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Spring 2006

Program Update

A Week of Phone Messages in the Life of a Literacy Program

Tuesday, January 3, 2006
11:08 a.m. Fred is waiting to hear from his tutor who's been sick.
12:47 p.m. Kathy waited at the library for her student and found a message on her home phone. Patricia was sick.
9:54 p.m. Sandy would like to know if we have a GED program.

Wednesday, January 4, 2006
8:19 a.m. Barbara, a tutor, has changed work hours and is available in the Literacy Program. Please call.
10:38 a.m. Cindy is waiting for a call from her tutor.
10:59 a.m. Monica is interested in ESL. Due to information on call back, she registered in "Conversation, Please" and attended Monday evening and Tuesday morning class.
12:29 p.m. Lily wants an ESL tutor.
3:28 p.m. Mathew is attending ESL classes.
And Happy New Year!

Thursday, January 6, 2006
8:39 a.m. Fred is waiting to hear from his tutor.
9:43 a.m. Cindy is waiting to hear from her tutor.
12:00 p.m. Mae may want another new student.
1:02 p.m. Marianna wants to pass the N.E.T. (Nurse's Entrance Test) and needs reading comprehension help.
1:19 p.m. Michele wants to show new Oxford Press materials.
1:50 p.m. Yun Hee needs an ESL tutor.
5:28 p.m. Charlotte wants literacy program information.
6:20 p.m. Future student called re appointment January 17 at 11.
9:20 p.m. Alice wished Happy New Year and asked for a new math student.

Friday, January 6, 2006
8:57 a.m. Gail's student making great GED progress. Gail would like another student.
12:23 p.m. Sandy is back from vacation and would like another student.
12:29 p.m. Carol's nephew would like the GED.
3:04 p.m. Jim would like more recommended GED materials for his student.
3:24 p.m. Yung would like an English tutor.
3:44 p.m. Jackie would be on vacation next week and unable to attend Tuesday, "Conversation, Please!" class.

Saturday, January 7, 2006
12:24 p.m. Elayne is so pleased with the 2 ESL girls she's teaching.

Monday, January 9, 2006
8:21 a.m. Colleen is meeting with student at 1 p.m. today.
11:59 a.m. Lucia called and left her number.
1:06 p.m. Someone left her number for a call back.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006
10:59 a.m. Phyllis called re Spring Tutor Training.
12:55 p.m. Edith found missing book.
1:59 p.m. Sally interested in Spring Tutor Training.
8:08 p.m. Joe called about more materials for his student.

As you can see, we hear from students, tutors, future tutors, salespeople, community organizations and we could go on and on. All of these calls are returned and problems are resolved. And that's a small part of a week's activities. How about the calls that are directly answered and handled? That's another story!

Future Dates (Please mark your Calendar!)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 -- 7 p.m. Tutor Support Meeting - Learning Styles --how do we learn, how do our students learn and "This Works For Me." Continuing education program credit.

Monday, April 17, 2006 -- 6:30-8:45 p.m. and Tuesday, April 18, 2006 -- 6:30-8:45 p.m.
Spring Tutor Training . Both nights mandatory!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 -- 7:00 p.m. Tutor Support Meeting New materials for ABE, GED, and ESL. Continuing education program credit.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 -- 7:30 p.m.
Tutor-Student Reception , gala celebration to honor all tutors and students. Plan to come!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006 -- 7:00 p.m.
Tutor Support Meeting An opportunity to hear from classroom program teachers and committee members about the workings of our literacy program. Continuing education program credit.

Monday, September 18, 2006 and Tuesday, September 19, 2006 -- 6:30-8:45 p.m. Fall Tutor Training. Both nights mandatory. Welcome to all new volunteers.

Project Progress

Adult Literacy Advisory Board - Representatives of Abington Free Library, Abington Memorial Hospital, Eastern Center for Art and Technology, Penn State Abington, Abington Township Schools and Rydal Park Retirement Community comprise this committee. Library representatives are Nancy Hammeke Marshall, Doranne Smith and Marlyn Cohen.

Assessment Committee - Lois Bachman, Doris Kalan, Marcia Klafter, Marcia Jacoby and Marlyn Cohen oversee procedures for the TABE and BEST TESTS. Test outcomes are analyzed and reported. The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires administration of these standardized tests. Selma Dafilou and Arlene Franco are committee members.

