Author: theelementaryteacherassistant

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Why you need to ask for help.

I want to create an army.

An army of parents and community members who each sacrifice a small portion of their weeks to help a teacher in their community.

I believe in educating the whole child. I also believe that educating the whole child is a group effort. Communities should care about how children are led, influenced, mentored, cared for, and taught. Why should communities care? Because these children are our future.

Somewhere out there is a toddler who will one day become a nurse. A nurse that will bring me my pills when I’m sitting in my nursing home, old and gray.

Somewhere out there is an elementary student who will be president and responsible for leading this country at a time when my great-grandkids are being born.

Somewhere out there is a middle schooler that will fly the plane that takes me to my 60th birthday vacation destination.

Somewhere out there is a high schooler who will become a teacher that will be responsible for teaching my child geometry.

The generations that follow are our future. There is no way around that. If we care about our future and the future of our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, then we need to be doing our part to set up a world in which our future selves and generations that come after us can thrive. I believe that one way that we can do that is by investing in the education of all children. It is a group effort.

So, today, I challenge you to get help. Not because you’re slacking as a teacher. Not because you’re lazy and don’t want to do the work. But because educating a (whole) child (or 20+ children) is not solely your responsibility. It is a combined effort. And in order to be effective, we must work together as a team.

Parents parent. Teachers teach. Coaches coach. But that doesn’t mean we can’t support each other in the work that we’re doing to create well-rounded youth. What does that look like practically? Below are some tips for reaching out to parents/community members for classroom help as well as a template to get communication started.

Tips for Effective Communication with Parents:

  1. Be open to collaboration. In order to successfully educate the whole child, be open to collaborating with the child’s parents, other teachers, coaches, etc.
  2. Clearly communicate your desire to collaborate. Unfortunately, there can be a lot of distrust between parents and teachers. I think that happens because people don’t assume the best. We assume that the other party isn’t working in the child’s best interest. So let’s not leave any of that up for assumption. Clearly communicate that you are working in your student’s best interest, you are not responsible for parenting, yet responsible for reinforcing parenting that happens at home, and that you are a trained educator with a set of skills that you use daily to help your students succeed.
  3. Assess your needs. Identify tasks that you can pass along to a volunteer. You’re more than likely not going to want a parent (unless they are a trained educator themselves) to come up with your unit plan for fractions. But what are the things that don’t require your expertise that a parent or community volunteer can do? Here are some ideas:
    • Make your lesson plan copies for you/Prep lesson materials
    • Organize classroom supplies
    • Set up/change out your bulletin boards
    • Tidy up your room at the end of the day
    • Read one-on-one with a student
    • Be a mystery reader
    • Lead a craftivity
    • Plan and help execute a holiday party
  4. Be explicit in your asks. Clear is kind. Communicate what your need is and how the volunteer can meet it. What does the task entail? What kind of knowledge/expertise is required? What is the time commitment?

I truly believe that there are parents out there who want to help you but just don’t know how to ask. I encourage you to open that door to communication and collaboration. Allowing a volunteer to take something off of your plate will free you up and increase your capacity to do what you love and do it well.

How to Ask for Help

Below is an idea and way to phrase your ask for help. In addition, I have also created an editable sheet you can use and send home in student backpacks!

Hi Parents!

This school year is off to a great start! We have already learned so many new and fun things and I am grateful to get to teach your children. I am also grateful that we get to work together to educate and grow your chidren this year.

On that note, I am looking for parent and community volunteers to assist me with some things in the classroom. This is for two reasons:

  1. I would absolutely love the help. 🙂
  2. I think there’s value in students seeing teachers and parents work together to provide an excellent school environment.

I have a wide variety of things that I would love to involve parents in, including, copying/preparing lesson materials, organizing classroom supplies, reading with students, and planning our holiday parties.

If you are interested in helping out in any capacity, please let me know! Whether you have 1 hour a week or 1 hour a month, I know there’s a way I can get you involved in what’s going on in our classroom, and I would love the help!

Sincerely,

Teacher

**PLEASE be sure to check your school/district guidelines concerning volunteers and make sure all volunteers fill out the necessary paperwork to volunteer at your school.

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Lesson Plans

The Lesson Plan Binder: Why you’ll love it and how to create it.

It is never too late to start fresh.

It’s so tempting in any role, but especially as a teacher, to have all of your systems, procedures, and processes set up prior to the start of the year. It is so much easier to put things into place ahead of time so that you can hit the ground running once students begin in your classroom. Let’s face it, it’s hard to uproot a system in your classroom once the school year is underway. It can be difficult to execute but also tiring to brainstorm. You’ve got a million other things on your mind, no?

But I am here to tell you that taking the time to reevaluate your system and start fresh can pay huge dividends, whether you make a change 1 month, 3 months, or 6 months into the school year. It’s simply never too late if you’re seeking to find a more efficient, more enjoyable way of doing things.

