Hazzard pay for teachers at camp

I was a chaperone at my son's sixth grade camp last week for four days.  24 hours X 4 days = Total and complete exhaustion.  The teachers have it worse; they were on 24 hours x 4 days PLUS they were responsible for making all decisions PLUS participating in all study groups PLUS dealing with parent issues.  They DESERVE hazzard pay!

... three boys who got sick on the last day (vomit, pain, nausea)
...parent who decided at the last minute he wanted to pick up his child at camp but made no prior arrangements
..."I want to visit mah grrrlfriend" from a sixth grade lothario outside the girls' lodge
...Ensuring the student whose mother went into the hospital the day before camp is in touch with her family (VERY poor cell phone reception in the camp acrage)

The kids make it worthwhile

I had a hard hard class yesterday.  Usually most of the disruptive and distracting behaviors come from 10-20% of the class.  Yesterday, the disruptive and distracting behaviors came from 60% of the class.  Add to this two kids on contracts with some serious consequences (like 3rd warning parent will be called to take home).  I used all my tricks and skills to build rapports with students in this class but despite this, one of the contract kids ended up yelling at a hapless classmate.  I witnessed it and there was no provocation.

I activated the contract consequences but did take the time to explain why his behavior was not OK.

At the end of the day, the boy who got in trouble accepted the consequence and was willing to try to behave better the next day.  The hapless classmate hugged me after dismissal and told me how he hoped I would return to substitute again.  I felt as if the stress of the day melted away.  This is why I teach; we do make a difference.