How To Annotate Literature

Things To Do/Not To Do Your Break

All staff are required to have daily breaks, as well as a weekend or days off between sessions in most cases. At my camp (a girl scout camp) we get a two hour break every day, and then Friday nights, Saturday, and Sunday morning off. 

When it comes to being a counselor and working with groups of children all day everyday, you only have so much patience and love and time to give. I like to call this ‘counselor juice’. Its your fuel for the day, and as the day goes on you run lower and lower and until you crash, but hopefully that’s not until bed time. This is why we have breaks during the day, to recharge our battery and fill the tank again. With this in mind, the lists begin! 

Things to doo:

start your laundry, eat foods, take a nap, and hydrate <– all the obvious things. these are important to maintain healthy and happy and to stay clothed throughout the week.

color! coloring can be v relaxing and honestly spending an entire break coloring is so peaceful. coloring books are NOT just for kids! 

leave camp. okay so not everyone can leave, some camps have a no leaving policy if the nearest town is an hour away or something cuz people often come back late and that’s not good. but if you’re allowed to leave camp then go thrifting or get ice cream or rent a movie or something fun! just make sure to scrub the dirt tan off first ;D

watch a movie/binge watch a tv show! i like to download a bunch of movies so i have options and don’t have to worry about having wifi. 

hangout with other staff and complain about your kids. it’s okay to complain about your campers. its okay to  eat your feelings in stickers. these things are okay, just make sure you don’t do it within ear shot of any campers. 

have a mini spa! use a smell good foot scrub, exfoliating face mask, and munch of some cucumbers! it’s important to treat yourself and keep your body healthy. 

practice religion/spirituality. this is v important to some people and just because you’re at camp doesn’t mean you have to neglect your faith. take time to pray and worship whatever it is you believe in. not everybody choose to or have the opportunities to work at a spiritual camp, but they still want to feel connected to their faith. and on the same note, DON’T JUDGE PEOPLE FOR PRAYING OR CHANTING OR WHATEVER THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DONT BE A MEANIE. 

eat ice cream/popsicles/other cold summer foods. it’s too hot to live off corndogs and mac n cheese all summer. cool down your body with something sweet and frozen!

write letters like you promised! write to your mommy and tell her you loves her much and you’re not dead yet. she’ll appreciate it :)

go for a walk or hike. i know you’re walking around all day, leading games and going on hikes with your kids, but going by yourself and taking your time can be really relaxing. you don’t have to lead any songs or count your campers every 5 minutes. you can just enjoy the sounds of nature.

Things NOT to do:

hangout with your campers. i know you love them to pieces and you’re probably actually not all that tired or needing space, but you do. please take your break. 

hangout with someone else’s campers. you love kids! that’s great! so do i! but just because they aren’t your assigned kids that week/session/whatever and you don’t technically have to be in charge, it’s still not a good idea. you’ll end up using all your counselor juice (ability to stay calm and cool and not grouchy, you only have so much for a day) on kids who aren’t even yours and then you’ll have not much left for your kids, who need it all! go take your break away from children

call your significant other. if your boo is not keen on you being away as it is, and you are sort of in a fight, don’t call them on your break! there are a few reasons why: you don’t have that much time and you probs have more to do. fighting is stressful and you don’t wanna come back from your break to be more stressed than when you left! you and your kids don’t deserve that! cell reception at camp suuuuuucks and if you get cut off that can makes matters worse. and lastly, fighting with a time limit is no way to fight. 

eat a massive meal. okay sooo if you struggle to eat on the camp’s schedule and you tend to skip meals maybe you should eat your meals differently, and breaks are a good time for that. however, if you DO eat with everyone else, don’t eat big bowls of soup or a whole sammich during your break! eat all the candy you want and drink all the juice you can get your hands on, but if you eat a lot during your breaks you won’t want anything at the next meal and that’s no bueno, plus stomach aches suck!

start your break early/end your break late. this is sooo uncool of you. it does happen on accident, especially if you decide to nap during your break, BUT THIS IF WHY YOU HAVE A WATCH AND PHONE. SET AN ALARM AND DON’T BE LATE CUZ THERE ARE OTHERS WAITING ON YOU. 

