NB: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Literacy Network (LitNet) hosted a required two part, in-person training session for all prospective volunteer tutors. The pandemic caused LitNet to suspend in-person training for safety reasons, even though immigrant learners were still signing up to be paired with a tutor and tutor-learner pairs were meeting, whether
via Zoom or in a way that felt mutually safe. Therefore, LitNet found new ways to onboard, train, and support tutors so we could continue to deliver our mission-driven services. Once social distancing was a thing of the past, our new training methods stayed. We found they were useful and allowed us to meet the needs of our prospective learners more efficiently.
Outlined below is LitNet’s current approach to onboarding, welcoming, training, and supporting our corps of volunteer tutors.
Step 1: Orientation
All incoming tutors start with an in-person meeting with LitNet’s Director of Tutoring. In this meeting, the Director of Tutoring introduces them to our homebase, The Susan Weintraub Tutor Resource Center in Lee, provides an overview of LitNet as an organization, and shares key elements on how tutoring at LitNet works.
At this meeting, tutors receive a folder which includes:
- LitNet’s Tutor Manual, created by experienced tutors for new tutors, and which is a comprehensive booklet outlining what to expect, getting started, troubleshooting, and more.
- A rubric of the Best Plus 3.0 levels, the test we use to assess every prospective learner.
- A page providing an overview of LitNet’s YouTube channel where tutors can access recordings of LitNet’s past tutor training workshops.
- Instructions on how to access and register for LitNet’s Tutor Cafe, our tutor intra net where tutors can connect, share resources, and ask questions.
- A list of recommended websites for teaching English, including steps to access Ellii, a subscription-based website with a plethora of relevant lessons for various English levels covering a variety of topics. (LitNet has a subscription and provides log-in details for tutors.)
- A questionnaire to use as a “Getting to Know You Guide” in the first session. 7. A packet of worksheets to get started (assembled by one of our tutors).
- A KWL (Know/Want to Learn/Have Learned) chart and a LitNet Review Sheet with Instructions on how to generate conversation in each session. (All are further elaborated on in related workshops on our YouTube channel!)
- A list of all cognates English and Spanish.
- When tutors are paired with a learner, they receive a Tutor Resource Kit, which includes:
- Two copies (one for tutor, one for learner) of the textbook English for Everyone (level 1, 2, 3, or 4, accordingly)
- Two copies (one for tutor, one for learner) of a workbook entitled That’s Life (introductory, low beginner, high beginner, or low intermediate, accordingly) o An Oxford picture dictionary English/Spanish or monolingual
- A white board with eraser and marker
- A notebook for the learners to take notes.
**All of the books that learners receive are new. The learners may write in their books and keep their books. We ask that tutors attempt to return their resources after a tutoring engagement has come to close. **
Step 2: Tutors get started
During the initial orientation meeting, LitNet’s Director of Tutoring will learn more about a tutor’s general availability, preferred times, and the cities/towns where a tutor is willing and able to travel to meet a learner. Then the matching process begins. The Director of Tutoring consults the LitNet learner waitlist for learners whose availability and location match with a potential tutor. The Director of Tutoring will reach out to propose a match once a fit is determined.
Step 3: Follow-up meeting with an experienced LitNet tutor
After a new tutor-learner pair meets for the first time, each new tutor will have a meeting (usually over the phone) with an experienced LitNet tutor. The experienced tutor will check in to see how things went, answer any questions, and provide any additional support or direction as needed.
Should a tutor desire further support, we can pair them with a mentor tutor for more regular connection. Several of our most experienced tutors (most of whom are former teachers or language professionals) are willing to be on hand for that support.
Step 4: Ongoing tutor training
At LitNet, we believe that training should be ongoing. Therefore, we provide an average of four in-person workshops each year, which all tutors are encouraged to attend. To make those workshops available to our entire pool of volunteers, we record them and house them on LitNet’s YouTube channel for easy access.
Our professional workshops are led by tutors, typically experienced tutors who are former English, language, and ESOL teachers. Often, they propose the idea of a workshop, based on their own experiences in their tutoring, or to further engrain key concepts in language acquisition teaching. Topics for workshops emerge directly out needs, issues, or desires to dig deeper that tutors and learners experience while tutoring.
An additional component of the ongoing training and tutor support that we offer includes regular Tutor Town Halls, gatherings where tutors come together in-person to meet one another, share their experiences, swap resources, and ask questions. Tutor Town Halls are also an opportunity for the Director of Tutoring to share new resources and updates from LitNet.
At LitNet, we cherish the right to be creative. We are constantly striving to find new and better resources for our tutors and learners. We believe in taking direction from both our tutors and learners to help us determine need and interest as opposed to imposing a top down or cookie cutter approach year after year. Every tutor-learner pair is unique and will have their own individualized goals, pace, and format.
Important factors to understand when tutoring with LitNet
At LitNet, we believe in meeting the needs; our learners reach out to us with a need, and we aim to provide the support that is needed. Therefore, we aim for tutors and learners to be matched in an efficient and productive manner.
We are not a language certificate program; this means there is no pressure for tutors to move the learners from point A to point B in any specific timeframe. While we value progress, we also value relationships and meeting the learner where they are in time and place.
Our approach is an on-the-job approach that starts with building trust. When trust is established, learning and teaching can start.
