Volunteer Hours

• How do I get a volunteer hours form signed?

  The Schoolhouse team receives several requests to sign/verify volunteer hours everyday. To help us complete these in a timely manner, we’d love it if you could complete the following instructions carefully. Step 1: Sync your volunteer hours Please click on "Load Recent Activity" on the Volunteer Hours Tracker to ensure all automatically tracked hours are updated. See FAQ here. (https://schoolhouse.world/faq/en/article/why-are-my-volPopular

• What are the volunteer hour policies in subworlds?

  Here are common questions about volunteer hour policies that are specific to the subworlds part of Schoolhouse. To learn more about volunteer hours as a whole, please visit your Volunteer Hours Tracker. Can I receive volunteer hours for answering questions in subworlds? Which subworlds can I receive volunteer hours in? (/en/article/which-subwoPopular

• How do I get volunteer hours for tutoring?

  You can get volunteer hours for tutoring, volunteering on Schoolhouse teams, and more. See here: https://schoolhouse.world/tutor/volunteer-hoursSome readers

• Is Schoolhouse a PVSA (President’s Volunteer Service Award) organization?

  Yes, Schoolhouse is an eligible organization for the President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). To submit a request for the award via Schoolhouse, please complete this form. We review requests on a monthly basis so please complete your request in advance of your due date to allow time for our team to process. The PVSA has specific criteria for qualified individuals. As of November 2023, the criteria for this award are: United States citizen or laSome readers

• Which subworlds can I receive volunteer hours in?

  Please review this FAQ to learn more.Some readers

• Can I receive volunteer hours for answering questions in subworlds?

  The Schoolhouse team is not granting volunteer hours for answering questions or responding to posts asynchronously in subworlds. These activities are harder to accurately track time-wise. That said, answering questions in subworlds is still one of the most impactful things you can do for learners. It can also lead to you offering Zoom Help or creating a following of learners who will sign up for your sessions/series, both of which can count for Volunteer Hours (https://schoolhouse.world/tutor/vFew readers

• What are the general guidelines for tracking volunteer hours?

  The general guidelines for tracking volunteer hours on Schoolhouse are as follows. Full details can be found on the Volunteer Hours Tracker. You are responsible for accurately reporting your volunteer time. Inaccurate reporting or intentional deception may result in being permanently removed from the platform. In an extreme case, Schoolhouse may reach out to your school to inform them that your hours were falsified. The Volunteer HourFew readers

• What counts towards volunteering hours?

  Please review the guidelines included on the Volunteer Hour Tracker.Few readers

• What are the volunteer hour tracking guidelines for session prep?

  Overall Limit 45 minutes is the overall limit for session prep time. For example, if you create both a slide deck (taking 30 mins) and an assessment (taking 30 mins), you may track a maximum of 45 minutes, not 60. This is because it’s important for the majority of your community service hours to be spent directly helping learners in your sessions. We want to encourage tutors to focus more on actual tutoring and personalizing sessions to focus on learners' needs as opposed building lectuFew readers

• Where can I register my volunteer hours?

  You can do it on our Volunteer Hours Tracker! Please read and follow all the instructions on the page to avoid issues and have your hours verified quickly. The tracker can be accessed through the quick links on your dashboard or by clicking on the graduation cap on the left.Few readers

• Can I receive volunteer hours for hosting community events or study spaces?

  Volunteer hours are not given for study spaces and community event sessions/series hosted in any subworld. While still important, volunteer hours are reserved for sessions/series focused on academics. We encourage you to host community events and study spaces even though you won’t receive volunteer hours for them.Few readers

• Who do I contact to request a formal letterhead for volunteer hours?

  If you need a summary of your volunteer hours on Schoolhouse's letterhead, please click on the "Report Hours" Button on the Volunteer Hours Tracker and select "Downloadable Report" from the available options. Related: How do I get a voFew readers

• Can you delete an activity from your Volunteer Hours PDF?

  No, you are not able to. The purpose of this is so there is a concrete record of that session on the tracker. Having a hiding option may be possible to implement in the future, however, fully deleting activities would make things more difficult on the Tutoring Operations side when they are helping tutors deal with volunteer hours issues.Few readers

• Who should I put as a contact on my volunteer forms?

