Tutor E-News from Whatcom Literacy Council

Whatcom Literacy Council

June 2010

Vol 1, Issue 11

WLC Tutor

E-News

A monthly publication of

Whatcom Literacy Council

Greetings!

While things are starting off a little wet and gloomy for June, I'm hoping the sun will shine for us on Saturday, June 19, so we can enjoy the 11th Annual 5K Run/Walk for Literacy presented by Village Books and Fairhaven Runners. This family-friendly run is a fundraiser for WLC programs, and a really fun event regardless of your fitness level! We always have a lot of walkers and runners participating and there are prizes and drawings at the end. Also, for those of you with kids 10 and under in your life, there is a free kids' 1/2 mile run at 8:30, and prizes will be awarded to all participants!

If you are interested in participating in the race, you can pick up a registration form at Village Books or Fairhaven Runners, or you can register online at www.getmeregistered.com. Recruit your whole book group or service club to participate! It really is a fun morning and - as you know - it is for a great cause!

There is one last thing I wanted to mention this month. As I was looking over the list of tutors to whom we send this email, I realized just how many of you have been volunteering your time, talent and energy to our program for multiple years. I want to send an extra dose of gratitude out to all of you who have put in 2, 3, 4, or more years as a volunteer tutor - what an impact you have made on many lives!!

Thanks for all of your good work, and enjoy the June showers - oops, I mean flowers!

All the best,

Rachel Myers, Executive Director

In This Issue

Quick Links

Tutors - We Need Your Reports!

Just a reminder to all of you wonderful tutors that we need to receive a report from you each month to keep us up to date on how things are going with your learner. Please take a few minutes to click here and send us a report on all of the good work you do!

Monthly Tutor Primers

Tell your friends, colleagues and neighbors! Each month the Whatcom Literacy Council hosts a tutor information primer on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 5pm at the Bellingham Public Library.

Program Views by Gina Barrieau-Gonzales, Programs Manager

Gina 09

Welcome newly trained tutors! Spring training was well attended with possible record numbers. I can't imagine a better community from which to draw so many smart, well-trained and willing volunteers! Your coordinators will be working hard to find matches for you all. Please don't worry if it takes a while as summer tends to be the time of vacations and extended work hours, which means the hours of availability for matches are more limited. It could be as late as September or October before we can get you all matched. Please continue to inform your coordinators of any changes in your personal schedules.

Spring also brings with it the feeling of transitions and renewal. The small group classes are almost all coming to a close and I want to take a moment to thank those teams of facilitators who worked all year toward addressing individual goals within each small group and planning and implementing lessons toward that end. Thanks also to Intalco for their generous grant for giving our outreach classes a boost and recognizing that childcare is one of the essential elements that make those classes a success. This year we were able to reach out to many more parents of children in elementary schools which will have a positive impact on those entire families.

We are fortunate to have such willing and generous partners who provide classroom space and some resources. This year our partners located in Bellingham and Lynden include:
Sterling Meadows (Mercy Housing)
First Reformed Church
Roosevelt Elementary
Birchwood Elementary
Fisher Elementary

In addition, I'd like to thank our teams of facilitators/instructors who made those classes successful. As with all of our volunteers, your generosity and perseverance impact change on a personal, familial and community level. Finally thank you to all partners, tutors, staff and board members whose collective heart, spirit and smarts have kept WLC striving to improve our programs and reach out further to better meet the literacy needs of any and all adults requiring assistance!

The Tutor Toolbox by Summer Ostlund, ELL Coordinator

Goals set and met are such an important part of your work with learners. Learner goals help provide guidance to create relevant lessons that will assist an individual to reach success. As always, when I read tutor reports I am inspired by the number of hours tutors are logging each month and the great work and achievements learners are making. I'd like to share a few of the successes that were reported this month:

Learning English while on the job: One tutor encouraged a learner to use audio English language learning programs on his iPod so that learning can be expanded outside of tutoring sessions. The learner plans to listen and learn English through his iPod while he works as a night custodian.
Cross cultural connections: A learner has the goal to improve his English conversation skills. He is from Russia and enjoys discussing Russian history and politics. His tutor has enrolled in a Russian history class so he can have more background knowledge to expand discussions with the learner. They have reported having very stimulating conversations and the learner's confidence in listening and speaking has really grown.
Basic Computer Skills: With the help of laptops, many tutors report using sessions to share computer skills with learners. Crucial skills taught this month include setting up organizational folders, opening and saving documents, executing internet searches, opening e-mail accounts, tools for e-mail formatting, sending attachments, and applying for jobs online.

Goal setting may be difficult when a learner's goals are broad or vague. By helping a learner articulate their desires and set concrete goals you will help them progress and continue to be motivated.

This may mean breaking a large, long-term goal down into manageable chunks. For example, if the goal is for the learner to feel more confident and be able to e-mail her child's teacher, how can you break that down into smaller pieces? What is needed in order to do this? E-mail formatting, e-mail skills such as sending, saving a draft, etc., school-related vocabulary, typing and writing skills. Breaking these goals down into smaller steps will help a learner not to feel overwhelmed so that they can see success in the short term.

If you are wondering where to get started, it may help to ask questions related to the four skills of language.

Speaking/Listening: Where does the learner currently speak English? Where would the learner like to be able to speak English? Which places in the community are easy for the learner to communicate? Which are difficult? Is the learner able to speak English on the phone? When is it difficult? Are there sounds that are difficult for the learner to pronounce that are a barrier to communication?

Reading/Writing: What types of materials or what places in the community does the learner need to be able to read or write? What areas of reading are difficult for the learner - sounding out words (phonics), vocabulary, reading aloud, understanding texts? What areas of writing are difficult for the learner - punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, grammar, paragraph formation, or spelling?

Other goals may be related to community involvement or future plans. Is the learner interested in finding out more about community resources, the library, social services, etc? What are the learner's job-related goals? Would the learner like to continue their education in the form of a GED or other classes? Do they have computer related goals? What types of tasks does the learner need to complete related to their families' needs?

These tangible goals not only help give the tutor direction and are a format for the learner to succeed, but they also helps us here at the Literacy Council to be able to provide evidence of the work completed so that we can continue to support tutors and learners around the county. I want to sincerely thank you again for the amazing work that you do. If you have any specific questions about goal-setting with your learner please feel free to contact me.

The Run for Literacy is June 19!