Winter English Camp 2011-2012

What did you do on your winter vacation? Well for most Korean kids it's go to English Camp.  During these camps they get more English language but we get to have a lot more fun and for the most part no textbooks are used.  As I'm learning more, and more about teaching I'm starting to remember what it was about my favorite teachers I had in the past.  It wasn't always the most popular teacher and it was definitely not the easiest teacher, but it was the teachers that pushed me to excel beyond my own expectations, the teachers that demanded nothing less than my best, and the teachers that made me care about subjects I had NO interest in such as math and economics.  For the most part that is the challenge of every teacher but it especially a challenge for every TEFL teacher.  Try explaining to a 10 year old that learning English is going to help them in the future because they never know what the future is going to hold for them and you'll understand just how limited their understanding of anything outside their immediate needs are.  So we challenge, we get creative, and we try to use English as a way to teach a bigger picture.  In my opinion I think this type of TEFL experience is only going to make me a better teacher in the long run.  The tools and ideas I use here I can easily transfer to a classroom where I am teaching in my native language to hopefully engage, challenge and inspire my students.  Perhaps a bit naive but I hope to keep my teaching naivety.

Here is a video I made of my first winter camp.  It was three weeks long and included themes of Winter Holidays, Harry Potter, and Make Your Own Movie.  These kids are so cute and worked really hard, for the most part.  And other than a few bad apples, we had so much fun. I can't wait for Summer English Camp!