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Overcrowding solutions needed
healthy11 December 23, 2009
I'm not quite sure if I understand what you're asking, but it gets into a very touchy area when you have volunteers trying to teach or to discipline children in any classroom.
What grade level are you most concerned about? I think volunteers tend to be more effective in the younger grades, where, for example, a teacher might have groups set apart by reading or math abilities. While they're instructing one group of children, another cluster is working on assignments under the watchful eye of volunteer parent, who can answer basic questions.
By the time kids are in middle and high school, the switching of teachers, etc. often causes chaos between classes, so volunteer hallway monitors can keep the general crowded environment a bit calmer, but as far as actual classroom instruction, it's hard to use unqualified volunteers.
Again, I don't know what grade level you're talking about, but perhaps for the older kids, if there is any kind of "tutoring center" where kids can go for extra help during study hall periods, or instead of eating lunch, then maybe having volunteers available there in the daytime or after school hours is an option, which would free up time that teachers might otherwise be spending.
As it is, volunteers where I'm at require police background checks in order to enter the school and work with the kids, so that's another consideration.35006
