ESL Summer Camp is upon us!

School summer vacation is officially upon us and much is in flux in Dynamic Korea. Woo hoo!

During summer and winter vacations, many Korean schools put on English Summer Camps, where NET’s teach the kids how to have fun… in English! It’s a subtle predecessor to “English Villages” (where you can stay in a village, and everything is conducted in English),  popular amongst some Koreans. Mostly though, aside from learning, it’s games, games, games all the way!

Currently, many EPIKers are on their way to starting camp sessions with their appointed schools.  I start my first English Summer Camp this Tuesday! Yay! I’m excited for the change of pace, to work alongside more NET peers as well as, in a new school with new staff and students!  But I’m also nervous…

Aside from having shot a handful of (ahem) challenging teen camps shows for MTV’s True Life series, this dredges dreadful summer camp memories from my youth (sorry, Mom...)- sweating the summer heat, being made to play dumb games like Duck Duck Goose or Who’s up 7up? and sing sad songs like Puff the Magic Dragon (which is right up there with Bambi‘s mother dying).

Korean students love the two things I never did- singing and games.
I still find it astounding how my Korean students love singing the lame textbook songs, as a form of self-expression (and then I start singing them myself…); meanwhile, games are like that little doggie bone that makes them do tricks. Key word? Fun. We were told we could do a lesson on anything, just make it fun for the kids and have them learn a bit while we’re at it. This places me at a slight disadvantage– I only like teaching things I found fun as a kid, and this makes me second guess myself. Do I know what fun is for a Korean elementary kid?

…Well so, these past 2 weeks, I’ve been stressed with my lesson planning.

I Want to Be a Superhero (for my Advanced class)

The two subjects I chose are My Pet Monster (Feelings) and I Want to be a Superhero (Actions). Throughout the year, the Korean classroom focus is always placed on memorization and mimicking. Korean kids aren’t taught how to think for themselves, creatively or originally; so I wanted my lessons to exercise creative tools like imagination, drawing and acting. Pit against songs, this could be boring to them, so wish me luck!

How and which English Summer Camps the DMOE appoints us to is still a mystery.
I have seem to have what a majority of EPIKers have– two 3-4 day camps.  I consider this lucky! Some NET’s have more extreme schedules, either appointed up to 5 camps or stuck with one long camp from their school which takes nearly the entire vacation. My load is easy and nowhere near monstrous as others, such as fellow EPIK blogger, Christo, who has 2 weeks of summer camp and 20 lesson plans (God no!). I’m still stressed, despite the fact I can be good at winging things. I’m excited to teach at a summer camp, but stressed.

Working with our CT helpers and staff of Joonang Elementary for their English Summer Camp

The Logistics:
I teach grades 3-6 in both camps, but my two camps operate differently/
•  My regular school camp is 3 days– 6 classes/day at the regular 40 min of class time (classes are mixed 3rd-4th grade and 5th-6th grade) . I get one Korean teacher for aid.
•  My other camp at Joonang Elementary is 4 days– 8 classes total at 2 hours per class time, with the last day being Golden Bell (I’ll tell you when I know what that is…) and a school Talent show (I have to come up with a performance to teach my homeroom class). Classes are split into Basic & Advanced & I get 2 Korean teachers as aids.