[PBobcats4]

I have a huge group of stay at home parents this year. Many of them have contacted me via e-mail or at school pickup to ask about volunteering in my classroom. While I am excited I have this many willing parents I am unsure how to fit them into my room. I have an Autistic student who has a full one on one aide with me all day. Then I am the SPED cluster teacher so either have a para or the Sped teacher in with me as well all day. Both the aide and para/Sped teacher work with kids during small group rotations. With 29 kids and all ready 3 adults I am not sure where a parent volunteer would fit in. I don't want parents thinking they are not welcome in my room but my room is small and I am not sure a 4th adult would work. Should I include a note in my newsletter this week letting parents know that I am trying to figure out how to best use volunteers? How would you use the volunteer in your room?

[Balletrocks]

If you don't want another adult in the room on a regular basis, how about giving them an opportunity to help/work on some special projects/special days?
-Start a "mystery reader" program ... that would allow one parent per week to come in and read a favorite picture book
-Look farther out in your curriculumn and see if there is a special event day (for reinforcement)that several parents could work on setting up ... like a pioneer schoo room day (rotations with penmanship; making applesauce; games played; etc...); Gold rush day; math games day, etc... while you probably need to give general directions and certainly meet and approve the ideas they come up with, you could have a very special event - but without so much work for yourself.
-Could you have a 4th person sitting in the room grading spelling test and the like?
-Could you use them to make games and stations for rotations you already have set up in your room

This is a nice problem to have ... I think you can come up with a number of ideas.

-

[oldnewbie]

Have one parent be the coordinator of all the rest. Submit your needs to her, and she can do all the farming out of the work.

As many others, I wish I were in your shoes

[slms]

You can ask them if they would like to help the related arts teachers. As a librarian, I am always looking for help since I don't have an assistant. Yesterday, I didn't have have any help so my books piled up and combined with today's returns, it is very overwhelming in here. As a bonus, sometimes they will see their child in class and can select books together.

[theboydbunch]

Just my opinion...but please don't have parent volunteers grade papers!!!! They talk...about the kids and everything else...it's a privacy issue for your students, in my opinion.

[ConnieWI]

I always used parent volunteers for one-on-one work.

I would set up two chairs in the hall. A student would read orally to the adult. This helped students who did not have someone at home who did this with them. A volunteer usually read with four to five students in an hour. I would give the volunteer a list of students that needed this practice. When one child was done reading, the volunteer would tell the student who was next, and the student would send the next student to the hall. That way, the volunteer never had to be in and out of the room.

I also used parent volunteers to help students memorize math facts. (I set up two chairs and a small table in the hall.) Even though I taught third grade, all students began with the addition facts...because they did not know them!! Math facts were nightly homework.
--Students had three seconds to say the fact.
--Volunteers made two piles...one pile of known facts and one pile of unknown facts.
--Volunteers reviewed the unknown facts with the child.
--I made a chart (see attachment) so the volunteer could record the date and unknown facts with a check mark. Even if the unknown facts were reviewed, they were still scored as unknown on the chart for that day.
--Students were tested and practiced at least twice per week with a volunteer.

These charts were great to share at conference time.

Pages 6 and 7 of the attachment are division fact charts. You need to add the dots above and below the line that looks like a subtraction sign. My symbol chart on my computer does not have a division sign.

[treetoad]

Give them specific jobs like someone who always does book orders
someone who always fills Friday folders with newsletters etc. perhaps not student work
alphabetizes them and gets them ready for you to finish
someone to put friday folders in mailboxes just befoe school is out
someone who duplicates for you after you've given instruction
someone to sit in hall to read or work with one child rotating them through

[mcbtcarolina]

I have been trying how to decide how to utilize my
parent volunteers. Thanks for the checklist!!