Tutor Training and In-Service

Here is a free resource that can be used in the basic reading tutor training workshop or for in-service.  

Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults: First Steps for Teachers

http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/applyingresearch.pdf

It was published 4 years ago and is classroom oriented, but can be adapted for volunteers with help from your tutor trainer and experienced tutors.  It includes all of the basic concepts and includes specific instructional strategies.  Taken as a whole, it could be intimidating for volunteers.  But, with your help, it can be served up in bites --that tutors will find useful.  

Here are a few ideas on using this freely available tool.  Please post your own suggestions or ways you train tutors initially or provide them ongoing in-service.

• Assign short readings from it to a group of tutors.  Encourage tutors to share their learnings and questions online in a wiki, on your blog or over lunch.
• When you contact the tutor to provide tutor support, find out what their student is struggling with.  Then assign the pages that relate back to the skill such as decoding, fluency or phonics.  Touch base again to see if it helped.
  
• Post a question of the week on your blog, and ask tutors to read related sections and post their observations.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in comments on this blog.