July 28th- August 1st
All summer there has a been a young boy in camp whose grandmother works at Smuggs. Last year we had a lot of trouble trying to get him to listen, and he has had a lot of behavioral difficulties. This year started off really well in terms of his behavior and listening, but things have slowly started to get worse for him. I was told it was because they switched his medication and dosage. He went from having a "breakdown" every couple of weeks to at least once a day. When I say breakdown I mean he would refuse to talk to anyone and he would not listen to anyone- he wanted to do what he wanted and there were very few things we could do or say to keep him from doing it. Fortunately these breakdowns only lasted 5-10 minutes, but when they did happen it would be very difficult for his counselors to take care of him and the rest of the kids in their group. This is when Jess would have to step in and take him away from the group for a few minutes until he was able to regain his composure. We started doing a reward system with him. If he behaved then he would get a ticket, and once he got six tickets he would be able to go on a golf cart ride with Jess. This could have been really successful except for the fact that he was being given 5-6 tickets a day. He would be given a ticket as soon as he started listening to the counselor after a breakdown. To me it looked like he was being given a ticket stopping his bad behavior, so I noticed that he would have more and more tantrums and he would be given more tickets for having them. I talked to Jess about this and told her that it was not helpful. I suggested giving him 2 tickets a day, one for the morning and one for the afternoon, and if he had at least 7 (out of 10) by the end of the week he could go on a golf cart ride. We did this for a little while, and it worked, then after a few weeks his medications were all figured out and we went back to giving him the same treatment as the rest of the kids, which has been working great.
August 4th- August 8th
There is a huge problem at camp this week! 3 employee kids in camp have lice. They were all sisters, but now we are checking all of the employee kids' heads for lice. We ended up having to send more kids home with lice. The camp director told all supervisors and staff to only tell guest kids about it if they have had an employee kid with lice in their group. At that point only a few more kids had been found with lice and we were doing everything we could to keep it from spreading. The camp director went to the drug store and bought out all of the tea tree oil and lice repellent shampoo and spray. She had the floors shampooed, the chairs all sprayed, and all of the furniture wiped down. She also told all of the staff to get check, and everyone with long hair to wear their hair up. I believe that she did a really good job keeping her head straight in a very stressful situation, and I commend the way that she handled the situation.
Monday, August 17, 2015
July 14th- July 25th (Mid-season Evaluation)
At this point camp is about midway through the summer. All of the new counselors are starting to get the hang of how camp is run, and they are starting to become more confident with their groups. Our supervisor also did mid-summer evaluations, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed with mine. They way the evaluations are set up is by a numeric scale. We are rated on a scale of 1-5; 1 being possible probation to termination of the job, 2 means that the counselor needs to work on their skills, 3 means that the counselor has met the expectations, 4 means that the counselor has exceeded the expectations, and 5 means that the counselor has gone well above and beyond any expectation that has been set. Supervisors very rarely give out 1's or 5's. In the four years of working at Smuggs I have never heard of anyone getting either one of those numbers. We are also evaluated based on two main categories that are broken up into 6 subcategories.
The first is Job Performance- which includes Teamwork, Versatility, Group Management/ Engagement, Communication, and Safety. I got a 3 in Teamwork and Versatility. The 3 in Versatility was because I only worked for the 5/6 year old group instead of volunteering to do any other age group. But I have since then, worked for the 3/4 year olds, and the 11-15 year olds. I surprisingly really enjoyed working with the older kids. They go at a much faster pace then the younger kids, and they are far more independent. I did not have to play as supportive of a role as I usually do with the younger kids. I was able to participate more in games, rather than facilitating the games. I really enjoyed working with that age group. As for Group Management/ Engagement, Communication, and Safety I scored a 4 in all of those categories. My goal for the end of the summer is to get at least one 5 in any of the categories.
The second main category is Professionalism. Within that the 6 subcategories are Appearance, Reliability, Flexibility, Customer Service, and Attidude/ Enthusiasm. With the exception of Appearance I got a 4 in all of the categories. I got a 3 in Appearance because I came in every day with my uniform and name tag on, which is what would be meeting the expectations. There aren't a whole lot of ways to rise above the expectations of wearing a uniform. The one thing that my supervisor said that I could improve on was being more confident in my decisions. Her direct quote was "Do not be afraid of saying no. You know what to do! Own it! I appreciate being asked questions, but you got this!" After reading her evaluation for me, and talking to her I definitely gained confidence in myself and my leadership skills.
