From A to Z: Weekly Treasures

In my ongoing quest to know as much as I can about the world of Adult Literacy, I have uncovered more thoughtful and insightful blogs and articles on the subject. Enjoy!

A. From Suite101.com, this blog written by Jacqui Taylor, a literacy tutor in the UK, is about one of my newfound biggest pet peeves. Finding good reading material for adult literacy students.

b.

From the Richmond Confidential website out of Richmond, CA, this article describes a great new program being started by LEAP. The Literacy for Every Adult Program received a grant to start an adult computer literacy program geared to helping adults learn about all that the WWW has to offer.

C. Watch this very cool video clip from the blog of Eva Gilliam, a videojournalist in Africa. This short documentary describes how adolescents in Mozambique are helping to combat adult illiteracy.

d. From a blog spot on the ReadingHorizons at home website, find out about some great new resources for using technology in tutoring adults.

e. Amazing article about a man who learned to read and write at the age of 98. “And he got out his pen and started writing his name. He had never written his name before.” From the Ann Arbor Chronicle website.

A must read!

F. From the American Observer a piece about the state of adult illiteracy in Washington DC. The numbers are staggering, especially the contrast between white and black residents.

G. We have all heard about the tragic events that took place in Tucson, AZ, but did you know that Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) is a supporter of Adult Literacy and is actually a member of the House Adult Literacy Caucus. I learned this from the sympathy statement posted on the ProLiteracy website.

In this Associated Press photo, mourners and supporters gather near a memorial in front of the University Medical Center in Tucson.

h. We all know adult illiteracy is a very serious problem especially since funding is being cut everywhere we look. Crying won't help, so we might as well laugh. From the Canadian show This Hour Has 22 Minutes here is a funny clip to help us all keep our sense of humor.

Tutoring Is Not For The Weak at Heart

Yes I know it’s been a while since I have posted anything. Frankly I have been just too busy to do anything but the absolute necessary; sorry to say the blog was not absolutely necessary especially during the holidays.

I did get matched with a student, about a week after my last post. I was really excited when I found out, I mean I had been waiting for a while, but I was also really nervous. Let me introduce you to D: She is a young woman, 26, she was born and raised in the states and graduated high school with a special degree. So she is a basic literacy student which is what I requested after training. I really like her, she is sweet and energetic, and seems motivated.

We have met 4 times so far, first time we met in a coffee shop, I told her about my family and I asked her about her life and what her dreams in life are. She really wants to become independent and have a good job, and help to take care of her family. She signed up for an online course to become a masseuse, she has to finish by June 2011 or she will miss the deadline. Here is the reality, she can’t read the workbook. This workbook they sent is written on a college level and she is reading at a 3rd grade level. Also, the course she signed up for is to learn massage techniques, she won’t be a certified masseuse at the end of this course. I tried to explain this to her, but she is determined to finish the course and then look for a job after. I am still getting to know her so I don’t want to be too pushy. I am taking it week by week.

I decided to start simple; I pulled a book from the library called The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis. It is a bit above her level, written on a 6th grade level. But it is a good starting point because the story is interesting for her. I had her read the first few pages at our last session. She did so much better than when she was trying to read that workbook. And she laughed at the story; I was so excited when I heard her laugh. Success, I picked a book she likes. I say that because the week before I had picked a book of Haitian folk tales for her to read (her family is from Haiti) and she was NOT impressed.

I have had her working on building her sight word base. I have a strong feeling that she might be dyslexic, and the best thing for her at this point is to just learn as many sight words as possible. It may not help with her writing, but at least she will be able to read more fluently. Words like Possibly, Discuss, Distribute, Explain, Diagnose, Describe, Negative are among the flashcards I created for her. We go over them every week, and I have her practice writing them as well. I am trying to follow the tutor training as much as I can but basically I am playing it by ear. I stressed about our meetings so much in the first few weeks. I read tons of manuals and researched ideas on websites, it is so much information to decipher and I usually have very little time to go over it all. So the best thing is to try what I have learned, if it doesn't work then I will try something else.

Some lessons I have learned so far:

1. Make sure you have a well defined lesson plan, but be prepared to change it, especially in the beginning. Some things you will just not be prepared for, like a grumpy student, in which case I found it is best not to expect too much from her. Or a late student which means not enough time to get everything done.

2. You can’t feel responsible for everything involved with your student. D suffers from sickle cell and has a hard time with the cold weather. She has asked me a number of times (sometimes actually whining) if I can give her rides to and from the library for our sessions. It is totally against the rules of tutoring the trainers gave to us; basically it is an insurance liability for them. I understand this and even agree with it on a cerebral level, but on the level of feelings which is where I operate most times it feels wrong. But I am, if nothing else, a rules follower and so I stuck to my guns. Having kids definitely prepared me for saying no.

3. Your student may disappear sometimes. Last week after a two week break for the holidays my student was nowhere to be found. Her cell phone had been cut off, the person who answered at her home phone said she was not there and she was not returning any of the emails I had sent to her. Then she just didn’t show up at our regular scheduled session. I feared the worst. I didn’t want to but I started thinking maybe she was giving up on the whole thing. But I kept emailing her and finally today she emailed me back and is going to be at our session today. It’s weird but I am sure she has a reason; I am just going to keep working with her regardless. We are all human anyway right?

4. Just because I like to read does not mean my student does, or ever will for that matter. I mean she had a hard time reading all through school, she has made it this far in life with only a basic knowledge of the English language, what makes ME think I am going to turn her into some avid novel reader. Still there is a small desire in me that she will one day want to read just for pleasure. I am a dreamer.

5. Like I learned in tutor training, when you are teaching the rules of grammar and spelling and pronunciation to a student, the best thing to say about the rules is: this rule applies until it doesn’t. These lessons apply until they don’t, that is what I am repeating in my head every week. Which can be exciting, because I am learning something new all the time and that is one thing I truly LOVE?

6. I am not perfect and neither is D. So perfection is not even a word in my vocabulary right now. This sets the bar low for me, so I can set it low for D, which is where it needs to be set right now. Baby steps are okay, and they will probably be tiny steps for a long time.
I am determined to do a better job with my blogging from here on out. I owe to myself and to D and it is honestly therapeutic which is definitely something I need right now.

PLEASE feel free to leave comments, I love them!