Scroll to the end to find a list of resources and supplies to start creating your own lesson plan binder.

The Lesson Plan Binder – what is it?

Let me start off by saying this: there is no 1 way to lesson plan. The systems you use in your classroom should work for you, including how you lesson plan. Now, depending on your school or school district, you may be required to create, display, and/or submit a specific kind of lesson format. If that’s the case, I still believe that the lesson plan binder could prove beneficial. Here’s why: The lesson plan binder is not for your principal or your superintendent. The lesson plan binder is for YOU. It’s a practical way to jot down and keep track of the daily activities you will do throughout your day and week. It’s an overview that you can have on your desk to easily go through subject by subject, day by day. Because this is a binder, it is designed to contain whatever you need it to contain (i.e. calendar, weekly plans, small group reading plans, curriculum standards, etc.) to make lesson planning (and execution!) easy and effective.

The Lesson Plan Binder – why you’ll love it.

  1. It’s cheap. All you really need is a binder and some dividers.
  2. It’s customizable. Not only can you include anything you want in your actual binder, but you can also adjust the lesson planning template to perfectly fit your needs.
  3. It’s neat and tidy. Removing old lesson pages as you go helps keep your binder looking and working neat, clean, and fresh.
  4. It’s a one-stop shop. Need to lesson plan over the weekend? Just grab your binder and go! Want to map out your next lessons during your faculty meeting? Easy, peasy!
  5. It sets your future self up for success. Upon removing previous lesson plans from your binder, don’t discard them. Keep them. You will thank yourself next year!

The Lesson Plan Binder – how to create it.

As I mentioned earlier, there is no one way to set up a lesson plan binder, which is again, one of the things I love most about it. In fact, I encourage you to try formats for a few weeks at a time to find what works best for you. If something is just not working, change it up until it does. The goal is to find something that’s efficient, enjoyable, and that ultimately works.

That said, here’s a guide for what to include to create your own lesson plan binder.

  • Year at a glance. This is super helpful to have as you think through content for the year. This can sit at the front of your binder so that it’s easily accessible if you need to look at dates you’ll be covering content.
  • Monthly pages. This is where you can map out exactly what you’ll be covering and when. It is helpful to see how many days you’ll be on a topic for each subject area, when your assessments will be, whether or not you have a field trip or special day planned during your unit, etc.
  • Weekly lesson plan pages. This is where you jot down what you’ll be doing every day for each subject area. This is what sits on your desk and outlines your entire week. It is the snapshot of your week that guides you from one thing to the next.
  • Small group reading plans. Since the binder is already open on your desk, it’s easy to plop down and flip to the section that has your small group reading plans for the entire week. (Unfamiliar with small group reading instruction? I’ll be doing a blog post on this in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!)
  • A copy of all of the resources for that week. This is something to do for your future self. When that week is over, simply pull all materials out of the binder along with your weekly lesson plan pages, place them inside a file folder, and file them away for next year.
  • Your curriculum standards. This makes lesson planning on the go super easy and is great to reference as you map out your lessons for the month.

I was first introduced to the lesson plan binder by a fellow teacher friend of mine. I saw what she created and thought it was brilliant, and I still think it is. It helped me tremendously, and I hope it can help you if you’re looking for a new way to plan.

xo,

Sara

Resources & Supplies

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10 FREE & CHEAP Ways to Show a Teacher Appreciation:

Teacher Appreciation Week is NEXT WEEK! Parents and guardians, this blog post is for you! Before I get started with the list of 10 FREE & CHEAP ways to show a teacher appreciation, allow me to provide one key (read: helpful, game-changing) suggestion:

Combine resources.

Parents, combine your resources. Your time, your money, your effort. Combine it. This allows for the biggest bang for your buck. Let’s look at the numbers:

Let’s say your child is one of 20 students in a classroom. If each parent is willing to contribute anywhere between $1-$10, that means you have at a minimum, $20 to shower your child’s teacher with love (and a maximum of $200)! This doesn’t even include the time or talents you can pull together from all of the parents to show acts of appreciation for your child’s teacher. What an impact you can make!

So, my first suggestion is to combine your resources. Request a parent/guardian list from your child’s teacher, and reach out with the idea of doing a group effort/gift. If other parents are on board, start brainstorming ways you can use your resources to love on your children’s teacher.

Alright, let’s get to the list:

10 FREE & CHEAP ways to show your child’s teacher appreciation:

1. Decorate classroom. Buy some simple decorations (you can even go with a theme, like tropical vacation), and decorate the teacher’s entire classroom, or simply decorate their classroom decor. You can even include sweet affirmations from students (past and present).

2. Teach a lesson/activity. Have a flexible schedule? Offer to come occupy your child’s teacher’s classroom for 30 minutes, so that the teacher can sit in the corner and grade papers, take a bathroom break that’s not rushed, enjoy a long lunch, or maybe take a power nap in the supply closet. 🙂 You could also simply come in to be a mystery reader. You can even have the teacher suggest or pick out a book and have it ready. All you need to do is show up and engage his/her students for a half-hour.

