TLC Services, Explained Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Welcome  Introductions  Purpose of Webinar  Outline of Services  Questions  Contact Information

Introductions  Kim Rossman  Executive Director  Tutors of Literacy in the Commonwealth  Consultant for TLC’s Services  Lead Consultant with New Professional Development System  As an Aside - First Vice President  PAACE  Conference Chair  Proposals  Suggestions for conference

Purpose of Webinar  Explanation of TLC’s Services for 2011 – 2012  TLC’s focus is to increase adult learner gains by providing volunteer instructors with quality professional development opportunities and resources.  Why?  Connect professional development to volunteer instructor performance and, when possible, learner gains.  What does this look like?

Agency and TLC  Collaboratively determine the best way to identify and meet learner needs then develop a plan that will address those needs through ongoing, learner-centered professional development (PD) for volunteer instructors.  Learner-centered PD will include, but not be limited to:  the volunteer instructor’s input on what he/she needs to learn and how he/she will learn it  job-embedded PD conducted mainly on site  reflection, application and documentation of information learned  communication and sharing with peers  support and follow-up.

Agency and TLC  Plan will include development of a method of documentation to show:  participation, application, reflection, implementation and sharing of PD experiences  impact of PD on a) quality of instruction provided by volunteer instructors and b) learner gains.  Questions?

Agencies  Arrange and support appropriate PD opportunities for volunteer instructors  Possibilities for PD activities include, but are not limited to:  Face to face or online sessions provided by TLC or other statewide PD Project entities  Resources provided by Content Area Experts  Online courses provided by EdNet (formerly known as Thinkfinity), OVAE, World Ed, etc.  Documented, approved independent study by volunteer instructor  Volunteer instructor groups working together: i.e. book study, mentoring, discussion group, etc

Volunteer Instructors  Participate in setting SMART goals to meet the individual learner needs  Participate in ongoing professional development activities.  Reflect on activities - how to apply what was learned to instruction  Apply what was learned to instruction  Complete and submit documentation of:  professional development opportunity  how it was applied during instruction  impact on learner  manner in which impact was assessed.  Share information learned and experiences with peers by:  participation in networks, blogs (to be set up by agency, TLC, PD Project)  joining meetings at agency.

Agency  Report to TLC how professional development activities have impacted learners and the instructional quality of volunteer instructors.  Refer back to original plan and update and/or adapt.  Questions?

How Does This Look? Learning Communities  Three main points of a learning community  Ensures student learning  Focuses on results  Involves collaboration

Example of Professional Development Information to Gather from Volunteer Instructors on a Monthly Basis (continued) Description of Activity Activity, Brief Description and Reflection (i.e. webinar, meeting, independent study, conversation, book study, training, research, online course, etc.) Was this activity beneficial? Were there any obstacles or successes associated with this activity - in either your instruction or the learner’s performance? Length of activity Example 1: I participated in an online course on tutoring adults with learning differences. The course gave me insight into problems some adults may have and it gave me a better understanding of the variety of ways that I can adapt my instruction based on the needs of the learner. 6 hours Example 2: I went online and researched the topic multiple intelligences and how it affects learning. My learner was having trouble demonstrating her understanding of concepts but she is very artistic so I wanted to see if there might be another way to tap into her obvious intelligence and help her demonstrate her knowledge. It was very difficult to sort through all of the information available online though and I had a hard time narrowing down the information I found. 2 ½ hours Example 3: I attended our monthly tutor support group and asked if anyone had any suggestions for me about my tutoring sessions – the learner is so easily distracted and I have a hard time keeping him focused. I asked if anyone had any suggestions for working with him and keeping his attention. 30 minutes

Example of Professional Development Information to Gather from Volunteer Instructors on a Monthly Basis (continued from previous slide) How did your instruction change as a result of the activity? (i.e. Did you apply a new teaching technique? Did you change the format of your session?) How was the learner impacted by the change in your instruction and how was the impact measured? (i.e. Was the learner able to do something at the end of the session that he/she was unable to do at the beginning? Did he/she demonstrate a better understanding of the lesson?) How did you share the experience with peers? (i.e. Did you post it on a blog? Write a newsletter article? Have a conversation with peers? Talk to your coordinator? Discuss it during a group sharing session?) The adult whom I tutor often says he has trouble reading; we used a colored transparency sheet over his reading and made the print larger. The learner was able to read the words more fluently and he didn’t lose his place nearly as often as he did without the sheet. At our monthly tutor support group I shared the experience and suggested that they try something similar if they had a learner who was struggling with reading. I asked the learner to visualize and draw word problems as we were doing them. We had never approached word problems this way. The learner was able to draw pictures based on the word problem and as a result she was able to determine the correct answer with each problem we tried. After a month she successfully completed an entire handout of word problems that I had created based on her interest in cooking. I wrote a short article for our tutor newsletter about multiple intelligences and how to build on them to improve learning. A participant suggested that I change the location of our session so I moved from a room with a window with lots of activity outside to a room with no windows and few distractions on the wall, etc. The learner had a much easier time focusing on the lesson. I didn’t have to remind him of what we were doing nearly as often. He even said that it was easier for him to pay attention! By the end of the month he was focusing with only 1 or 2 reminders each session – much better than 10 – 15! I posted a comment on the tutor sharing blog about the success we had moving to a room with fewer distractions.

TLC Resources  Ongoing Support  Basic Tutor Training  Online  Face to face  Blackboard Course Site:  This site requires a user name and password. It includes complete tutor trainings and self-study opportunities.  TLC’s Facebook Page:  Commonwealth/ Commonwealth/  TLC’s Resource Site for Tutors:   TLC’s Social Networking Site for Adult Literacy Tutors:  This site is similar to Facebook; you will be able to see the home page and will need an invitation to access the rest of the site.  Tutoring Adult Learners Using the Internet:

DRAFT PROPOSED Draft of Guidance for Tutor Coordinators Definitions  Volunteer Instructor: individual with or actively pursuing a four-year degree who is providing one-on-one, small group or classroom instruction.  Volunteer Instructional Aide: individual providing supplemental instruction to a learner or learners in a managed, open entry, or drop-in class. This includes small group or individualized instruction. Conditions  The learner can either be enrolled in a classroom or be working in a pair or small group with an instructor.  There must be a working relationship between the instructional aide and the instructor to ensure supplemental instruction aligns with instruction provided by the instructor.  The instructional aide must share lessons he/she develops with the instructor to ensure lessons complement instruction being provided by the instructor.  When working in a one-on-one setting all volunteer instructors and instructional aides must provide a minimum of three hours of instruction to learners each week.  The instructional aide may work with a learner in a location separate from the instructor, as long as previous conditions exist. (this statement is still in review)

DRAFT PROPOSED Draft of Guidance for Tutor Coordinators Definitions  Volunteer Instructor: individual with or actively pursuing a four-year degree who is providing one-on-one, small group or classroom instruction.  Update from Division on September 13, 2011  Has tutored every year for at least 5 years  Participated in at least one in-service activity in each of those years  Has consistently been available and willing to provide the necessary intensity and duration of tutoring

TLC Support for Tutor Coordinators  Provide networking opportunities  Share resources  Team room on MyLearningPlanMyLearningPlan  Share documents  Have discussions  Gather information

Contact Information Kim Rossman 925 West College Ave State College, PA Office phone: Office fax: Cell phone: (the best way to reach me)