Lessons From Day Camp

My son this year has been doing a number of different day camps this year. In the past he has done just one camp but he decided that variety is the spice of life. My wife and I have no problems with him doing it this way. It is a little complex trying to remember which camp he is at which week, and what time he needs to be picked up, but these are all minor things.

One of the day camps my son went to this summer seemed to be a bit much for him. While he enjoyed it, he did tell me that they try to cram too much into the day and it is exhausting. I certainly can understand this.

It occurred to me that there are two very important lessons here when it comes to teaching. First is, like my son wanting to attend different camps, I need to make sure that things are different for both me and the students. I should not just recycle lesson plans teaching them the same way as I have in the past as I will get bored. I also need to make sure that things are different enough from day to day and week to week so the students do not get bored.

The second lesson is to try and avoid cramming too much into one day. Sometimes, based on the amount of time, things can get tight. Sometimes, if a student misses a speech for a legitimate reason and needs to make it up, it can set me back a little and force me to cover more in a given day than originally planned. This is okay, but I need to make sure I am not overloading the students. They need to be able to digest the information as well.

So, a big thank you goes to my son for reinforcing these lessons.