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Advice on how to be a better counselor

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Hey camp friends!

I’m hoping to do more regular posting on this blog, possibly with more original content, like the queues I’ve done in the past. Does anyone have any requests? It can be something serious or silly, I’m open to all sorts of topics.

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.

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.

Thunderbird headcannons

- going out in the rain to jump in the puddles

- some students are afraid of lightning and thunder and their housemates immediately take it upon themselves to keep them company with warm mugs of hot chocolate

- a buddy system when exploring

- “picnics and exploration” thats there motto

- trying new things, roller coasters and different foods but its okay if you dont want to bc adventure is only fun if you’re willing

- talking about trips and showing souvenirs “you had the money to go to italy and you brought back a rock” “it has sentimental value” “are you fucking kidding me right now”

- not all the students have the resources to see the world but the entire house gets together to raise money

- bake sales do not work, and all the older students are tired of hearing the first years suggest it “but this recipe is really” “nope, trust me it will not end well”

- no one talks about what happened at the first fundraising bake sale the thunderbirds ever had

- ever

- summer field trips

- “i did not take four years of spanish just so i can watch you play charades with the entire german population” “i know german” “no you really dont, you just think you do“ 

- “why is it always a European country, i actually want to go somewhere where the people don’t think the only language i speak is chinese” “you do speak chinese” “i speak cantonese and they always assume its mandarin, which is annoying and racist”

- “i’m with her, you know how many times airport security has signaled me out, i was put in holding last time” “ you’re right maybe we can all take a portkey to indonesia or something”

- Polaroids, pictures of everything

- selfies with funny faces, landmarks, animals, food, everything is put into a big scrapbook thats shelved into a bookcase in the common room, every trip has its own scrapbook

- learning beautiful languages so they can better understand the world

- reading books and exploring fictional worlds in the place of real ones

- loving different cultures and wanting to be respectful and kind to all

Logic Games for Camp Counselors

Counselors love to use these logic games as a way to pass time and keep campers engaged and having fun during down time. All of these are mind games in which the rules are ‘hidden’ from the players, that is, until they figure it out! Make sure to instruct them not to yell out the rule once they figure it out (unless the game calls for that), so as not to ruin the game for others. Depending on the game, make sure that you let campers ‘run it,’ state the phrases, try the actions, etc. once they begin to figure it out so they don’t get bored. If no one is figuring it out, try telling a person or two to get the ball rolling. Have fun!!

STICKS

Sitting in a circle on the floor, grab a bunch of sticks or wood chips. Tell campers that you are going to do something with the sticks and they have to guess the number your are thinking of based on your actions. Make a picture with the sticks (a house, a number, a letter, a pile, etc.). The number you are guessing is revealed by how many fingers you are holding out once you complete your stick picture. I like to sit criss crossed apple sauce and then place my hands on my knees. If I hold out two fingers in each hand, the number is 4, or one hand with five fingers and the other with none is five, etc. Have campers guess the numbers and tell them if they are right or not. If you think they have figured it out, let them try being the one with the sticks. 

MAGICAL UMBRELLA

Start by saying the riddle “um. I have a magical umbrella. It’s *insert color or pattern here* and when I spin it around it turns *insert different color or pattern here.* What color does it turn next?” The key is to say ummmmm before saying the riddle (magical UMMbrella) Have campers guess, and tell them if they are right or wrong. Then let them try ‘holding the umbrella.’ Play around with crazy patterns like purple with green dinosaurs on it, orange polka dots, etc. 

GREEN GLASS DOOR

Campers try to guess what can or cannot go through the green glass doors. Say “I can bring puppies through the GGD but not dogs.” The key is that words with double letters can go through (kittens but not cats, apples but not oranges,  boots but not shoes, etc.)

FOUR IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

This game starts with a certain number that eventually breaks down into the number four. The goal is figure out how the numbers are being broken down. “twelve is six, six is three, three is five, five is four.” The next number is the # of letters in the previous number. The word twelve has six letters, six has three letters, three has five letters, five has four letters. Every beginning number eventually breaks down to the number four. 