Citizenship Committee - Doris Kalan, Chairperson will lead U.S. Citizenship candidates through the process from green card to citizenship. She is available to answer questions about U.S requirements. Call 215-885-5183

Conversation Please! - The daytime class meets Tuesday mornings, 10:30 till noon , under the supervision of two volunteer teachers. Ann Gaugler and Edis Hall welcome ESL students and help them feel comfortable while they learn the language and culture of America . Sara Chernoff and Jackie Cohen joined the staff.

Conversation Please! - On Monday evenings at 7:15 , Beverly Willett, Doranne Smith and Donna Hower lead an "English as a Second Language" class for foreign-born students at the library. Many countries are represented, and only English is spoken.

E-Quality Program Improvement Committee Lois Bachman, Selma Dafilou, Arlene Franco, Doris Kalan, Marcia Klafter, Marcia Jacoby and Marlyn Cohen work together toward program improvement. How can our tutors and students be served better?

Family Literacy - A 6 week program in the fall for 3-4 year olds met Friday mornings at 10 a.m. at Jenkintown Day Nursery. Led by Family Literacy Committee members, Head Start meets on Wednesday morning in Crestmont, led by Edith Lane, Rena Spratt and Lillian Gibson. Spring plans for a program for 3-4 year olds in the library is in the works.

GED Advisory - Lois Bachman, GED advisor, is available to answer GED questions. Please call 885-5183 for information.

Literacy Live - A talented group of performers who are eager to spread the literacy word via a live, script-in-hand performance at your club, service organization, school, church or synagogue. What does it take to be a volunteer, how does a student feel about needing help, how can we help as tutors? Our group is talented and inspirational. Please call 885-5183 to volunteer your talents or inquire about a performance.

Master Tutors--Four Master Tutors (Lois Bachman, Marcia Klafter, Doris Kalan and Barbara Cooperberg) are available to answer your questions regarding students, programs, materials and all literacy matters. Please utilize this great resource for any special needs. Call 885-5183

Reading Comprehension--A class for advanced readers who want to improve reading comprehension for the G.E.D., T.O.E.F.L., N.E.T., college entrance or any specialized test requiring advanced comprehension skills, will begin the last Wednesday in April from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the library. Marcia Klafter, reading specialist, will lead this class.

Technology Committee ( Learning Center ) -Computers, TV-VCR, and cassettes are all available in the literacy office. Our "techies", Marcia Jacoby and Joan Schwerin, are ready to help. Call 215-885-5183.

Tutor Support Committee - We are fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers who mail the Literacy Link and call the tutors regarding meetings, special events and program information. We meet once a month on Mondays and have a delightful time.

Workplace - Rydal Park Retirement Community is the site of a Tuesday afternoon class for employees who need literacy help. Doranne Smith, Peg Cheney and Ingrid Rivel work together to produce fine results in the workplace.

Write It Right - Students in need of extra help with grammar and writing skills are welcome Thursday afternoon from 1-2:30. Judi Rosen will lead this class, and individual instruction is available when needed. She is assisted by Marcia Spitofsky.

Classifieds: Help Wanted, Help Given and Orchids!

Orchids --to Elaine Lauff, and Jane Taft who have joined the Tutor Support Committee. Many thanks!

Orchids--to Marcia Klafter for the many program hats she wears. The Nurse's Entrance Test class in reading comprehension was highly successful. She serves as a Master Tutor and will be teaching a Reading Comprehension class the end of April (see flyer), writes Tutoring Tips and teaches two literacy students one-on-one. Wow!!

Orchids--to our panel of speakers at the Health Literacy Tutor Support Meeting March 15. Many health-care questions were answered. We appreciate their participation and contribution of pertinent knowledge.

Orchids--to the Family Literacy Committee composed of Marla Benjamin, Marcia Klafter, Ann Sickles and Doris Kalan and to Edith Lane , Rena Spratt and Lillian Gibson for their dedication to Jenkintown Day Nursery and the Head Start Program in Crestmont. Pre-schoolers benefit enormously from their special efforts. Many, many thanks!

Orchids--to Joan Schwerin for the terrific brochure and map she developed for Career Link which contains all the Montgomery County literacy organizations and their locations for anyone seeking literacy help. She is a vital member of Career Link which meets monthly to coordinate and develop literacy activities for the county.

Orchids--to the circulation staff for serving as couriers and messengers on behalf of our tutors and students. They relay important information when there is a real need.

Orchids--to the children's department staff for their literacy cooperation-occasionally a special message or a key! Thank you Carolyn, Andy, Trudy, Christine, Katie and staff.

