Some classroom volunteers need or want help developing group management skills that are appropriate for the classroom. I feel strongly that all members of our classroom community should come away from their day feeling they've moved ahead on their own learning agenda and contributed to the learning of others. I want adults in the classroom to feel the same way give and take, not just give. I want classroom volunteers to feel that they are coming away with something and classroom visitors to feel that they've left us with something. See the attached list of Classroom Volunteer Opportunities that I share at Curriculum Night.
Field trips are a wonderful component of our classroom learning.
We are very fortunate to be in a district where buses for field trips are easy to come by and where field trip destinations abound. We generally take a field trip once a month. I've worked over the past few years to design our field trip experiences so that the children can work in small groups whenever possible. This requires that our field trip volunteers serve as small group leaders. See the attached example of Field Trip Notes for Volunteers.