I am just loving the discussion following yesterday’s post on knowing your strengths. With so many of you back to school already and others-like my family-heading back in the next week or so, the Yahoo! Motherboard is discussing back-to-school topics right now, and I thought this might be a nice opportunity to extend our conversation as well. Because there’s perhaps no time when understanding your strengths is as important as the beginning of a new school year.
Our back-to-school ice cream social is tomorrow night. You know the drill: there will be tables set up all over the school(s) (between my four school-aged kids, there’s three of ’em) with sign-up forms for volunteer opportunities: PTA. Band and Orchestra boosters. Concession sales. Classroom reader. And the list goes on.
If you’re like me, you have great intentions and a real desire to help out…but limited time. So how do you keep from signing up for a dozen volunteer gigs and then kicking yourself by the end of September? Knowing your strengths!
This year I’m going to go into that ice-cream social armed with a deep understanding of 1) what I’m good at, 2) what I want to do and 3) what I’m able to do right now. And I’m going to start by eliminating the things I definitely don’t want to do. For example, I’m going to avoid the PTA like the plague. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself from my experience in office jobs and at my kids’ last school PTA, it’s this: I hate meetings. I hate them with a white-hot passion. Sitting in a room with a lot of people arguing over whether to print the fliers in coral or mustard yellow is like my version of eternal damnation. So why torture myself? There are lots of other ways to help out.
I also won’t be cutting out shapes for my preschooler’s classroom. It’s not that I think I’m above cutting. It’s that I’m horrible at it. My shapes look like they were gnawed by horse’s teeth, and my hands cramp up and it’s just awful. Plus, I have a toddler who gets into everything. Hello! Not the job for me.
Concessions at sporting events? With kids of varying ages and a husband who has an irregular out-of-town work schedule, that’s not something I can commit to. So when the nice lady with the clipboard asks if I could be a pal and sign on, I’m going to smile graciously and say ‘No thanks’.
Now, Media Center assistant? That I can get into. A pre-set schedule during school hours, a system I understand (Dewey Decimal and I are good friends), helping kids use the Internet and cite research material? Yep and yep. I’ll also gladly sign on to read out loud to my son’s classroom…as long as it doesn’t involve any Dr. Seuss.
How about you? If you considered your strengths before signing on for school volunteer gigs, which ones would you choose…and which ones would you avoid at all costs?
P.S. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for my interview with Jen Singer.
P.P.S. In case you’re interested, my Media Kit is now available to view or download.
I now have 2 kids in public schools (4th and K) so I have to balance what very little free time I have carefully. With my twins entering preschool I have free time during the day to volunteer in my son’s K classroom, and am waiting to hear if the 4th grade teacher accepts volunteers. I do help on the PTA when I can but I can’t do too much more outside of school. I have other responsibilities as well, as my husband is on the Board of Directors for the hockey group our kids play through and I handle a good chunk of that work for him. I want to do it all, but know that I can’t, so I do what I can and what works well for our family.
I have been very careful to pick and choose how I volunteer at my son’s school. One of the first lessons I learned is that the need for money and volunteers is so great that the PTA will never stop asking so you have to be the one to draw the line. Last year, I volunteered in his classroom twice a month. This year I have taken on the communications job for the PTA. This basically involves updating the website and sending out emails — definitely one of my strengths.
So this is one I feel that I’ve gotten really good at. I am a person that people like to ask to do things – I’m a doer. But I have decided where my priorities are. Because I work from home, and only have one child, I have time to give to students. For instance, I still do primary reading groups, although my child is no longer a primary student. I help at track meets, and choir events, etc. I run the chess club in the winter term. I don’t do field trips. I attend meetings, but will not take a position of power on the PAC (PTA). I will always help with communication needs – typing letters, helping with comprehension tests, etc – because that is what I do. Last year I really put my foot down when I was asked to run for president of the PAC. I firmly said no, and I think a few people were surprised that I couldn’t be coerced into it. But no one stopped talking to me
Your characterization of the PTA does a disservice to the parents & teachers who volunteer their time to work on behalf our children. Unless your PTA is woefully pathetic and ineffective, I assume you’re attempting humor in your reference to endless meetings and arguing over the color of flyers. The PTAs with which I’ve been involved are responsible for organizing and staffing workers for virtually every volunteer commitment at the school — including jobs like Media Center Assistant. Without the PTA, (and given the dire financial status of public schools in many states), students would go without a host of enriching programs, activities and resources. It is perfectly acceptable for you to decide that this organization is not one with which you wish to be affiliated. But, I suggest you recognize the worthy work that PTA volunteers produce, and simply acknowledge that you are not willing or able to contribute the time or effort those roles entail, without denigrating those that do. My guess is that, in fact, you do volunteer for jobs coordinated by the PTA, and perhaps what you mean is that you are not interested in being an officer or assigned to PTA administrative tasks. This, however, describes only a sliver of the work performed by most PTAs.