make important phone calls. okay so this might sound silly but here’s why i avoid making important phone calls on my breaks and try to save them for the weekend. with importance can come bad news and if your break is only an hour and you get bad news (your pet died/you didn’t get the job/your bf left you) that is NOT enough time to be upset and grieve and then be okay! you need more time! be kind to yourself and leave the Real World stresses right there in the Real World.

do only your laundry or shower. so you should do things that make you feel good on your breaks. laundry is great and 110% necessary, but if shouldn’t do it everyday break every day. try to do laundry once, maybe twice a week, and spend the rest of the time doing something more fun and relaxing! same for showering. don’t spend you entire break showering. 

spend your entire break swimming/rock wall/achery/etc. i love camp activities as much as the next dude, HOWEVER kids are most likely gonna be doing those activities and like i’ve mentioned before, you don’t wanna spend your breaks with other children! doing this once a week or every once in a while isn’t terrible, especially if your week is ‘lightweight’ and your kids aren’t as aggressive or whiny. if you’re really itching to go swimming see about going when a small group is going or when the CITs are. CITs are like slightly younger cousins who are actually kind of cool to hang with, and so are their counselors! 

do what’s right for your mind and body. if you’re not well, you aren’t able to give your all to your kids and they miss out. 

do you boo, do you.

-Sulcata

Thins I Learned at Camp

Have a copy of OH! The Places You’ll Go wherever you go

If you have a voice after a game, your doing it wrong

The people you meet at camp are the greatest in the world

Be open to everything, don’t knock it till you try it

Always have a water bottle with you

Keep a small notebook with you at all times

Duct tape and WD40 fix everything

Dance like you’re at camp wherever you go. People will look at you funny, but you will be having more fun

It’s ok to cry at what seems like even stupid things

Everyone is different, and those differences should be celebrated

Take 15 mins every day and sit somewhere beautiful and get lost in your thoughts

Promises can be made and kept with a pinky

Everyone deserves a chance

Take camp with you wherever you go

A guitar is like the holy grail of music

Camp is the greatest place on earth. Anyone who says otherwise has never been to one.

Submit your own “Things I Learned at Camp” :)

Packing List 2.0, Part 2

Previously we covered what clothes to bring to camp. Here is a suggestion of what else to bring:

A rubbermaid tub - to keep all of this and your clothes in

A sturdy medium to large backpack. Not a sinch-sack (the square ones with string straps), they will wear into your shoulders towards the end of a long day and they don’t hold much.

2 or more water bottles, 20 ounces or bigger. I actually suggest 1 liter bottles like Nalgenes, especially if you do a lot of sports activities or go on longer hikes. I generally have 3 water bottles at camp.

A bandanna/headbands/hair ties

Personal hygiene items - toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush/comb, shampoo, conditioner, lotion (trust me on the lotion) 

Clipboard - I personally like my opening clipboard, which has been thoroughly decorated.

Mess kit - I use one of those clamshell-esque plain aluminum

Hat - wear what you like. Most staff wear baseball caps. I wear a bucket hat covered in SWAPS.

Headlamp and flashlight

2 towels - one for showers, one for waterfront

Bed kit - sleeping bag, sheet to go under it (twin fitted sheets are like $5-8 at Walmart), blanket, pillow. Trust me, bring a real pillow. 

Sunglasses, with UV protection

Laundry bag

Multitool - like a larger scale Swiss army knife

Kleenex pocket packs

Journal

Sharpies

A watch and battery-operated alarm clock

As with the clothes, you don’t need to get the fancy, top of the line stuff from REI. Walmart has pretty much everything on this list. Kroger and Target are also great options. 

The only thing you may want to step up on is the backpack. I used to have an old Jansport, which was fine, but then I got a sweet Osprey in 2017 with a Camelback and I LOVE it. It is my favorite backpack and I use it in my personal life as well. Many camp staff are also outdoorsy and therefore already have a good hiking backpack. But a lot of people just use their old school backpack, like the no frills kind canvas not the laptop kind. Which can usually be found at Walmart/Target. Also thrift stores.

Post about theme day accessories to follow.

Some Ilvermorny headcanons

First and foremost, every day is cranberry pie day

While students do have robes, the clothes they wear underneath the robes are not uniforms. There is an eclectic mix of tastes, from the very serious horned serpent who wears button-downs and ties every day, to the wampus who has enchanted their graphic t-shirt to move, to the thunderbirds and pukwudgies who mutually exist solely for sweater weather.

