Paxson parents create training videos

TOSA explains curriculum in videos designed to help out parents in classrooms

A new type of parent organization at Paxson Elementary is bringing 21st Century methods to their volunteer programs.

The Academic Support Team, a separate group from the PTA, works to:

Recruit volunteers and provide training
Provide in-school and afterschool enrichment opportunities to teachers and students
Match students with mentors
Foster student curiosity

To help teachers and parents become more comfortable with classroom volunteering, the Academic Support Team created two videos with the TOSA that cover some basics of math curriculum.

The videos — “Math Expressions” and “Math Drawings” — give volunteers a quick lesson in how MCPS teachers teach different principles of mathematics.

The videos are available on YouTube (accessible through the Paxson Academic Support Team webpage) and also for checkout on DVD in the school’s library.

The group also currently provides physical trainings in reading and behavior/small group management.

On top of using technology in training, Paxson’s Academic Support Team is using an e-mail alert system dubbed “Help Wanted” to spread the news of open volunteer opportunities to a large network of parents.

The Help Wanted ads create a mini job description of the duties and the current mailing list consists of about 100 parents. According to the Support Team’s webpage, 11 of 14 positions have been filled through the system.

The Academic Support Team has started working outside the box to create more opportunities for parents to get involved as volunteers and to support a healthy teacher/volunteer relationship through initial training.

To read more about the Paxson Academic Support Team, view the training videos and read Help Wanted ads, click here.