Coming up for air once in three weeks...
If it seems like I've dropped off the face of the earth, I apologize. I haven't...but I've done the next best thing. I've started up another session at CTY. And it is sooo much more work than I had expected. Fun, but a lot to handle. I'm working hours like I haven't worked since senior year at Dickinson (think three hours of sleep per night for four days straight...). But I think it's going well and for the most part the kids are good.
I have 13 kids. Most of them are really wonderful and fun to have in class. Sure, they get rowdy and act like 12 years olds, but hey, they are 12 year olds. But I have two who are really draining me. They don't want to be here. (Imagine not wanting to be at a camp where you're in class 7 hours a day...yeah.) The one kid is just horrible. Bad attitude, bored with everything, gives us a really hard time, won't take anything seriously, and he doesn't know why he took the course because nothing on the description looked interesting, he doesn't like reading or writing, and he'd rather be at home playing video games. Delightful. The other one I feel bad for...to a point. He's a real trouble maker and likes to make a scene and disrupt class. English is not his first langueage so he really struggles with reading and writing...a lot. But he's stubborn, he won't accept help, he blows off writing assignments like they're jokes, and we have to tell him things three and four times to get anything done. I would love to work with him and help him, if he'd let me. Plus, it's hard when all the reading and writing has to be done in class and he is consistently 30 pages or 3 assignments behind the rest of the class.
That being said, I have some great kids. Three are homesick and it breaks my heart. One knows more about history than I ever will. One has a five-minute comment for whatever question you ask. One could be a professional book-reader, he reads so well aloud. One devours reading like it's his job. One is going to be a director when she grow up, her management and delegation skills are so good. They're a good bunch.
This weekend was a much needed break, though. Chris came to see me (and it had been a month and a half by this point, so it was much needed) and we had a splendid weekend. We slept in, wandered to downtown Chestertown, got yummy frozen smooties, sat by the river, went to an old bookstore and got an old grammar book for $2 (it's so funny!), went to dinner and had the best crab cakes ever, and went to see Superman. And that's just Saturday. =) Today I kicked off the day by stepping on a bee on my way back to the room with food and getting a nice sting on my toe. But things got better from there as we went kayaking with some other CTY folks on the Chester River and some little inlets, did a smattering of work, and wandered downtown again for some more food. And now my little room feels awfully quiet and empty again. ^_^*
Well, I should get to bed. I'm getting up in four hours to do some reading and picture-printing before class, and it's going to be a long day tomorrow. We're going to see fireworks!! I shouldn't go because I have so much work to do--usually my one hour of staff ultimate frisbee is the only time off I allow myself on any given day--but I *LOVE* fireworks and can't miss them. So, bedtime for little squirrels! Instructor Suzy, over and out.
I have 13 kids. Most of them are really wonderful and fun to have in class. Sure, they get rowdy and act like 12 years olds, but hey, they are 12 year olds. But I have two who are really draining me. They don't want to be here. (Imagine not wanting to be at a camp where you're in class 7 hours a day...yeah.) The one kid is just horrible. Bad attitude, bored with everything, gives us a really hard time, won't take anything seriously, and he doesn't know why he took the course because nothing on the description looked interesting, he doesn't like reading or writing, and he'd rather be at home playing video games. Delightful. The other one I feel bad for...to a point. He's a real trouble maker and likes to make a scene and disrupt class. English is not his first langueage so he really struggles with reading and writing...a lot. But he's stubborn, he won't accept help, he blows off writing assignments like they're jokes, and we have to tell him things three and four times to get anything done. I would love to work with him and help him, if he'd let me. Plus, it's hard when all the reading and writing has to be done in class and he is consistently 30 pages or 3 assignments behind the rest of the class.
That being said, I have some great kids. Three are homesick and it breaks my heart. One knows more about history than I ever will. One has a five-minute comment for whatever question you ask. One could be a professional book-reader, he reads so well aloud. One devours reading like it's his job. One is going to be a director when she grow up, her management and delegation skills are so good. They're a good bunch.
This weekend was a much needed break, though. Chris came to see me (and it had been a month and a half by this point, so it was much needed) and we had a splendid weekend. We slept in, wandered to downtown Chestertown, got yummy frozen smooties, sat by the river, went to an old bookstore and got an old grammar book for $2 (it's so funny!), went to dinner and had the best crab cakes ever, and went to see Superman. And that's just Saturday. =) Today I kicked off the day by stepping on a bee on my way back to the room with food and getting a nice sting on my toe. But things got better from there as we went kayaking with some other CTY folks on the Chester River and some little inlets, did a smattering of work, and wandered downtown again for some more food. And now my little room feels awfully quiet and empty again. ^_^*
Well, I should get to bed. I'm getting up in four hours to do some reading and picture-printing before class, and it's going to be a long day tomorrow. We're going to see fireworks!! I shouldn't go because I have so much work to do--usually my one hour of staff ultimate frisbee is the only time off I allow myself on any given day--but I *LOVE* fireworks and can't miss them. So, bedtime for little squirrels! Instructor Suzy, over and out.