Three Weeks in the Making...

SIGH!
Okay so the past few weeks I have not had a chance to write being that these weeks keep getting longer and more involved.

A quick update and you will soon understand why so quick soon...

The first week I was completely out of it and was going through trainning and was meeting people from everywhere! From South Africa to Colombia, it is a HUGE mesh of people with different backgrounds and it makes a great challenge for community efforts. The contrasting views of everyone makes for some very interesting views on how to treat a child...
(SEGWAY!!!!!)

So as some people know I have a lot of experience with special needs kids...all of the weeks so far we have had multiple and even some in Saddle Club, which made me sooooo happy, and yet made a lot my peers upset. I ended up taking on a lot of these kids when thier Co.s didnt want to deal with them anymore...I then started to settle in. I also did get to have my Improv. class, and it was amazing, I walked from my job late (yes it was planned that way) and it was a bunch of screaming kids running around and not interested. Thanks to a few know how rules I was able to pick up the class and with only 20 min. to spare I was able to organize games and made the kids really enjoy where they were and what they were doing.

There is a huge bullieing problem at this camp sometimes with certian kids and it kills me, because it kills the spirit of camp so I have become a more strict teacher, but I use the "Why" now. So when correcting a child in a high stakes enviornment I must be fast to respond and very strieght foward just because it could mean a kid falling off a horse or not. Now, that makes me seem like a real hard butt, however, it works when I add the why. It also dripped into the next week where there was a girl so afraid she was crying and not wanting to ride or be around horses...we got her on using a few scaffolding skills and by the end of the week using this tecnique I was able to proudly say she was the most improved, and the most connected with me as a teacher.

Another important lesson that is coming up from my theater background is that kids are on a need to know basis.
as some of you know I was thrown down the Santa Fe trail when I was trying to train our youngest addition to the heard...well...I was at end of the line and fell, now when this has happened in the past kids will make up rumors which will make other kids not want to ride...and being that we pride our camp on everyone will ride a horse on a trail...we cant have rumors of broncos...

In anycase I am again sorry if this is choppy, I am curently nursing wounds and really wanted to post, much more later!

First Week...

This blog is very easy going, and will be updated when I have days off and I am allowed to go home. So crazy times and only an hour at a time, so please if I forget something or you have a question please simply ask!!

Wow,
So this week has been one of the most odd things I think I have ever seen. I arrived at CFA (Camp Flaming Arrow) with little knowledge about who I was working with and exactly how I would be fitting it into my theater education or any of my skills for that matter, little did I know...

I met with my boss Laura who is 24 and a very talented person. It is very easy to talk to your boss when they are so close in age, and yet that can also mean a very odd line of professionalism. We do work together as partners when working with horses which is a great time and very stress free for two footers and four footers alike.
It is interesting that how you hold yourself is very important. Horses talk through noise and body language, so there is a definite part of me that started to try to pick up my shoulders and be the boss. The horses are now pretty used to me, and I am trying to condition them so that they will respond to voice commands and body position, and not just how the kids are tugging them around in one more week.

Something that I think is very important and good to know is that when you are in such a small camp (small is 200 campers a week for 10 weeks) you get to know everyone, so it is imperative that you are never upset or frowning, or so I have found. This also means that you are involved in MANY different areas of the camp...for example I have been asked to run an Improv. Class, Dance Class, and a small theater class for the camp when they do "Talent Groups" and Talent shows. Which means that I would also be asking the kids in my class to get up in front of the camp and show what they have done for a week. I am lucky that this is nothing new (My last internship was teaching a children's creative dramatics class). Another thing I was asked to do was in my time off or as a service project I am to play victim for the lifeguards as they are training...its interesting.

As for hard work my hours are very long and very physically and mentally draining. I have also had tests! YES THEY NEVER STOP EVEN WHEN YOU ARE ON SUMMER BREAK!!! As a plus side, I am now EMT CPR, AED certified and have other certifications such as EpiPens and First Aid (Professional training) ...so I am ready to do anything~

Well, I am off to explore a bit and find things for staff week starting in less then 10 hours!
Much more later

~Kayt