Welcome to Write Away!
The writing forum for Project Read learners.

We've redesigned our blog so that adult learners working at Project Read can share what they have written with other learners, tutors, and the public. There are a few simple guidelines to be aware of.
  1. This is a moderated site, so submissions and comments will first be reviewed before being approved and published.
  2. Adult learners submitting their writing have the option of using their first name (only) or using "anonymous" for authorship.
  3. We wish to honor the writing efforts of the adult learner/authors, so no major copy editing will be applied, but we may suggest minor corrections in consultation with the author.
  4. Only active Project Read learners are eligible to submit their writing to the Write Away blog and there are two ways of doing this: send submissions via email to projectread@sfpl.org, or stop by the office with a hard copy of your writing.
  5. The views and opinions expressed on this web site are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not represent those of the San Francisco Public Library and/or the City and County of San Francisco.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Invisible Tutor Workshop Handouts

Howdy Folks,

On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, Randy, Leon, and Brian facilitated a workshop designed to help tutors work with their learners in creating engaging assignments that promote independent learning and maintain momentum in the tutor's absence.

Below you will find the text as well as downloadable JPG conversions of the workshop outline and computer tips handout.
We will soon post MS Word and PDF versions of these 2 documents in the Instructional Resources section of the Project Read SFPL Website (www.projectreadsf.org).

Please let us know if these documents prove helpful and/or strike you as in need of a smidge of revision.

All the best, Brian



Project Read
Continuing Education Class for Tutors
April 24, 2007

The Invisible Tutor


General Suggestions


1. Before you take time off from tutoring, talk with your learner about what he/she would like to accomplish while you are away.

  • Reinforce skills which have already been introduced in your tutoring sessions: phonics, spelling, writing/grammar, etc.
  • Finish an assignment that he/she has already begun: newsletter article, distance learning exercise, journal writing, etc.
  • Work on new exercises/assignments: spelling/writing workbooks, computer learning software, etc.

2. As a team, talk about the preparation your learner will need in order to work independently while you are away.

  • What resources will your learner need access to--computer lab software/Internet access, writing journal, workbook exercises?
  • What can you do to make it easier for your learner to work successfully on these assignments? For example, you probably want to review each exercise you are assigning and go over specific examples together in order to model exactly what your learner is being asked to do.

3. Come up with an agreed upon timeline for when your learner should finish the assignments. You might even suggest that you both stay in contact via e-mail while you are gone. This could be a way for your learner to keep you updated on his progress and maybe even ask questions.

4. If necessary, you may want to speak with the Project Read staff,
about what your learner will be working on while you are away, in order to coordinate support.






The Invisible Tutor Workshop – Computer Tips


Spell It Deluxe (CD)

  • Go through the word list binders with your learner to find lists that he/she finds interesting. Photocopy and write due dates on them to remind your learner which ones to do and when.
  • Create custom word lists from the extensive selection built into Spell It.


ReadPlease (Fully installed on our computers)

  • Work with your learner to create some ReadPlease documents and save them in a folder. Could be news stories, fiction, personal writing, language experience stories, lessons that need revision/correction, etc. Possibly end with questions for learner to type answers to.
  • Set assignment of finding information on the web (SF Gate, wikipedia, etc.) and cutting, pasting, and saving into ReadPlease.
  • Put some vocabulary words in ReadPlease for learner to write sentences around.


California Distance Learning Project (Link from our Learning Lab Links Page)

  • Look through the categories and stories to pick a few that interest your learner. Print out the pages that show the stories, circle the stories, and put in learner’s lab folder.
  • Pick a few stories and prepare some follow up lessons to them. Vocabulary, researching related stories, etc.

Ultimate Phonics (CD)

  • Pick specific lessons that target sounds you are working on. Print out the word lists ahead of time.
  • Use the Ultimate Phonics manual to plan some lessons.

E-mail (Learning Lab Links page or http://www.yahoo.com/)

  • Ask your learner to e-mail the completed or in-progress assignments to you while you are away.
  • Structure some e-mail based lessons that go back and forth.


Blog (Learning Lab Links page or http://www.blogger.com/)

  • Work with Brian to create a blog that you and learner can both log into. Practice with learner. Set up schedule of posting some daily events, writing, photos, etc.

Listen to a Story (Use the library and our computers)

  • Go with your learner to the CD and audio book sections of the library to pick some books, stories, radio programs, etc. that your learner is interested in. Have your learner use the computer lab to listen to the stories and complete some written assignments you prepare ahead of time.

Before You Go

  • Work with your learner to choose assignments that are interesting to him/her, further his/her literacy goals, and are not too difficult or complex to undertake on own.
  • Take the time to model the tasks / steps necessary to complete the assignments.
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