PICNIC

This is a simple game, but can be difficult to catch onto the rules. Can also be fun to play as a name game as you get to know each other and remember names. Start by saying “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing a *insert object that starts with the same first letter as your name*.” (Emma and eggs, Courtney and cookies, Samantha and sandwiches.) Have campers try this one and tell them whether or not they are able to bring the object the say until they figure it out. 

THE ROSE 

This game can be played many ways with different objects. Say “If I have a rose and I give it to Courtney and she gives it to Samantha and she gives it to Emma, who has the rose?” The person who has the rose is the first person to speak after you finish saying the question. So if you ask the question, and Courtney says “it’s _____,” then you could say “no it’s you Courtney.” This one can be a little slow at first until a few people pick up on it, but then it’s super fun! One of my favorites!

PAY ATTENTION (or LISTEN)

Say “Pay attention. If those (point to them) are shoes, and those are shoes, and those are shoes, are these shoes?” Point to a few pairs of shoes, and then for the last object, you can either point at shoes or anything else. The key is to say the phrase ‘pay attention’ before you speak. If you do, than the answer is yes, if not, the answer is no. So if you finish by pointing at a real pair of shoes, but you don’t say ‘pay attention’, then they are not shoes. But if you point at a tree at the end and say ‘pay attention’, then the tree is shoes. 

GHOST CHAIR

This one is a bit difficult. Set up chairs like musical chairs. Pick a chair to assign as the ghost chair, but don’t tell anyone. Explain that there is a ghost in the room. Have everyone sit in a chair. Mentally note who is sitting in the ghost chair. Have everyone move to a new chair. Ask who the ghost is standing in front of. Let them guess, and tell them if they are correct or not. The ghost is standing in front of whoever was sitting in the ghost chair before you all moved chairs. 

JOHNNY WHOOP 

Hold your hand up. Make a specific pattern of touching your fingertips and sliding your finger along the curve between our forefinger and thumb. When touching the tips of fingers, say “Johnny,” but when sliding along the curve say “Whoop.” When you are done, drop your hands and clasp them together.  Remember the pattern you made, and do it the same way every time. Have campers try to copy you and tell them if they did it right or not. The key is not to correctly replicate your patten but to clasp your hands after finishing it. 

RIGHT PARTY 

Say “I’m throwing a party, but it’s not just any party, it’s the right party at the right place at the right time with the right people and the right snacks and the right clothes.” Then explain what you will be wearing to the party. Have campers try and tell them if they are allowed to wear it to your party or not. The clothes allowed to the party are whatever the person to your right is wearing. 

ONE UP ONE DOWN 

Only one of three phrases can be said. But only one of them is correct at a given time. Both up, one up one down, and both down. It depends on how your arms are positioned when the phrase is being said. So if the person’s arms are both hanging down, the correct phrase is both down, etc. Have campers try and guess which one to say and tell them if they are allowed to say it or not. 

WITCH WRITING 

You have to have at least one friend playing that knows the rule to get the ball rolling. Tell campers a story that explains how you met a witch and learned the secret language.Send the friend out of the room. Decide with the campers which word you are going to write and try to get the friend to guess. Call them back in. Use the secret witch writing to write the word and have the friend guess. She will get it right, keep playing until campers begin to figure it out. It involved random scribbling and pounding your hands against the table/ground. Vowels are represented by the number of pounds. 1 pound=A, 2 pounds=E, 3 pounds=I, 4 pounds=O, 5 pounds=U. Consonants are represented by the first letter of the phrase in-between pounds. The random scribbling is just to confuse people and has no meaning. Example: the word is ‘guide”. Say “Going to start now” Random scribbling with a pencil. Then pound your hands 5 times.  Random scribbling. Pound your hands 3 times. Random scribbling. Then say “Don’t get confused.” Random scribbling. Then pound your hands 2 more times. 

