Frequently Asked Questions - Volunteers
Helpful Links:
COT website: https://www.citizensoftomorrow.org/
Email us (operations@citizensoftomorrow.org) with any questions!
Absence Request Form: https://forms.gle/SLZVHWGTAjoyNTzSA
Class Picture Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScECuj852gOipnWAEzvE6R8om7CLaiSDiUjt7na3zADznOpbQ/viewform
COT Reversed Background: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zr_z3D1ui3qRuQ9xNygALg35vs2ukn5l/view?usp=sharing
1. What are English Corner sessions?
English Corner sessions are meetings held by high school volunteers with weekly designed slides to help students from all over the world improve their English communication abilities. We offer classes at the elementary, teenage, college, and adult level.
2. What do I do in a session?
Volunteers will follow the designed curriculum, which includes activities such as word games, vocabulary, discussion questions, would you rathers etc., and exchange conversations with students.
3. Who will attend the sessions?
Volunteers (2-5) and students will attend sessions weekly(with the exception of international holidays); administrators will also check in briefly in every session.
4. How do I know which session(s) I will attend each week?
Session schedules with volunteer names are listed on a spreadsheet that will be emailed out to all hosts and co-hosts a few days before the class along with the class slides.
We recommend volunteers to regularly check their emails for reminders from operations@citizensoftomorrow.org about their weekly class assignments.
5. What do I need to prepare before a session?
Before a session, volunteers should make sure their surroundings will not have excessive background noise as well as have a device with Zoom installed.
Volunteers should also treat each session seriously and not do other tasks such as schoolwork or checking social media during a session.
6. How do I know who’s the “host” each week?
The host lead for a session will be marked on the spreadsheet with the schedules for the week. Host leads will rotate each week so be sure to check the spreadsheet every week.
7. What do I do if I’m a “host”?
Host leads will receive an additional email informing them that they are host that week as well as the class slides and materials from curriculum@citizensoftomorrow.org. During the class session, hosts are in charge of leading the discussion and going through the weekly slide materials.
Host leads must also take a screenshot at the end of the meeting for attendance and submit it to the class pictures form (linked under helpful links at the top of this page).
Volunteers should keep the reversed COT logo as the background, zoom backgrounds are reversed so the image will appear right side up (linked at the top of the page) to make volunteers and students easily distinguishable.
If it is your first time hosting, please attend one of our monthly volunteer training sessions. Information about the next training session will be emailed to all volunteers monthly.
Any host lead changes and weekly class assignment notifications will be sent through the info@citizensoftomorrow.org email.
8. What do I do if I’m not the host?
If you are a co-host, please pay attention during class and help the host whenever necessary.
Volunteers should keep the reversed COT logo as the background, zoom backgrounds are reversed so the image will appear right side up (linked at the top of the page) to make volunteers and students easily distinguishable.
9. What do I do if my assigned time conflicts with my schedule?
Contact operations@citizensoftomorrow.org and notify us of the conflict. We will re-assign you to a different time slot based on your availability.
10. What if I have a technology problem?
Contact the host lead of the meeting and let them know about the issue, or email operations@citizensoftomorrow.org.
11. Where are sessions held at?
Sessions are all held virtually on Zoom, and links can be found in the weekly emails.
12. What should I do if a student refuses to speak or ignores me?
If a student refuses to speak after multiple kind requests, move on and ask another student instead. Keep in mind sometimes a student may be facing internet problems, bad sound quality, or simply need a translation/the question asked slower.
13. What should I do if someone who’s not a student, fellow volunteer, or administrator enters my session?
Double-check and make sure it’s not a student or co-host signing in with a different account or an administrator doing a check-in.
After checking, if a stranger really does happen to enter the meeting, hosts should kick them out of the meeting for safety reasons.
14. What should I do if a student misbehaves?
If a student is misbehaving, first kindly ask the student to stop the bad behavior; in the case where the student continues to misbehave, the host may mute the student.
If the student continues after multiple requests, notify an administrator or email operations@citizensoftomorrow.org after class about the issue.
15. What should I do if a session starts and people (or a majority of) are not there yet?
If a majority of students are not there yet, volunteers may either wait for the rest of the students or engage in a small conversation with casual questions (eg “something interesting you did this week?”) with the students that are present.
If students or co-hosts are not present at all after waiting 5-10 minutes, email operations@citizensoftomorrow.org to notify us of your problems.
16. What should I do if I must leave early or come late in a session?
Let the host of the meeting know if the delay or the early leave is for a small amount of time (10 mins max); otherwise, let an administrator know.
If you will not be able to attend your session that week, fill out the volunteer absence request form.
17. My school needs verification for my hours, who should I ask?
If your school requires contact information, put hourverifications@citizensoftomorrow.org.
18. How do I get a PVSA (President's Volunteer Service Award) award?
PVSA awards will be given after a volunteer has reached a certain amount of hours determined by their age bracket. (for more information, check out the PVSA tab of the CitizensOfTomorrow website or the PVSA official website)
19. Is there a maximum of hours I can receive?
There is not a limit to the number of hours volunteers may earn(as well as no limit to time slots volunteers can sign up for).
20. How do I know how many hours I have?
Every volunteer has a passcode to check their hours on the Citizens of Tomorrow website which is attached in all emails(from info@citizensoftomorrow.org) informing volunteers that they are host for the week. IT team is working on getting officer hours on the selfcheck tool as well (image below).
There is also a spreadsheet in which volunteers can scroll to find their name with detailed hours earned for each week
