Schlumpftreffen II: Total Immersion Weekend New Jersey Style

Abstract

TheNew Jersey Chapter of t h e mTo conducted itssecond Total Immersion Weekend for students of German for the purpose of providing thesestudents with a total German environment. AN activities, including hiking, singing, dancing, arts and cn@, and various sports sessions, were conducted in German. Every teacher from the fiteen participating high schools wasallowed to bring only five students, and wasinvolved not on& in planning the weekend but also in conducting at least one workshop. Detailed evaluation fomjilled out at the end of thepurely-for-fun German weekendproved that everyone involved found the experience truly worthwhile and exciting. classroom pressures was our intention when W I planned our first immersion weekend with 45 stu dents and seven teachers. The enthusiasm was s( great that teachers and students unanimously agree that such a weekend should be made into an annua affair. We began planning the second weekend almm immediaMy.Our chief prerequisite was that all participatinl teachers had to attend the two Saturday planning ses, sions and accompany their students to the weekend Each school was allowed to send only five studentf from the third or fourth level courses. Every teachel was also expected to contribute a skill-conducting a workshop, leading a sports activity, preparing the necessary signs, taking photographs of the affairor to fill in where needed. Thus the project became a cooperative endeavor of the highest calibre, with most of the work having been completed long before the actual weekend. The impetus for the weekend came from the marvelous videotape of the Arizona AATG Chapter's "Das Deutsche Sommerlager."' Although a summa camp was not feasible for our AATG chapter (largely for lack of a sponsoring university with an appropriate site), plans for a weekend materialized quickly at one of our New Jersey chapter meetings as several teachers huddled in a brainstorming session which laid the groundwork for what has already become a much anticipated event.