10 Ways to Rock your PTA.

1. TOP 10 WAYS
TO
YOUR PTA

2. In other words, work smarter. Make daily, weekly and monthly goals. Limit them, and
make them practical and achievable.
Next, start with most important goal and leave the easier ones for later as they
tend to go quicker and cause less stress. Remember, procrastination tempts you to
spend your energy completing low-priority jobs while the high-priority ones loom
dauntingly over your head.
Ease your own anxiety and check off those major tasks first from your list.
www.BelieveKids.com

3. How many of us attend meetings that unnecessarily go on for hours? Poor pre-
sentation planning, a lack of leadership, and—-- let’s face it—-- social chatter turn
PTA meetings into drawn-out time-suckers.
Designate a mediator to keep meetings flowing on schedule. Ask a secretary to
write down minutes. Limit open discussions. Finally, leave some time at the end
for everyone to catch up and munch on yummies.
Go ahead and chatter, you social butterfly, you. After all, the meeting is over.
www.BelieveKids.com

4. With other PTA members. With your children. With the school’s administration. With
the teachers. With the principal. The University of Texas at Dallas’s psychology de-
partment noted a few ways to build better relationships on their website. We can
definitely apply these tactics to PTA relationships:
1) Be yourself - Be confident and truthful when sharing your opinions.
2) Communicate - We’ve all heard about “I” sentences by now, so use them, and
avoid passive aggressive tendencies.
3) Resolve Conflicts - Compromise and get back to basics. Give a little, get a little.
4) Enjoy Each Other - Be humorous and adventurous!
www.BelieveKids.com

5. Binders with color-coded section tabs. Calendars. Email reminders. Highlighters.
To-do lists. Label-maker.
Problem solved? Maybe. But sometimes, we have all the tools but not the right
frame of mind. On her blog, professional organizer Lorie Marrero advocates for an
“organized mindset.” Give yourself permission, she says, to make mistakes, to let
some activities slide, and to fall a little short of perfection.
Phew. Now hand me that stapler.
www.BelieveKids.com

6. Less is more. In planning PTA events and activities and in every aspect of running your
PTA, keeping things simple may be the most important thing you can do.
Let’s just recap for a moment in really big, simple text:
Less is more!
www.BelieveKids.com

7. Divvy up the work. We know you were the one who always ended up shouldering
the entire workload in those high school group projects. But, no longer!
Others want to help, so let them!
Ease up on the reins and share that binder. Give members individual responsibilities
and something to own. Set a good example and then have faith in your colleagues.
You’ll get much more done as a group - go team!
www.BelieveKids.com

8. 7 USE TECHNOLOGY
Have you utilized Google docs, flash drives, and—-- don’t make us say it -- computers?
Hopefully, we don’t have to convince you that technology positively affects the organi-
zation and flow of parent group success.
But it extends further than internet research and Excel spreadsheets. Grab a camera
and share photos on Flickr or Photobucket. Capture fun videos and post them on You-
Tube. Technology offers you the chance to document good times and spread those awe-
some videos of the principal shaving his head all over the internet.
There’s so much amazing free technology out there, go ahead - tell your story!
www.BelieveKids.com

9. Facebook, according to its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, seeks to “help people connect and
communicate more efficiently.” And lucky for us, social networking sites like Facebook,
Twitter, and Foursquare do just that. With the creation of Facebook events, you hold the
ability to inform every single person on your friend list of upcoming activities in less than
five minutes. The days of handwritten letters delivered by horseback-riding curriers left us
years, decades—-- centuries -- ago.
So update your status, post fun pictures, and create e-vite invitations.
www.BelieveKids.com

10. For each fundraiser, activity and event, designate a historian.
Record attendance, dollars spent, profits made, and overall success rates. Jot down
helpful tips, examples of obstacles you faced and resources you counted on to solve
problems.
Make contact information sheets for every person involved. Then collect all your docu-
ments and organize them in a binder—for upcoming members of the PTA.
www.BelieveKids.com

11. 1) MANAGE TIME
Hopefully this one needs no real explanation. Just keep in mind that shared experi-
ences spark relationships. Fun memories make them last.
So order pizza for those late night PTA meetings. Take a karaoke break. Involve your
kiddos. Wear funny costumes. Have impromptu water gun fights.
And, please, by all means, share the evidence through photos, Facebook groups, and
victory parties.
www.BelieveKids.com

12. Building Relationships: Utdallas.edu/counseling/relationships
For Organizational Tips:
• Clutterdietblog.com
• RealSimple.com
• 365-days-of-organization.blogspot.com
• Orgjunkie.com
Personal learning network for school fundraising:
http://www.TheFundraisingPln.com
Believe Kids is an elementary school fundraising company. We produced this content because we care about helping schools succeed.
Find out more about Believe Kids Fundraising at www.BelieveKids.com
www.BelieveKids.com