Every year on James Steward’s birthday, there is a school-sponsored cranberry pie bake-off. Pukwudgie house nearly always wins. Once, thunderbird won and good lord you would think it was the civil war all over again

There are a lot of local professors, of course, so you get some really thick Boston accents, but there are also professors with southern belle accents who serve iced tea in class, professors with Canadian accents, professors with midwest accents, several Native American professors with smooth, lulling accents, and some Mexican professors who slip into Spanish when they get super excited about their subject. There was a visiting professor from Ireland once, and 96% of female students (and some male students) had major crushes on him.

Wampus house is where you go to get body-crushing, soul-lifting hugs

Horned serpents may be scholars, but they are also some of the keenest observers. They watch the whole school from afar and quietly play matchmaker to all of their friends. No one suspects them because - what, horned serpent? No. They don’t know about emotions. Meanwhile, the house president makes a killing on the bet she made to predict the homecoming king/queen. 

Thanksgiving at Ilvermorny is a spectacle that has to be seen to be believed. It’s almost bigger than Christmas. The thanksgiving feasts at Ilvermorny put Hogwarts to shame. Turkey, ham, real cranberry sauce, pies - oh my god so many pies. They’ve got cider, and tea, and cocoa like you wouldn’t believe. There are New English dishes and Southern dishes and Native dishes and Mexican dishes and Canadian dishes and West Coast dishes - essentially it’s a gigantic continental potluck, and it goes on all day long. Also, their pumpkin juice tastes 1000 times better.

While things like dueling and fighting with wands may be frowned upon at Hogwarts, at Ilvermorny it’s kind of just assumed that stuff happens, and the profs are very chill about it. “Just don’t kill each other okay” “just take it outside” “no casting destruction spells indoors” “bring some band-aids with you” “if you break your nose don’t bleed on your homework”

Pukwudgies are a pretty agreeable house over all, if not a bit salty and surly around the edges, they’ll still help you with your homework and bring you soup when you’ve got a cold. But all bets are off when they step onto the lacrosse field. Maybe its a pride thing, but pukwudgies are frikkin animals when playing lacrosse.

Wampus beats pukwudgie at lacrosse fairly often. They don’t actually practice that much, they just kind of win.

This fact has fueled a sports rivalry - friendly in wampus’ eyes, bloodthirsty in pukwudgie’s eyes. 

At wampus/pukwudgie games, horned serpents sell special blends of popcorn. Thunderbirds purchase, hoard, and eat 89% of this popcorn.

Horned serpents and pukwudgies often, though not always, end up having an unspoken rivalry in potions class.

Contrary to popular belief, wampus is not full of athletic jocks. However, they are the most body-positive of all of the schools, and, somewhat ironically to the stereotype, will never judge anyone for their athletic ability. They want everyone to be able to enjoy athleticism and bravery and adventure in the ways they are most able and gifted.

That being said, they do have the kind of student body who, if called upon, could become a minute militia.

When there is a freak hurricane or tornado headed headed for the school, it will be a wampus student who is patrolling the halls and telling students where to go for safety. If there is a bully in school, you had better bet your bottom dollar that s/he will be beaten to a pulp by the next day, and it will be a wampus student sporting mysteriously bloody knuckles.

Pukwudgies are the ones who patch up the bully; they might accidentally wind the bandages a little too tight.

Thunderbirds love a good game of hide-and-seek. They have a tradition of, every halloween, playing hide-and-seek in the dark in the woods.

Horned serpents are the students least often caught for sneaking in contraband into school. Caught being the key word. Most students learn at some point in their education that if you want a nice stiff drink, you go to horned serpent. During secret designated holidays, horned serpent common room turns into a speakeasy. 

Unexpectedly, it is pukwudgies who carry the most weapons and dangerous materials on their person at any given time. If a group of Ilvermorny students were going through a security check, it would be the pukwudgies held at the line while they emptied their pockets (bigger on the inside, of course) of various poisons and weapons. When asked, they would just shrug and say “just in case”.

