Taggie replies.

Sirong: Hey. About the bbq, i'm not sure if i'll be free. Plus, it's actually against company policy.
Really really appreciate the effort though.

annting: er...hi? Gan laopo? wad's that sia?

natalie: lol...ok...

claudia: Hi! liew....but y dumbo again....

Caroline: haha...y dun like mad spa.... you liked it rite? her group was the ONLY group that got to go to the water fall know. lol...

26-28th June 2008, Jurong West Pri P5 camp.

This post should have been up long ago...
Day one was written on the end of day 1 itself.
I brought my lappy to camp.
Part of day 2 also...
But later was too tired to write, I needed the rest and energy for my camp...and also some problems lately...so...
sorry for the late late late up date....

Day 1:
The school arrived late at Sarimbun.
Ice breakers where not done.
Took my group for the first activity--rock climbing.
The kids where lively all climbed really well.
West-side school.
I live in the west too...
hmm...maybe that's where all the monkeys come from....
Was expecting a great camp ahead, as the kids seemed quite enthusiastic at this stage....
but...Murphy's law proved itself....
speaking of monkeys, to my "horror", they really behave like monkeys!
They were really playful, had short attention span, on top of that, they were not cooperative and there where many conflicts with in the group.
Most of the campers in my group, esp the boys are really self-centre.
They only wanted to have fun and have many tried of the activities themselves and never considered that the other group members hadn't try.
Activity time this 1hr 30 mins per-session because they where did not cooperative and i had to stop sooo many times to tell them off, and wait for them to gather and settle down, actually time for each activity as actually reduced to less than 1 hr.

Rock-climbing, they climb and queued up for 2nd try even b4 everyone in the group tried.

Gladiator(boys vs girls), few of the more active and aggressive boys did of the tying of the catapult and the launching.
There was a lack of communication, or rather, they did not how to communicate,
when i said that everyone should be getting a try, these few boys actually started shouting and scolding the other boys for not helping.
When it's because of their aggressive and harsh ways that they other boys felt left out.
They where complaining that they didn't get to do anything and only the few boys are having fun.
They didn't get it even after I went over and told them their problem a few times.
They continued their selfish ways.

Command and Conquer, another game with water bombs.
The same few boys wanted to do all the playing.
One even snatched the plastic bags form the girls that was tasked to do the distribution.
same thing happened again.

River challenge, the boys want go for 2nd and 3 rd tries(sending the tubing and life vest back) even when the girls haven tried.
The teacher could no longer stand it and stepped in.
She gave them a good scolding, before my debrief.
I let the girls off to shower first and kept them as punishment.
Have to make them understand the importance of sharing and that when you're living in a group, it is only fair that everyone gets a fair chance.
They need to stop being so self-centered.

Night debrief, sense of urgency was missing again and
Teachers stepped in.
This time, there were 4.
The group was separated into 4 sub groups as suggested by the teachers.
The 4 more aggressive boys, who were also the trouble makers are made the group ICs.

The teachers commented that after scanning through the students in my group, they saw that all those with attitude problem, short attention span,....etc are all in this group.
Only 2 or 3 were "ok" ones.
That explains....
After so much prep talk today...really hope they will learn and get better...

really wanna find a way to change these kids...
it's a challenge to myself...
an achievement to help them.


Day 2:
Though day one was some what demoralizing. but had to pull myself together.
Whether the campers learnt and whether they have fun during the camp depends one me.

The day started out quite well actually.
On the first actvity, nature rumble, really saw them starting to work together and looking out for each other by helping each other up and down the steep and slippery slopes.
Praised them for it, they got change into their clean shoes/ washed their shoes pretty quickly too.
They did really well for outdoor cooking too.
Listened and cooperated with the staion Ic, Yimin, who's also our groups 2IC.
So there where actually one of the few groups that got to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Hotdog with bread stick and baked banana with chocolate.

But after lunch they seem to reverted back to their old ways.
2 of the boys fought and one of them refused to tell me what happened when questioned them.
Not wanting to hold the group back, I sent the 2 boys to the camps Ops.
For next actvity, with the 2 boys taken out from the group, I realised that the group was much more cooperative and the game went on really well.
Through 2 days of observation, actually out of the 4 boys, 3 really understood what I've been telling them and are really changing.
Only that after all, they are primary school kids and they need consant reminder.