CROSSED/UNCROSSED (or OPEN/CLOSED) 

This game can be played with sticks or pencils (scissors for open/closed). Have everyone sit in a circle. You are going to pass two sticks to the next person either crossed over each other or just parallel to one another. The person receiving them has to say if they are receiving the sticks crossed or uncrossed. The position of the sticks does not matter, only wether the giver is sitting with their legs/ankles/arms (pick one) are crossed or not. This game works better when siting on the ground than at a table. 

MAN IN THE MOON 

Grab a stick and draw a picture in the dirt while saying “This is a man on the moon. He has a face, a mouth, a nose and two eyes.” (Draw those things) Before doing/saying this, do a small action such as touching your ear, flipping your hair, scratching your knee, etc. Have campers try and tell them if their man on the moon is correct. The drawing does not matter, only that they repeat the same small action beforehand. 

PLATES/CUPS Grab a few cups or plates and a small object that fits underneath it. You need a friend who knows the rule to get the game started. Decide on a code word with the same number of letters as the number of cups you have. (if you have four cups, use the word corn, which has four letters) Share this word with everyone, but don’t explain how to use it. Lay the cups out in a horizontal line. Only the friend will understand at first but the plate to the far left (the friend’s point of view) corresponds to the first letter of the code word, so C. The next cup is O. The next is R. The next is N. Again, the campers do not know this. Send the campers and the friend away or have them close their eyes. Put the small object under one of the cups. Call them back. The friend will guess which cup it is under. She will know because the cup it is under corresponds to the first letter of the first thing you say when they come back. So if the first thing you say is “Really think about it, and tell me which cup,” then the object is under the cup that is R, or the third cup. 

PSYCHIATRIST

This game is fun, but once the participant figures out the rule, the game is over because they have to say it out loud. That is…. until someone new wanders up and wants to play and doesn’t know the rule. Pick a participant and send them away. Explain the rule to everyone else. The person is going to come back and ask them questions. The first person to be asked  a question is to answer with the words “i don’t know” no matter what the question is. After that, the next person to be asked a question is to answer with the answer that corresponds to the last question. Call the person back into the group. Explain to them that they are a psychiatrist and this group has a problem and they have to figure out what it is. They are to go up to people and ask them simple or yes or no questions. When they think they know the problem, guess it out loud. Example: Psychiatrist to person A: Is the sky Blue? Person A: I don’t know. (this will confuse the psychiatrist, tell them to move on to next person) Psychiatrist to person B: What color is a cow? Person B: yes. Psychiatrist to person C: What is  my name? Person C: black and white. and so on. 

ROAD TRIP 

This one is difficult and takes a while to figure out. You are going on road trip and going to tell your campers where you went and how long you stayed there and they are to figure out where you are going next. The answer is revealed by the pathway of your trip. Letters are the first letter of where you went. Vowels are how long you stayed. (A-1, E-2, I-3, O-4, U-5) Example: I started in Delaware and stayed for 2 days, then I went to Nebraska, then Vermont where I stayed for 2 weeks, then I went to Rhode Island. Where do I go next? Answer= Denver. 

BLACK MAGIC

One person is sent away. The rest of the group decides on an object among them to be the magic object (a hat, shoe, shirt, backpack, water bottle, etc.) Call the person back. Explain to the person they are to pick an item from a list you give them that is the magic object. They are to figure out that the object is whichever one comes after a black object. The other objects can not be black, because that would disrupt the game. Continue to list off a bunch of items among you, pointing at each, one of them being the object chosen after a different black object. Example: “Is the magical object her shoe, his sunglasses, my foot, his hat (which is black), that water bottle, or the sky?” Answer= the water bottle because it came after the black object.

HOW MANY BEARS?

Make up a story about bears, and finish by asking how many bears there are (have it make sense with the story). The answer is dependent on how many words are used to ask the question. Ex: How many bears are there?-5, What number of bears are there?-6, How many bears?-3, etc. 

