Annually, in the spring, ONE TO ONE hosts an in-service training session for volunteer tutors.
This popular event offers tutors the chance to not only connect socially, but also to learn together. We invite guest speakers and experts to share new ideas, skills, and tutoring techniques for tutors to use with their students. We are always amazed at how many of our dedicated tutors continue to get involved and attend this optional professional development event to further develop their literacy toolbox.
This year, we gathered on Saturday, March 1st, at Langara College with 45 tutors and guest speaker, Aoife Mc Namara.
The founder of West Coast Literacy, Aoife has years of experience as a speech pathologist and reading consultant. Her in-depth presentation led to engaging and lively discussion on the science of reading. She talked about the theory behind the science of reading, offered some instruction on phonological and phonemic awareness skills, and provided strategies for correcting reading errors in a way that helped us to understand the need to move towards the most proven and effective strategies for reading instruction.
Here’s what our tutors who attended the workshop had to say:
“I had tutoring today, and I tried out some of the techniques that the Aoife taught us, and they were terrific – I actually had two breakthroughs with kids I had not really reached before.”
“The session was very informative and useful!”
ONE TO ONE has been working closely with West Coast Literacy as we work to update our program materials and ground our approach in the latest practices in literacy instruction.
We are very grateful for the partnership and for the inspiration Aoife provided to our tutors. In addition to some excellent tips, volunteers walked away from the presentation with resources and a decodable book.
A big thank you to Aoife and West Coast Literacy!