  Please read this FAQ on how to get your volunteer hours form signed and the contact information you can include.Few readers

• What is Schoolhouse's Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)?

  Schoolhouse.world's Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) — also known as non-profit code or tax code — is 85-3101725.Few readers

• How long should I wait to get volunteer hours approved?

  Manually submitted volunteer hours can take up to a month to be reviewed. At times, it may take longer due to backlogs. If it has been a substantial amount of time since you've submitted your hours and/or you need to get hours signed off in a timely manner, feel free to reach out to someone on the Tutor Operations team to help you out. More information about manually submitted volunteer hours can be found on the Volunteer HFew readers

• Why are my volunteer hours not updated even after I've hosted a session?

  If you don’t see volunteer hours for a session you hosted, it could be due to the following reasons: Your session was not eligible for volunteer hours (Learn more here) No learner was present in your session You haven’t refreshed your recent activity — Please click on “Load recent activity” on the volunteer hours tracker (https://schoolhouse.world/Few readers

• Which activities on the Schoolhouse platform are automatically tracked for volunteer hours?

  Volunteer hours will be tracked automatically for the following activities on the Schoolhouse platform: 1. Hosting a session When you host a session, you automatically receive volunteer hours equal to the total duration for which learners were present in your session. This excludes sessions: a. In the topics: Study Spaces and Community Events b. In the Subworlds: Enrichment, Schoolhouse Moderators, Schoolhouse Tutors, and Schoolhouse Hub. If yFew readers

• Why isn't the website letting me log my prep time for a session?

  If you're unable to see your session in the session prep modal, it could be because of the following reasons: If you've tracked prep time for a session already, you can't track it again. You can't track time for sessions happening in the future - please log those after the session has occurred. You can only track session prep for sessions that are also eligible for volunteer hours. Please read this FAQ (https://schoolhouse.world/faq/en/article/which-activities-on-the-schoolhouseFew readers

• Which activities can I manually log volunteer hours for?

  Volunteer hours for the following activities can be logged manually: 1. Preparing for sessions To submit volunteer hours for time spent preparing for sessions, please follow the guidelines included in this FAQ. Volunteer hours for session prep can only be submitted after the session has been hosted. If you're unable to see your session in the "Relevant Session" dropFew readers

• How do I join volunteering teams?

  As a tutor on Schoolhouse, you will be able to join our slack community where you can communicate and interact with other tutors! We have a channel (shw-volunteer-opportunities) that specifically gives tutors updates of any positions of teams that are open and available. If you're not sure if there are any positions open, ask in the channel and someone will get back to you! You can also join official Schoolhouse volunteer teams by submitting an application on the Volunteer Hub (https://schooFew readers

• Can I receive a letter of recommendation from the Schoolhouse team for my volunteer work?

  We value the dedication of our volunteers and understand the importance of recommendation letters. However, due to volume of requests and our belief that letters of recommendation should be written by people who know you well and have personally evaluated your work, we regret that we can't fulfill the majority of requests. While our general policy is not to provide letters of recommendation, there may be rare circumstances where a product team member has personally worked with a volunteer andFew readers

• How do I know if I qualify for an official volunteer team?

  Each volunteer role will have unique eligibility requirements tailored to its responsibilities and objectives, which you will see under the unique application for that role. There are, however, some universal guidelines that we consider when reviewing applications for volunteer roles beyond tutoring: AppFew readers

• What are the different volunteer teams at Schoolhouse?

  At Schoolhouse, there are official and unofficial volunteer teams. Official teams are groups of volunteers who are in direct coordination with the product team to carry out a specific goal that is essential to the success of the organization. We currently have eight official volunteer teams, which you can read about here and on our Volunteer Hub. All teams without a supervisor from the product tFew readers

• What tutoring rubric do you use to peer review sessions?

  To peer review sessions, you use the MARS Dimension rubric we have set. This includes the following categories: Mastery - Conveys a deep understanding of material Active Learning - Checks learners’ prior knowledge, adapts tutoring based on learners’ response, continuously engages learners (please note: this may happen through private Zoom DMs, which you will need to notice based on text), and confirms learners’ progress Respectful Community - Strengthens learners' confidence (only applicabFew readers

• How do I apply for official volunteer teams?