During the last activitythey were very lower energy. Guess all of them are tired after a long day.
We still had our campfire item to practise but many of them just kept asking when is it wash-up time and kept saying their not interested in the game.
Something that happens very often in primary school camps as they generally have lower tolerence and will power to go on once they fell uncomfortable and tired.
During campfire preparation, all of them were not motivated to do things properly even though I told them there'll be time for wash-up.
But the I told them it's the last practise, do a good one then they can all go shower, suddenly they did everything nicely.
Hope they realised when they all put their hearts into doign somethign togetherr, thing cna be doen really easily.

Day 3:
As usual, last day of the camp is for area cleaning. My group had to clean the girls toilet.
After area cleaning was the final debrief. After the debrief I brought 2 of the "problem-kids" a side and spoke to them.
Could really see the change in them. It's a pity I couldn't make one of the boys "wake-up". These 2 that I brought out realised the problem too.
I challenged them to help their friend change as well. They agreed.
The most touching thing is that one of the boys actually wanted to give me Strepils before leaving on the bus because he knew they made me shout alot and I lost my voice.
He said, "Thank you for improving me."
It was really touching.

Lesson:
The importance of Ice-Breaking sessions within a group before they start working together.
On of the factors contributing to the conflicts in the group and the fact that they are unable to work well togther migth be because the school got to the campsite late and no proper ice-breakers was conducted.
Many of them did not even know each others names. And as they are only primary school students, not many of them actually made and effort to ask for wach other's names.
It's really difficult to work when you are calling each other "eh".

Also, this camp has reminded me once again. Never give up. Don't jump to conclusion.
Never give up half way. Because if you do, you'll never know what greatness is waitinf fro you at the finish line.
Many times during the camp, I was really almost at the verge of breaking down. But I kept tellign myself, I had to go on.
The kids are depending one me. Luckily I managed to push on. Seeing the happy faces o nthe kids and the improvemnet in them was really fulfilling.
All the trouble was worth it.

Of course I need to thank Baoyun, Jarred and forgot who's the other instructor.
See you all when I was conducting TP suffle was really nice.
Sort od an energizer for me.
Hahaha....



I'll reply taggies in my next post.
need to go out now...

Taggie replies.

Ok!
Back to blogging.
First, to reply tags.

Guo Wei: sorry man...i had a camp straight after we break camp on had lunch on sat.
so couldn't make it. you guys saw instructor potato and yuanshan rite?

Caroline: hey....that name rings a bell! i checked my name list and, yea! she's in my group.
lol....small world. Cant remember her face though form her name though. got pic? lol....wad did she say abt the camp and me? she had fun?

kayying and vanisa: thank you. lol...

Jiahui: o. got vid r? show me hor. haha...

natalie: wa sia? jestyn's camper?? lol....how did u get my blog address sia??

Huisi: wahhaah....liddat i must see! CLASSMATE, SHOW ME HOR!!

kayying: swee! show me show me. lol...

si rong, shi hui, sok kee, jia sheng, weehong, karthick: hey...haha...will post on ur camp soon. but gotta wait awhile. cos stil lgto a few camps b4 urs to write abt. ^_^ speaking of running ard the campfire....i just sprained my ankle during my last campfire jumping ard the fire. lol...stupid man...

vanisa: lol...thanks....cos i away in camp for like 2 weeks ma.



will finish the post on Jurong west pri asap...
Grrr....
I need more discipline!!! and endurance!!!

Finally back!

BOO!!
Finally back!
My 3 camps back to back was extended to FIVE camps. lol...
SHAG~
but SHIOK~!
lol....
sorry for the delay posts.....in camp all they way,
will bw taking a short break for now to recharge...
will update the blog...
so many camps to write abt...
But still going for kayaking course tomorrow, 12 hours. WOOT!
haha...
will update asap!
ciao

23-25th June 2008, Simei ITE Student Council Bonding Camp.

My first ever ITE camp.
I.E., first ever camp with campers age so close to mine.

