If any of you missed Monica Baxley's interview on ABC in late February, you can view her story here. Baxley lives in the Florida Panhandle. She is a former adult learner and has been very active at a state and national level.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/LegalCenter/story?id=4336421&page=1
You could share this link with potential funders and community leaders to help them better understand the challenges faced by those who struggle with reading. Baxley is a member of the board of the Florida Literacy Coalition and is also on the VALUE board, the national organization representing adult learners.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Persistence and Retention Workshop
Literacy Florida! volunteers and Region I Panhandle Adult Literacy Center Partner on Persistence Workshop on Friday, April 11, 2008
Title: The Next Step: Persistence and Retention Strategies
Description: Tutors and staff members, do you have questions about keeping your learner motivated and engaged in their weekly lessons? Program coordinators, are you concerned about the number of learners who come for a few sessions and drop out of the program?
In this interactive workshop, we will:
· explore activities to help your students remain enthusiastic about learning and committed to their goals.
· look at Best Practices developed by five programs that participated in a project to increase learner persistence.
Date: Friday, April 11, 2008
Time: 10:00-Noon CDT (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location:
Calhoun County Public Library
Heritage Room
17731 NE Pear St.
Blountstown, FL
Note: Park in the back of the library for access to the Heritage Room.
Registration: email norvellg@ace-leon.org or call toll free 888-585-9013
Title: The Next Step: Persistence and Retention Strategies
Description: Tutors and staff members, do you have questions about keeping your learner motivated and engaged in their weekly lessons? Program coordinators, are you concerned about the number of learners who come for a few sessions and drop out of the program?
In this interactive workshop, we will:
· explore activities to help your students remain enthusiastic about learning and committed to their goals.
· look at Best Practices developed by five programs that participated in a project to increase learner persistence.
Date: Friday, April 11, 2008
Time: 10:00-Noon CDT (Central Daylight Savings Time)
Location:
Calhoun County Public Library
Heritage Room
17731 NE Pear St.
Blountstown, FL
Note: Park in the back of the library for access to the Heritage Room.
Registration: email norvellg@ace-leon.org or call toll free 888-585-9013
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
LFvolunteers Literacy Grant Announcement
We have a new grant program dedicated to Florida's volunteer literacy programs. We are awarding 3 small grants for $300 at our annual meeting at the 2008 Florida Literacy Conference. The application should be emailed to literacyflorida@hotmail.com by April 4. Here is the application.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Programs May 7 & 8 at the Florida Literacy Conference
LFv has three programs at the Florida Literacy Conference. This year our annual meeting is combined with a program.
The following programs and meetings are scheduled at the Florida Literaacy Conference May 6-9, 2008
March 11 is the early registration date for the conference.
Literacy Florida! Volunteers (LFV) Programs and Meetings
The Next Step: Retention and Persistence Strategies for Adult Learners and
Literacy Florida! Volunteers Annual Meeting
Wednesday, May 7 from 11:15 AM to 12:30 PM at the Florida Literacy Conference.
Literacy Florida! volunteers Board Meeting (tentative --being scheduled)
Wednesday, May 7, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Florida Literacy Conference
Library Literacy Discussion Group
Thursday, May 8 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 p.m.
Volunteer Literacy Program Start-up
Thursday, May 8 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
To register for the conference go to www.floridaliteracy.org
March 11 Early Registration Rate: $180 Member $205 Non-member
Register by April 21: $205
On Site Registration: $245
The following programs and meetings are scheduled at the Florida Literaacy Conference May 6-9, 2008
March 11 is the early registration date for the conference.
Literacy Florida! Volunteers (LFV) Programs and Meetings
The Next Step: Retention and Persistence Strategies for Adult Learners and
Literacy Florida! Volunteers Annual Meeting
Wednesday, May 7 from 11:15 AM to 12:30 PM at the Florida Literacy Conference.
Literacy Florida! volunteers Board Meeting (tentative --being scheduled)
Wednesday, May 7, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Florida Literacy Conference
Library Literacy Discussion Group
Thursday, May 8 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 p.m.
Volunteer Literacy Program Start-up
Thursday, May 8 1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
To register for the conference go to www.floridaliteracy.org
March 11 Early Registration Rate: $180 Member $205 Non-member
Register by April 21: $205
On Site Registration: $245
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Subscribe to a Blog for Florida's Volunteer Literacy Programs
We are now allowing anyone to post comments to this blog. You do not need an account. But, we would prefer you to have an account so that everyone can see who comments. If you have an account and sign in, then some of your information will show. You do not need to sign to read posts and comments.
If you subscribe, you can get notification of posts. Do this by going to the bottom of this page and click on subscribe to posts.
Volunteer literacy groups can set up their own blogs. There is no cost, and it is an easy way to inform tutors and others. Your blog can be an easy way to post an electronic newsletter too.
Personal information is not required to set up an account. You only need an email address. It is easy to get a free email address for your organization. We have ours through hotmail, but there are many other free sources.
To set up your own blog account go to http://www.blogger.com/home
If you subscribe, you can get notification of posts. Do this by going to the bottom of this page and click on subscribe to posts.
Volunteer literacy groups can set up their own blogs. There is no cost, and it is an easy way to inform tutors and others. Your blog can be an easy way to post an electronic newsletter too.
Personal information is not required to set up an account. You only need an email address. It is easy to get a free email address for your organization. We have ours through hotmail, but there are many other free sources.
To set up your own blog account go to http://www.blogger.com/home
Communicating with Your Tutors
Prices continue to rise requiring volunteer literacy programs to get more creative in their communications. First class stamps go up in May to 42 cents. Programs need to use emailing and other electronic tools to save dollars and cents.