The town around Ilvermorny is home to several franchised chain restaurants that, although they are no-maj brands, have been taken over by Ilvermorny alumni and thus serve predominantly wizarding patrons. Cups levitate to customers in the Starbucks, there are magic-only options on the menu; the chik-fil-a floor sweeps itself; at dominos the pizzas assemble themselves while the one clerk waits, bored, at the register. There are in-house cues for magic patrons whenever a no-maj walks in. The clerk rings a bell or taps loudly on the counter, or yells out an order than is actually a code word for stop doing magic stuff. It’s like red light green light.

There are some old service tunnels beneath the school left over from WWII and the Cold War. They’re like a labyrinth, and Thunderbird has a monopoly on the maps to the tunnels. Some of the more obscure tunnels have large rooms that are perfect for parties and impromptu speakeasies (lookin at you, horned serpent). Thunderbirds will rent out these rooms to fellow students at a fair and competitive rate.

Unlike hogwarts, Ilvermorny students are more apt to use modern technology. Electrics can be weird around witches and wizards, but they still enjoy a lot of no-maj programming. They use computers instead of quills (but still have to print off their essays, ugh,) and listen to music, and watch TV.

Star Trek has long been a school cult favorite. Pukwudgies have adopted Bones as their pop culture mascot; Kirk is Thunderbird’s, Spock, horned serpent. Wampus vacillates on which of these three they like most, though it must be said, when they start watching Next Gen, many wampus students find themselves enamored with Worf,

There has only been one no-maj to ever make it past the magic shields of Ilvermorny unaided. This instance was in 1985. His name was Chad, who at the time was 1) stoned out of his mind and 2) delivering chinese takeout to a horned serpent pulling an all-nighter. School admin found out later, and there was hell to pay. They never did track down Chad to wipe his memory.

Pukwudgie house does have more than its fair share of healers, so they are definitely the ones to go to for cold remedies, home made soup, the best cures for menstrual cramps, and really good back rubs.

However, they are also the ones to go to for less medical remedies: the best hot cocoa, the most gourmet teas, and home made food.

Each house has a class president who is elected for a two-year term (unless they’re a final year student, in which case they will serve one before being taken over by their VP). They have some influence within their houses, but never as much as they’d like. For instance, the thunderbird president once attempted to institute mid-day dancing parties, but school admin said no.

Pukwudgies are usually not super athletic, but are often very good at things like darts, archery, and waterbaloon fights.

Wampus takes ultimate frisbee very, very seriously.

Thunderbird hosts an ongoing scavenger hunt throughout the semester.

The women of horned serpent blow off steam and the stuffy acadmic pressures of their house by making pillow forts and watching rom coms with each other.

Back in the eighties some wizard created a magic version of D&D, and it has become a weekend favorite of many students across all of the houses.

After graduation, instead of having a class ring, it has become tradition for Ilvermorny students to make a pendant out of their golden cloak buttons.

Ilvermorny may be separated by inter-house squabbles much like at Hogwarts, but at the end of the day, they all leave school wearing the same blue and cranberry robes, sporting the same skill with a wand, raised to the same scrappy, witty, mod-podge tenacity that American witches and wizards embody so well.

Practice SELF CARE!

Connecting with Campers in the Age of Screens, Social Media, and Fortnite

Connecting with campers can be difficult for summer camp counselors now that campers have more screen time than ever.

“Having seen firsthand the way some counselors struggle to connect with their campers — to create money in the bank with them — I have put together the following list of practices that can help you do just that.

Take turns sitting next to different campers at each meal. Change it up so you get to hang out with all of your campers.

Make a point of walking and talking with one, two, or three of your campers together while going from one activity to another. This downtime is often when you hear more from your campers about what is going on among them as a group. It gives you the opportunity to connect with them more like a peer (even though we know you are not their peer). If you tend to walk alone or with other counselors, you are missing an important opportunity to connect with your kids.

Sit with different groups of your campers during rest hour and either talk, play a card game, or engage with them in some other quiet-time activity. Again, especially in the first few days of a new session, this is a terrific chance to connect more informally with your kids. If you tend to sleep during rest hour, once again you are missing a key opportunity to create money in the bank with them.

