Jenn Anderson is a teacher in the Balanced Experiential Education Program in Winnipeg.Erin Floyd
Jenn Anderson, 26, is a teacher in the Balanced Experiential Education Program in Winnipeg (BEEP), a free educational program that is offered at five schools throughout the summer. After graduating from the University of Winnipeg in 2013, she's been teaching for three years and just returned from a teaching stint in Thailand. BEEP hosts approximately 550 children from grades 1 to 8, and Anderson teaches 27 of the students at the Margaret Park Community School. As part of our "School's Not Out for Summer" series, we spoke with her about being a teacher in the summer, why these programs are so important and some common misconceptions about teachers' time off.
I recently got back from teaching in Thailand so teaching in the summer is my personal transition back into Canadian classrooms. I think there's so much that teachers can do in the summer that we can't do during the school year because of the weather, especially in Winnipeg. It's so cold during the winter. It's hard to get kids outside. The summer gives us an opportunity to do natural learning outside. We're able to get the kids back to nature, which I think is so important.
We do tons of activities and they go on field trips at least once a week. In my classroom, we have a morning meeting and each day of the week we do something special. We have Math Mondays where we learn to count to 10 in different languages. This summer our theme is the Summer Olympics, so we've been learning about geography, social studies and culture and trying to incorporate literacy outcomes in a fun, positive way.
Our objective is to bridge the academic gap that we see throughout the summer.
It's so important to have these programs because we can provide kids with a routine. There's a safe, stable place that they can go to where they have fun, and have breakfast and a snack. I was surprised by the social aspect. Some kids go home and they're an only child or they have one or two siblings and I feel as though the summer school appeals to their social intelligence and gets them interacting with larger groups of kids that may be absent at home depending on their household.
And I think it's less stress for the teachers as well. I don't feel pressure to meet any outcomes. We don't have to meet any strict objectives or assessments. They just trust us to do what we do best and it's way less pressure than the regular school year. We're not on a timeline; we don't have to get things done by this date. You can try out the stuff you haven't been able to try in a classroom and have those liberties more than you would in a school year.
I know how valuable it is for us educators to continue our practice in the summer but, that being said, on a personal level, two weeks off here and there is pretty ideal. But you see the need. How can we stand there and do nothing about it? We have to do something. So you're always caught in this juxtaposition of wanting to help but still wanting to help yourself by having a break.
Teachers do work throughout the summer. They're prepping. I'm at the school and the teachers are supposed to be on holidays, but they're coming in and reorganizing their classrooms and getting materials and stuff. I feel as though people have a false interpretation of teachers in the summer. They think that we just take off to Hawaii … but that's not the case. We're always working. It's just whether or not we have kids there.
As told to Ellen Brait.
This interview has been condensed and edited.