This week my experience with many students whom I teach changed remarkably. From Tuesday to Thursday three other teachers and I supervised a group of 27 kids as we camped out at Floyd Bennett Field. We played games, cooked food, ran introspective activities, hiked around, and shivered a lot in the cold. It was an amazing experience (both in terms of survival and in terms of interaction).
It was one of the first times I have been really encouraged to take more of a hands-off approach with my students. Instead of planning every detail of their experience we tried to let them come up with things they wanted to do together. While sometimes that involved burning things in the campfire that were probably inadvisable, it also meant many showed their leadership abilities.
One of the best expressions of that was a game the kids call "Manhunt." The basic premise is to find and "capture" the individuals on the team that is hiding from you at night. A few of the kids were very excited about the idea so they led the charge. I am happy to say I played in one of the rounds and caught one of the kids! It's possible I earned some more credibility in a few of their eyes for that 10 minute period.
They were mostly working together - cleaning, cooking, finding activities and including everyone. A few times there was some turbulence, especially towards the end when those who had been consistently helpful felt overburdened because of the various people who were freeloading. It was difficult to encourage everyone to help. But at the very end we ran a circle activity in which each student shared one thing they appreciate, one thing they apologize for, and one memory they are going to keep from the trip. It was very enlightening to see who can and cannot become self-aware in those situations.
I can't wait for more experiences like this and I hope you get some too!
It was one of the first times I have been really encouraged to take more of a hands-off approach with my students. Instead of planning every detail of their experience we tried to let them come up with things they wanted to do together. While sometimes that involved burning things in the campfire that were probably inadvisable, it also meant many showed their leadership abilities.
One of the best expressions of that was a game the kids call "Manhunt." The basic premise is to find and "capture" the individuals on the team that is hiding from you at night. A few of the kids were very excited about the idea so they led the charge. I am happy to say I played in one of the rounds and caught one of the kids! It's possible I earned some more credibility in a few of their eyes for that 10 minute period.
They were mostly working together - cleaning, cooking, finding activities and including everyone. A few times there was some turbulence, especially towards the end when those who had been consistently helpful felt overburdened because of the various people who were freeloading. It was difficult to encourage everyone to help. But at the very end we ran a circle activity in which each student shared one thing they appreciate, one thing they apologize for, and one memory they are going to keep from the trip. It was very enlightening to see who can and cannot become self-aware in those situations.
I can't wait for more experiences like this and I hope you get some too!
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