Amelia Estes
Camp Aspen Snowmass
I interned in the Summer of 2023 with Camp Aspen Snowmass in Snowmass Village, Colorado, totaling 450 hours over the course of three months. On this page, you will be able to get a glimpse into my experience as an Early Childhood Teacher and what I learned during my time there.
What is Camp Aspen Snowmass?
Camp Aspen Snowmass is a summer camp located in Snowmass Village, Colorado, for children ages 1 year to 14 years. Children have the ability to participate in a variety of activities such as hiking, fishing, and even paintballing in 3,000 acres of open mountain space. I was a teacher in the 1 and 2's classroom, with another lead teacher and we had 14 children (7 1's and 7 2's). We did activities such as strolling in a buggy, gondola rides, crafts, and water play days. As someone who is applying to and hoping to attend graduate school for my teaching credential in the future, this experience was a very valuable experience and provided me with experience on how to effectively run a classroom and plan activities to best suit children's development.
What did my job entail?
I was one of three teachers in the 1 and 2's classroom. Each day, we played with the children in the classroom, took them on strolls in a buggy, and participated in one big activity each day. These activities included water day, gondola rides, walks down a hill, playgrounds, and climbing rooms. Each activity was structured to best suit the children's development, including fine and gross motor skills. We then prepared their lunches and put them down for 2-3 hour naps. During their nap time, I did training and played with children who woke up early. We then prepared a snack for them and played in the classroom for the rest of the day. Outside of class, I did lesson plans and came up with activities that we could do inside and outside the classroom. We did crafts, sang songs at group time, and read books. Each day was different from the last, and it taught me to think on my feet and use my other teachers as resources for everything.
In this reflection, you can read about how I was able to apply Bowlby's attachment theory which I learned about in undergrad to real life scenarios in my internship.
This is the summary of my hours for the first half of the semester. You can read about what I learned each day and what I was working on.
In my final reflection, I took some time to think about how HDFS impacted my time at my internship. I also included by biggest takeaways and what I learned
What were my biggest takeaways?
First and foremost, I learned how much work goes in behind the scenes to make a classroom run efficiently and effectively. This includes a lot of trial and error. I was constantly learning on the job and having to communicate with other teachers. Learning from experience is one of the best ways to learn quickly and effectively, in my opinion, and I did so much hands-on learning during my time. I learned how to manage a classroom effectively, and how important it is to maintain relationships. From the children, and understanding their personalities, to the parents, and learning the expectations they have for their children. Maintaining relationships and learning to communicate with other staff was super essential to ensure the classroom ran effectively and effortlessly. I learned a lot about myself as well. I learned how to work under stress, and not be perfect. Being a teacher will not always be perfect, and there will be bumps in the road. Working to not let these bumps in the road affect you is one of the most important lessons I learned this summer. Sometimes deviating from the plan is my best option, and I just have to learn to go with the flow and what the children want the most.