The first is Job Performance- which includes Teamwork, Versatility, Group Management/ Engagement, Communication, and Safety. I got a 3 in Teamwork and Versatility. The 3 in Versatility was because I only worked for the 5/6 year old group instead of volunteering to do any other age group. But I have since then, worked for the 3/4 year olds, and the 11-15 year olds. I surprisingly really enjoyed working with the older kids. They go at a much faster pace then the younger kids, and they are far more independent. I did not have to play as supportive of a role as I usually do with the younger kids. I was able to participate more in games, rather than facilitating the games. I really enjoyed working with that age group. As for Group Management/ Engagement, Communication, and Safety I scored a 4 in all of those categories. My goal for the end of the summer is to get at least one 5 in any of the categories.
The second main category is Professionalism. Within that the 6 subcategories are Appearance, Reliability, Flexibility, Customer Service, and Attidude/ Enthusiasm. With the exception of Appearance I got a 4 in all of the categories. I got a 3 in Appearance because I came in every day with my uniform and name tag on, which is what would be meeting the expectations. There aren't a whole lot of ways to rise above the expectations of wearing a uniform. The one thing that my supervisor said that I could improve on was being more confident in my decisions. Her direct quote was "Do not be afraid of saying no. You know what to do! Own it! I appreciate being asked questions, but you got this!" After reading her evaluation for me, and talking to her I definitely gained confidence in myself and my leadership skills.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
June 30- July 11
June 30- July 4
We were expecting this to be a busy week because it was the week of the Independence Day. In the previous years we had anywhere between 50-80 kids. This year the most we got was 35. Which was not good for the camps. We are in the middle of the summer and we still have to send people home because there aren't enough kids and we are over staffed. In the past things started picking up by July, but not this year. There are a lot more family activities to do around the resort so many people are not sending their kids to camp. This is great for the families, and great for the resort, but this is not so great for the camps because there is much less work this year.
This was the first week that we had enough kids to make a swim group, however. On Mondays we swim test the kids who want to take it and if they pass then they get to go in the bigger pools for the rest of the week, as opposed to staying in the wading pools. The swim group was very small this week; there were only 4 kids in it. Even with such a small group it was a very difficult group to manage. There were 3 boys and one girl. The girl did not pass the swim test, but her cousin was in the group and since the group was so small she was allowed to be in it as long as she swam with a life vest on. The three boys were s bit more difficult to manage. One of the boys had a communication and learning disorder. I remember having him in my group last year, and I remember that he really needed a one-on-one counselor. He was not able to advocate for himself very well, and he certainly was not able to hold a conversation. It was also difficult for him to answer any questions. This year he had come a long way. He was able to talk, and answer questions, although holding an actual conversation still proved to be difficult for him. While we were playing on an obstacle course that we made outside I pretended to race with him and I had never heard him laugh so hard. It tickled me how much he loved it.
The other boys in that group had a hard time following directions. Even though there were only four kids it took us forever to walk anywhere. It took us almost 20 minutes to walk to the pool one day. It is like they would all zone in and out of their own little worlds. They needed constant reminders of what we were doing and where we were going.
July 7- July 11
When I came to work that Tuesday I was assigned the five year old group. There weren't too many kids in the group that week so it was a nice small group. Jess, my supervisor, told me that they were a little difficult, but I gave an arrogant laugh and thought that I can handle any group ever. Well I should have listened to Jess's warning because this group was INSANE. I had at least four boys who did not listen AT ALL. And it didn't help that it was an arts and crafts day instead of a playing outside day. Because it was Wednesday we had to make costumes for the parade the following day, so there wasn't a whole lot of time to play outside and get all of their energy out. There were 7 kids in my group, so I would give directions to the whole group then I would have to go around to 5 of them and give the same exact directions. Every time we started a new activity I had to repeat myself at least 6 different times. It was very frustrating for me and I felt like a broken record. Our costumes came out great though. We made gladiator costumes, so we had shields made out of paper plates, swords made out of paper towel rolls, and body armor made out of giant pieces of paper that I cut head holes out of. They were covered in black and red glitter and they were colored black. They were so fierce. I wish I had taken a picture to post on my blog.
The next day we got to play outside a little bit more. I took the kids to the playground and I facilitated some games on the green. On the playground however, one of the boys was throwing rocks, so he had to sit out from playing for a little while. Later, at snack, the same boy took another boy's glasses and screamed in his face. I separated him from the group and told him he could come back when he was able to calm his body and apologize to the boy that he screamed at. These are just some examples of the behavior that I dealt with that week. I would have to write a short story in order to explain all of it.