THIS CAN HAS FIVE SIDES

This game follows the same rules as the bear game. Grab a can and pass it around, having campers tell each other how many sides it has. The number of sides is dependent on the statement. Example: This can has five sides-5, Two sides-2, I think that this can has 8 sides-8, etc. 

DOES THE BOAT FLOAT? 

This game is similar to the umbrella game. Here’s how it works. Say “Okay,” then grab a stick or use your finger to draw an imaginary boat in the air. Ask “Does this boat float?” Let campers guess yes or no and tell them if they are correct or not. The key is wether or not you say ‘okay’ before you draw the boat. Let them try drawing boats once they think they have figured it out. 

WHOSE TRIANGLE?

This game is almost identical to the boat float game, but draw a triangle between different people as your stand around in a circle. You can also play this game like the rose game, where whoever speaks first is the owner of the triangle. 

FLASHLIGHT DANCE Again, similar to the boat float game. Pick a phrase or acton (saying okay, clearing your throat, flipping the flashlight in the air and catching it, etc.) that must be performed before the dance. Grab a flashlight (this game is obviously for night time) and perform (or don’t) the action and then proceed to do a dance with the flashlight. Ask the campers if your dance was real (performed the action) or made up (did not perform the action). 

Clothing Packing List 2.0

I’ve done packing lists before (or reblogged them, idk). But here’s some general guidelines:

Basic packing list

6-7 short-sleeved shirts (such as t-shirts)

1-2 long-sleeved shirts, preferably a wicking material, such as polyester

1-2 sweatshirts/fleeces

1-2 pairs of jeans/long pants

1-2 pairs of shorts/capris

1 pair of leggings/sweat pants

6-10 pairs of socks

6-10 pairs of underwear

However many bras you need for 10 days, if you wear those

Raincoat

2 pairs of everyday shoes (hiking boots, tennis shoes) - something with ankle and arch support, not converse/vans

PJs

Specialty items: hot/muggy areas

Wicking material short-sleeved shirts - either substituted or in addition to t-shirts

Extra shorts

Zip-off pants - highly recommend if you’re in an area that cold in the morning and hot during the day such as low elevation mountains

Specialty Items: high elevation/cold areas

Extra long sleeved shirts, such as cuddle duds

A thicker jacket - maybe not a winter coat, but something between that and a sweatshirt

A non-cotton sweater-ish thing, such as a fleece. Fleece retains heat when wet.

Boots, kept in your car.

Wool socks - warm but wicking

Basically, I would suggest that you have enough clothes for 6-10 days, or however long in between your laundry cycles. You may want to pack more if you work a longer duration of time or if you have a living situation with a bit more space. Layers are your best friend because camps are often cold in the morning and at night but hot during the day.

Outdoor Fabrics

Cotton - the general fabric, what most t-shirts are made out of. Pretty versitle, fairly lightweight. Doesn’t retain heat while wet, takes a medium amount of time to dry out. Medium durability but easy to craft/customize.

Nylon/ polyester - a good base layer. Stretchy and thin. Some varieties are warmer than others (think cuddle duds vs Nike). Often found as sportswear. Dries quickly. Wicks moisture (draws it away from the skin). Insulating when used in layers.

Fleece - technically also polyester. Warm and retains heat while wet. Not particularly wind-proof. Excellent for a mid layer in winter or for wearing at night to sleep in. Also great for hiking.

Wool - also warm and wicking. The classic outdoor fabric. Great for socks (10/10 would recommend actual wool socks).

Waterproof stuff - rain gear (pants or coats). Thickness varies, from the super thin to that thick vinyl we all wore to elementary school in the 90s (I also wore this at the day camp, don’t judge).

Basically, t-shirts are fine for your everyday wear but if you’re in funky weather, it might be wise to wearing something different that will keep you more comfortable.

You can get many of these items at thrift stores, don’t feel like you need to go drop $150 at REI for your camp wardrobe. You do you, but you can make your budget work.

