Tim Horton Children's Foundation

THR Supplemental Practicum Experience 2019

I have learned a lot about myself as a facilitator during my camp experience. For instance, I have gained new leadership skills working with groups of students in an alternative environment, and therefore, feel more confident leading learning tasks outside of a classroom setting. I recognized that students respond well to a playful, energetic, and positive atmosphere. I have also learned the ability to adapt to the fast changing pace of my environment and to think on the fly in order to improvise on the spot.

To learn more about my experience as a camp facilitator and how I made connections from camp to the five teaching competencies of the Mount Royal University program click the button below:

Camp + My Connections To The 5 Teaching Competencies

The Significance of My Camp Name

All facilitators use fun names to represent themselves at camp. At the end of the experience, all campers play a game of telephone to learn our real names. This signifies that at camp we come to be our authentic and unique selves, but we also take our identities into the real world and apply what we do at camp back at home.

At camp, I'm known as Bloom. I chose this name not only because Spring was in the air and I was excited to start camp at this time, but because I am beginning flourish and bloom in my teaching career. I was also greatly inspired by my favourite children's author Judy Blume's name. Judy Blume is one of the most banned author's in history for speaking on subjects that people don't want to hear. I admire Judy's persistence, confidence, and influence on society.

Profound Moments & Goals for the Future

I further feel as though I played a role in impacting the lives of the students who attended the camp. Throughout my time at the Tim Hortons Ranch I have witnessed campers who have developed evidence-based life skills, strengths, and assets that will help form the attitudes and behaviours that will foster their development into caring, motivated, and responsible individuals. As a future educator, I aspire to create meaningful experiences similar to those I learned at camp for my students. I will accomplish this goal by incorporating “GR8 Beads,” or something similar, into my future classroom. At camp, the GR8 Beads are a tool that has been enhanced to reinforce intended outcomes with campers and staff in an engaging and memorable way. The eight beads create tangible connections to skills and attitudes that are known to be important in positive youth development such as: goal setting, teamwork, responsibility, peace, relationships, motivation, challenge, and reflection. I believe this could be a classroom management technique that would not only build a better classroom community, but also assist in anchoring lessons in order to transfer learning to life outside of school.

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