Orchids--to Joan Schwerin for the terrific brochure and map she developed for Career Link which contains all the Montgomery County literacy organizations and their locations for anyone seeking literacy help. She is a vital member of Career Link which meets monthly to coordinate and develop literacy activities for the county.

Orchids--to our Master Tutors--Lois Bachman, Marcia Klafter, Doris Kalan and Barbara Cooperberg for being available to answer all the difficult program questions. Please call them whenever necessary at 885-5183.

Orchids--to Lois Bachman, our GED chairperson, advisor, test scorer for all standardized testing and presenter at GED Tutor Support recent meeting. For any and all GED queries, call 885-5183.
Orchids--To Nancy Hammeke Marshall, Jeanette Andrews, Karen Burnham and Rick Guyton for editing, typing, laying out and printing the Literacy Link. Super job!

Orchids--to Pennsylvania Department of Education for providing an annual grant which makes the Abington Free Library Adult Literacy Program possible.

Orchids--to our exemplary tutors for their extraordinary efforts in improving their clients' lives. Our program couldn't exist without you.

Orchids--to Judi Rosen for leading the “Write It Right” class, Thursdays 1:00-2:30 , helping foreign-born students improve English writing skills, GED candidates with their essays and all students with writing needs. Also, thank you to Marcia Spitofsky for her assistance.

Orchids--to our Tutor Support Committee—Jane Taft, Elaine Lauff, Beverly Willett, Arlene Franco, Donna Hower, Ann Gaugler, Lois Bachman, Peg Cheney, Marcia Klafter and Maria Delatorre. They mail our Literacy Link and make phone calls about important literacy news. They deserve kudos.

Orchids--to our conscientious and loyal classroom teachers of “Conversation Please!” and Rydal Park Workplace. They help ESL students at the library on Monday evenings and Tuesday mornings and at the workplace class (ESL and ABE) on Tuesdays. Beverly Willett, Doranne Smith, Donna Hower, Ann Gaugler, Edis Hall, Sara Chernoff head the library classes. Peg Cheney, Ingrid Rivel, and Doranne Smith are the special Rydal Park teachers.

Orchids--to our Abington Free Library staff--reference, circulation, children's and office staff. You make our work a pleasure.

Orchids--to our incoming tutors, volunteers and students. The library doors are open, and all are welcome.

Help Wanted--Committee members for literacy program projects are always needed. If you would like to volunteer, please call 885-5183. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Help Wanted--please sign out all materials in the brown sign-out book on the office desk under the first letter of your name. When returned, cross out. Please return any manuals and re-usable materials so that others may use them.

Help Wanted--please mark your calendars for future dates through August. Come to Tutor Support Meetings as often as possible. Program continuing education credit is given.

Help Wanted--Call 885-5183 with any special news, any changes, goals reached, anecdotal accounts, problems and questions. Please keep the lines of communication open. If you need an answer, we will reply.

Help Wanted--call the library’s main number 885-5180 for information re/library closings during inclement weather and/or national holidays and for library hours. If the library is closed or hours shortened, please inform your student ASAP.

Help Wanted--Please sign in at the circulation desk on the date you and your student are meeting. Those hours are calculated and recorded for the library statistics. We need your monthly attendance sheets for program data for hours and outcomes.

What I Have Learned in the Last Year

I started Voyager 8. This book dealt with a lot of subjects that were very interesting.
First, it improved my reading and speaking skills tremendously. Next thing I learned about is charts and graphs.

I learned there are bar graphs, line graphs and pie charts. Although these are different graphs, if presented properly they can explain the same ideas. After learning about the different graphs it helped me to see how it ties in with mathematics and analyzing data and critical thinking.

This was very interesting, but after learning more about the different kinds of writings such as biographies, novels, narratives and poetry, I enjoyed it even more. I specially love poetry writing because I was able to express my feelings. With the help of Ingrid, I wrote a poem about my favorite resident. I read it at her memorial service. This was a great accomplishment for me.

I now know the difference between biography and autobiography. A biography is writing an account of another person’s life. An autobiography is when you write a story about yourself. I also would like to have my life recorded by someone else, so I can read their opinion of me.

After attending this class for many years my greatest gain is in writing. I have learned to put my words in proper order.

I belong to an organization where I have to speak to an audience. This program helped me to write my speech and deliver it with the greatest of confidence. The response was very positive. It pleased me greatly. People in the organization are now following my example of presentation.

