Job Discussion Forums

[SpedEd]

Hello people:

I'm curious to know what those summer camps are like? I've come across one in Korea that I didn't like when I was there, thou. What kind of stuff do they want the teachers to do? How do you pass the days if you're not doing any teaching?

[william wallace]

I imagine you're a young'n/newbie ,as I doubt few teachers would like 85% dancing monkey and 15% semi-teacher. They take good advantage of your time, and you'll likely have little down time -Singing,dancing,games,sports, and just a tad of language instruction sprinkled throughout the day and week.I know one older fellow(54) that out of desperation had to do it;he needed to take 2 weeks off from doing anything after his marathon 4 week "summer camp".

[melilly]

I imagine summer camps would be more about mentoring children rather than teaching them, so enjoying their company, and genuinely liking kids, their temperments and other childlike qualities, would probably make a summer camp job a lot more tolerable.

I've never done a summer camp, but I wouldn't be opposed to doing one if I needed to. I don't teach children anymore, but I like kids, and with that much light at the end of the tunnel I'm pretty sure I'd survive.

I've seen some summer camps advertised in my neck of the woods offering 10,000 rmb for 2 weeks (10 working days) including hotel accomodations, meals, and what sounds like an acceptable schedule.

I imagine you'd meet a lot of people and maybe make some new friends, which could be a plus. I don't really see any downsides if you're looking for work and you don't have anything better to do.

I certainly don't think it has anything to do with being a "young'n/newbie", a "dancing monkey", or a "semi-teacher". Those are all just negative labels to me. I also don't think someone has to be "desperate" to take a summer camp job. There are plenty of positive ways to look at any situation, including teaching and mentoring impressionable young minds at a summer camp.

I'm sure there must be a few teachers out there who actually look forward to doing them.

[william wallace]

You're right! Every crowd has a silver lining.

[andrew_gz]

Not every summer camp is the same.
I've been working at the same training center for four years.
Our summer camp has the same curriculum as our regular terms.
And we do two of them.
The only difference is that it is two weeks rather than a few months.(weekends)
I look forward to it because I like my students, my job and it is a welcome cash injection

[SpedEd]

It's the dancing monkey that I fear I will become. As mentioned, I seen a camp in Kyunggi-do, Korea that I really didn't like. It was too casual, and I felt that it was just to promote a false kind of comraderie. I asked the company (Shanghai Top Education) but I've not been able to get clear answers because of dropped connections, etc.
On another note, I hate my current school and I'd entertain the idea of being recruited the heck out of here by the summer camp school when they commenced their regular teaching schedule.

[Orrin]

�Summer camps� in China are something you want to avoid like the plague. Most of the kids don�t want to be there. They have been dumped there by there parents to get them out of their hair for a few weeks. These �camps� are nothing more than an exercise in babysitting. If you decide to do one, be sure to bring along your �dancing monkey� suit, or better yet, make sure the school or company that is putting it on supplies you with one.

[william wallace]

Well, that's a leading question in the OP,as we're not allowed to post exactly what that word is, as it will be censored.So...
It is a fun time to explore the unique culture hidden within those young and vibrant Chinese children.The activities are both stimulating and allow one to grow in pedantic harmony through characteristically Chinese education.The income is sufficient to procure a place in next year's semester-before a tuition increase. It also allows you to indulge in the colourful and in-demand Mandarin language.

[melilly]

Babysitting is a fact of life when teaching kids, especially kindy ages, in regular classrooms, too.

When kids are a bit older, supervising and, if you have the skills and the patience, mentoring, might be better, and certainly more positive, words to use.

There's a plague in China? People trying to improve their lives by taking their kids to summer camps is ALL NEGATIVE? What planet are you on, man? You're talking about life, about the messy and imperfect world we live in as though you're not even a part of it, as if you're looking down from some place of superiority where "real" life never touches you.

What exactly are you teaching people, anyway? That parents and their kids suck? And then one day, when you have kids of your own (maybe you already do), and you take them to a summer camp, it'll be okay, positive, the right thing to do, and if any teachers think babysitting, mentoring, or supervising your child should be avoided like the plague, you'll ask, "What's wrong with these people, they're teachers, aren't they?"

This from a teacher who wants certain others to pull their heads out of their collective butts.

And the posts just keep on comin'!

[B�te T�te]

don't fear the dancing monkey. embrace it and move on. you get out of your experience what you put into it. sometimes teaching is a little bit performance.

well actually a lot performance.

china summer camps can be good and bad. i think you should realize it for what it is. A SUMMER CAMP. so, in that respect, you should be slightly entertaining. if the pay is good, and the school seems alright, go for it.

[Sly22]

I'm working for a summer camp right now, luckily I only agreed to 2 days a week. The pay is amazing, the staff are friendly, the kids are abonoxious. I have one class of six 3-5 year old kids... the 'babies' class. They can hardly speak chinese, nevermind english. I think my teaching them is almost completely pointless, though they enjoy this game we play where if they remember the word I let them ping me in the head with a ball, after which I act as if it was a deadly blow and play dead on the floor which sends them into hysterics.*

* other laowai in the Shanghai area who have recently been pelted in the head with objects by 4 year old chinese children as a result I deeply apologize.

I wouldn't recommend it full time but as a summer gig to get through these few months it's not bad.