Dealing with common issues

I am teaching at Camp Invention again this year. If you haven't heard of Camp Invention, check it out! It's a really cool science camp for incoming 1st thru 6th graders. The kiddos get to take part in some guided science discovery "classes," and they get to do I CAN INVENT/TAKE APART in which they bring in some old electronic device (donated items are anything from computer hard drives to scanners to VCRs to motorized toys) and they get to completely take it apart. That seems to be everyone's favorite part. Later in the week, the children use parts and pieces from their device along with other recyclable items to create something completely new. 

I'm really lucky because I started by being a counselor for Camp Invention when I was still in high school. As soon as I got my teaching license, I was able to be one of the class leaders/teachers! This year, I am teaching the Ecoverse class in which the students learn all about the different elements of the earth (fire, sky, water, and earth) and participate in different team building exercises. 

At the same time, I am reading Teasing, Tattling, Defiance and More... by Margaret Berry Wilson. It is part of the Responsive Classroom library (surprising, right?). This is also on the heels of listening to Dr. Reggie Melrose speak, mind you. It's all about being proactive and intentional in teaching kids how to be social beings. I love Wilson's book because she gives you the developmental reasons kids may be behaving the way the are, gives you ways to proactively teach desired behaviors, and gives ideas of how to react when the undesired behaviors happen. The author doesn't simply say, "If you are proactive, these behaviors will never happen." This author lives in the real world of teaching and she KNOWS there are slip-ups. There are a multitude of scenarios and ideas to help teachers help struggling children. 

Okay so back to Camp Invention: I'm reading this book in the evenings and I brought it to camp to read during lunch. I got back together with the group of counselors and teachers before my next class, and boy, did I get an ear full about the next group I was going to have, and wow, did I really have to watch out for little Johnny (name changed for confidentiality) in particular! He had already stolen items from one class, completely disregarded instructions in another, and crawled into an ice cream freezer during lunch. "Good luck with that one!" they told me. "He's definitely something!" Instantly I start searching for the director. I'm wondering if he's autistic or diagnosed as something. As I reflect on this, I ask myself if it really matters. Do I need an ODD diagnosis? Will this change how I work with this child? Obviously, if there is some kind of insight it could help teachers/counselors out, but he's still a kid. He needs something. It was our job to figure out what it was. 

So, just having read one of the chapters in my book, I approached this boy, and I say the following sentence: "I noticed you climbed into the ice cream freezer. What happened?" HAHA! Seriously? It sounded so ridiculous. But, this language often works in breaking the ice and getting real answers. And he told me: "I just wanted to be alone in a dark, quiet space." Wow. Okay. So was he overwhelmed with the volume of lunch? Did he need opportunities to work independently? Was he in sensory overload? 

When he arrived in my class toward the end of the day, he sat by himself far away from the other groups of children. He started fidgeting with the technology I was using to present my information. I decided to give him a job to steer him away from "messing anything up." He thrived. He needed a purpose, which is one of the things Teasing, Tattling, Defiance and More tells us misbehaving children are striving for. He then proceeded to "take over" the technology and demonstrate ev-er-y-thing I was modeling under the ELMO. But, whatever. The kid was no longer having a meltdown and was actually participating.

I feel like reading this book and listening to Dr. Reggie Melrose helped me connect with this kiddo helping him enjoy camp. These resources have changed the way I could have reacted to this boy, and in turn, changed his behavior and possibly his outlook on this camp that would be going on for another 4 days.

Have you ever had an "aha" moment when you were least expecting it?