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For Tutors
Do I need to have a teaching background
to become a literacy tutor?
No prior teaching experience is required of our volunteers. LVWCC tutors
come from all walks of life and represent a wide variety of trades and
occupations.
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Do I need to go through any training?
If you're not already a certified Proliteracy America
Tutor, you must attend a Tutor Training Workshop given by an accredited
affiliate. Our agency provides 4 of these workshops each year.
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How long is the tutor training and does
it cost anything?
LVWCC tutor trainings are designed for 12 hours of classroom activity
and 6 hours of self-instruction done at your own home. To register for
the training you must pay a $25 materials fee,
which pays for your lunch on Saturday, your training manual and reference materials.
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How often and for what length of
time am I expected to tutor?
At LVWCC we ask our volunteers to meet with their students once a week
for 90 minutes. We ask them to do this for a term of one year.
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What happens if I need to go out
of town am unable to meet with my student?
The tutor and/or student may have valid reasons for missing some tutoring
sessions. We only ask that each party inform the other in advance of
an absence. However, if the absence is to be for longer than 4 weeks,
we ask you to contact our office so we can find another tutor for your
student.
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Does LVWCC provide me with lesson
plans and a fixed curriculum for my student?
During the Tutor Training Workshop, LVWCC exposes you to diverse instruction
strategies and techniques. These methods are proven ones, but by no
means are they universal in their application. Therefore, as you begin
to learn more about your student, we can assist you in tailoring your
instruction to meet their needs. LVWCC will gladly assist you in finding
the proper materials and approach for your student. However, LVWCC does
not subscribe to any ready-made, unilateral program of study. It is
our belief that each student is unique and it is our goal to discover
each student's own learning style.
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Where do I meet with my student?
Tutors and students typically meet at local libraries for their weekly
sessions. This is the meeting place we strongly recommend until a friendship
and a trust is established between the pair.
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What types of students does
LVWCC serve?
LVWCC is an ADULT literacy program. All of our students must be over
16 years of age and not be enrolled in high school. Each student's reading
level must be below the 9th grade level. Some of our students speak
English as their second language (ESL), some may be working toward the
attainment of their high school equivalency diploma (GED), and others
may be trying to simply improve their reading, writing or mathematics skills.
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What happens if schedules change, and
my student and I can no longer find a time that is convenient for both
of us?
Call LVWCC and inform us of the scheduling conflict, and we will match
you both with new partners.
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Does LVWCC require anything
of me apart from meeting with my student once a week for an hour and
a half?
The only other things we ask of our tutors are the following:
1. Every three months, to record and report to LVWCC the number of hours you prepare for your tutoring and the number of hours you actually spent tutoring.
2. Every six months, administer the SORT pronunciation/word recognition test and submit results to LVWCC.
Neither of these is difficult to complete and you will learn how to do them during your training. They are critically important because LVWCC must provide information from these reports to the Illinois Secretary of State, which provides the bulk of our funding.
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What do I do if I feel my student
isn't learning and /or if I feel inadequate as a tutor?
It is very common to experience lulls or ruts during a long period of
instruction. We are always glad to suggest ways to kick start your tutoring
sessions and get them moving forward once again. Contact us about any
doubts you may have or any tutoring dilemmas you may be experiencing.
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Volunteer
