Ways to be Involved

This past week Sanborn Western Camps hosted the American Camp Association Rocky Mountain Section Fall Conference. The Conference had many educational breakout sessions that strengthened the experience camps deliver to campers. Some sessions focused on how to teach leadership, social skills, and how to find/retain quality staff to support the lessons taught at camp. Camp is a place that children learn life skills that help them thrive in and out of the classroom. Camp provides the opportunity for children to reconnect with nature. The children and Nature movement is sweeping across the country and we must help in supporting it. Here are some quick and easy ways that the ACA has identified that will help raise the importance of getting children out of doors.

1. Join NatureRocks – a national campaign created to inspire and empower parents to take their families to play, explore, and enjoy quality time in nature for happier and smarter children. www.naturerocks.org

2. Join the National “No Child Left Inside” Coalition and follow what is happing with the piece of legislation. www.cbf.org/Page.aspx?pid=687

3. Provide opportunities for children to engage the natural world in meaningful ways.

4. Encourage youth to be good stewards of the environment. Teach Leave No Trace (LNT) principles and environmental ethics. Foster environmentally friendly behaviors.

5. Take advantage of “teachable moments” with children. Explore and focus on natural elements. Look at the stars, the clouds. Facilitate in children the sense of wonder and awe.

The Art of Letter-Writing

The secretaries in the camp office were alarmed when the first batch of mail written by campers to their families was collected. Stamps were stuck in random places on the envelopes, including on the back, instead of the upper right-hand corner of the envelope.  Addresses were incomplete, illegible and also found in strange and confusing places. It was a shock to realize that many young people (including staff!) do not know how to write and post a letter. Is Letter-Writing becoming a lost art?

Imagine what the world would have missed if the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had been via e-mail? What if Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning had communicated via text message? And, how sad it would be if Jane Austen, Henry James, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin had tweeted, instead of producing the volumes of elegant prose, which preserve and enhance their legacy.

Camp is one of the few places where letter writing is still encouraged (and taught!). Campers are required to turn in a letter to their families to gain admission to lunch each Sunday. Counselors compose hand-written letters each week to send home to the parents of each of their campers describing the camper’s achievements and adjustment to the camp community. Hand-written letters flow freely between the girls’ camp and the boys’ camp.

Parents have told us for many years that they value these letters written by campers and counselors and save them along with other treasured mementos of childhood. Some parents have shared them with us, and these are a valuable piece of the history of the camps and of the family history of each camper. 

Technology today is encouraging short, superficial messages, rather than the deeper, more meaningful communication that occurs when letters are written. Text messaging is fine for letting your Mom know when soccer practice ends, and tweeting works to find out how Lance Armstrong is doing in the Tour de France. But if you want to let your parents know how it feels to stand on top of a 14,000’ mountain, or you want to tell them about your new friends, or you want to describe the sunset you saw last night from Top of the World, then letter writing is the only way.

Hands-On Teaching Methods

Hands-on learning methods can get anyone into MIT or Harvard!

A recent NY Times article reported universities including MIT, Harvard, and the University of Colorado are shifting their approach to teaching science. They are abandoning lecture halls for student-centered, collaborative and interactive teaching methods. What research-based doctoral scholars are adopting as a new approach, K-12 educators have known for years. All educators must be dynamic and exciting. They need well-planned lessons designed to include methods that help all students learn, with the recognition that everyone learns differently.  Multiple intelligences and learning modalities may be more adaptable as learners age, but we see businesses using these theories of learning to increase productivity and efficiency in the professional workplace. From the trails of an outdoor education center to the labs on MIT's main campus to the halls of Google, it is every educator and manager's responsibility to provide meaningful learning experiences. Students ache for engaging, rich, and relevant learning opportunities.

How does one create an interactive learning environment?

   

One method for enriching the classroom or boardroom is through the creation of small collaborative or 'cooperative learning' groups. This is especially effective for high school students. Collaboration provides a social outlet, a setting to learn, an opportunity to take on a new role, and maintain an active learning atmosphere. Good collaboration is one of the most important skills of any respected leader. 

Check out these collaborative learning websites for ideas, benefits, and other sources and strategies for changing your learning environment...

Collaborative Learning

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning Research

Benefits of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning Teacher Blog