Five Characteristics Of Summer Camp Teachers

There are many different scenarios in which you can find yourself teaching English. From kindergarten or beginners’ classes to teaching restaurant and hotel staff, you may even end up teaching a subject that isn’t English.

It can be daunting, but as you gain more experience as a teacher, you may find you develop a preference or find you are stronger teaching in one setting or environment more so than another. If you ever visited summer camp as a child, then you’ll remember how much fun it was.

Summer camps are a setup that many teachers favour as they’re run for a few days or weeks during the school holidays for school-age learners to come to camp to learn English.

Many people would run a mile at the idea of dealing with so many young kids for an extended time but carrying out lessons while ensuring the kids have fun can be an interesting challenge. Think you’re cut out for it?

Five characteristics that would make you an ideal summer camp teacher

1. You’re a teaching noob

If you’re a newly qualified TEFL teacher looking to get some experience under your belt, then summer camps are the thing for you.

Many teachers start out as Activity Leaders and accompany the learners on their extra-curricular activities. TEFL-qualified teachers have the added benefit of being able to take a few lessons, but regardless of which qualification you hold, summer camp experience is a great addition to your CV.

2. You’re an energiser bunny

Summer camps are not the place for introverts who want to be left alone once their class is over. Being surrounded by people 24/7 can be exhausting but it can also be plenty of fun socialising with the other teachers as well as the kids.

The day usually begins with breakfast with the learners followed by an action-packed day full of activities and even when that’s over, many of the kids will still need supervision. Of course, nothing beats ending off a busy day like unwinding with the other teachers so if you’re a fun-loving, energetic person then you’ll never be bored when you take a job at a summer camp.

3. A fling >>> a long-term commitment

Summer camps are popular in the UK, US, Europe and Asia and as there will never be a shortage of them, they’re the perfect opportunity for you to dip your toe into the world of TEFL to see if you like it without committing to it in the longer term.

Whether you’re a recent graduate teaching English to fund your trip around the world, or a serious teacher wanting to get a taste for whether it’s the right career path for you, summer camps are a fun way to get involved in TEFL for a short period of time.

4. You’re a creative

While teaching English is part of working at a summer camp, it’s important to remember that the kids are there to have fun.

Summer camps work because many of the arts, crafts, activities and sports games incorporate English so that the learners are exposed to it for as many hours a day as possible. Teachers are assigned activities each afternoon so being comfortable playing sports or getting creative is a plus. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s all about how you play the game.

5. You’re a people-person

When you work on a summer camp, a large part of your day will be spent entertaining a bunch of kids. Coming up with fun and innovative ways to do this is key to your survival and the kids’ overall enjoyment. Being fun and relaxed will get you a lot further at camp so be prepared to be involved in activities, such as dancing and singalongs.

TTA alumna Emily taught in a number of summer camps in Italy:

Teaching in Italy was the BEST experience of my life! I was sent to amazing camps and locations.

The English camps are called Lingue Senza Frontiere (language without barriers).  We spent half of the day in the classroom and the other half outside doing fun activities which we all enjoyed. My first camp was in Scarperia, just 30 minutes outside of Florence, and my other was in Gravedona, Lake Como.  My class in Florence were 11-13-year olds and in Como I taught 5-8-year olds. This was great because I had two completely different classes and levels of English. The older children had a very good level of English while the youngest had very basic English. This let me experience both ends of the spectrum.

We opened and closed camp every day with a song circle which at the start can be scary but in the end, was so much fun and everybody including the teenagers loved doing it. We had family fun days, water games, Olympics – all through English. We ended each camp with a big show for all the parents and there was a lot of tears when the other teachers and I had to leave for our next camp. For the older kids, I had the idea for them to make daily vlogs which was very popular.

I had a week of intense training which can be intimidating but a lot of the stuff we were learning I had previously learned to do during the TEFL course, so that helped me massively. 

There are many perks to taking a TEFL job, including travelling to exotic locations, meeting wonderful people and being exposed to new cultures. There are also a variety of situations you can find yourself teaching in and summer camps are just one of these. While they come with a variety of challenges remember that – if anything – teaching at a summer camp is never dull!