Don’t phone it in.
Don’t phone it in.
After our group’s second week of running summer camps, we were pros. We could throw together activities the night before camp with impunity and swap out computer lessons for plays about the jungle community on the fly. Our confidence soared at our ability to teach anything from music and rhythm to math exercises to dance routines.
Unfortunately for me, this translated into “phoning it in.” Our group of 7 Duke Engagers fell into a routine every day: eat breakfast, hop on the bus, teach five activities with some breaks for snack, and head back to the hotel to prepare for the next day. This rigid schedule was interrupted only by trips to ruins on the weekends. Even our choice of where to go for dinner every night started normalizing: Mondays, Mom’s Place; Tuesdays, Chinese food; and so on.
The routine itself wasn’t bad, but my enthusiasm waned as we got too comfortable with running the summer camps. I knew the activities too well and wouldn’t engage the students enough while teaching them about these activities.
I then realized that I had to break the monotony. I was robbing these students of a genuine camp experience by not investing myself enough. When I realized that I was phoning it in, I changed my goal for camp. I focused on talking to individual students and learning about their lives. Thus, I would start an arts and crafts activity, but then go sit down next to each student and ask them about themselves.
This worked really well. I noticed myself getting closer to the students and more interested in their lives and their troubles. At the end of the week it was much harder to say bye to these students. I’m glad I learned this lesson here in Belize, as it can apply to all relationships I form. The summer camps were dry for me without the touch of personal interaction and discussion, but a quick adjustment of attitude changed that.