A Visit to Wilderness Way Camp School For Girls

Monday morning I visited the Wilderness Way Camp School for Girls to do a walk-through observation of our special education services. It was a crisp, damp morning and felt so good to be out of my office and enjoying the beauty of Oconee County. The camp director escorted me through several trails down to one of two camp sites. I am thankful I had a guide and checked to make sure someone was going to be able to help me find my way back when my observation was over. I met the teacher and a student she was working one-on-one with then followed them to the tent that was used for their school house and other gatherings. I guessed the large circular table in the middle of the tent with long benches spaced all around fostered communication during group time. The teacher was instructing the student how to do order of operations when confronted with long, complicated equations. She taught her the mnemonic device "Please excuse my dear aunt sally" to help the student remember what to do first then next. As the student worked her way through the problem the teacher had her think out loud. This helped the teacher identify where the breakdown in comprehension took place. As I observed I thought about how some people are just born to teach. This teacher fits that bill. She used a caring yet confident tone of voice demonstrating mastery over the content she was presenting. It was obvious the student wanted to work hard for her teacher and not let her down. I thoroughly enjoyed my observation and look forward to returning to the camp for another visit.