Step Into My Sessions: Previewing Summer camps

Planning for camp means discussing lots of feelings!!

A few weeks ago, I met with a student right before she headed off to two weeks of sleepaway camp.

Back East, so far from home. Her first sleepaway camp. This fifth grader is often challenged by situations that push her anxiety and inflexibility buttons. 🚨
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We brainstormed what might challenge her at camp, as well as thoughts and strategies that might come in handy. Here’s what our list 📃 looked like. It’s called “dotted lines on the roadmap” because “when you look at a map, the lines that look dotted are often not well-paved, therefore, bumpy.” 🛣️

Using the wording of our students makes their work more real to them and builds ownership, so I always try to use the actual words my students say when we make visuals like this:

What I found so interesting was the last point.📍

Thirty minutes into our discussion, she looked up at me and asked, “What if it gets to the end and I have had such a great time, I won’t want to leave?” Wow – great realization – that she might have a good time! 😊 We quickly added it to the list, as well as what she can think in the moment.
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She was going to take this visual with her, so our next step was to print it out. She requested it be small, so she could fold it up and put it in her pocket for quick access. ✉️ This is about the size we made:

Well, I couldn’t read it, but somehow, she could. She happily folded it up even smaller, and tucked it in her pocket. I sent a larger copy to her mom.

So far, I haven’t heard any updates, but I will let you know how it turns out!!

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Whether you are at camp or not, I hope you are all having a terrific summer!! ☀️