Push and Pull

This is a short paper that I wrote for my Ed. Pysh. class. It's about the most memorable moment that I've had in my student career. I decided not to write about a specific experience when I was a student but instead, about when I was the teacher. It'll all make more sense in a couple of minutes.

Something Has Got to Give

One of the most memorable moments in my life that has perhaps influenced me the most to become a teacher does not come from my own experience as a student but from my experience as the teacher.

For the past five summers since high school, I have worked at a summer camp on Pigeon Lake. I have held several positions in my time working there, such as assistant cook, counsellor and head cook Perhaps my favourite position that I have held is the one of counsellor. This is because of the awesome ability that children have to remind us adults to stop and play with the sand on the beach, or to play with the ladybug that has just landed on someone’s leg while sitting in the grass, or just by playing a simple game of soccer.

During the summer we run a day camp for one week. My second summer as a counsellor was bit more stressful than the first. I was the only returning staff member at our main camp where the day camp was being held which meant that our staff did not know what to expect. The first half of the summer had gone well, but we were running out of energy and there was still half a summer left. The day camp week was supposed to be an easy week. The kids were only there from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon. For the rest of the day, we had time off.

However, that summer, three years ago, I had the fortunate (or unfortunate) pleasure of working with some of the most rambunctious and high-spirited eight to eleven year olds that I have ever worked with in my life. My initial hope, on the Monday morning that camp started, was that the children would go and play in the field with my two SITs (junior counsellors) for half an hour each morning while I was in a staff meeting. I promptly found out that this was not the case. My SITs were not able to wrangle the kids into playing a simple game of toilet tag. From this point on, I knew that the week was not going to be as “stress free” and “restful” as I had planned and expected.

As the week progressed, I found that the kids only listened to me during our morning games when I made them stand or sit in a specific order with myself and my two SITs equally dispersed throughout the group of ten. At lunch time, they wanted to sit on the carpeted floor underneath the dining hall tables. This turned out to be a good place to get their attention. I also found that the children only listened to me when I raised my voice in a very stern and parental manner. This was especially true when I told them that they could not walk around in their underwear or in their towel or leave the rest of their clothes in the middle of the dining hall floor after changing following their time swimming in the lake. When the children were not doing what they had been asked to do, I felt as if I had to act as a drill sergeant yelling at my troops. Their inability to follow directions and to comply with my requests was driving me mad.

**This is a picture of a group of us playing Lord of the Rings Risk during our time off this year. I have no pictures from VBS three years ago. Strange.**

Fortunately, I was not alone. While commiserating with fellow counsellors and SITs at supper the Thursday night before our last day with our troops, I found that we all had the same frustrations and irritations. We all found out what our parents and teachers had known for years. We found that the more we insisted that the children comply in accordance with our loving and caring terms, the more they listened and the more they respected us. The children found that we actually were concerned for them. They no longer saw us as strangers like they had at the beginning of the week. We had become trusting and caring people to them that took concern in their well-being. All this allowed us to be sure that we, their caregivers for the week, were doing our jobs.

So, on the last day of camp, when the campers were all leaving, I had parents thank me for spending time with their children. Not only was every single one of my campers coming up to me and giving me a hug, they were telling me that I was the most favourite counsellor that they had ever had. Specifically, one mother told me that all her daughter talked about when she was not at camp was about going to camp. She also told me that her daughter was normally temperamental and often in a bad mood. She said that that week was one of the happiest times in her daughter’s life. As all my campers left with their families, I realized that I was going to miss them which was not necessarily a feeling I had for campers that were leaving at the end of the week.

It was only later that I realized the impact of my relationship with these children. They joined with me on my journey that summer. I was surely not expecting to be so profoundly touched by them in a way that has will shape the rest of my life and what I have chosen to do as a profession.

Happytimes

I'm back! So after a long hiatus, I'm ready to update my blog regularly so there here we go.

Last week marks the first week of my career as a University of Alberta student. I'm not ashamed to say that I had more than one butterfly in my stomach. I even got my mother to drive me to school for the first harrowing day of many to come. It wasn't that bad though. I made it to all my classes in time, transfered out of a Canadian Literature class that I hated and found out that I have to learn every band instrument there is! Yes, that's right. I have to learn every band instrument there is! Stupid me decided to take two Music teaching classes so here I am a brass player having to learn how to play the clarinet, flute and saxophone. My goodness. I also have to take instruments on the bus daily which sucks but I'll get through it.

I'll update you all more about what else is happening at school when it happens. Later days!