Next week we officially start camp! We have already finished training and our lesson plans so there wasn’t much to do this week. However, we did have an orientation meeting with the campers. It was super fun to meet some of them. Most of them are in middle school so they have a lot of energy. I hope we can bounce off this energy in our presentations. My presentation with Scout is in the second week so we can observe how lessons in the first week go and adjust our presentation strategy accordingly. We have already gone through our lesson with our site coordinator and she gave us some good notes. One of our biggest concerns is timing. We only have 60 minutes, but we have to do 3 break-out room activities. As tough as it will be to keep the lesson on track I find break-out rooms are one of the best tools for online learning. In my own classes, break-out rooms are a great environment for collaboration and getting to know your peers. In our weekly meeting, we used break-out rooms to get to know our fellow duke engagers better. Apparently, Morgan and I both don’t like big bugs!
We also had our third race affinity workshop. Like last week we were in a mixed group with the Detroit program. This week we spoke more about the historical side of race in America’s history. We also were able to discuss microaggressions in breakout rooms. One thing that I am learning more about in these workshops is the categorical and complex nature of race in America. Many of the things I have experience not only have names but can be split into more specific concepts. For example, I was familiar with “microaggressions”, but I didn’t know it could further be differentiated into microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation, based on the intent of the microaggression. While the workshops are difficult and awkward at times, they are introducing me to the more scholarly conversation surrounding race and racism in America.