Addendum-- I just noticed a posting on the LD listing which commented that tutors do not really internalize specialized training until they have tried it in a supervised training situation.? Amen.?? Tutoring effectively is a highly skilled art. Robin Lovrien Schwarz


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jodi Crandall <crandall at umbc.edu>
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 2:59 pm
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1912] Re: Requesting Resource Information









I think Robin has shared what are very important concerns.



I also know how hard it is to expect volunteer tutors to? have substantial training in teaching ESL/ESOL.? I'd really like to know how various programs structure professional development for volunteers/tutors?? In a recent brief I? co-authored, with Genesis Ingersoll and Jacqueline Lopez at CAL,? "Adult ESL Teacher Credentialing and Certification" we tried to identify what the states are requiring in terms of initial hiring and professional development.? Because it was a "Brief," we could not go into much detail on various ways in which individual programs are training or what their initial hiring expectations are.? You can access the Brief at:

www.cal.org/caela




Be sure to click on the large table which provides information on each of the states and the District of Columbia.




Since we know that most adult ESL/ESOL practitioners gain much of their knowledge and skill on the job (see Marilyn Gillespie and Cristine Smith on this at NCSALL), we really need to figure out the best ways in which we can support tutors and help them to gain skills while they are tutoring.




Is there a way to "embed" training in the volunteers' tutoring experiences.? I'm thinking of something similar to ways in which ESL and work-related training is provided to workers on the job.? "Embedded training"? -- the same as ESL and skills instruction embedded in work -- is something that has great potential, I think.? Has anyone tried this?? How?




Jodi Crandall













On Feb 7, 2008, at 1:15 PM, robinschwarz1 at aol.com wrote:



 I hate to be a wet blanket here, but this just caught my eye.? Why don't you recommend that this person advertise at a local college for someone to tutor him.? He needs someone who will work with him on his assignments who is able to meet him at the level of English he already has.?? I say this having just worked with one on one with the FOURTH tutor from the local library Literacy Services assigned to an ESOL learner with fairly strong English skills.? I have also worked with numerous literacy service providers in several states and regularly provide PD sessions for literacy tutors in the state where I live. ? 
 
 These tutors mean so well but know so very little about working with ESOL learners that frankly, it is not a productive match.?? Since the tutors do not know ESOL issues well, they tend to grab at some generic book in hopes that will appease the learner-- when usually the learner has very specific needs and goals, as does this learner, which do not get met or addressed at all.?? 
 
 I am so disheartened by the gap between what ESOL learners need and what their literacy tutors are providing that I have decided to speak more frankly about it.? I have adjusted my sessions with tutors to help them start with the very basics: let's find out just what English your learner actually knows and then what he or she really came to you to learn.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robin Lovrien Schwarz 
 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Sandy  Phillips <SPhillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us>
 To: lbedford at rushmore.com; The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
 Sent: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 10:37 am
 Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1910] Re: Requesting Resource Information
 
 
 
Laurie,
 
?
 
Have him call the Literacy Coordinator at the Stockton Public Library Peaches Ehrich at (209) 937-8261.? I am sure she can help him locate the help he needs.
 
?
 
 
Sandy Phillips 
 Literacy Coordinator 
 Volunteer Coordinator 
 (760) 435-5683 
 (760) 435-5681 FAX# 
 sphillips at ci.oceanside.ca.us 
 
 
 
 

 From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Laurie Bedford
 Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:38 AM
 To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
 Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1909] Requesting Resource Information
 
 
 

 
All,
 
I am an adjunct faculty member at an online unversity teaching graduate courses.?? I have a student who is struggling with his writing.?? He is an english languague learner and Spanish is his first language.?? He lives in Stockton, CA.?? Does anyone know of any resources in that area that he might draw upon?? Thanks.
 
Laurie
 

 
 Laurie Bedford, Ph.D. 
 Adjunct Faculty/Instructional Development Consultant
 lbedford at rushmore.com 
 605-720-7881 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Email delivered to crandall at umbc.edu?




Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki?

http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development
 



 
JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall

Professor and Director

Language, Literacy and Culture Ph.D. Program

Director, Peace Corps Master's Intl Program in ESOL/Bilingual Education

University of Maryland Baltimore County

1000 Hilltop Circle

Baltimore, MD 21250

tel:? 410-455-2313

fax: 410-455-8947

eml: crandall at umbc.edu







 


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