Make a checklist of things that you know about your campers. For example, do you know the favorite camp activity of each of them? Do you know if they have a pet at home and what their pet’s name is? (Talking about pets, who occupy a special place in many kids’ hearts, is an especially great way to make a more personal connection with most any camper.) Do you know what they are most looking forward to doing while at camp? Did they read an especially terrific book during the school year? What about a movie? A new hobby? A place they went on vacation? All of these are “keys” to connecting with your campers.

After a few days, check your list of “keys” (if you email me, I can send you my version of this handy bunk or cabin group list) to see which kids you seem to know well and which ones you still don’t have much of a connection with. Sometimes, seeing it written out on paper helps to focus where you may need to place more of your attention as a way of getting to know certain campers better.”

I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?

Emotional Labor and Camp

I did a lot of research for this post, mostly because emotional labor is a concept I’ve only heard about in the past 2-3 years, but I’ve heard so many different things. However, a lot of things I’ve heard resonated with my experience working at camp. I also think that it’s a topic we need to talk about.

What is emotional labor?

This needs to be the starting place. Arlie Hochschild originally defined emotional labor in 1983. It has evolved since then in many ways and there are a bazillion tumblr posts and articles on the internet with varying definitions. For this post, we’ll stick to the original definition, which is the additional work required by someone in a paid position that requires regulation of emotions for the benefit of others, both clients and other staff. It is prevalent in “caring” positions and highly applicable in many jobs including waitresses, teachers, retail workers, child care workers, and flight attendants. (Interview with Arlie about evolution of the term here; article with a more thorough/detailed definition here). I will not be arguing about the various definitions of emotional labor.

How does emotional labor apply to camp?

As mentioned, emotional labor is often applied to childcare workers, which would include camp staff. Some examples of emotional labor might include:

Managing emotions in front of kids (being fun/energetic, not getting frustrated or disappointed)

Hiding the emotions involved in whatever is going on in your personal life

Not panicking in front of a child when they tell you something intense (abuse, self-harm, parent’s ugly divorce)

Parents - so many things

Now, these duties come fairly standard with being a camp counselor. And I’m not saying that you should be an upbeat counselor who is kind despite challenges. But what you do need to do is to cope with the stress of that emotional labor.

Consequences and coping

A big consequence of emotional labor is burnout. I previously published this post on burnout a few months ago and it summarizes symptoms/warning signs and some suggested coping skills. Large amounts of emotional labor may exacerbate existing mental health conditions or contribute to their development.

While you might be able to reduce your emotional labor somewhat, there will always be some. There was an interesting sounding article exploring whether emotional labor could be fun but it was behind a paywall because academic publishing is a sham (source: I went to grad school). But what I did find suggested some of the following techniques:

Emphasizing authenticity when possible. Obviously you don’t want to have a complete breakdown in front of kids. But perhaps acknowledging to your unit leader or leadership team that you’re struggling or something is going on for you personally would be good. They can either help themselves or refer you to someone such as an EAP or a hotline.

Engage in long-term coping skills. I separate coping skills into two categories: short and long term, which may broadly overlap. Long term coping skills are similar to lifestyle changes. They’re repeated activities that you use to maintain your health. Some examples from me:

Eating healthy. This looks different from person to person, but essentially enough food of a variety that makes you feel good and fuels your body and mind. Also drinking water.

Exercise and activity routines.

Engaging in hobbies.

Taking steps to manage chronic conditions, mental and physical.

Use your break times for whatever kind of rest and relaxation you need. Maybe you need a nap. Maybe you need to snack on something different than camp food. Maybe you need a hug.

Avoiding negative coping skills. I don’t want to trigger anyone so I won’t list them, but this is activities that are harmful to you or others, either physically or mentally. 

For more coping skills, check the Mental Health Queue and Camp Wellness Queue for a variety of self-care ideas.

Additional note for campers/CITs: I know that some of my followers are youth who attend camp as campers or as CITs. This post is in no way saying that you can’t rely on your counselors or other camp staff for emotional support. They are there to support and care for you, and they should want to. This post is meant to emphasize proper self-care for staff so that they are better able to support and care for their campers. 

Sources: x, x, x, x

Tl;dr: Emotional labor is common in being a camp counselor so watch for signs of burnout (a consequence) and practice good self care.

I have $24 to last me til Friday, what should I buy with it?