3. Offer to do paperwork. This can include making copies, prepping supplies for future lessons, or organizing graded papers. Send an email to your child’s teacher and let them know that you’d love to give an hour of your time to do administrative tasks. They’ll easily be able to come up with a list of things for you to knock out. And this can be done during school hours, before, or after. Just check with the teacher!

4. Order lunch. Not able to break away from work or other demands of the day? No problem. Order lunch from a local spot and have it delivered via a service like DoorDash.

5. Deliver flowers and a card. This can be done at any time! Attach a hand-written note of kindness to a bouquet of flowers, or a nice, low-maintenance plant. This will add some fresh beauty to any teacher’s classroom!

6. Bring coffee. Know your child’s teacher’s favorite coffee order? Grab it on your way to school drop off and deliver it with a smile. This is also a great thing to do in the afternoon. Everyone loves a good, caffeinated afternoon pick-me-up.

7. Gift office supplies. No one loves a good set of pens quite like a teacher. Make a gift basket with some fun, practical office supplies that every teacher needs (and usually buys with their own money).

8. Create an affirmation poster from students. You can either coordinate with parents of other children in the class or let this be the activity you do with the children when you volunteer your time (see idea#1).

9. Gift one of their favorite goodies. Show up with their favorite candy, snack, soda, a gift card to their favorite retail location, etc. Don’t know your child’s teacher’s favorites? Use one of the sheets linked here.

10. Start an online fundraiser. Teachers are always spending their own money on their students/classrooms. Even if your child’s teacher doesn’t need any more supplies for this year, she can always use the funds next year. Send the fundraiser details to coworkers, friends, family, etc., and see how much you can raise!

Now, remember my first suggestion up at the top? What if you could do ALL of these things for your child’s teacher during Teacher Appreciation Week?! That teacher would feel so loved and appreciated, and that’s what this coming week is all about!

Parents & guardians, I encourage you to really go the extra mile for the teachers in your life this year. They are so deserving of it!

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Teacher, I see all those hats you have on…

Teacher Friend,

There is nothing you cannot do. In reality, there is nothing that you don’t do. You are an instructor, a mentor, an advocate, a scheduler, a role model, a counselor, a cheerleader, a coach, an entertainer, a decision-maker, a caretaker, an encourager.

You do what many couldn’t bear to do. And you do it every. single. day.

You wear these hats daily and many of them all at once. What a weight that must be.

I wish I could tell you to simply remove those hats. I wish it were that easy. But it’s not. It’s impossible to serve as a teacher without also being all the things children and youth need at any given point in a 7-hour day.

But is that not the beauty of the profession? Is that not what you worked towards – spent countless hours studying, researching, and planning for? It’s all part of why you were drawn to the profession, but when you’re in it, the many hats you wear are so heavy that they crush the fire that made you excited to put them on in the first place.

Today, I encourage you to look at the beauty of wearing the hats you do. The responsibility you have to instruct, mentor, encourage, and fight for the next generation. Take some time today to adjust your hats. To allow yourself the freedom to take one (or all of them) off every now and then, even if only for a moment. Today, I urge you to remember why you became a teacher and let that motivate you to wear your many hats well. Your past self deserves that. Your present self deserves that. Your future self deserves that. And our future generations require that to be successful. Go help them be successful.

xo,

Sara

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Hello there!

Meet Sara, the Elementary Teacher Assistant:

Hi! My name is Sara. I am a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom to three little girls. I have been a resident of the great state of Virginia my entire life, and currently reside in Hampton Roads with my little family.

Whenever I find myself in conversations with people who ask about my career background, 9 times out of 10, I get asked the question, “would you go back?” Upon hearing that I hold a Master’s Degree in Education and that I only had a short, three-year teaching career, people often ask me if I would ever return to the classroom. It has only been within the last six months that my answer has been a resounding “YES!” I have been missing the classroom somethin’ fierce lately. While I hope to return to my first career at some point in the future, I know that now is not the right time for me or my family.

Shortly after finding out I was pregnant with my first, I began exploring other job opportunities. I did this for one primary reason: I knew that I didn’t have it in me to be the mother I wanted to be and the teacher I wanted to be at the same time. There are SO many amazing teachers who CAN do this and ARE doing this. But I felt, and honestly still do feel, that I cannot be the kind of mother I want to be for this part of my kids’ childhood and the kind of teacher I would like to be (and that my students deserve) at the same time. I just didn’t/don’t feel like I have the capacity for that.

And yet, I still miss the classroom. So, I created this space on the internet as a way to weasel my way into your classroom. I hope you’ll let me support you, encourage you, and provide you with some resources to help you do what you do best.

Teacher friend, you have a special place in my heart. I love you and love what you do. Thank you for teaching, counseling, carrying for, guiding, leading, supporting, and laughing with the next generation.

xoxo, Sara