I know that there are folks out there who don't use email. But it can certainly save a program money. Why don't you be as proactive as possible to help tutors and students set up accounts. Use incentives to reward those who use it. You could give out "prizes" for those who use email. Why don't you share effective ways your programs communicate in the comments section of this post.
You could use a blog like this one to post announcments. It is an easy place to post upcoming events, newsletters and time sensitive items. Blogs are free and are interactive because anyone can post a comment. You can also set it up to receive a notice via your email when a blog is changed. The blogger can also add tags which make it easier for the public to find information in a blog.
For more about blogging go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging
You can even have your own wiki like wikipeida, the source of the above article. Wikis are another tool I'll write about later.
Sandy Newell,
President, Literacy Florida volunteers
literacyflorida@hotmail.com
I know that there are folks out there who don't use email. But it can certainly save a program money. Why don't you be as proactive as possible to help tutors and students set up accounts. Use incentives to reward those who use it. You could give out "prizes" for those who use email. Why don't you share effective ways your programs communicate in the comments section of this post.
You could use a blog like this one to post announcments. It is an easy place to post upcoming events, newsletters and time sensitive items. Blogs are free and are interactive because anyone can post a comment. You can also set it up to receive a notice via your email when a blog is changed. The blogger can also add tags which make it easier for the public to find information in a blog.
For more about blogging go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging
You can even have your own wiki like wikipeida, the source of the above article. Wikis are another tool I'll write about later.
Sandy Newell,
President, Literacy Florida volunteers
literacyflorida@hotmail.com
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Writing and Getting Published
Adult Learner Essay Book
For many of us writing isn't easy, and this is even more true for adult learners. Because of this, it is important for tutors to include writing within lessons. It helps when the writing is for a purpose. You can include journal writing in each lesson or help students do practical tasks like preparing a grocery list or e-mailing a spouse in Iraq. You can also motivate students by asking them to write their life story.
When students share their stories in writing or as public speakers, funders can better understand why we need literacy programs. As dollars continue to be cut, this becomes more and more vital. If you get your student's permission, you can send their story to key community leaders or to those who "control" your program. Students are the best ones to advocate for your program.
Joses DeMoranville wrote his story of living on the streets in New York titled, Living My Dream. It was published in the 2007 edition of student essays by the Florida Literacy Coalition. Joses is a board member of our organization. He also serves on the student advisory committee of the Coalition. You can download the book of essays which includes his story at http://www.floridaliteracy.org/EssayBookhome.htm
Joses got his basic literacy skills through the Palm Beach County Library literacy program. He then completed high school through the Leon County School ACE program. Joses' story is on page 55 of the book.
There is still time for your student to get his or her own story published. The deadline for student stories for 2008 has been extended to March 7.
Letter Writing Campaign
Students have also been asked to write to their congressman through April 2007 to get the federal dollars increased. The funding for adult adult education has been severely cut. To learn more about how to write a letter go to our wiki at http://literacyflorida.wikispaces.com/Advocacy
We posted the most recent announcement of ProLiteracy.
Picture of a St. Patty Parade from
Florida Memory
Write Around Florida
People enjoy writing about their home town or around subjects they know. There are thousands of Florida pictures you can use at the www.floridamemory.com web site.
The site also has a new online writing tool. Go to http://www.floridamemory.com/OnlineClassroom/writing/
Select a picture, write a story and download it.
Your story is saved to a word file along with the photo. It then can be edited and rewritten. This is an easy way to prepare a final copy for the essay book or prepare a story to give to a family member.
For many of us writing isn't easy, and this is even more true for adult learners. Because of this, it is important for tutors to include writing within lessons. It helps when the writing is for a purpose. You can include journal writing in each lesson or help students do practical tasks like preparing a grocery list or e-mailing a spouse in Iraq. You can also motivate students by asking them to write their life story.
When students share their stories in writing or as public speakers, funders can better understand why we need literacy programs. As dollars continue to be cut, this becomes more and more vital. If you get your student's permission, you can send their story to key community leaders or to those who "control" your program. Students are the best ones to advocate for your program.
Joses DeMoranville wrote his story of living on the streets in New York titled, Living My Dream. It was published in the 2007 edition of student essays by the Florida Literacy Coalition. Joses is a board member of our organization. He also serves on the student advisory committee of the Coalition. You can download the book of essays which includes his story at http://www.floridaliteracy.org/EssayBookhome.htm
Joses got his basic literacy skills through the Palm Beach County Library literacy program. He then completed high school through the Leon County School ACE program. Joses' story is on page 55 of the book.
There is still time for your student to get his or her own story published. The deadline for student stories for 2008 has been extended to March 7.
Letter Writing Campaign
Students have also been asked to write to their congressman through April 2007 to get the federal dollars increased. The funding for adult adult education has been severely cut. To learn more about how to write a letter go to our wiki at http://literacyflorida.wikispaces.com/Advocacy
We posted the most recent announcement of ProLiteracy.
Picture of a St. Patty Parade from
Florida Memory
Write Around FloridaPeople enjoy writing about their home town or around subjects they know. There are thousands of Florida pictures you can use at the www.floridamemory.com web site.
The site also has a new online writing tool. Go to http://www.floridamemory.com/OnlineClassroom/writing/
Select a picture, write a story and download it.
Your story is saved to a word file along with the photo. It then can be edited and rewritten. This is an easy way to prepare a final copy for the essay book or prepare a story to give to a family member.
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