some teachers always use the “name on the board” technique. When a camper breaks a guideline, the camper’s name gets put on the board and checks are placed beside it as more guidelines are broken. This can be used as a reminder for campers who have already broken guidelines that they need to modify their behavior.

Procedures

A procedure is a method or process for getting things done in the classroom. Please keep in mind that guidelines and procedures are not the same thing, though they both govern how campers will act in your classroom.

Guidelines... / Procedures…
Concern how campers behave / Concern how things are done
Have penalties and rewards / Have NO penalties and rewards

It is important to remember that procedures vary from classroom to classroom, and a camper will not automatically know the procedures for working in your classroom. Make sure to spend time on the first day of camp teaching and reviewing procedures for your camp, including your transitions (see transitions section). Whether or not a camper understands and is comfortable with your classroom procedures will contribute to your classroom climate.

Examples of Procedures include:

• Changing activities
• Lining up to leave the classroom
• Getting ready for snack
• Asking to go to the bathroom

Please be aware that you should not PUNISH or DISCIPLINE campers for not following a procedure. Discipline concerns how campers behave, while procedures concern how things are done. The best way to deal with a procedure not being followed is to ask the camper if they know what they are supposed to be doing. If the camper does not know the procedure, then you should repeat it for them, or ask another camper in the camp to repeat it for them. Discipline should only be used when a guideline is broken and a negative result occurs. Please note that if a camper is purposefully not following the procedures, then this can be considered a broken guideline, and disciplinary action should be taken (see section on discipline).

Example steps to a procedure:

Lining up to leave the classroom

1. Put away all supplies at your seat
2. Stand up and push in your chair
3. Walk to the door
4. Form a straight line from smallest (shortest) to tallest
5. We will not leave the room until everyone is quiet

Dress Code

Everyone has heard the saying, “Dress for Success!”, but with teaching it really is true. Campers will watch the teacher carefully and model their behavior, and this includes attire. If you show up to teach wearing gym shorts, an old T-shirt, and flip-flops, you will get the respect and attention that your campers deems appropriate for that kind of dress. However, if you show up in a three-piece suit to teach a summer camp, your campers really won’t know what to think of you!

We recommend a happy medium between these extreme examples. Since this is a summer camp, you very well might be getting dirty, wet, sticky, or otherwise messy! Professional “camp friendly” attire includes:

• Jeans with no holes, tears or frays
• Shorts of an appropriate length
• Shirts of an appropriate length (no mid-drifts or low cut shirts)
• Clean, logo-free T-shirts (FLMNH, UF and Gator shirts are acceptable)
• Polo or other casual dress shirts
• Tank tops with wide straps (no spaghetti straps, please!)
• Closed-toed shoes appropriate for outdoor use

If you think an outfit or article of clothing might not be suitable, play it safe and leave it at home. Remember that you are a role model for not only the campers, but for the Junior Volunteers as well. The JVs are teenagers and will take social cues from you, as the lead adult in their work day. If you have concerns about the dress of a JV or a camper, please do not hesitate to bring this to the attention of the Public Programs Staff.

You’re never fully dressed without a smile!

Wearing the appropriate clothes at summer camp is only a part of your total appearance. Remember that your posture, attitude, facial expressions and tone play a major role in the way that your campers will treat you, and treat each other. If you speak softly and smile, then they will speak softly and smile. If you get agitated and flustered when an activity doesn’t work out, then they will know it’s OK in your camp to do the same. Your appearance and mannerisms play a part in your classroom climate, and will contribute to the relationships in your camp.

Lesson Plans

A good lesson plan is crucial predictor for how your camp will run. It is important to over plan for your camp, especially for Monday, because you don’t know what your campers are capable of, or how they will react to your activities. If the campers are unexcited about an activity and whiz through it in five minutes, it’s helpful to have a related activity or game waiting in the wings. It is much better to be over prepared than to be caught without a plan – the campers will recognize this and your organized, functioning camp will be quick to come undone.

Keeping a mix of discussion, activities, and games in your camp is key. Don’t plan on spending more than 45 minutes standing up in front of your camp talking about a subject; this isn’t formal school. I’ve found that 20-30 minutes of camper-involved lecture, with lots of visuals and diagrams on the board is best for our summer camps. It is best to think of “lecture” as “discussion” as it is less formal and promotes a more interactive atmosphere.

You do not want your camp to turn into school. This is an informal learning setting and should be remembered as such as your create your lessons. Campers shouldn’t have to read passages aloud, take tests or spend time filling out worksheet after worksheet. They should engage in discussion, have interactive experiences, make observations, experiment, etc. The Museum has many resources available to us and you should strive use them. With that said, we do not make crafts for the sake of crafts. In fact, do not use the word “craft” as the word in itself can be limiting.

A few examples:

If you would like to make a caterpillar out of egg carton pieces, have the campers create it so that it is as realistic as possible (accurate number of legs and body segments, antennae, etc.). Then take that caterpillar beyond just a creation and have them bring it outside to explore habitats or camouflage.

If you want campers to label a diagram of an animal you that you are talking about, have them instead practice scientific drawings. Try to teach them how to draw the animal accurately. Then use that activity to lead into a labeling activity.

The most important thing to remember when writing a lesson plan is that it is an outline of how you expect your day to go. The lesson plan is not only for you to refer to during the camp period, but it is also for your supervisors to see what you have planned for the camp. You need not include every single step of each activity that you plan to complete, but you do need to include enough information about the activity so that the camp administrators can grasp the importance of the activity and its relevance to the camp topic and age level. Make sure that you fill out the provided lesson plan completely, and include objectives for each item.

Examples:

Time / Activity / Learning objectives
9:00 / Ocean Critters / animals

The above lesson plan is not specific enough. What is the camp doing with ocean critters? How long is the activity? What are you learning about animals?

Time / Activity / Learning objectives
9:00 – 9:15 / Ocean Critters (inside game- group memory game) / Recognize different types of ocean animals

This activity is specific enough for the lesson plan. If someone else read this, they would understand that between 9:00 and 9:15, you plan to play a game in your classroom that involves ocean animals and recognizing the differences among them. This entry is satisfactory for Public Programs Staff, but it may not be for you. You may need separate, written instruction to perform your game with the campers. Though we do not need specific instructions for an activity, it is helpful to write these down or print them out. We will ask teachers at the end of each camp to provide us with their most engaging lesson/activity of the week, so that we can add it to our repertoire of activities for future teachers and camps.

Time / Activity / Learning objectives
10:30- 12:00 / Finding Nemo / Movie time

The above activity is not acceptable for our summer camp camps. Movie excerpts may be used to illustrate specific examples within the greater lesson, but these are limited to 30 minute segments, no more than twice a week. When requesting a movie, please be specific about what lesson objectives it will cover, and about where you would like to show the movie. We have two options available to teachers: the Video Room, and the TV Cart. These resources must be shared among all teachers, so the more specific you are about an activity and its requirements, the more likely you are to get the activity area you’ve requested.