Daphney Johnson
February 7, 2006

50 Ways to Say “Good for You”
Tutoring Tidbits by Marcia Klafter

The other day my student was reading a passage without making any mistakes and even put a little drama into her voice when she came to something a character said. I must have said “good” and “great” to her a dozen times. I suddenly remembered a list I distributed to teachers many years ago that provides many different ways to acknowledge a student’s work. So when you, too, have those wonderful moments when your student is successful, try some of these compliments:

That’s really nice.
Thank you very much.
WOW! Congratulations.
That’s right.
Keep up the good work.
Much better!
Keep it up.
Good job.
You put a lot of work into this.
Very interesting.
Excellent work.
Marvelous!
You’re working at it.
Fantastic!
Sensational!
Tremendous!
Perfect!
Right on.
Sharp.
That’s clever.
Very creative.
Super!
Good thinking.
Spectacular performance.
Nice going.
That’s quite an improvement.
You really outdid yourself today.
That’s great.
Good for you!
I appreciate your work.
My goodness, how impressive!
You’re on the right track now.
That’s a good point.
That’s a very good observation.
That certainly is one way of looking at it.
You’ve got the hang of it.
You will get better.
You are really going to town.
I have never seen anyone try harder.
You’re on a roll now.
You’re on the right track now.
That’s a good point.
That’s a very good observation.
You’ve got it now.
You make it look easy.
Exactly right!
Superior work.

The Long and Short of It

Please take notice of the letter to our tutors about honoring students at the June 14, 2006 reception. We would like to hear from you about your student and anything they have achieved so that a certificate in their honor can be presented. It may be a book completed, a certification received, passing the GED, obtaining a job or being promoted anything signifying progress in literacy. Your invitation is on a special Literacy Link flyer included in this issue. Plan on coming. Tutors, students, friends and families are cordially invited.

New and Noteworthy

A new class in Reading Comprehension (see flyer) will be offered as an out growth of the N.E.T. class (Nurse's Entrance Test) where reading comprehension was addressed on a short term. The highest level of reading, critical and inferential comprehension will be the main focus.

Marlyn Cohen
Program Supervisor

Next Literacy Link, August, 2006


What?
Reading Comprehension Class
For advanced readers interested in passing the G.E.D., the N.E.T. (Nurses Entrance Test), the T.O.E.F.L. (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and other entrance exams. This class will focus on test-taking skills by improving reading comprehension.

Where?
Abington Free Library
1030 Old York Road , Abington , PA 19001
215-885-5183, http://abg.mclinc.org

When?
Every Wednesday 10–11:30 a.m.
beginning April 26, 2006

How?
In order to inquire and register, call the Literacy Line 215-885-5183.


Abington Free Library Adult Literacy Tutors & Students
you are cordially invited to attend a reception
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
7:30 pm in the Community Room
at Abington Free Library
Student Diplomas and Dedication of World Book Encyclopedia in Tutors' Honor
Special Recognition of Tutors Serving 5+ Years
Special Program and Special Refreshments R.S.V.P. 215-885-5183


Abington Free Library Adult Literacy Program
Dear Tutor,
On Wednesday, June 14 at 7:30 in the Abington Free Library Community Room we would like to recognize you and your student's achievements at a special reception. We need to hear from you by June 1 st if you would like your student to receive a certificate of accomplishment at our reception. Please tell us about any special progress made that could be placed on that certificate. And plan to attend the reception with your student for a wonderful event. Our committee is planning delicious refreshments and a memorable evening should be enjoyed by all present. A complete set of encyclopedias will be dedicated to the library in your honor.

Please drop me a note giving me the following information:
Your name and your student's name

Achievements you would like recognized
Whether or not you and/or your student will attend

Thank you!
Sincerely,
Marlyn Cohen
Literacy Supervisor



ABINGTON FREE LIBRARY ADULT LITERACY
STUDENT RECOGNITION SHEET

Dear Tutor:

We are so proud of what you and your student have achieved together.
If you previously had a student who left our program and you still communicate, we would greatly appreciate knowing of their current achievements. We are trying to compile a booklet showing our student’s progress and need your input.
At the bottom of this page is a listing of certain achievements we would like to know about. However, please feel free to add others.
You may also use this form for your current student’s achievements.

Thank you.

Achievements:

• Entered Employment
• Retained Employment
• Received Diploma or GED
• Post Secondary Education/Training
• Removed from Public Assistance
• Became US Citizen
• Registered to Vote
• Voted for First Time
• Involvement in Community Affairs
• Involvement in Children’s Education