TLC Monthly Webinar for Tutor Coordinators

TLC Monthly Webinar for Tutor Coordinators May 10, 2012 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Agenda • Refresher on use of webinar platform, Collaborate • Assisting volunteer tutors with the content of instruction • Reading • Writing • Sharing • Next TC webinar – DATE CHANGE: June 20, 2012, 1:00–2:00pm

Navigation of Collaborate • To talk… • To type… • To note approval, etc… • Raise hand… • Yes/no

Assisting Tutors with the Content of Instruction • Topic chosen as a result of survey completed by Tutor Coordinators • Specific questions? • Identifying needs of learners • Assessment Strategies and Reading Profiles: http://lincs.ed.gov/readingprofiles/index.htm • Tutor support

Encouraging Reading Practice • Ensure that your learner understands the importance of reading practice through frequent discussions. • Help your learner figure out a time and a place to practice. • Help your student identify and access reading material at the independent level. • Remind your student to use fix up strategies when encountering difficult words or when comprehension breaks down.

Helping People Learn to Read • Provide models, allow learners to see others read or have others read to them. • Have a purpose for reading and learning. • Reinforce the learner’s confidence in his or her ability to learn. • Have access to interesting, stimulating reading materials. • Provide support and encouragement as well as reinforcement from others. • Teach reading skills.

Techniques for Teaching Reading to Low Level Adult Readers - Activity The goal is to create a lesson to use with the learner whom you tutor. As you develop your lesson keep the following things in mind: • On what component(s) of reading do you want to focus? • decoding • fluency • vocabulary • comprehension • What SMART goal does the learner have that is connected to the purpose of this lesson? • What is/are the measurable objective(s) for your lesson? • At the end of this session, the learner will be able to … • What strategy or strategies will you use to teach the skill? • What materials will you use to present this lesson? • How will you directly teach the skill(s) and present it/them in a variety of manners? • How will you provide direct, intensive instruction that actively engages the learner? • Have you included guided practice in the lesson? Have you included independent practice? • Have you allowed for multiple opportunities for the learner to practice the skill? • How will you present the task in parts and then put it back together? • How will you demonstrate to the learner that this is an important skill to learn? • Have you allowed for reflection time at the end of the session to discuss the effectiveness of the lesson?

Helping People Learn to Write • Provide models, allow learners to see others write. • Have a purpose for writing. • Reinforce the learner’s confidence in his or her ability to learn. • Use many examples of writing, show different kinds of writing used for different purposes. • Provide support and encouragement as well as reinforcement from others. • Teach writing skills.

Helping People Learn to Write • Those with good verbal communication skills may be frustrated with their writing abilities because they are not able to write at the same level at which they can talk. • Writing is an expressive language which requires recall, unlike reading which is a receptive language, requiring recognition. • Writing is a more difficult task than reading so weak readers usually avoid writing. • Students with weak spelling skills may have difficulty choosing a topic to write about because they look for something with words that they can spell.

Real Life Applications for Writing • Writing checks • Paying bills $ Making a grocery list $ Writing a phone message $ Leaving a note to someone $ Filling out an application $ Completing a form $ Requesting information $ Writing a letter $ Sharing thoughts

Techniques for Applying Writing • Make a list • Language experience stories • Write an advertisement • Do an advice column • Create a bedtime story • Give directions • Write down a dream • Predict a weather forecast • Free writing • Paraphrasing • Write a journal

Online Support for Tutors • Reading and Writing Wiggio, facilitated by Dianne Baycich: http://adultedreadingwriting.wiggio.com • The Writing Center, Capella: http://www.capella.edu/writingcenter/index.aspx • ProLiteracy’s EdNet Online Courses: http://www.proliteracyednet.org/pages.asp?pid=3 • Writing Lessons: http://home.cogeco.ca/~rayser3/writing.htm • Tutoring Adult Learners Using the Internet • Reading Section: http://sites.google.com/site/tutoringandtheinternet/home/reading • Writing Section: http://sites.google.com/site/tutoringandtheinternet/home/writing • Low Level Learner Sites: http://sites.google.com/site/tutoringandtheinternet/home/low-level-learner-sites

Highlights and Challenges • Please share highlights of your past month. • Are you facing any challenges for which you would like input from your peers?

Thank you! Next Tutor Coordinator Webinar Wednesday, June 20, 1:00 – 2:00 pm (please note this is a date change, June 20 is the correct date)

TLC Monthly Webinar for Tutor Coordinators