Summer 2007 Newsletter

News and Tips for Volunteer Literacy Programs
Literacy Florida! Inc.
Electronic Newsletter
Summer 2007

To become a member of Literacy Florida! Inc. go to MEMBERSHIP at http://www.literacyflorida.org/

Regional Training and Networking Meeting August 11
Do you want to know more about program management, volunteer recruitment and more? Would you like some fresh ideas to incorporate reading into your family literacy program and English Language Learner conversation groups? Are you struggling to retain adult learners? Then attend a free networking program on August 11, Saturday, at the downtown Gainesville public library from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to share and learn more.

Participants will receive a new tutor training curriculum on learner persistence and transition called Next Step and a how to manual on the Read and Write Around Florida program. Come and find out how to start book discussions using short stories that are read by a facilitator. The afternoon session will cover two different reading programs. One is for parents and their school age children. The other is for adult English Language Learners using Florida short stories. The how to manual includes tutor lesson plans for the family literacy program.

The program will be at the Alachua County Library District at 401 E. University Avenue (352-334-3910). Registration is required, please submit your RSVP to literacyflorida@hotmail.com by August 7, 2007.


Board Update

New Leadership
Sandy Newell was elected President at the Literacy Florida! Inc. annual meeting at the Florida Literacy Conference in May. Newell is currently Chair of the American Library Association Committee on Literacy, Secretary of the Florida Literacy Coalition and a member of the Florida Department of Education family literacy practitioner’s task force. She works in library development at the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Three new board members joined the board at the same meeting. Joses De Moranville, a literacy supporter in Jacksonville, serves as Vice President. Erika Greene coordinates the Lake County Public Library Literacy Program, and Sharon Hastings Jaskula manages the Jacksonville Public Library Literacy Program. Together they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of adult literacy to the work of the board.



Advisory Board Formed
Jim Wilder wrapped up his two year term as President by getting membership approval to form an advisory board for LFv. The initial board will be made up of past members of the LFv operating board. Kevin Freer, a LFv past President and long time leader in volunteer literacy, Roberta Reiss, moderator of the ProLiteracy trainer list serve and director of the Collier County Library Literacy Program, and Vonda Bryant, the literacy director of the Broward County Public Library program have agreed to serve on this new board. Sharon Wedel, past Secretary and newsletter editor, has also agreed to be an advisor. During this year, Wilder will work with this new group to formalize their activities.


Program Management

Learner Persistence and Transition Strategies
Adult literacy programs struggle to retain students. This article shares strategies of how five programs improved their services. The volunteer programs represented a cross section of volunteer literacy in Florida. Managers focused on removing barriers, updating program entry orientation and intake forms, goal setting and record keeping to improve persistence and transition for adult learners.

Here are a few specific ideas:
{ Call Students: The Calhoun County Library and Learn to Read of Northwest Florida use staff to call students regularly to see how they are doing. They reported that students were more comfortable sharing concerns with someone who was not their tutor. Volunteers who are not tutoring could also make these calls.
{ Real Life Material: The Literacy Volunteers of Leon County set up “tutor tubs” in study rooms. Managers had observed that tutors rarely used this material; even through it was covered in tutor training workshops. By making the tubs convenient, tutors included more practice with real life material in their lessons. The tubs include sample forms, job applications, manipulatives, games and more. Studies have been shown that practice with real life material helps transfer what they learn into daily life.
{ Goal Setting and Suggestion Box: Literacy Volunteers of Collier County, located in southwest Florida, added goal setting to their workshop training and created a “suggestion box” to promote better communication.
{ Library Card Lesson: The Broward Library Literacy program encouraged tutors to develop a lesson around getting a library card. As a result, more students got library cards and started using the library. Staff reported that 90% of their students stayed in the program as a result of the persistence and transition project.

This project was federally funded through the Florida Department of Education, and directed by Ellen Lauricella, project consultant, and as LFv board member, Glenda Norvell supervised the collaborative project. Norvell is the administrator of the Region 1 Adult Literacy Center and is Secretary of LFv. Rural and urban programs from Pensacola to Fort Lauderdale participated.

Trainer Tips
Evaluate Instruction
Literacy instruction is the heart of every volunteer program. It is up to tutor trainers and program managers to assure that volunteers are using the most effective reading instruction. Verizon Literacy has a new program self assessment tool for adult literacy and early literacy. Trainers and program managers can use this online tool to measure whether or not your tutors are using the most appropriate instruction. It takes two people to complete the online assessment and must be done in one session. A paper copy of the assessment can be printed so that you can collect data to input ahead of time.

The tool uses a 1 to 5 ranking to evaluate student assessment, alphabetics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Go to http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/Free-Online-Courses.21.0.html
to access this tool.


Tutor Tips
Verizon Literacy has a new online course, called A Way With Words: Strategies for Strengthening Adult Learners' Vocabularies. Experienced tutors will learn methods to help their student increase their vocabulary, a must for fluent reading. Go to http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/Free-Online-Courses.21.0.html
to view this and other online courses for tutors.


Health LiteracyHealth Literacy KitThe AMA Foundation has released an updated health literacy kit, Health literacy and Patient Safety: Help Patients Understand. The kit can be used to educate health care professionals and the public on the issue of health and literacy. The video is also a good orientation for tutors or potential donors on what it means to struggle with reading while navigating the health care system. The health literacy kit includes:* an instructional video on DVD and CD-ROM (also available on VHS*)* an in-depth manual for clinicians * Continuing Medical Education credit for physicians* additional resources for education and involvement The two main components of the kit, the instructional video and themanual for clinicians, are available to download at no charge onthe AMA Foundation health literacy website atwww.amafoundation.org/go/healthliteracy

Links

Online Games for English Language Learners
http://iteslj.org/games/

Health Literacy Month -- October
http://www.healthliteracy.com/hl_month.asp

Literacy Florida! Inc. website for volunteer literacy programs
http://www.literacyflorida.org/

Calendar

Literacy Florida! Inc. 2008 Annual Meeting and 2008 Florida Literacy Conference, May 7-9, 2008, Walt Disney World Resort.