ADULT BASIC LITERACY NEWS
May 2016

Links:
Tutor education & events
Registration is now required. Please click here to register for all opportunities.

Language Experience Approach (LEA) Strategy Session
10:00 - 11:30 am
Wednesday, May 4
         OR
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Thursday, May 12

Refresher Training
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Friday, May 6
         AND
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Friday, May 13

Math Foundations
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Friday, May 20

Writing Foundations
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Monday, May 16

Reading Foundations
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday, May 18

Click here for the Tutor Education page of the website.
New Resource
Do your adult learners struggle to understand the election process? New Readers Press has a FREE Voting Guide available for download. Contents include Reasons to Vote, Registering to Vote, Vocabulary, and more.

vote! 
Help Wanted
Library Assistants
Would you or someone you know be interested in helping out in our lending library at the start of the school year?

We need individuals who would enjoy greeting and helping other coaches and tutors independently. Training is provided! Please contact Violet at library@literacyconnects.org to find out more.

girl_pile_of_books.jpg  

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."

Getting  onto the freeway is scary enough, but when you're at one of those spots that just doesn't have enough on-ramp to get up to speed, it's downright dangerous! I did that the other day and it was incredibly frustrating! I felt like everyone was honking, already at full speed, and my poor Prius is doing its best to hit highway speeds as fast as possible (while maintaining fuel efficiency, of course). Call me magnanimous that I didn't honk back, but I hate those ramps. I hate the feeling of being behind, in the way, too slow.

The ABL program uses the on-ramp analogy to describe what we do for our adult learners. We're the on-ramp, not the destination. We help people get up to speed so they can join the next class or the job training or the promotion. Sometimes it needs to be a long on-ramp to gain enough momentum, but that's okay. As long as we get up to speed and hit the highway fully prepared.

Our Reading Seed kids need an on-ramp, too. They might already feel the pressure of being "too slow" or "in the way" or getting left behind. They just need a longer on-ramp--more read-alouds, more really good books, more time with a trusted friend who won't judge them. It's okay. As long as we get up to speed.

Just today, I realized that this work is an on-ramp for people, too. I've written several reference letters this year for former volunteers who are starting new jobs or graduate school programs. One man tutored for a year and a half before moving away almost five years ago. This spring he emailed me to request a letter for graduate school admission. His work with adult learners was the on-ramp to a new field of study. "A part of the inspiration to enter these programs was the incredible experience I shared with (my student) in seeing her get her driver's permit, voter registration and read her first novel...It demonstrated to me the importance of improving individual and group social welfare through direct practice in the form of tutoring." Another former tutor was just accepted to graduate programs in business and finance with the hopes of working in community literacy programs or nonprofits that teach financial and business literacy and work for social justice. Their experiences shifted their perspectives and goals and became the on-ramp to new pursuits. I feel proud to have had a part in that.

Next time you merge onto the freeway, think about how much speed you have to attain in a short amount of time, and how grateful you are for long on-ramps ... and patient drivers around you.

Thank you for providing safe on-ramps for our learners.

~ Edie
Director, Basic Literacy Programs
(520) 882-8006 x 203
Scholastic Book Fair

 
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