Greetings tutors,

As we enter the last week of term we hope that you have seen successes in your tutoring in this third term of remote learning. Successes in digital literacy gains, basic skills, and your students' own goals. We really appreciate you stepping up to tutor remotely, we know it has not been an easy journey. Your patience, flexibility, and perseverance have all contributed greatly to our students continued motivation and commitment to their learning. We have nearly 100 volunteers actively tutoring or helping in the classes, more than we ever hoped for in March of this year, so thank you.

1. Holiday Schedule

The fall term is coming to a close. Last day of classes is on Thursday, December 17th, 2020. Most students and tutors take a break for the holidays which you are welcome to do. However for some keeping a regular schedule and routine is important so please continue to meet if you and your student would like to do so. Please continue to use the Fall Tutor Hours Log until December 31st. Winter term will start on Monday, January 11th, 2021.

2. Remote Tutor Training

We are pleased to announce a date for our winter Remote Tutor Training, a required training for all new tutors. More-experienced tutors are encouraged to attend as your experience and knowledge really embellish the trainings and you will get to spend time with your fellow tutors to share and brainstorm ideas. We are all still learning in this environment!

This 2-part hybrid training is designed to both prepare and provide support for remotely tutoring students. We ask you please complete the first 8 Pre-Activities independently online before January 30th and attend the second part, a Zoom workshop training on Saturday, January 30th, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm.

Part #1 Pre-Activities

Expect to spend approx. 3-4 hours on these 8 self-paced pre-activities:

    1. Working with Adult Literacy Learners, online training
    2. Literacy Source’s Instructional Philosophy
    3. The Danger of a Single Story Activity
    4. Intercultural Communication
    5. Photo Activity
    6. Zoom Meeting Skills
    7. Online Scavenger Hunt

Part #2 Zoom Workshop Training

The 2.5 hour Zoom Meeting will be a workshop format with the following objectives:

    1. Find tools/strategies/best practices for remote tutoring
    2. Adapt 2 activities from the teaching kits (on the instructor google drive) to remote tutoring. Choose from citizenship, reading, beginning literacy, or pronunciation.

Please Register for Part # 2 Zoom Workshop: Saturday, January 30th, 10am - 12:30pm. Register here

For step-by-step instructions on how to access the pre-activities and to register for the Zoom workshop please click this link: Invite and Instructions: Parts 1 & 2 Remote Tutor Training

3. Tutor Hours Log! 

No "Tutor Blog" would be complete without a mention of the Tutor Hours Log! We know that this is not a favorite of your volunteering tasks but we ask that you bear with us while we are remote and please, please log your hours weekly. Here is the why behind us asking you to log this way, there are three main reasons:

a) Students instructional hours (including tutoring hours) determine when they get tested and for some there is a limited amount they need per week to ensure they continue to receive benefits.

b) Funders require us to report students' hours weekly and by term. Note: once the term is over we are not able to add in hours for that term.

 c) Advisors have many tutor pairs they are tracking and the report logs help them manage monitoring their students' progress and tracking when/if, and how, students/tutors meet.

We strongly suggest you bookmark this link to the log or, as one volunteer suggested, add the link to your online calendar every week as a reminder. How To Use Bookmarks in Chrome 

Alternatively you can bookmark the Literacy Source Splash Page that you use with your student, and access the Tutor Hours Log through this Tutor Blog (see sidebar!). We are here to help so please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on how to make this easier for you.

This is my pen-ultimate post of the year. I will post one more before the end of the term with updates for the winter term. I wish you a warm and healthy season, and hope it is filled with many virtual happy gatherings and bon homie! 

Warmly,

Caroline