Saturday July 11 was an amazing day. The morning was a little bit chaotic because I was only expecting between 8-10 kids to show up for camp total and we had 15 come that day. And about 5 of them came at once around the time that we wrap up check-in. I had planned on taking my group out for double swim time that day because of how hot it was. I had also only planned on there being one group of kids total, but we ended up with two which worked out great. I took 7 six year olds and Olivia and Morgan had 8 five year olds. We split the groups up for the morning, but we all ended up at the same pools for swim time in the afternoon because we both decided to do double swim time. Both group were great. The kids listened and followed directions, and it was a super easy day. It was a nice relaxing day after the group that I had earlier that week, and it was a great way to end my work week.
We were expecting this to be a busy week because it was the week of the Independence Day. In the previous years we had anywhere between 50-80 kids. This year the most we got was 35. Which was not good for the camps. We are in the middle of the summer and we still have to send people home because there aren't enough kids and we are over staffed. In the past things started picking up by July, but not this year. There are a lot more family activities to do around the resort so many people are not sending their kids to camp. This is great for the families, and great for the resort, but this is not so great for the camps because there is much less work this year.
This was the first week that we had enough kids to make a swim group, however. On Mondays we swim test the kids who want to take it and if they pass then they get to go in the bigger pools for the rest of the week, as opposed to staying in the wading pools. The swim group was very small this week; there were only 4 kids in it. Even with such a small group it was a very difficult group to manage. There were 3 boys and one girl. The girl did not pass the swim test, but her cousin was in the group and since the group was so small she was allowed to be in it as long as she swam with a life vest on. The three boys were s bit more difficult to manage. One of the boys had a communication and learning disorder. I remember having him in my group last year, and I remember that he really needed a one-on-one counselor. He was not able to advocate for himself very well, and he certainly was not able to hold a conversation. It was also difficult for him to answer any questions. This year he had come a long way. He was able to talk, and answer questions, although holding an actual conversation still proved to be difficult for him. While we were playing on an obstacle course that we made outside I pretended to race with him and I had never heard him laugh so hard. It tickled me how much he loved it.
The other boys in that group had a hard time following directions. Even though there were only four kids it took us forever to walk anywhere. It took us almost 20 minutes to walk to the pool one day. It is like they would all zone in and out of their own little worlds. They needed constant reminders of what we were doing and where we were going.
July 7- July 11
When I came to work that Tuesday I was assigned the five year old group. There weren't too many kids in the group that week so it was a nice small group. Jess, my supervisor, told me that they were a little difficult, but I gave an arrogant laugh and thought that I can handle any group ever. Well I should have listened to Jess's warning because this group was INSANE. I had at least four boys who did not listen AT ALL. And it didn't help that it was an arts and crafts day instead of a playing outside day. Because it was Wednesday we had to make costumes for the parade the following day, so there wasn't a whole lot of time to play outside and get all of their energy out. There were 7 kids in my group, so I would give directions to the whole group then I would have to go around to 5 of them and give the same exact directions. Every time we started a new activity I had to repeat myself at least 6 different times. It was very frustrating for me and I felt like a broken record. Our costumes came out great though. We made gladiator costumes, so we had shields made out of paper plates, swords made out of paper towel rolls, and body armor made out of giant pieces of paper that I cut head holes out of. They were covered in black and red glitter and they were colored black. They were so fierce. I wish I had taken a picture to post on my blog.
The next day we got to play outside a little bit more. I took the kids to the playground and I facilitated some games on the green. On the playground however, one of the boys was throwing rocks, so he had to sit out from playing for a little while. Later, at snack, the same boy took another boy's glasses and screamed in his face. I separated him from the group and told him he could come back when he was able to calm his body and apologize to the boy that he screamed at. These are just some examples of the behavior that I dealt with that week. I would have to write a short story in order to explain all of it.
Saturday July 11 was an amazing day. The morning was a little bit chaotic because I was only expecting between 8-10 kids to show up for camp total and we had 15 come that day. And about 5 of them came at once around the time that we wrap up check-in. I had planned on taking my group out for double swim time that day because of how hot it was. I had also only planned on there being one group of kids total, but we ended up with two which worked out great. I took 7 six year olds and Olivia and Morgan had 8 five year olds. We split the groups up for the morning, but we all ended up at the same pools for swim time in the afternoon because we both decided to do double swim time. Both group were great. The kids listened and followed directions, and it was a super easy day. It was a nice relaxing day after the group that I had earlier that week, and it was a great way to end my work week.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
First two weeks of camp
June 9th- June 13th
June 7th started the first week of camp. My week started on Tuesday because I have Sundays and Mondays off. There weren't very many campers this first week. There were a few employee kids but that was it. The employee kids proved themselves to be a challenge from the start. Because school was still in session we only had a few five year old's in camp. There was one boy in the group, Grant, and and five girls, Ohana, Molly, Emma, Danielle, and Anna. All five of the kids have known each other since they were in diapers because they have been going to the same day care, camps, and schools since they were infants. This made things a little difficult because Molly, Emma, and Anna are best friends and often exclude other kids from playing with them.They also get into a lot of fights with each other. During the first couple of weeks of camp it was pretty difficult to separate them because there were only enough kids for one group. As the weeks went on, and the camps got bigger, it was easier to separate the three girls into different groups.