Jacki, I apologize if I seemed to be denigrating the PTA. On the contrary, I think it’s a very worthy and necessary organization for all the reasons you point out. However, while my flier example may have been hyperbole, it’s really not that far off the mark from what my experience has been-NOT just in the PTA but in pretty much all boards & organizations I’ve been involved with. I’ve worked for a large medical organization run by highly esteemed physicians, for an arts council whose board members included some of the sharpest business people in the city, and an assortment of other diverse businesses, so I’ve sat in a lot of meetings, and I just don’t like them. The organizations (like the PTA) all do great things, but it takes a lot of haggling over details to get there…and yes, no matter how big the work the organization is doing, a lot of the details *are* administrative (after all, somebody has to make those decisions). I find this to be particularly true in organizations where there are a lot of willing volunteers (my school is fortunate to have an active and thriving PTA where there is a lot of involvement), and so, people who feel a lot of ownership over the organization, and who have a lot of opinions and ideas (and the time and energy to push them).
I think it’s just the nature of meetings in general. People want to be heard and to have their ideas and opinions on the table. Nothing wrong with that at all (after all, it’s how things get done) but at this point of my life, I don’t have the time or patience to be involved in planning and detail-oriented discussion.
I should have been more clear that I wasn’t trying to diminish the work of the PTA and other parent-teacher organizations, and again I apologize. And you are right that the reach of the PTA goes far beyond the meetings and administrative/officer duties, something I was remiss in not mentioning.
Thank you for this simple reminder. It seems like the most obvious approach in the world, but I can’t tell you how easy it is for me to forget my strengths (perhaps that’s because they’re somewhat limited!). My phobia of cutting (the perfectionist in me can’t handle the pressure…never could) and my frustration with meetings (I feel exactly the way you do, even in the corporate world) may limit my volunteer opportunities, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ll be sure to find something I’m good at and stick to it.
I hear ya on the entire post! I was a first time public school mom last year. 6 kids in two different schools. (we had Homeschooled till last year) so I was very into “imgoingtohelpdoeverythingeverywhere” and then realized thAt its NOT like homeschool!
I couldn’t bring my other two kids in with me to help out in classes. There might be two or three field trips on the same day, and I still had the babies.
As this year fast approaches, I have 3 different schools, and no Less kids.
They are just going to have to survive with out me. ?
Hi Megan —
This is our first year homeschooling, but I have 6 years of volunteering behind my back.
In kindergarten I learned that I don’t like volunteering at Field Day. Maybe because it was painful to watch my most decidedly non-athletic child, maybe because I’m not crazy about standing out in the sun or rain (in WA in May it could be either one).
By second grade I realized I don’t like volunteering at school-wide parties (Carnival, the costumed “Bear Scare” that just happens to occur right around Halloween, family dances, etc.).
By 4th grade I realized that while I did love preparing food for classroom parties, I didn’t like volunteering at them. They were either too regimented with activity stations for the kids to be pushed through (hence, not party-like at all) or too chaotic.
But all the way through, I loved checking over homework and tests and I loved volunteering in the library and I loved running and working shifts at the Scholastic Book fairs. I also liked doing the behind the scenes prepwork for big art projects. But that’s because I’m crafty and have great tools at home.
Matt’s 3rd grade year I was the parent coordinator for his class, which was tremendously fun, but I think it was only because I was lucky enough to have a great group of parents. There was very little drama that year.
lisabelle
We’re testing the waters of the public school system for the first time this year and one thing I know about myself is that I tend to jump into new things all the way. I don’t just test the waters. I drown myself by saying yes to everything. I’ve tried to be aware of that as we adjust to the new school year and remember that while I can do some things, I certainly can’t do everything.
My oldest is in her last year of college and I have one in 10th grade, 2 starting 1st grade and a 1 year old and i am pregnant again.
I volunteered a lot more with my two older ones. Last year my twins were in kindergarten and my oldest son started high school and with a brand new baby I was really limited in what I could do. I noticed that being involved in the classroom and the school gives you good insight into both and that teachers know whose parents are involved and those kind of things follow a kid through-teachers talk. And the teachers know whose parents are never seen!
I, too, tend to shy away from things that involve meetings. My son’s high school has parent coffee meetings and I tend to avoid those as well. I don’t really want to hang out with other parents.
Last year I was able to lead a Junior Great Books session once a week with about 6 fifth graders. I was only able to help out in the classroom about 2 times besides halloween and christmas parties. I like working with the kids and doing hands on sort of helping.
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