The camp is a bonding camp for the Student Council, the school wanted to Student Council to know each other better so as to work together better. There are a few different committees in the Student Council and the members from different committees not necessarily knew each other. Also, the camp was also done to instill a greater sense of belonging in the Councilors so that they will be more committed to Student Council duties.

Day 1:
Got to the school and waited for the student to arrive at school before we started taking attendance and dividing them into their groups. This took quite long as there were some problems with the groupings and it had to be done again.
After ice-breaker in school we left for Bottle Tree Park.
The first activity was Amusing Race around Yishun.
It's my first time conducting this activity around Yishun, so I'm not familiar with the place as well. But luckily, the objective of the activity did not require me to know the place well.
Objective of the activity was to make them realize the importance of communication and raise their awareness to their surroundings and well-being of their teammates. To learnt to look out for each other. Also, the importance of planning. For this camp, also for me to observe who are the more outstanding leaders.
The team forgot to check strength before moving off after a Check Point. The route to the next station went through the shop houses below an estate. There were many turns and one of the campers was lagging behind. She was spotted by one other camper but he did not stop the group to wait for her. So I decided to get her to hide with the student facilitator that was attached to my group and see how long it'll take the group to realize their team mate was missing. They didn't realize it until we arrived at the next Check Point, when I asked if everyone was around. They even answered "yes" without counting. After counting, they realized someone was missing and I asked them, "what now?"
Some of them started to stress and some started pointing fingers. Blaming the girl for lagging behind. Blaming the guy who spotted her for not stopping the group.
I got the "missing" girl to come back to join the group and gave time a time penalty of 5 mins for losing a team member, during the time, talked to them about the importance of looking out for each other.
When you are a team, always look out for each other, especially when moving in groups. They have to learn this because they are leaders and might be leading their own groups in future. They are lucky the "lost" was arranged by me and that the event is held in the urban environment. Campers are not allow to carry hand phones with them. Imagine what happens if someone in the team is actually lost during an activity in a place like Lim Chu Kang? Or say maybe Nature Rumble? In the forest?
Always look out for your friends and team mates.
Leave no one behind.
To test them furthur, as a road block for them to earn back points they lost, I challenged them to carry the "lost" girl to the next check point because she is now "injured". She not light!
But the teams performance was really impressive, not only did they make it to the next check point while carry the girl, there was ZERO complains. Many of the guys were close to their physical limit and along the way they had to keep switching guys.
Night activity was Kidnapped!
This time I took out the Ex-co member that joint the group as a camper because she have been playing a very active role in the day in leading the group during the Amusing Race. I wanted to see how the team will function without her. Wanted to force others to lead. As expected, as they are, after all leaders, people step forward to lead the team. And because it was dark, many where really counting and keeping a look out to make sure everyone was together.
During the activity, also made the team come up with 3 new cheers which took less than 5 mins each, compared to the first one which took almost 30 mins to come up with at the starting of the camp.

Day 2:
People I pointed out on the first night that I hope to see them stepping out started to get more active. Also told the Ex-co to keep quiet today so as to give the campers more chance to lead. The group have gotten more familiar with each other and can now work better together. The quieter people also started to talk more. There was more discussion going on in the team. For campfire preparation, they were expected to organise and come up with an item themselves since they are all old enough and also, they are all student leaders. 2 guys that were really laid back on the first day even took the lead for Campfire item preparation.
However, the group still lacked the sense of urgency. They had lots of time for campfire preparation, there's alot of discussion going on, but after very long, nothing solid is seen yet.
So I told them I want to see something within 15mins.
Again, the item was planned up and we started practising within 20mins.
Clearly, they needed to be able to force themselves to work faster.

Lesson for readers: Being motivated to work is not enough. We need to work fast. Do, not just say. You can lots of discussion going on but if none of these ideas are tested or tried, nothing will happen, problems withthe ideas will not be seen too. Also, a little pressure to work is alwasy good as it forces us to work fast. Look at the campers from this camp. As leaders, they are definatly motivated to work and willing to share ideas, but progress is slow until pressure was given to them to step it up. Look at how much time can be saved.
This pressure to work fast need not come from an external source.
In academic terms, this is the difference between an A1 student and and A2 student.
Though both are motivated, the A1 student pressure him/herself to work faster and more efficiently.