This week also kicked off my head counselor position. While the supervisor was out on her days off I took over as the supervisor. One of my head counselor days there were only 5 kids on the books so I was the only person staffed for that day. I ended up with six kids by myself. I planned on it being a pretty easy day. In the morning, however, one of my kids had a breakdown. We were playing on the playground and she was blocking the slide so I kindly asked her to move out of the way so the other kids could play on the slide. This was her first day of camp so I understand first day jitters, but this girl had a total melt down. I put her on the bench and asked her what was wrong but she would not talk to me at all. She just sat on the bench screaming and crying and I could not make out a word she was saying. After about 10 minutes of bawling she started asking for her mom amidst her sobs. Seeing as lunch was in 20-30 minutes I asked her if she would like me to call her mom at lunch. She nodded. I also reminded her that her brother would be at lunch when we went inside. Soon after I was able to console her and she was playing in the sandbox, by the time lunch rolled around she completely forgot that she wanted me to call her mom. I didn't remind her because I didn't want her to talk to her mom and then possibly start crying again.
June 16th- June 21th
The week of June 16th the groups started to become bigger. We started to get more 6 year olds in the groups because school was out. Two of the employee kids were 6, their names were Brady and Hailey. I remember them from camp last year. I remember last year we had a little bit of trouble with Brady communicating how he was feeling. He would also find a counselor that he trusted and he would go to them with almost anything that he needed, even if that counselor wasn't in his group that day. When Brady was upset he would shut down and not talk to anyone, it was pretty hard to talk to him when he got like this. There was one thing that would almost always cheer him up; toy cars. He loved and still loves playing with toy cars. This year Brady has become better at communicating but he still shuts down when he is upset. It could be to get extra attention. What I have found helpful with dealing with his behavior is trying to get him to be the counselor's helper. He loves helping set up activities, he loves holding the door for the other kids in his group, and he loves being a helper. When he is being acknowledged for his good behavior he doesn't try to get attention with bad behavior.
This was also the week that we had two five year olds that stood out to me especially. There names were John and Mike. These two boys have know each other and have been best friends since they were in the Discovery camp for 3 and 4 year old's. They stood out to me because of how sweet they both are. I have worked at Smugg's camp for four years and I have never met kids that I enjoy having in my group as much as I enjoyed these two boys. They were always smiling, and they were always making the other kids in their group smile too. I enjoyed every minute I spent with them, and I can only hope that they had as much fun being in my group as I did having them in my group. They made me realize why I love my job so much, and they made coming to work so enjoyable for me.
Instead of doing two head counselor days this week I did three. I work Friday through Sunday as the head counselor. This meant that I had to make sure that there was enough staff or if there were too many than I had to send someone home. I also had to scan all of the camper cards and make copies of the schedules. This also meant that any time one of the counselors in a group needed help, I was the one that they asked. There were only a few groups each day that week, and the weekends are usually far less busy than the week. The slow start to the season made it good practice for me to get in grind of things. During the slower weeks I am on a group and one of the other supervisors helps me with my scanner and camper cards, during the busier weeks I am not on a group. Instead I walk around from group to group to check and see if they need help with anything.
June 7th started the first week of camp. My week started on Tuesday because I have Sundays and Mondays off. There weren't very many campers this first week. There were a few employee kids but that was it. The employee kids proved themselves to be a challenge from the start. Because school was still in session we only had a few five year old's in camp. There was one boy in the group, Grant, and and five girls, Ohana, Molly, Emma, Danielle, and Anna. All five of the kids have known each other since they were in diapers because they have been going to the same day care, camps, and schools since they were infants. This made things a little difficult because Molly, Emma, and Anna are best friends and often exclude other kids from playing with them.They also get into a lot of fights with each other. During the first couple of weeks of camp it was pretty difficult to separate them because there were only enough kids for one group. As the weeks went on, and the camps got bigger, it was easier to separate the three girls into different groups.
