Throughout the next two weeks, you’ll be able to read posts about three of our tutor/student matches. Each of these students helps to illustrate “why we do what we do” at the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council.
2017 is the Council’s 40th anniversary serving Anne Arundel County! Our nonprofit began in 1977 with six very strong, visionary Glen Burnie women who saw the need for county adults to have free access to literacy instruction.
Since that time, thousands of low-income adults and out-of-school youth have received free, convenient, and individualized reading, writing, and now math and speaking English instruction. There is no charge to the student for books, tutoring, or assessments, and students and tutors can meet in any public location for lessons, including at all 15 county libraries.
Last year alone, 240 trained volunteers donated 12,650 hours to support 195 adults as they improved their literacy and math skills. Goals achieved include attaining jobs, GEDs, successful entry into AACC’s Adult Basic Skills program, and improving the quality of life for themselves and their families.
Our Executive Director, Lisa Vernon, was a guest on the Volunteer Voice program at Annapolis’s WNAV radio station (1430 AM and 99.9 FM). She shared about the organization’s 40th anniversary, accomplishments, and upcoming training.
Click the triangle in the player below to listen to the show:
Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything” so his mother removed him from the school and taught him herself. Also, he was fired from his first two jobs for not being “productive enough”.
Ironically, Thomas Edison is now considered one of the greatest innovators of all time. His success after over 10,000 failed attempts to invent a commercially viable lightbulb has set a good example of what perseverance truly is.
February 25th & March 4th 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, Severna Park
and will include both Basic Literacy and English Language Learner instruction.
We have a class size limit of 35. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in attending this training, please email Lisa Vernon or call 410-269-4419 as soon as possible to reserve a seat.
This article is from Proliteracy’s Winter 2017 Notebook
Have students look up new words using an online dictionary, such as www.learnersdictionary.com or www.dictionary.com. Many dictionary sites also have an audio button so students can hear how a word is pronounced.
Try texting. Text back and forth in complete sentences with students on days you are not meeting. If you don’t want to share your phone number, there are apps that let you set up a different number that will work only when you want it to work. For more information, check out the following webite http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/apps-for-texting.
Use easy apps and websites, such as the free app OG Card Deck, which can be used on any iOS iPhone or iPad to practice phonics.
MedlinePlus is a website from the National institutes of Health that provides health information in English and Spanish. The site also features hundreds of health topics, easy-to-read materials, drug information, and interactive tutorials with audio, news, surgery videos, and more. Visit the MedlinePlus website to learn more.
Oneword is a free online tool that provides users with a single vocabulary word as a prompt and gives them 60 seconds to write a journal entry for their daily word. Users can practice improving their spelling, reading, and typing skills; all entries are emailed to the user’s email account. Visit the Oneword website to sample the activity or to register.
Please take a moment to read about students Carlton Ricketts and Robert Smith, and check out valuable tutor resources listed below. Registration information is also available on our free February 4th workshop Tutoring the Challenging Student.
Our spring tutor training, which will be held on February 25th and March 4th, has a class size limit of 35 and will fill up quickly! If you, or someone you know, who might be interested in taking this training, please call 410-269-4419 or email director@aaclc.org to register.
Kind regards,
Lisa Vernon, Executive Director
Lisa Vernon, Executive Director
Anne Arundel County Literacy Council
301-523-6750 (cell)
“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” ~Zig Ziglar
Having reading difficulties is hard enough; dealing with the unfair, accompanying sense of shame is an even more devastating blow. Like so many other adults who come to the Literacy Council, Robert always struggled in school. One teacher even screamed at him “How can you be so stupid?” And he felt uncomfortable at home, too, believing that he was a disappointment to his father – a very talented and involved parent who stressed excellence in school and sports.
Once Robert left school, he worked in maintenance where his work ethic and skills led him to rise in the ranks. But to his coworkers’ amazement, Robert declined promotions. What they didn’t understand, of course, was that he was afraid he would fail when it came to handling the reading and writing tasks required by management positions. Instead, Robert would quit and take an entry-level position at a different company to avoid the possibility of being exposed as a non-reader.
What finally broke this pattern? Turns out it was something as simple as having his beloved grandchildren repeatedly ask him to read stories to them. Robert agreed to have his wife call the Literacy Council on his behalf, and soon was assessed and matched with tutor Barb Farrell, a retired teacher. Robert fully credits Barbara with helping him to regain his confidence and believe in himself again: “I want to tell the world how much of a blessing it was to be in the Literacy Council program and to have a teacher and counselor like Ms. Barbara.”
And Robert’s progress continues: He enrolled in an Anne Arundel Community College Adult Basic Skills course this past fall and received a 91/100 on his final test!
Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 9 a.m.
Occasionally, tutors will tell us something like this:
My student can learn a word on one page, then forgets it by the time we get to the next page.
I don’t feel like we are making progress.
The phonics-based Laubach materials don’t seem to be working with my student.
If these sentiments sound familiar to you, then you may be interested in attending our Tutor Roundtable on February 4, 2017 at 9 a.m.
Barbara Colacicco, a Literacy Council tutor and new member of our Board of Directors, is an educator with a lifetime of experience and specialized training in helping challenging students. She will be there to discuss individual issues and brainstorm on teaching techniques and materials that might be helpful for your student.
If you are interested in attending, please respond to Anita Ewing at ewing400@gmail.com or leave a message at the office 410-269-4419 and we will notify you of more details after the holidays.
Kind regards,
