I will find out when we are allowing volunteers into our schools as we would love to have you. 🙂
–School Principal, February 11, 2021
This is the response I received from a middle school principal after asking if I could help with reading development at her school recently. Children have been out of their traditional classroom setting for almost a year now. Has the volunteering game changed too? I can substitute at a school, but I cannot volunteer at one.
Years ago, before becoming a full time high school teacher, I volunteered at a middle school in Loveland two days a week. I worked exclusively with four students, identified by a teacher, who were behind in their reading development. I tested them on their ability to recognize sight words, brought in materials for them to make their own flash cards, and brought in fun reading materials, like Shel Silverstein poetry, to read out loud with me. We worked one-on-one and we saw results.
Literacy has always been a passion of mine. My thinking is that if you can read well you can do anything.