Ways To Teach A Skill

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

Behavior Management Tips

So I know in the past I’ve gotten questions about handling specific situations with campers. And I am happy to answer these. However, here are a few quick tips to help you get started on your own:

Remain calm. You panicking or getting angry helps nothing. Yes, your adrenaline might be pumping and your anxiety is picking up, but you need to try to keep yourself outwardly calm. I know this is easier said than done, but it gets easier with practice. 

Stop any immediately dangerous behavior. If kids are in an unsafe situation, get them out of it. If kids are fighting/bullying, separate them.

Take a minute to think. This is beneficial to you because you get to process what’s going on and think through possible solutions (and continue to calm down), and the kids get a chance to cool off so they’re in a better place to listen/talk. It’s a lot harder to think of a good solution and how to get there with the adrenaline and anxiety of a bad situation.

Don’t yell, be sarcastic, or snap.

Ask open ended questions. If they were doing something dangerous (example: I once had a 7th grader hop over the fence on our deck and stand on the ledge just because), ask them why that might have not been a good idea. If it’s bullying (like one on one), separate the kids out and ask them separately what’s been going on. If it’s bullying as a group, I usually talk to them as a group because I don’t want to hear the same thing from 15 different 6th graders and tell them all the same thing (some kids may ask to talk one on one after this, which is fine if you and another staff member are comfortable with it).

If someone was hurt, emotionally or physically, an apology may be appropriate. Alternatively, for group problems, team building activities such as Fill My Bucket can help.

If you, or another staff member, panicked or yelled or otherwise scared the kids, apologize. Kids are people too. I usually also make it a point to tell them that we are not angry with them and, if it was just a mis-judgement that ended up being something dangerous, that they aren’t in trouble we were just worried.

Check in afterwards. If I have the kids in a group, I usually have them rate one to five how they are feeling with their fingers while everyone closes their eyes and then let anyone who wants to share with the group.

As a note, I don’t actually punish kids. We talk through stuff, they agree not to do it again, and if we need to, we talk to the parents and the usual “punishment” we have is that they go home. Depending on what happens, we may call and inform the parents or send home a note. 

Also there aren’t a lot of valid punishments at camp. Staff will ask me if I’m going to punish the kids for doing something. No, they’re 10, they just wanted to play in the river and didn’t think through why that can be dangerous if there aren’t adults with them. I don’t want them to hate kapers and I’m not going to send them to sit in their tent alone. So I aim for the above.

Maybe this isn’t how their parents do it or how some other camps want to do it, but this is a method that’s worked well for me. Kids are tiny people and they have feelings and need understanding as they learn about the world around them and what is appropriate and what is not. Let camp be a safe place for them to learn that.

small things to add to a hand written letter:

a teabag of your favourite tea

heart shaped note with cute drawings

stickers on the outside of the letter, and inside

handmade paper doll

small print or postcard

a sketch or a little painting or a poem

glitter or sequins or pearls or buttons

small candies or bubblegum

cut out magazine pictures or articles

folded paper, like origami

textile like small ribbons or clothing patches

coins or flat things found in a souvenir shop

pressed flower or leaf

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

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.

What to bring to camp:  toiletries/ general cabin items

* These are things that STAY IN THE CABIN. This stuff should only leave the cabin on very rare occasions.

** I keep all this stuff on top of the plastic drawers I mentioned in my last packing list post. If there is anything you think I messed, please let me know!

shampoo/ conditioner

body wash

razor

shaving cream

hair brush

hair ties/ bands (if applicable)

feminine hygiene products (1 month at a time) if applicable

simple makeup (only a little for when parents are there, or on time off)

hand sanitizer bottle (seriously just have it)

lotion

sunscreen

bugspray

after bite

prescription medication (if applicable, if you are not allowed to keep it with you, keep it with the nurse)

charging cable(s)

cleaning wipes

shower caddy (optional but highly recommended)

hair products like creams, gels, etc (optional)

hair detangler (even if you don’t have long hair, it comes in handy if you will have girl campers who do)

markers (optional)

coloring paper (optional)

cabin decorations (optional)

snack food (keep out of sight of campers)

Camp references

I get reference requests fairly frequently, and have made many myself. I can’t imagine a camp not asking for at least one reference, and many ask for multiple. Other jobs also ask for references, as do some volunteer positions, scholarships, and academic programs. I actually filled out several references this week (same person, multiple camps). So I have compiled some suggestions for camp references for those of you who find yourself in need of one:

Who should I ask?

