This week has been EXHAUSTING. I really did enjoy myself but it is a lot of work. The camp doesn't just last from 9 to 5. I got to the school around 8:15 every morning to do some prep and every night I had to make my lesson for the next day. Making the lessons was especially challenging because the kids weren't all on the same level. I had a couple kids that would get bored and start doing other pages in their workbooks because they already knew everything. And I had one little girl in particular who could barely repeat a sentence when I said it to her slowly ten times. It's really hard dealing with a mixed group, but it just isn't possible to have a class for each individual level.
This week was also definitely a practice week for me. I realized I wasn't doing enough pre-teaching. Pre-teaching is basically all of the vocabulary the kids need to know to understand a concept. So I can't teach the present progressive if they only know three verbs. Or I can't have them complete a page in the workbook on opposites if they haven't learned all of the words.
The kids definitely tried my patience a lot. They are young so obviously they are always getting out of their seats and talking even when I have said about fifty million times to be quiet and listen and sit in the seat. I threatened to take away all of their camp money at one point if they talked while I or someone else was talking. Well two little boys continued anyways so I took all of their money. Unfortunately this made one of the boys cry. I took them into the hallway to calm both of them down and luckily the camp director Pino was around to explain to them in Italian that I would give back their money if they listened for the rest of the lesson. I felt so bad that I made a little boy cry that I cried a little bit (but not in front of my class).
The camp director Pino was also trying my patience, and Beth and Liz's. He left everyday for about three hours and usually wouldn't tell us. And for the most part he never understood us. And this wasn't because of a language barrier - he speaks English. He just doesn't get anything. One of the boys in the camp was a legitimate psycho - or as we three tutors dubbed him, "psicopatino" (little psychopath in italian). He is only 11 years old but he has future serial killer written on his face. He is also part of the host family that Beth is staying with. The other kids were terrible to him and would taunt him but he would become enraged and yell or hit or throw things at people. Every time I went to calm him down he had the scariest look in his face. And even though Pino understood he was a problem - AKA he shouldn't be allowed at camp - he wouldn't do anything about it other than tell his parents about his behavior. He was way too passive even though we complained EVERY DAY. It's not our responsibility to make sure the psicopatino doesn't put someone in the hospital.
Anyways...we played a lot of games with the kids this week, especially for Olympics. On Wednesday we had water games and essentially used them as medium for our frustration towards the kids. We poured water on them as they were playing games and when we had balloons left over the end we just threw them at the kids. We would also make them run a lot with tag games to tire them out. Luckily the kids liked the games because they would keep asking to play again.
The one thing that made me want to explode at the kids was when we would tell them not to talk if we were explaining a game or teaching, and the second we finished saying that, they would start talking again. And I know they understood when we YELLED quiet or listen. Or we would tell them if they were going to talk, at least talk in English. But no.
It probably doesn't seem like it but I did actually like the kids. Three of them would always ask me to sit with them at lunch and would hang out with me the whole time, just trying to practice their English. And the girls were so adorable. I could never yell at them like I did the boys, I would only warn them. Apparently I was also known as the fun tutor because I didn't yell as much as Beth and Liz. The kids usually came to me with a question or to just give me a hug.
Today was our last day and the kids had to perform their final show for their families. My kids were really funny - and not to be bias - they were also the best. The older kids didn't really care so they wouldn't practice but mine were fantastic. After the show all three classes had to sing the ACLE camp song and then we distributed their diplomas. A bunch of the parents came up to me to take a picture with their kid, to ask for my e-mail address, or to tell me that their kid raved about me. So I guess I really was the fun tutor. One of the girls from my Olympics team (who was also in the oldest class) started bawling when she said bye to me. I was sad to say bye to most of them so hopefully they do e-mail so we can stay in touch!
I'm a little nervous about next week because a bunch of the kids are coming back, along with new kids. And most of the returning kids are the ones that were the most dysfunctional and troublesome, or were the ones that didn't know anything. And my class will be even more mixed levels. So next week will most likely be a headache.
you WOULD be the fun tutor :)
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