A Cautionary Tale for Parents: Sometimes the Ends Do Not Justify the Means I walked into my apartment after a long day at work. Again, I caught my daughter lounging on the couch in my living room. “Ugh,” I thought, “She still hasn’t found the firestick for the television in her room.” I thought it […]
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Mediating Summer Camp Disagreements I remember standing between two school-age boys and blocking them from brutalizing each over a kickball game. The disagreement stemmed from a bad call on a play. I ran over once I saw one of the boys screaming and charging over to the other camper. At that moment, I realized that […]
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Interview with Edward Franklin at the Boost Conference I peered out into a large crowd of people sitting at tables eating lunch. I walk around for a few minutes trying to find a place to sit. Randomly, I pulled out a chair at a table with a few people chatting and eating. Hungry and eager […]
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18 Diffusers That “Out Wit” the Witty Think about your students who love to chronically interrupt classroom activities. Do find yourself thinking “can you please let me finish my sentence.” Better yet, you gasp then, drop your head and say, “here we go again.” How do you deal with students who create disturbance and […]
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The Secret to PD- Finding the Golden Nugget during Professional Development Workshop I’ve come to realize that every professional development workshop I attend will not always end in fireworks, rather, many workshops have developed a standard practice when approaching personal development. As I listen to a presenter, I say to myself “find the golden nugget.” […]
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Why Creating Impactful Staff Orientation is the Best Way to Program Success The most essential professional orientation I have experienced in my career was at the Cardinal Sheehan Center in Bridgeport, CT. The orientation was focused on camp counselor training and consisted of intensive week-long training sessions that aimed to acquaint staff to the program […]
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Five Awesome Social Emotional Games to Play at Summer Camp My favorite time of the year is approaching. SUMMER! With kids out of school, I reminisce back to the days when the world became my playground and I could play outside until the streetlights came on. I remember playing kickball or a game of chase, […]
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A great way to integrate SEL into your program can begin with a daily CHECK IN. Taking the time to connect with every student and to gauge their emotional state helps to set a positive tone for each student’s after school experience. A check in can be a brief group discussion in which you give […]
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Classroom Management for Small Children I sat in the back of the classroom. I pulled out my pen and paper and began conducting an observation at one of our Learning Center sites. I can never forget my observation of this class, or really, I’ll never forget witnessing one teacher feeling completely overwhelmed by a robust […]
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Tips for Boosting your Self-Esteem I remember hating Valentine’s Day when I was in high school. Yuck! All the cool girls would receive candy grams and carnations from their secret admirers. As much as I tried to play it off, I sulked all day. My mother tried her best every year to pick up my […]
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