Who you ask depends on what your experience is and what you are applying to. Some suggestions for camp:

Camp staff or volunteers from camps you have worked at, usually a supervisor. Often a supervisor is specifically asked for. Alternatively, if you were a supervisor, you can also ask someone you supervised.

Youth workers you work or volunteer with. Examples of youth work might include leading/working at/volunteering with Boys and Girls Club, scouts, church youth groups, child care, tutoring, or youth instruction.

Outdoor or specialty area people you work or volunteer with (such as a pool manager for a lifeguard).

General job or volunteer managers.

Teachers/professors/organization advisors.

Personal references. These are also called character references. This is just someone who can speak to who you are as a person, not necessarily someone you’ve worked with. This type of reference is often specified. 

Overall, consider whether this person will be able to give you a good reference. Can they give you a positive, honest, relevant, and accurate recommendation? I understand this may be difficult if you are young or have little job experience. Volunteer work also counts, as do extra curricular activities.

How should I ask them?

Please ask someone before you use them as a reference. It’s really weird to randomly get a request for a reference from a camp you’ve never heard of.

Also consider the medium. I would say for a lot of people email is probably the most professional, such as a director who is a full-time staff at your organization. Email is also nice because it allows you to include all of the info suggested below. Now, if you’re a seasonal staff and are asking another seasonal staff (say the ACD or a program director), you may not have their email. The next top options I would suggest are Facebook Messenger and calling/texting. I have also been asked to be a reference for people over Snapchat and Instagram, and I am sure people ask over other social media as well.

It does also highly depend on who you are asking and your relationship to them, as well as how you usually communicate with them. If it’s someone that you don’t work with professionally and only text with or see on Facebook? Yeah, that’s probably better than a random email. I also think that this will be evolving in the coming years and already has been. I do recommend a lasting medium that they can look back on if needed though.

What should I tell them?

The things I recommend including are:

What job/kind of job it is.

What organization it is.

You may also want to include why you want to do this if you are asking someone who isn’t as familiar with your camp work or whatever you are applying for. For example, I had to ask STEM professors for recommendations for my social science grad program, so I needed to have an explanation of why I was changing my path so much. 

If it’s been a while (like a few years) and you haven’t been keeping up with each other, maybe a little blip about what you’ve done in the past while that is relevant. This is also good if you are applying to grad school and need a recommendation from a professor you had a year or two ago.

Is this a reference or a letter of recommendation? A general rule of thumb is that if the camp/job is going to contact the person and has a set of questions, either phone or webform, that’s a reference. A letter of recommendation is an actual, free-form letter, like you use to apply to college. The biggest difference for me is time commitment. The longest reference I’ve done was a 10-ish minute phone call. A good letter of recommendation takes me over an hour.

Bonus: some people will go a bit more in depth and say what qualities they want you to highlight. I find that this is a good choice if your reference is someone who is unfamiliar with what qualities one wants in a camp counselor (or other job), if you have an unusual background, or if the position is looking for a specific skill set that may not be asked about or obviously tied to the position title.

I was asked to be a reference. What do I do?

Make sure that the person you are being a reference for has your correct contact information. For example, almost all camp staff know me as a seasonal staff, but I now prefer to use my work contact information to make it more professional. There is also nothing wrong with using your personal information or university information. Just make sure it is something you will check.

If you don’t think that you can give someone a good reference, you are allowed to say no. It sucks, but it’s better than giving someone a bad reference, either because you don’t think they should be on staff or because you don’t know/remember them well.

The different things I did as a counselor that are the reason my alignment includes “chaotic”:

Accidentally made a 3-4 foot flour dust fire ball in our lodge using a fire starter in a metal cookout pot.

Instead of telling kids not to bully the girl who believed in fairies, I hid a fairy house in the woods and told them fairies were real.

Got the herpetology (reptile) club to come to camp and “paid” her with a walking taco and a s’more.

Brought a friend’s bearded dragon to camp for the critter care rotation and then kept it warm by keeping it on my shoulder while doing paperwork.

Dressed up in an owl costume, including mask, to run camper check in on the (public) road. Also made owl noises and motions while doing said check-in day.

When a child couldn’t sleep, I sang her the lullabies I knew. They were from a play I did about the holocaust. 

And this is just in my two years as a day camp counselor. I had four more years after this.

Hey y’all!

What are your favorite CIT programs/ideas/memories/whatever!

I have very little experience with the CIT program but I believe I’m supposed to help out with that this summer and as always I like hearing people personal opinions!

~Flame