Take the Lake, Kill the Hill, Drag the Bag

One week down, 39 to go!

Well, I made it through the first week! My job is kind of strange in that I don't really get new kids every year like classroom teachers do (I'm the music teacher), I jsut get the same kids, but all shuffled around into newe classes and one year older. (I've already made a few mistakes calling the new grade 4's grade 3's, or grade 6's grade 5's. That's such a dis to a kid! Oops!) But that makes it kind of hard to feel like it's a fresh start in the music room. Many of these kids have had me for two full years already, and they figure they know the drill. I still lay down the law anyway. Or at least I will next week.

On the first day, I told two of the grade 7 teachers that I wanted to go to camp. Every year, the third week of September, teh 7's go to camp for a week. It's kid of like and outdoor school. They do different activities like canoeing and orienteering and the like. It's also a great chance for them to bond as a class before they go off to high school and to gain some self-confidence. Maybe I'm crazy, but I want to go. I only see my students 40 minutes a week, and so I don't get to know them very well. This group of grade 7's this year are particularily challenging, and I'd like to get to know them and build a bit of a relationship with them, so I'm not just the meanie music teacher who yeall at them for 40 minutes a week. Plus, I really admire teh way the grade 7 teachers deal with their kids. They are no-nonsense, but also quite engouraging and empowering. I want to see that in action.

I found out on Thursday that it's go! My principal will hire a sub for me for the week, and I'm headed off to camp. My job will be camp songs (among other things). It's gonig to be so fun! I'm gonna make them sing (and do actions for!) all kinds of silly songs.

My eyes are dim I can not see...
I said a boom chicka rrrocka chicka rrrocka chicka boom...
Let me see your funky chicken / What's that you say?
On top of spaghetti...

And so on.

One of the daily happenings at grade 7 camp is the morning physical activity. It starts at 7 am, and everyone MUST participate. It's called Take the Lake, Kill the Hill, Drag the Bag. In take the lake, they go swimming. In Kill the Hill, they go for an uphill run. And Drag the Bag? The Youth and Family Worker goes to camp, too, and Drag the Bag is where they go for a walk and talk with her. They drag her along for a walk. Hee hee! Just so long as *I* don't end up running that activity!!!

Does anyone know any good camp songs I could use up there? Leave them in the comments! I'll be grateful forever!