Helping the Teacher when you can’t be in Classroom
I am one of those Moms who loves the idea of working in the classroom. I love teaching, I love kids… fun, fun, fun. BUT actually finding time to work in the classroom is a little more difficult than I thought it would be. When the kids are at school it is time to work (someone has to run the blog).
Since I know I am not alone in my quest to help while not actually being in the classroom, I’ve made a list. I asked every teacher I know what type of classroom support they need. You would be surprised how quickly and confidently the ideas flowed. They know exactly what kind of help they want!
This list is perfect for back to school and something you definitely want to pin for later.
How to volunteer… without working in the classroom.
- Take home work that needs to be prepared. Cut, sort, label, glue, staple, etc.
- Help coordinate parent volunteers for parties, field trips and donations.
- Put together and pass out parent information. (Remember that the school can not share this info but most parents will gladly give it to you ask nicely. ;))
- Repair and sort damaged books, games and classroom activities.
- Make displays for special events or announcements.
- Connect with and support parents who want to help but need guidance.
- Make phone calls to set up field trips and special events.
- Make field trip permission slips.
- Make name tags with kids pictures on them for field trips.
- Help prepare and create a monthly calendar of class events.
- Take charge of the Scholastic’s Book Orders.
- Teach a weekly, biweekly or monthly class using your own skills. A musical instrument, cooking, art, foreign language, etc.
- Make copies.
- Run errands to help collect supplies.
- Work at the school for one or two hours to help cover recess and lunch break periods.
- Take charge of Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education.
- Find out what the teacher needs for their classroom and make a wish list to hand out to other parents.
- Have the teacher fill out a questionnaire about their interests, favorite shops, restaurants and hobbies. Give a copy of the answers out to all of the parents before a holiday or teacher appreciation week to make gift giving easier.
- Prepare classroom center activities like file folder games or sight word boxes.
How will you use this list? Hand it out to your class if you are a teacher? Give it to other parents? Hand it to your kids teacher and ask them to circle what they need help with?
What creative ways do you help at school? (I love the ideas that are already in the comment section!!! Make sure to add some too!)
This post originally appeared September 19, 2012
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