Volunteers can be a huge lifesaver in your classroom. Getting your classroom ready for volunteers set up ahead of time before the school year starts, will save you a ton of time later when you’re busy with students and make things run smoothly all year long.
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Designate a volunteer area
Choose a special spot in your classroom to make your volunteer area. When you have your curriculum night, you can introduce the area to all of the parents so if they do come in during the school year, they’ll know exactly where to go to find out what needs to be done that day. It doesn’t have to be a large area, just enough room to put a few things they’ll need.
What’s in the volunteer area?
Set up an inbox where they can find out the instructions for the day and a completed box for items that you’ve asked them to completed. Ie cutting, laminating, copying. Explain to your volunteers that this is where they can go to find out what is needed during their visit to your class that day so there is no need for them to interrupt the class as they come in.
Create a supply caddy for your volunteers to use. I like to use one with a handle so if they will be headed to the copy room, they can easily carry it with them so they’ll have any and all supplies they would need with them so there’s no running back and forth.
Some things I like to have in my volunteer supply caddy at all times is:
Post-it notes so they can write me notes
Pencils, pens, Sharpies
Scissors
Stapler
Staple remover
Extra roll of tape
Paper clips and binder clips
Copy clips
Create copy clips. When you need things copied, use the copy clips by easily clipping them to the papers you need to be copied. Want them collated and stapled? Attached those clips too.
Small Groups
If your volunteers will be coming in to help with small groups. Set them up another volunteer inbox. You put your guided reading groups book and worksheets in the box together. Or do you want your volunteer to work with a small group of students by playing a literacy game with them? Put the game in the box with a note attached with the names of the students they will be playing with today.
If you’re looking for even more guidance and all of the printables shown above you can find them in my Parent Volunteer Pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
I hope you have gotten a few good tips to use for Getting Your Classroom Ready For Volunteers to start off a new successful year!
See you next time!
[…] Now that you have a ton of ideas of different ways to use your volunteers, make sure to check my post about how to get your classroom ready for volunteers. […]