Applying to be a chaperone - how would you answer these questions?

[oceanbaby]

Ds1 is going on a two night trip with his class in the spring.  Dh is going to apply to be a chaperone - I could chaperone but wouldn't be allowed to sleep in the same bunkhouse as my son, so it makes more sense for dh to go.  On the application he has to answer these two questions:

How would you hand the following situations?

1.  Students in your bunkhouse are very excited on the first night fo their stay.  It is after quite time and students will not settle down . . .

2.  A student in your instructional group repeatedly has difficulty following directions. . .

Any thoughts?  I have more ideas for number 2 than number 1.  I assume yelling "Go to sleep!" isn't what they are looking for. 

[kathymuggle]

1.  I would expect a certain amount of excitement the first night, so would probably grant them a grace period for chatting from their beds for about 1/2 hour after lights out.  I would warn them about 5 minutes ahead of time that beginning in five minutes everyone must be quiet, or there will be consequences.  I would also suggest that if they had to use the bathroom they do it now.  After the grace period was over I would allow no noise - even whispering can keep some people up.

You can separate talkers if necessary

[HollyBearsMom]

1. that's when I would break out the beer.  A good round of beer pong will get them sleepy!

How old are the boys?  I was thinking a round of ghost/mystery stories could get everyone quieted down.  You have to be sensitive to the younger ones thought.....

For the kid not following instructions the buddy system might be a good suggestion or get them to be a helper

[oceanbaby]

These would be 9-10 year olds.  A little too young for the beer, although I'm sure dh will be wanting one. 

[HollyBearsMom]

At 9-10 a non-gore/horror story time might be the way to go.  He could phrase i as it as "to get the kids quiet and settled down I would entertain them with a few stories for example.. And then I would hope most would be able to quickly fall asleep"  There is bunch of websites he could look at for ideas

http://www.squidoo.com/campfirestories

Stories with a young crowd in mind. If you need two or three stories without concern about the content, choose freely from this list. If you know a good story that needs to be added Plexo away!

1

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The Legend of Lightning Larry

Look for many of Aaron's tales here as kids are definitely a group he has worked to reach. Here we have an original tall tale that's a mix of genres.13 points

 

2

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The Conference of Mice

From Wendy's World: a story of a good idea but implementing it..well..that's what this very short tale is about.3 points

 

3

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How the Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers

How the Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers is a Native American short story for kids. From apple4theteacher.com website.2 points

 

4

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The Little Time Thief

From Stuart Baum's website. A story of stealing some time from the school bully. Now how could that be used?1 point

 

5

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Farmer Jones And The Big Quake

From the Ultimate Camp Resource. An earthquake and its aftershocks keep knocking almost everything down. Except the bull in the field.1 point

 

6

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The Hidden One

Aaron delivers again with the tale of a heroine overcoming obstacles. A Native American legend, adapted for storytelling by Aaron Shepard.1 point

 

7

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Skeeter and the Weasels

Skeeter is a cat who sees weasels that most others can't. And the weasels have a plan. Share how he foils it with some help. An original story by Aaron Shepard.1 point

 

[sapphire_chan]

2. I start by seeing if I could give them more responsibility and if that didn't work, I'd keep them right with me during activities.

[velochic]

This is MHO... your dh needs to answer the questions himself with truthful answers that reflect his personality.  That's what they're looking for and I think it's a good thing.  In a stressful situation at a camp he's not going to remember what MDC mothers told his wife to say on the application. 

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by velochic 

This is MHO... your dh needs to answer the questions himself with truthful answers that reflect his personality.  That's what they're looking for and I think it's a good thing.  In a stressful situation at a camp he's not going to remember what MDC mothers told his wife to say on the application. 

I knew someone was going to say this!  Based on some dynamics in the class, we're not comfortable with ds1 going without him there, so I want to make sure he can go.  Plus, dh is a seasoned Little League coach, and I have no doubt that he would do just fine.  However, he has a hard time (as do I) with answering these questions on a piece of paper because so much of it depends on the situation.  Is the kid not following the rules because he's overexcited, or because he's being obstinate?  Are they safety rules, or are they "how do to the project" kind of rules?  The kids that won't go to sleep - is it just two or three kids, or the whole group?  Which kids?  What are they doing that needs to be settled down?

Anyhow, I don't doubt his ability to manage it, but I'm looking for something to put on the application that doesn't require us writing an essay.

Oh, and thank you to the pp for the story links.  I was going to look some up for dh to read up on, just for this reason!