Posts about other items and ideas for theme day attire to follow.

Any tips for taking initiative? I’m always worried that I’ll make a wrong decision, especially because I’m on under-18 staff

Hi friend,

That’s a great question. Taking initiative can be little things that fit easily into your job but put you ahead. Always make sure that you’re doing your job and prioritizing it before your go above and beyond. Some easy ideas for taking initiative:

Be enthusiastic! 

Help tidy the dining hall a little after meals with your kids if you’ve got time. Make it fun by singing songs or playing games.

Talk with the quiet campers.

Walk with the slow campers.

Give campers leadership opportunities.

Offer to lead songs or grace at meals.

Offer to help with campfires or all camp games.

Help unload the vans after a supply run if you’re in the area and have time. The kids can help too.

Help carry heavy things when you see someone struggling.

Make sure your kapers are always done and on time.

Come up with exciting games and activities for your kids beyond the regular camp activities. Play canoe tag or go all out for the color war.

Make sure that you’re always doing your job to your best ability. 

Best of luck and have a great summer!

How to Annotate Literature

Many times language and literature classes require students to annotate the books that are given to them, but in many cases tips and advice on how to do so is lacking. I will be sharing my personal strategy for efficient and successful annotating that will not only help your understanding of the text but also gain the love of your teachers! The tips have been divided into 5 components, each with their own explanation. Sticky Tabs are Your Best Friend

I don’t know how I would manage to annotate without my sticky tabs. They help me organize and navigate the book before the reading, remind me what to look for while i’m going through the text and help me find whatever I may need once I get to further analysis for the class. 

Create a key for your tabs, personally I use five colors each having a few specific purposes based on where I place them in the book. Most stickies are accompanied by a specific note that will remind me of what I wanted to point out, these stick out of the right margin. 

Pink- Anything to do with characters, be it development or certain traits to remember. It can also be used for when you have questions about character related aspects of the text.

Orange- Refers to setting, in plays it is also applicable for stage directions.

Yellow- Is used for literary devices and use of language (tone, diction, patterns) and syntax, if there is a particular word the author used or a structure you want to take note of, this is the color to use. 

Green- Applicable to any important plot events, notable scenes or things that you think will be significant later in the story.

Blue- Themes and context of said ideas, anything to do with time, place and space in which the text takes place. It can also relate to how your context (a student reading a book for a literature course) impacts your perception of the text.

These are the things teachers usually look out for and it is certainly useful in any kind of further task! 

The top and bottom margins can be used to divide the book in to sections, such as chapters or scenes, mark the most important pages and to also highlight text to text connections. These colors you can pick yourself! I do not recommend having more than 5 sticky tabs per page, otherwise it gets too crowded and they lose their purpose! (but you will still need to buy aaa lloootttt)

This is my key for the book I am currently annotating, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. 

Don’t Overdo it With the Highlighter

Find one color highlighter that you like the most and use it to mark explicit words or phrases that catch your attention, you can also use them in correlation with you sticky tabs!  I prefer to use a yellow highlighter because it seems to bleed the least, and I usually use it in relation to the the yellow and blue tabs because those are the ones that relate to the most detailed and minute parts of the text. Once again you can find your own preference! But don’t overdo it, otherwise, like the tabs, the highlighter will lose its function to highlight important points. 

This is an example of how much highlighting I usually do. For non-fictional texts or parts of a book (like in the introduction you see here) I reserved highlighter for dates and names. 

Have a Conversation With the Author

This is one of the first tips that my high school teacher gave me and it’s really one of the most important ones to remember. And I know, it may sound kinda silly, but I find that it really helps me in developing my ideas and remembering exactly how I felt about a certain aspect of part of the text. 

Whether the text is fiction of non fiction, anything in between, you can always do these few things

Ask questions- As if you were going to get an answer, ask questions, write them down and write down as many as you want. Writing things down helps people remember so then it is more likely that in a class discussion you will be able to recall your queries or wonders. 

