TEACHERS LEARN NEW THINGS AT CAMP, TOO

    The highlight of each school year for the fifth-graders I teach is a week-long science camp. They get to dissect squid, observe elephant seals, hike in the woods, learn about varied environments, and live in cabins.

    It starts with a nearly 300-mile bus trip to the camp in San Luis Obispo, Calif., a verdant, hilly place that's a far cry from the violence and despair that are the norm in the small agricultural town my predominantly Latino kids grow up in.

    Most kids go. I have to convince a few parents their kiddos will be safe. Then there are the one or two that I'd like to stay home, like Rufus.

    Kids that I don't want to go are usually the ones who need to come the most. Over the years they've tended to be the most desperate, the neediest, the ones who, sorry to say, are statistically most inclined to end up where their parents are ? behind bars. Fifty percent of my kids visit family members in prison or jail. That is a staggering number.

    Rufus missed an unbelievable 40 days of school this year and was tardy another 18. His dad is incarcerated and his mom, who sometimes seems barely functional, drives Rufus and his older brother to school when she can or feels like it.

    In class, Rufus is inattentive, angry, and unresponsive. He lies, steals, and talks back.

    He's not the only one. But he easily stands head and shoulders above the other challenged kids.

    I didn't want him to come because over the years I've seen it all at camp. Kids have dialed 911, stolen food, smashed lights, and worse. And the perpetrators are always the troubled boys, like Rufus.

    But ... camp is also a chance to see another side of the kids. And it's an opportunity for them to see nature and get a glimpse of how it works. It's a time when there will be no homework. And a time for a child to be successful in many nonacademic ways.

    It's also a nonschool environment in which a kid like Rufus can maybe have a positive interaction with his teacher.

    So Rufus was allowed to go, on the condition that he stay in my cabin, where I could

watch him like a hawk. Sometimes he annoyed me. And he messed up now and then. But mostly we laughed and we played.

    At meals, he sat on my left. And then we'd talk. "Rufus." I asked, "what's the best thing about camp?"

    When I asked this question of other kids, they might mention a meal, an animal they'd seen, a nature hike, or a mistake a teacher had made.

    Not Rufus. "The shower," he said.

    "Shower?" I asked.

    "Yup." He beamed, "All the hot water you want, as long as you want."

    I shook my head in wonderment. I've been teaching for more than 20 years, and there are still times I don't understand these kids, I thought.

    Soon after that, all the kids except José left the table.

    "José," I said, "I can't believe Rufus likes showers better than all the things we're doing in camp."

    Big, wide eyes looked up at me. "He don't have no shower in his mom's car," José informed me. "They live in the car."

    So 2 and 2 added up to 4 in the end. It finally all made sense: Rufus's absences, the tardies, and now his love for hot showers. I wish I could say Rufus and I got along a lot better after that or that his grades improved or that he came to school more often.

    Although I tried, none of it would be true.

    But one thing was reconfirmed: There is a lot to be learned at science camp every year ? and not just by the kids.

    科学营里的新收获

    我们学校五年级学生长达一周的科学实践营活动是每个学年的最重要的一项课外活动。在此期间，学生们将会解剖鱿鱼，观察大象的形迹，在林间远足，学习各种环境生态并在木屋中居住。
 
    全体营员首先要经过将近300英里的车程最终到达位于加利福尼亚州圣路易奥比斯波的实践营地。那是一个林木茂密的山区远离我们学校大部分拉美裔学生生活的那个充满着暴力与绝望的农业小镇。

    绝大多数学生乐于前往。不过我还得尽力说服极少数家长让他们放心，他们的孩子会很安全的。但有

一两名学生我却宁愿他们呆在家里，其中包括鲁弗斯。
 
    而事实上我不想年经验，他们大多出身贫寒，整日游手好闲，胡作非为，令人失望，最终往往会像他们的父母一样走上犯罪道路。在我们班就有约一半的学生有去监狱探望亲属的经历。这是多么令人吃惊的数字啊。

    鲁弗斯在这一学年竟令人不可思议地旷课40多天，迟到也有18次之多。鲁弗斯的爸爸正在狱中服刑，而他的妈妈也很不称职。只有在她闲暇或高兴的时候才会开车送鲁弗斯和他的哥哥上学。
 
    在班里，鲁弗斯总是漫不经心，暴躁易怒，或是反应迟钝。他有时还顶嘴、撒谎甚至小偷小摸。

    像这样的学生，鲁弗斯并非惟一。但他很容易便能战胜其它那些向他挑衅的“问题”学生。
 
    从心里说我不希望鲁弗斯前往实践营。因为根据我多年来的带队经验，活动期间，有的学生恶意拨打911报警电话取乐，偷盗他人食品，砸碎电灯，以及做出其它更糟糕的事情。而这些肇事者往往就是那些像鲁弗斯那样的“问题”学生。
 
    不过实践营活动也提供了一个能发现学生另一面的好时机。与此同时，也给学生们提供了一个没有课业负担，亲近自然，了解自然以及展示学生学业之外的各种才能的机会。

    这同时也为像鲁弗斯这样的“问题”学生创造了一个与老师良性互动的校外环境。
 
    因此，经过慎重考虑，鲁弗斯最终被批准随同前往。但条件是他必须与我同住一个木屋，以便我随时监督。活动期间，他有时令我很讨厌。因为他小麻烦不断。但是多数时候，我们一起做游戏，一起开怀大笑。

    一次就餐时，鲁弗斯坐在我的左边，我问他：“实践营里你觉得最棒的事是什么？”

    如果我问其它学生同样问题，他们可能会提及吃过的一顿美餐，见过的某种动物，一次尽享自然的远足甚至是老师所犯的一个错误。

    但鲁弗斯的回答却与众不同。“淋浴。”他说。

    “淋浴？”我不解地问。

    “对呀。”他笑着答道，“只要有需要，随时都有热水。”

    我惊讶地摇了摇头。我已经从教20多年了，但想来有时我还是不太了解这些学生。

    很快，除了乔赛，其他学生都吃完饭，离开了餐桌。
 
    “乔赛。”我说，“我真的不敢相信，和实践营里这么多有趣的活动比起来，鲁弗斯竟然更喜欢淋浴。”

    乔赛睁大眼睛抬头看了看我说：“他妈妈的车里没有淋浴。他家住在车里。”原来如此。就像2加2等于4一样，一切疑团都迎刃而解。包括鲁弗斯的旷课、迟到以及眼下他对洗热水澡的热爱。我多么希望从此以后，我能与鲁弗斯更融洽地相处，而且他能更少旷课，成绩有所提高。虽然我努力尝试，终未奏效。
 
    但有一点却可以得到再次证实：我们在每年的实践营活动中可以学到很多东西――不仅是学生，也包括我。