This week also kicked off my head counselor position. While the supervisor was out on her days off I took over as the supervisor. One of my head counselor days there were only 5 kids on the books so I was the only person staffed for that day. I ended up with six kids by myself. I planned on it being a pretty easy day. In the morning, however, one of my kids had a breakdown. We were playing on the playground and she was blocking the slide so I kindly asked her to move out of the way so the other kids could play on the slide. This was her first day of camp so I understand first day jitters, but this girl had a total melt down. I put her on the bench and asked her what was wrong but she would not talk to me at all. She just sat on the bench screaming and crying and I could not make out a word she was saying. After about 10 minutes of bawling she started asking for her mom amidst her sobs. Seeing as lunch was in 20-30 minutes I asked her if she would like me to call her mom at lunch. She nodded. I also reminded her that her brother would be at lunch when we went inside. Soon after I was able to console her and she was playing in the sandbox, by the time lunch rolled around she completely forgot that she wanted me to call her mom. I didn't remind her because I didn't want her to talk to her mom and then possibly start crying again.
June 16th- June 21th
The week of June 16th the groups started to become bigger. We started to get more 6 year olds in the groups because school was out. Two of the employee kids were 6, their names were Brady and Hailey. I remember them from camp last year. I remember last year we had a little bit of trouble with Brady communicating how he was feeling. He would also find a counselor that he trusted and he would go to them with almost anything that he needed, even if that counselor wasn't in his group that day. When Brady was upset he would shut down and not talk to anyone, it was pretty hard to talk to him when he got like this. There was one thing that would almost always cheer him up; toy cars. He loved and still loves playing with toy cars. This year Brady has become better at communicating but he still shuts down when he is upset. It could be to get extra attention. What I have found helpful with dealing with his behavior is trying to get him to be the counselor's helper. He loves helping set up activities, he loves holding the door for the other kids in his group, and he loves being a helper. When he is being acknowledged for his good behavior he doesn't try to get attention with bad behavior.
This was also the week that we had two five year olds that stood out to me especially. There names were John and Mike. These two boys have know each other and have been best friends since they were in the Discovery camp for 3 and 4 year old's. They stood out to me because of how sweet they both are. I have worked at Smugg's camp for four years and I have never met kids that I enjoy having in my group as much as I enjoyed these two boys. They were always smiling, and they were always making the other kids in their group smile too. I enjoyed every minute I spent with them, and I can only hope that they had as much fun being in my group as I did having them in my group. They made me realize why I love my job so much, and they made coming to work so enjoyable for me.
Instead of doing two head counselor days this week I did three. I work Friday through Sunday as the head counselor. This meant that I had to make sure that there was enough staff or if there were too many than I had to send someone home. I also had to scan all of the camper cards and make copies of the schedules. This also meant that any time one of the counselors in a group needed help, I was the one that they asked. There were only a few groups each day that week, and the weekends are usually far less busy than the week. The slow start to the season made it good practice for me to get in grind of things. During the slower weeks I am on a group and one of the other supervisors helps me with my scanner and camper cards, during the busier weeks I am not on a group. Instead I walk around from group to group to check and see if they need help with anything.
Friday, June 19, 2015
5/26- 6/6: Training Weeks
I started my internship at Smuggler's Notch on May 26th. That was my first day of training. I had to start a week early for supervisor and head counselor training. During that week I learned a lot about some of the extra responsibilities I would face during my internship for the summer. I had to learn how to use a scanner for the camper cards, and I had to learn about scheduling and the importance of the camper to counselor ratio. I also helped set up the Trail Blazer check-in center. Trail Blazer refers to an age group of children between the ages of 5-6. There are also the Discovery Dynamos which are children between the ages of 3-4, the Adventure Rangers are 7-10, the Notch Squad are kids ages 11-15, and the Explorers covers ages 16-17.
My next week at Smuggs was the regular camp counselor training week. We started training on June 1st and we got trained in safety, child development, and customer service. I work with the The Trail Blazer staff, and we had specific training to teach us activities such as arts and crafts, games, and nature fun targeting the 5-6 year old's specifically. We brainstormed a list of activities to do with the children each day and we posted it in the meeting house, where we do check-in. Programming started the following week.
My next week at Smuggs was the regular camp counselor training week. We started training on June 1st and we got trained in safety, child development, and customer service. I work with the The Trail Blazer staff, and we had specific training to teach us activities such as arts and crafts, games, and nature fun targeting the 5-6 year old's specifically. We brainstormed a list of activities to do with the children each day and we posted it in the meeting house, where we do check-in. Programming started the following week.
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