Monday Made It- Volunteer Binder



 

I finally made it! I am joining Tara's Monday Made It today. I have lots of ideas floating in my head and finally I can check off an item on my to do list. I revamped my Dividend (Parent Helpers/Volunteers) Binder. Here is a picture of my original. It's hard to see the faded line up of turtles- my classroom theme from over 3 years ago.

 

Totally needed some help here!!

At the beginning of the year, I recruit parent helpers. The week before they are allowed to come, I schedule a Dividend Meeting with them. (Dividend is the term my county uses to describe a volunteer in the classroom.) Typically I schedule one meeting in the morning and one in the afternoon, so that my volunteers can choose which is most convenient for them. At the meeting, I go over my expectations, procedures, supplies, and ideas of helping children. This is also a time for my new dividends to ask questions and get an idea of what they will be doing in the classroom. It also gives me an idea of what a volunteer is comfortable in doing.

 

I keep the binder in a bucket at a parent table in my classroom. The bucket usually contains ziplock bags with templates and instructions to help prepare projects, a tying shoe book so students can practice tying, tutorial games to play with individuals, and predictable readers with directions to support beginning readers. The binder is set up with a weekly schedule at the beginning. Following are pages of tips and procedures to help volunteers remember what to do. There is a section for each day, so that my dividends can flip to that day and read my notes.

 

 

Here is an example of notes I write to a dividend.

It is nice to have this binder, as it helps me build routine with my dividends and they can come into the classroom with little interruption. I also love it for when I am absent. My dividends know what to do and need little assistance.

 

Here are some pics of my new Dividend Binder.

 

This is the new cover.



 

 

On a different note, I am trying to figure out what type of plant this is that we bought yesterday. Any ideas? My husband thinks hibiscus, which at first I did not think so because of the way the blooms hung down like bells.

 

 

Here is a worthwhile donation drive created by Lisa at Learning is Something to Treasure. Tears at my heart strings...