No camp. I have 11 days vacation remaining, I'm on an August contract, and our schools vacation period is exactly 11 days. The after exams non-class stuff has been cancelled, so I'll have classes then so can't take time off before the vacation period.

The last my main CT told me, it was decided there would be no summer camp because our school is going through renovations in the summer and a number of facilities, including the bathrooms, will not be usable so we can't have the kids here. Instead they moved it to a winter camp, which I never have. The school is also having a month-long break due to the construction (no winter vacation) and I plan on taking that whole time off. This of course was all information from about 2 weeks ago, so things will most likely change.

No summer camps at all, but one of my travel schools tried to squeeze one in and the people in charge promptly told them no, it's not happening this year because it just isn't practical.  Even parents are like why dafuq are you trying to push them?

I feel bad for the NETs who're stuck with the less rational folks trying to plow forward with something so useless.

I hear that apparently our MOE is forcing schools to do them lol

I hear that apparently our MOE is forcing schools to do them lol

what is this weird attraction with camps? they are treated like the most important, unskippable event of the year. and absolutely nobody gives a single shit about them- principal, vice principal, head of english, parents, kids, native teacher. no one.

If no one gave a sh-t, they wouldn't happen. But they do. And parents send their kids to them. And the kids evaluate the NET's teaching during the camp and the evaluations are sent to the education office.

They happen to fill contract time. It's a baby sitting service - a very cheap one at that. Every single one I've done has been an utter waste of everyone's time. Pointless. And I'm not sure having kids evaluate the teacher proves anything (apart from how mental Korea is)

It's not a babysitting service. The NETs are supposed to be teaching English during this time. Which is why it's called an English camp, not a play camp. Korean parents care a lot about their kid's education. English and math are the subjects given the most weight in the 수능. Myself and people I know have to submit camp lesson plans. One friend had to redo all her ideas after the vice principal read it. Some slip through the cracks though and do egg drops, making slime, building bridges out of popsicle sticks, cooking food, and showing movies, which doesn't help the students' ability to speak English. (Many schools/MOEs banned showing movies - even snippets - after it had been found out NETs had been doing that.) Student evaluations are better than no evaluations at all. It's to ensure the NET gives a toss and is working hard to educate students to make sure the camp's not an utter waste of everyone's time.

You have some well wonky ideas about language learning and language acquisition.  Apart from your usual nonsense about long-termers not being able to speak above elementary level Korean, here again you show that you don't understand students' language learning.  You do realise that in the 수능  there is a listening section?  So that when a capable native teacher speaks English, you are training their ears to listen to something outside of their usual sterilised English from EBS and the like?  If a native teacher has to plan 20 classes for summer camp, then you vary it between speaking, writing and other disciplines.  My final two classes were always cooking classes as as treat for doing well in the other 18 classes, as I would I chose a recipe they'd like, I explain about the ingredients, and talk to them in English while they are cooking and at the end they have produced something they can eat.  Teaching English in different settings and situations outside of the classroom makes students more rounded.  They learn to think more about English in different ways outside of sitting at desks and listening to teachers talking for the whole class.  Now, I'm not suggesting you just play for 20 classes, and I'm not suggesting that you watch a movie (generally a waste of time) but if you have a balanced plan that gives uppers and downers with nice activities (egg drop, cooking, making balloon cars) then that is going to be more beneficial and enjoyable for the students.  Korea is moving away from your antiquated way of teaching.  They want students to be more rounded than just one-dimensional, competitive, joyless studybots.   

It's not a babysitting service. The NETs are supposed to be teaching English during this time. Which is why it's called an English camp, not a play camp. Korean parents care a lot about their kid's education. English and math are the subjects given the most weight in the 수능. Myself and people I know have to submit camp lesson plans. One friend had to redo all her ideas after the vice principal read it. Some slip through the cracks though and do egg drops, making slime, building bridges out of popsicle sticks, cooking food, and showing movies, which doesn't help the students' ability to speak English. (Many schools/MOEs banned showing movies - even snippets - after it had been found out NETs had been doing that.)

which part of the 수능 test features "how to make slime on no budget" again? perhaps you'd care to upload your camp plan here so the other 99.9% of NETs who are doing camp "wrong" can see what it is they are supposed to do?

Student evaluations are better than no evaluations at all. It's to ensure the NET gives a toss and is working hard to educate students to make sure the camp's not an utter waste of everyone's time.

also, i don't know if you've ever met a child before, but kids are more likely to give you top marks if you let them eat sweets and watch a movie, rather than critically judge you based on language aims, lesson structure and quality of your error correction

I am doing a 3 day camp at one school.  I am scanning some childrens books and putting them into ppt form and adding a game or activity for it.  I have some books from here too.  But did some last winter.  (Plus one of my school teachers has an obsession with kids books and she bought a whole bunch of new cool ones.  So, I will scan some and re use and re use in the future.)

Outside of elementary schools, often camp attendees are forced to go, and the ones that really want to learn English go to their hagwons during the summer, and winter, breaks. Building bridges out of popsicle sticks, and egg drops, are often the only way to engage a bunch of unmotivated students who have little desire to be at some English camp.

They are a part of the equation.  But, just a part.  Teachers evaluations, open classes, and in some places a renewal interview and some even have to do a demo teaching.  Every criteria is different.  But there are many pieces to a puzzle.  Some schools and education offices want a teacher to be popular with the kids and others do not care about that.  (In fact some will even bitch and complain about it if you are fun with the kids in any way.  But, most do seem to like that part of the equation.)

90% what other teachers think you. Usually what your fellow English teacher think, usually the principal, and vice, are pretty neutral on how they view the NET and will do whatever the other English teachers recommend regarding the NET.