A comment about the contrast in styles between Africa and North America. Why do we presume our N.A. way is best? Depending on where your students come from, it is extremely beneficial to know their cultural lens in order to make more informed decisions , particularly when things are not going smoothly. 
e

>>> 

From: 	"Colletti, Cyndy" <CColletti at ILSOS.NET>
To:	The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Date: 	16/06/2008 10:48 am
Subject: 	[EnglishLanguage 2642] Re: Problem Tutor How to Handle It

Our first responsibility is to our learners.  Not to our staff, our volunteers or our agencies.  If we are not effectively serving the needs of the adult learners, we are not doing our jobs.  As a volunteer coordinator, your job is to make sure that the volunteer tutors have all the skills and all the materials to effectively teach.  As a volunteer tutor, her job is to use the skills and materials to successfully teach the adult learner.  Both jobs are not as simple as they sound.  

So the question for you and the volunteer tutor is - Are you both doing your jobs?  

How do you handle this?  First, an effective volunteer coordinator makes regular site visits to tutoring pairs. This enables you to evaluate how (and whether) the pair is working together. You can't rely on the student's report that she/he is "made to feel bad."  Its not that students lie, its that misunderstanding each other is common to human nature. And particularly to the ESL teaching situation with all our cultural assumptions getting in each other's way.

Go see for yourself what is going on.

A site visit enables you to assist them both by providing targeted materials that the tutor might not be aware of.  She knows biology - so she uses it.  Direct her to materials that she can use and that the learner needs and wants and that are at the right level.  Perhaps health information would work for both of them. Point out to the tutor that these materials are at the level of the learner.  Make that clear. If the learner has needs for materials the tutor can't handle, its time to change the tutoring pair.  This should be a normal part of volunteer management.  Learners grow and change and need to be paired with another tutor for changed tutoring.  Go give this tutor materials she can handle and that work for the learners.  Or change the pairing.

A site visit enables you to intervene when you hear inappropriate actions like negative reinforcement.  This is not acceptable and must be something you call the tutor on.  I would ask the tutor if she would speak to you that way.  If she wouldn't speak to her supervisor that way, then she shouldn't speak to a student that way.  As a retired teacher she must know that positive reinforcement works where negative drives students away.  Should you hesitate to tell her this?  No, she needs to know this and to respond to your advice or she is unacceptable as a tutor.

If the situation is already beyond a site visit, then you have other things to do.  For the learner, you have to change this learner to another tutor.  Then you have to observe that pair to make sure that this pairing goes well. You have to tell the learner that you will talk to the other tutor to explain the problem.  It is not the learner's responsibility to face the tutor and explain why she/he is changing to another.

For the tutor, you have to take the responsibility to explain to the tutor that the student asked to be changed.  The tutor deserves to learn that she was too negative. No, that's not easy, but training tutors well is your responsibility. You need to explain to her that you will find her another learner (assuming she wants one) and you will work with her to help her understand the sensitive issues of cross cultural tutoring.  She should made to understand that she needs more training.  When you get her another learner, you need to observe the pair until you feel comfortable with that tutor.  On site is the perfect time to do that sensitivity training.  You can demonstrate, you can model.  And if she is offended by this feedback and leaves tutoring, then she leaves tutoring.  Not everyone is meant to be a tutor.  

Good luck with this.  Handle it soon, it will not get better on its own.

Cyndy Colletti
Literacy Program Mgr.
Illinois State Library



-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov 
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Project CARE
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 3:52 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: Problem Tutor How to Handle It



I have a tutor who is a former high school teacher. She is retired now. She has been with our tutoring program for three years.

There have been multiple complaints about this tutor on behalf of his/her students. The most recent example has been brought to my attention in the past couple days. It is the most extreme yet!

According to the student, this tutor uses negative reinforcement..ie do you really want to learn? Uses inappropriate materials...ie not related to everyday life (she was a biology teacher, so she teachers biology to students), or material too hard for the student. She makes the student feel bad about his/her level of English knowledge, making them feel frustrated and ineffectual. Luckily the student told me about this. I am going to talk to the student more about the situation. Obviously the student doesn't want to continue.

Do I formally  dismiss this tutor? Or, do I just say that I dont' have any students for the tutor at this point and that his/her current student is too busy now with his/her new schedule, With the intention of never giving this tutor another student in the future? I am leaning toward the latter right now.

Which course of action do I take and what is most effective for everyone involved. I don't want to make the student feel bad or have the tutor call him/her asking what happened? The tutor is very two-faced. Plus, they live in the same community, so I don't want them to run into each other again and have a bad experience. I want to protect my student, who I will try to find another tutor.

Thanks in advance! Any techniques for how to handle this inappropriate tutor and/or breaking up the tutor/student pair will be very helpful.

Karin Johnsey

Project CARE
Morton College
Cicero, IL 
708-656-8000 x383

-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Jlbogdan
Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 4:15 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2627] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test,& Video Site
 
Hi Kate,
If you are at school and that comes up it means that your network IT is blocking you from reaching the site.  You could request from IT that they allow access to the site.  They should check it out and get back to you with a yes--and allow the site to come in or no--and usually explain why they won't.
If you can't get then you can try from home.  
Hope it helps.
Joyce


----- Original Message ----
From: Kate <Kate at guadalupe.k12.ut.us>
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 1:57:15 PM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2626] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test, & Video Site


Hi, Steph-
 
If I tried to go on the Internet using the wireless access, but I got the "Page cannot be displayed" page, does that mean there's something wrong?  Or is it just that I was in a place where I could not get a signal?
 
Kate Diggins
Director of Adult Education
 
GuadalupeSchools
340 S. Goshen St.
Salt Lake City, UT
84104
 
work:  801.531.6100 (ext.1107)
cell:  801.440.7519
 
www.guadalupe-schools.org 

________________________________

From:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of LaFerlazzo at aol.com 
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 5:49 AM
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov 
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2602] Re: Best Listening, Bilingual, Online Test,& Video Site
 
  
Hi, Everybody,
 
Here are a few more "The Best..." lists:
 
The Best Online Video Sites For Learning English
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/06/03/the-best-online-video-sites-for-learning-english/ 
 
The Best Listening Sites For English Language Learners
(http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/28/the-best-listening-sites-for-english-language-learners/)
 
The Best Multilingual & Bilingual Sites For Learning English
(http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/25/the-best-multilingual-bilingual-sites-for-learning-english/)
 
The Best Ways To Create Online Tests
(http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/22/the-best-ways-to-create-online-tests/)
 
Part Seventeen Of The Best Ways To Create Online Content Easily & Quickly
(http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/05/26/part-seventeen-of-the-best-ways-to-create-online-content-easily-quickly/)
 
Larry Ferlazzo
LutherBurbank High School
Sacramento, CA





________________________________

Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.


      









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