Day 3:
AREA CLEANING.
Area cleaning at Bottle Tree Park is so easy!
It was done in on time.
Then it was floowed by a massive photo taking session before the closing of the camp.
After the closing, I kept my group to share with them my observations that's actually meant for the repor for the teachers, but I really hope they'll know and understand their strength and weaknesses and work on them. Of course I did make it a point to tell them that those are only my observations and what I feel, if they disagree, it's fine.


The really respectable thing about this group of campers was their respect for authority. Even though the age gap between instructor and campers is so small, with some campers even older than their instructors, they are still able to respect us as instructors and learn form the camp and learn from us.

Readers: Respect of authority and willingness to learn from people, even younger than you is really really important for self-improvement. It take alot of courage to be able to recognise the ability of someone that is, in the norm, "lower" that you and later learn from them. But if one can forgo the stigma of asking and learning from the younger or someone "lower" it can really bring you to greater heights.

Though the camp was rather slow paced and a bit "low". Probably due to the camp schedule and the number of activities in the camp. Camp needs more ups and downs in order to be more fast paced. It needs more climax, which means more activites to create these ups and downs and to make it more fun and fast paced. You cant expect campers to stay "high" throughout the entire activity when activites lasted 2 to 2 and a half hours each.
I guess it can't be help since the camp was held at Bottle Tree Park and not JBac, there's only so many activites that can be done at Bottle Tree Park that's suitable for campers their age.

Fellow instructors commented that I was running the camp a bit like leadership training camp. In fact, I was....well a little. I threw in many things that are meant to bring out that leader in them and things to make them think. Actvity time was long, so debriefs were lengthy. Up to 1 hour after each activity(no complains again, as expected. they all wanted to learn), as I got everyone to share their views. I wanted my campers to gain more than just friendship and bonding from the camp. The camp objective was to get them to bond. If I can give them more, why not? Through they "hardships" that I made them go through, they bonded and they learnt.
It was really encouraging to see that the campers really wanted to learn, wanted to improve and when they thanked me on the finaly night after campfire for giving them more that just bonding.
Many of them really have the potential. Can see that many really learnt and benifited from the camp and change in them was evident.
Some who feared to lead now realise it's actually not that bad.

Overall, the camp was great. One of the best camp I've had in fact.

Going Camping again!!!

woot....
going camp again tml...
first ite camp...
interesting....
will be MIA for like more than i week i guess....
3 camps in a row...
WOOT!

HOPE I HAVE THE ENERGY!!!!

The Coffee Powder, the Egg and the Carrot.

Since I heard this story in secondary school, it has motivated me and help me fought my way through trying times and reminded me I need to adapt since I heard it in secondary school

The Coffee powder, the egg and the carrot.
This 3 different things when placed in a pot of boiling water, gives 3 very different results.
The Coffee power turns the pot of boiling water black.
The initially fragile egg turns in to hard boiled egg.
The hard carrot turns soft and crumbles.

This 3 different objects' reaction to the pot of boiling water is analogous to how 3 different type of people reacts and adapt to a trying environment.

The first type of person, the coffee powder--very influential
when placed in a tough situation or a new environment, instead of changing himself to fit into the new environment, he changes the environment to fit him.

The second type of person, the egg--what doesn't kill him only makes him stronger.
When placed in a trying environment, he may not be a very strong person initially, but he toughens himself up to survive in the harsh environment.

The third type of person, the carrot--breaks down under stress.
He may be the stronger one under normal conditions but when thrown in to a new and trying environment, he is unable to adapt and crumbles.


In is true that it's impossible to always change the environment to fit you. Moreover, not everyone has the charisma or ability to do so.

But at least, be the egg, not the carrot.

There'll be many trying situations as we grow up and throughout our life journey.
We need to adapt to the changing environment to survive and to strive.
If not we will just break down and crumble like the carrot.

Everytime when I face trying situations and feel like giving up, I'll tell myself, I a am not a carrot.
If I cannot be the coffee powder, at least be the egg.
What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.

Pain is weakness leaving your body.