If you don’t like something, or you’re surprised by something, write it down! Use exclamation marks, use words that you would use in a regular conversation. I always write ‘WOW!!’ or ‘OMG’ when i’m especially impressed, and having such vocal- well written vocally- emotions will bring you closer to the subject of the text. 

Talk to the characters as well, if you are questioning a character’s actions ask them and provide an explanation as to why you speculate they may have acted a certain way. Not only does that further contribute to your involvement (also making things more entertaining) but it also deepens your thought!

What i’m trying to say is write down anything that comes to mind, your first response is your true response, and it is a valuable addition to your notes! And if you want to write a whole essay in between the lines… Actually, i’ll come back to that later! 

Pens, not Pencils 

I used to make notes completely in pencil but my approach changed when I realized that overtime the pencil would rub off and get illegible. I think it was because I used my book so much, but having switched to pen I realized that it helps me in quite a few other things as well. 

The good thing about pen is that you can’t erase it and let’s say you started writing down a note, scan down the page and realize what you are taking a note of is completely wrong. That’s ok! That’s actually really good! Don’t scribble out what you just wrote down, but instead continue and explain why you may have thought a certain way and what your understanding is now. That relates really closely to the previous note.  Evidently pen also appears darker on the page, then there’s no possibility of it ever disappearing. It also won’t smudge or bleed as long as it’s ballpoint! That’s a good thing when drawing arrows between lines, underlining in addition to your highlights and circling/boxing whatever you deem necessary.

Time, Effort and Commitment

It’s clear that this post took me a while to make, and it took me a while to develop this system with all of the things that I have considered. So it must be self evident that using this type of annotation won’t be quick. It might get tiring at some times, and for me it really does, but at the end I find that it always pays off! You have to stay committed to this technique, you have to put in the same amount of effort for every page, which means you need time. So here are a few final general tips I will leave you with.

Don’t procrastinate! As goes for any task, and this one more than any, don’t waste time getting to it! I advice you check how many pages you have in total and make sure that you do a certain amount per day (usually 5-10 pages a day is good!)

If you go off on massive tangents in the side bars, make sure that you don’t get too distracted by them because they will take up a lot of your time. But one now and then may be good! Be sure to mark it for later reference!

Play mind games with yourself. This one is actually pretty interesting but it personally gets me a long way. If you have 20 pages left, don’t look at it as 20 pages but instead as 4 times 5, then the amount will seem a lot more manageable! It’s a kind of self encouragement!

That can also be said by looking now and then at how far your bookmark has moved through the book and giving yourself a pat on the back for all of you hard work!

That’s all I have for now! If you have any further questions for advice or explanation please message me and I will be more than happy to help! And I hope that this helps some people out too! (I’m counting this as 21/100 days of productivity as all I did today was related to annotating.)

Small Ways to Make a Camper Feel Important and Loved

Make them a friendship bracelet or put a wrap in their hair!

Plan a small activity based around one of their interests! Maybe a comic drawing contest, have the cabin choreograph and perform a dance routine together, or mini cooking class.

If they have a good idea for a devotional, let them lead it! 

Have them help you set up for a later activity or event if they are uninterested in the current one. 

Let them braid your hair!

Loan out your crazy creek for a few minutes! 

Give them tiny awards or certificates of achievement! Ex: cutest outfit of the day, best swimmer, most hydrated, etc. (Just make sure that each camper in the cabin gets one throughout their stay so they don’t feel left out.)

Write short, personalized notes to each camper in your cabin to take home and read later. Tell them how they inspired you!

Talk to them about any personal things you can relate to them with. Ex: similar interests, where you’re from, what you wanna be when you grow up, etc. 

Sit in the middle of the table at a meal and let a camper sit at the end.

Compliment them on their usage of core values. Ex: “I thought it was really cool and responsible of you when I noticed you picking up trash along the trail earlier without being asked.”

If they give you a drawing or letter or make you a friendship bracelet, attach it to your clipboard or backpack to carry it with you everywhere.