Ideas and Inspiration for Early Childhood

You Oughta Know About….Classroom Volunteers

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I love reading tips from teachers and learning more about what other teachers do in their classrooms, so I was super excited this month to link up with Mrs. McClain for her blog hop to share and learn some things that we teachers “oughta know about!”

Today I am going to share some tips on organizing classroom volunteers. I finally have a system for myself now where I don’t feel like I am wondering, “what will they do?” or frantically trying to find those copies I need while the volunteer (and my class!) are waiting on me.

I now have a system for organizing clerical work as well as small group work for volunteers that will work with students. It has been amazing for me and I hope you can find some of these tips useful too!

First, I knew I needed to organize the piles of things that needed to be done either by myself, my classroom aid, or a parent volunteer. I am talking about clerical work here – things like cutting, stapling, copying, filing etc. I was growing so tired of having it stack up or thinking “where IS that paper??” and I knew something had to give.
I now have 3 bins on a shelf in my room. Excuse my labeling of handwritten notes…. I kind of cringe and know I want to type up cute ones – but for now the purpose is organization – which I now have, so I am giving myself time on the cute factor! 
First, the “To Do” bin. These are items that need to be taken care of. They stay in here until someone is able to start on them.
Next, the “In Progress” Bin.  I tried two bins at first (to do, and finished) – but quickly realized that some projects take longer and other projects can be quick, so I needed a place to store those longer ones without having them always hog up the “To Do” bin! So now, anything that we are in the middle of or didn’t finish goes in the “In Progress” Bin. 
Finally, my favorite bin – the “Completed” bin! This one is pretty self-explanatory. When my assistant or helpers finish things out of the other bins, they get moved to this bin! Then I clean it out! 

I loved my system for clerical work, and it was working great for myself and my classroom assistant, but a bigger problem for me was organizing everything for my parent volunteers. I wanted to use them not just for clerical work, but for small groups and activities as well. Yet I did NOT want to be worrying the day of about what they were going to do, or be spending time gathering the materials. So I developed the monthly “volunteer box” that literally has made my life so much easier!

At the beginning of the month, I look at our big themes and topics and I gather games, books, activities, etc. (many of which I already have) that relate to and enrich what we are learning in class. I make all the copies (or have them in my clerical bins for helpers to make!) and clip them together and add them to the volunteer bin!

These are activities and assignments that do not have to be done in a specific order or on a certain day, and are not activities that I would feel stressed about if the students did not complete them. Rather, they are small group activities that support our classroom learning in simple, fun ways that volunteers feel comfortable leading. Perhaps they are cutting and pasting numbers, or ABC order. Maybe they are sorting sounds or working on a seasonal project. It will of course depend on the grade you teach or time of year.

Spending an hour at the beginning of my month getting this box ready (or less if you have some of the work in your clerical bin!) is SO worth it and makes it so easy for my parent volunteers. They just grab and go! Plus, I know that I have planned out meaningful things for my students to do that relate to our learning! My Volunteer Box has been a lifesaver for me, my volunteers, and my students! 

 For more great ideas and tips, check out the links to these fantastic teachers’ blogs:

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Comments

    • Alex John

      That is so sweet of you Ashley! I actually was nominated maybe a month ago and did my post already – but I'm heading to your blog to learn more about you! Isn't the Liebster award fun??

      Reply

  3. A LoveLi Class

    Hi Alex! I agree, Parent Volunteers are the best. When I first started teaching, I will admit, I was so disorganized with work I wanted to have parent volunteers do. I was able to create a similar system with my parent volunteers 2 years ago and it has helped tremendously!

    A LoveLi Class

    Reply

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