Calling all wordsmiths! Whether you’re a tournament-level player, novice, or somewhere in-between, the LCMC's SCRABBLE Scramble fundraiser is guaranteed fun in support of a worthy cause. All proceeds will benefit the Literacy Council. The SCRABBLE Scramble will be held on Sunday, March 21, 2010 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Bolger Center, 9600 Newbridge Drive, Potomac. A table for four players costs $200, and all proceeds go directly to the Literacy Council. Dinner is included, with a cash bar. Organize a group of friends, family, and colleagues and put your word skills into play! If you can't participate, please consider making a contribution. Volunteers are also needed for the event. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
Calling Talented LCMC
Students!
We’re looking for some musical entertainment for our Scrabble
Scramble fundraiser event on March 21st. This is a great opportunity
to show our supporters the kinds of folks our programs serve – not
just motivated learners, but creative and talented individuals in
their “non-study” hours. If your student is musically talented
(instrumentally or vocally) and you think he or she would like to
help, please contact Pam Saussy, LCMC Executive Director, at
301-610-0030 or
psaussy@literacycouncilmcmd.org.
SAY "I LOVE YOU"
WITH THE GIFT OF LITERACY
This Valentine’s Day, honor your sweetie-pie with a Gift of Literacy to the LCMC! When you donate $10 to the LCMC through our Gift of Literacy program, we’ll send you a beautiful card and envelope, perfect for saying “I love you” (or just about anything!). Helping support our hard-working literacy and English programs is a gift that will last longer than flowers, and is non-fattening to boot. Visit www.literacycouncilmcmd.org and click on “What’s New?” for ordering information.
Census Day is April 1, 2010. The information obtained through the questionnaire will define who we are as a nation, affect political representation, and direct the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. All residents should be counted, including those who are not U.S. citizens. It is important that our students understand what the census is and why it is critical that they be included. For each person who is not counted, our county loses at least $1,000 per year in funding. This is money that may be lost to school lunch programs, senior centers, and other services that our students need and use.
T from 7:00 - 8:30 at the Rockville Library, 2nd floor meeting room. Come and discover how you can help your
E
student participate
in the 2010 Census. The census is important.
The census is safe. The census is easy.
►Lesson plans are available on line at
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/ESL.html.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access some of the
information and you can obtain the free software
here. Each
lesson has a written lesson plan and an activity page that you
can adapt to use with your student(s). Chapter 4 includes an
example of the short form you can use in your lessons to help
students understand how to complete the form.
►Trust is a big factor and our students trust us.
Reassure your students that the information they provide on the
census form is private.
By law, the Census Bureau cannot share an individual’s
responses with anyone, including other federal agencies and law
enforcement agencies. No authority can obtain personal
identifiable data from the Census Bureau. The law applies to
the White House, U.S. Supreme Court, Internal Revenue Service,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, police, military,
and welfare agencies.
►You
should also be aware that scammers are already posing as census
workers. Tell your students that they should not give their
Social Security numbers, bank accounts or credit card
information to anyone who says they are a census worker. When a
census worker comes to a home, they will have a badge, a
handheld device and a confidentiality notice. The Census will
NOT contact anyone by email and students should not open any
links or attachments that come with an email that is supposedly
from the Census.
►Language
Assistance Guides in 49 languages will be available on the
census website (www.census.gov)
and at local Questionnaire Assistance Centers in March to help
your student by answering any questions they may prefer to ask
in their native language. The LCMC also can send you a guide
via the inter-library "pony."
►Tutors,
plan on spending several sessions with your students reviewing
census materials. If you find or create additional teaching
materials, share them with others via our Yahoo group or
Facebook page. You can
join Yahoo and Facebook by going to our website’s
What’s New
page and signing up.
Let’s help our students be counted!
STUDENT TO RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD
Basic Literacy student Milton Whitley
has been selected by ProLiteracy to receive the Ruth J. Colvin
and Frank C. Laubach Award for Student Excellence. The award
will be presented to Milton at the ProLiteracy Annual Conference
in Chicago on March 18.
Milton began working with his tutor, Mary-Ellen Friedland, in
July 2007. At his intake assessment, he was unable to recite and
print the complete alphabet; was unfamiliar with many letter
sounds; and was at a loss when attempting to read all but a few
words. After
years of failure and frustration, Milton believed he was “unteachable.”
As Milton progressed through the Laubach program, he became more
confident; more committed to learning; more excited about the
possibilities that lay ahead; and more inspired to help others
seeking to become literate. Milton’s determination to learn has
been unflagging, as has his discipline to stick-with-it during
the times when progress is not so readily apparent.
Milton had once been unemployed, struggled with drugs and
alcohol, and for a time, lived in a shelter. Gaining literacy
skills has been part of his plan to create a better life for
himself. He is currently working, living independently, and
helping others in his
community. Milton has experienced the power of education, and
now regards learning as an ongoing process. “I know this is
something I’ll be doing for the rest of my life,” he says.