  Applications for official volunteer teams will typically become available during our bi-annual recruitment cycle. During this time, you’ll find applications directly on the Schoolhouse website (through the Volunteer Hub) and in the shw-volunteer-opportunities slack channel.Few readers

• How do I increase my peer reviewer level?

  You'll increase your peer reviewer level by giving out great feedback consistently. Not sure what that means? Check out " What makes a great peer review? ". Feel free to also check out our peer reviewer growth path for more insight into the different peer review levels. Advice for increasing your peer reviewer level: Don't focus on increasing your level! Focus on bFew readers

• What is different about the new peer review system?

  In the September peer reviewing update of 2022, we introduced a new, more detailed session feedback form that allows us to give tutors richer, more actionable feedback. We also opened the system up so everyone at Schoolhouse who has run at least 5 sessions can start to peer review. Finally, we changed the form you get after attending a session so that all session attendees share feedback as a learner, instead of having the option to peer review—this is because the new session feedback form is muFew readers

• When do official volunteer teams recruit?

  Recruiting and onboarding cycles for volunteer teams occur twice annually: October to December and April to June. Teams have the flexibility to recruit for volunteer roles outside of the standard recruiting cycles as needed. In such cases, the volunteer's term will align with the next available six- or twelve-month cycle, ensuring that no term exceeds twelve months in duration.Few readers

• How does my peer reviewer level affect what I can do?

  Your peer reviewer level will affect how often your session reviews get checked or double-reviewed. Coaches will give peer reviewers feedback and help determine their peer reviewer level. You can learn more here.Few readers

• What type of training do volunteers on official teams get?

  Volunteers on official teams will have a 30 day onboarding period, in which they’ll review the volunteer handbook, complete role-specific onboarding tasks, and attend an optional onboarding session. This process for unofficial teams should be similar to this.Few readers

• Can I count peer reviewing sessions towards community service hours?

  Yes! You can track up to half an hour per session you review. As you review sessions, you will have the opportunity to confirm how much time you spent on each review, which will get automatically added to your volunteer hour tracker. It is up to you to track the time you actually spend; don't simply track 30 minutes each time. You are liable to get peer reviewed to ensure that your reported hours align with how much time you spent peer reviewing. Deceptive reporting of hours will be escalateFew readers

• How long are official volunteer team terms?

  Volunteer terms typically last for either six or twelve months but could vary depending on the needs of the team.Few readers

• How often should I peer review?

  You can review sessions as much or as little as you'd like based on your schedule. There is no obligation! We recommend aiming to reviewing 1-2 sessions per week to supplement your tutoring and learn new skills.Few readers

• What should I do if I received a peer review that doesn't seem fair?

  If you receive and peer review that doesn't seem reasonable: don't worry! Reflect on whether you can learn from it, share your feedback about it with the peer reviewer, and keep moving on. Peer feedback can be subjective and it only gives one tutor's perspective about one of your sessions. This is why we use lots of peer reviews, from tutors of all different experience levels, as one of many metrics to understand your effectiveness as a tutor. If you received a peer review from a novice orFew readers

• What is NPS? What does "In Low NPS Series" mean when peer reviewing?

  NPS stands for Net Promoter Score and it is a metric used to better understand a range of things. Here at Schoolhouse, NPS helps us understand general learner satisfaction of a session. While peer reviewing, you may come across a "In Low NPS" flag on a series. That means that the tutor is most likely not recommended by learners. Since NPS is used as aFew readers

• Do tutors know I was the one who reviewed their session?

  Yes! Tutors will see your name and tutor profile and have the opportunity to Slack you if they have any follow up questions.Few readers

• Can I peer review myself?

  Right now, we don't allow you to review your own sessions. However, we hope to release a feature that allows you to self reflect on your sessions down the line! Please stay tuned.Few readers

• How do I review non-traditional (enrichment or community) sessions?

  You can leave sections labeled as N/A if you need to! For example, "Checking for prior understanding" is probably not relevant for a game night. You can use your best discretion.Few readers