Alicia Crandall of Missoula Aging Services works with Foster Grandparents and their supervisors. The Foster Grandparent program provides monthly trainings for volunteers. Based on a survey of Foster Grandparents, Crandall said Senior Corps volunteers requested training in:
Best ways to work with individual students
How to interact with students and classroom management
How to listen to a student read
Relating to students living in low income situations and building empathy
Confidentiality
Math curriculum
Autism and autism spectrum disorders
Dyslexia and learning disabilities/differences
Missoula Aging Services works to provide training their volunteers request, but teachers and volunteer supervisors can also ask any volunteer, not just a Foster Grandparent, what they could know more about to help them work better in MCPS schools.
December 29, 2010
Tips From Pros: Senior Corps volunteers request training
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.
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.
FRC Spotlight: Lowell center connects with families
Collaboration, awareness keep out-of-the-way FRC buzzing
The Lowell Elementary Family Resource Center may not be right through the front doors, but if you follow the signs and arrows around some corners and up some stairs, you’ll eventually find Kirstin Hill.
The FRC isn’t a large room, though the school’s Flagship program has an impressive amount of material stacked on shelves all the way up one side of the office.
A couch and a desk fill up the rest of the space where Hill, the school’s FRC specialist, works to increase parent involvement and collaboration.
Despite the tucked-away location, Hill has no trouble coming up with examples of activities parents get involved with at the school. Just at the beginning of December the FRC hosted a Families First program: “Helping Kids Manage Their Emotions”. More program topics, like “Introduction to Positive Discipline”, keep parents interested.
Aside from planning family and parent events, the Lowell FRC stays busy with daily duties as well. While Hill discusses the relationship with Families First, two students walk into the office, one in need of socks and the other looking for a winter coat to replace her autumn jacket. School staff and the students knew the items would be available through the FRC, and it’s awareness and collaboration Hill says is are important to the Center.
A relationship with the PTA, the teachers and staff and individual parents keeps even a tucked-away office busy.
“I feel like it’s important to work with the existing organizations — like the PTA. We kind of work toward the same things,” said Hill.
The Lowell Elementary Family Resource Center may not be right through the front doors, but if you follow the signs and arrows around some corners and up some stairs, you’ll eventually find Kirstin Hill.
The FRC isn’t a large room, though the school’s Flagship program has an impressive amount of material stacked on shelves all the way up one side of the office.
A couch and a desk fill up the rest of the space where Hill, the school’s FRC specialist, works to increase parent involvement and collaboration.
Despite the tucked-away location, Hill has no trouble coming up with examples of activities parents get involved with at the school. Just at the beginning of December the FRC hosted a Families First program: “Helping Kids Manage Their Emotions”. More program topics, like “Introduction to Positive Discipline”, keep parents interested.
Aside from planning family and parent events, the Lowell FRC stays busy with daily duties as well. While Hill discusses the relationship with Families First, two students walk into the office, one in need of socks and the other looking for a winter coat to replace her autumn jacket. School staff and the students knew the items would be available through the FRC, and it’s awareness and collaboration Hill says is are important to the Center.
A relationship with the PTA, the teachers and staff and individual parents keeps even a tucked-away office busy.
“I feel like it’s important to work with the existing organizations — like the PTA. We kind of work toward the same things,” said Hill.
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