Milton has been a guest speaker at board meetings and
fundraising events and enthusiastically recruits students for
the program. He was instrumental in helping the LCMC set up a
satellite program for homeless men at a local shelter.
Milton has become an advocate for adult literacy services,
providing testimony in Annapolis, participating in media
interviews, and mentoring others. He received the Literacy
Council’s 2008 Outstanding Student Award.
Learning to read and write has had a tremendous impact on Milton’s life, but the larger lesson may be that this student’s successes have allowed him to look beyond himself. Milton has said that inspiring others is what is most important to him, and his actions demonstrate that he means it. He is determined to continue his own quest for literacy, and equally committed to sharing that path with others. In May of this year, Milton wrote “I’d like to be a teacher because it will help educate others. This will give me a chance to apply my skills from what I have learned in the literacy program.”
FEBRUARY
PROFILE: CAROL GARDNER, ESL Coordinator
Q: What do you
do at the LCMC?
A: I interview
students, maintain the waiting list, match students and tutors,
and support the tutoring pair as they work together. The
coordinators are the student and tutor's lifeline into our
office.
Q: What do you
like most about your job?
A: I love when a
match works out! It's great to hear a student say "thanks, I
love my teacher," or to have a tutor
tell me how well things are going.
Q: Is there
anything that you particularly look forward to?
A: I really like
interviewing prospective students, and hearing about their
backgrounds. Also, it's fun to be involved in matching day --
when tutors and students meet for the first time at the second
training workshop. Everyone is so eager to get started. And I'm
happy, further down the road, when I see what students have
accomplished.
Q: What kind of
assistance do you provide to tutors?
A: Tutors should
feel free to contact me for help with teaching techniques,
resource information, or if they have questions about the
tutoring process. Although our mission is to teach students, an
important part of my job is to keep tutors happy.
Q: What should
students and tutors do if the match isn't working?
A: Call me! I can
re-assign the student and find the tutor a new student.
Q: What advice
would you give to a new student and a new tutor?
A: Enjoy
yourselves!
■Training:
&MCAEL 2010 Spring Institute for Professional Development -
Training for ESOL instructors
&Montgomery College TESOL Training Institute
&DC Learns Workshop and Webcast Calendar
&Working with Students with Disabilities
■Conferences:
TESOL,
ProLiteracy,
WATESOL,
MdTESOL,
MAACCE
■Scholarships: MCAEL will offer scholarship opoprtunities for
instructors wishing to attend
a conference this spring. For details, please visit the
MCAEL
website.
■Online materials to help ESOL students practice listening:
StoryCorps -
http://www.storycorps.org/ (June 2009, Essential
Teacher)
Radio Diaries - http://www.radiodiaries.org/
(June 2009,
Essential Teacher)
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening lab (Easy, Medium and Difficult
options) -
http://www.esl-lab.com/ (June 2009, Essential Teacher)
public and private sources. In 2009, the monetary value of our total volunteer time was
over one million dollars -- a figure which enhances the LCMC's credibility in the eyes of
potential funders.
Continuing Tutor Education
How to Administer a Check Up
Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Rockville Library (Meeting Room 2)
Presented by Carroll McKown, LCMC Trainer & Tutor
Ø What is a Check Up?
Ø How do I obtain a Check Up?
Ø How do I prepare my student to take the Check Up?
Ø Are there materials in the teacher’s manual I can use?
This CTE is open to LCMC tutors only. To register, call 301.610.0030 or email info@literacycouncilmcmd.org.
■Student
resources:
&Montgomery Works One-Stop Career Center Now Open in Germantown
-- 240-777-2050
&Catholic Charities offers immigration and "know your rights"
chats for Spanish Speakers.
&H1N1 Flu: Free Resources available in many languages
Free income tax preparation
Montgomery County
residents with income under $49,000 per year may be eligible for
free income tax preparation assistance through the Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Sponsored by the County’s
Community Action Agency, part of the Department of Health and
Human Services, the VITA program is a volunteer-supported
service helping eligible residents who cannot afford
professional tax preparation assistance.
Services are provided by trained, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
certified VITA volunteers and staff through a partnership
between the IRS, the City of Gaithersburg’s Bank On initiative,
Family Services Agency, the City of Rockville and the Community
Action Agency. For appointments, call 301-258-6395 -- press
option “6”.
OUTSTANDING STUDENT NOMINATIONS
April 15th is not only tax return day. It's also the Literacy Council's Annual Meeting! So mail or email your tax forms and then enjoy the rest of the evening with LCMC tutors, volunteers, students, and staff. The event will take place from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Rd. Rockville, MD. Submit a nomination for LCMC's Outstanding Student Award, which will be presented at the Annual Meeting.
Student and tutor progress/Student achievements read more
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