Workshop Highlights

These were the highest rated workshops in each track offered at the Literacy for All conference.

Accountability
How to get 100% Reporting from Your Tutors Plus Encourage Regular Student
Attendance: The Carrot and The Stick
Mandy Shooter, Executive Director, Literacy Austin, Austin, TX
Geared to those responsible for verifying attendance of students and getting monthly reports from tutors. Participants identified reasons for not reporting, brainstormed methods for rewarding attendance and reporting, listed ways reporting can be made easier, and heard what worked for a program with 100% reporting from over 150 tutors.

Basic Literacy Instruction
Using Poetry to Engage New Readers and Writers in Creative Writing
Ernest Lewis III, Enrollment Coordinator, YMCA Educational Services,
New Orleans, LA
The mission of the workshop was to engage new readers and writers in writing poetry and to provide an opportunity for participants to creatively express themselves. Participants discussed the art of poetry and its influence on society. Trainers demonstrated the process of writing and developing a poem.

Collaborations and Networking
Strategic Alliances: An Overview
Marty Angelone, Managing Director of Program Development, LVA, Inc.,
Syracuse, NY
Margery Oppenheimer, Consultant, LVA, Inc., Old Bridge, NJ
Partnerships among organizations can range from the informal to the formal. This workshop presented a rationale for strengthening relationships among agencies, as well as an introduction to the characteristics and benefits of diverse types of partnership opportunities.

Combined Literacy/ESL Instruction
Learning a Skill: Building Knowledge Base, Fluency, Range, and Independence Rob Podlasek, Senior Training Coordinator, Minnesota Literacy Council, Saint Paul, MN
What does it mean to be good at the skills of reading, speaking, or tutoring? As tutors and trainers, we often focus on building a learner's knowledge base. While this is important to "know" something, it is also vital to make sure learners can use a skill with ease (fluency), in different contexts (range), and on their own (independence). Participantsn explored ways to help their learners (or themselves) master new skills and describe progress.

ESL Instruction
The ESL Special Collection: Free, Online, and Easily Useful
Matthew Scelza, Programs and Advocacy Director, California Literacy, Inc.,
Pasadena, CA
Tom Mueller, ESL Coordinator, Laubach Literacy Action, Syracuse, NY
Participants were presented with a plethora of free national online collections of ESL resources.

Family Literacy
The Laubach/UPS Family Learning Project – A Look at Success and Challenges
to Serving Families
Michele Perry, Project Coordinator, Laubach/UPS Project, Austin, TX
The Laubach/ UPS Project recruits programs interested in a mentor/protégé relationship. This seminar examined how mentor/protégé programs work together, how new programs meet challenges in providing family learning service, and trends in collecting and reporting data that spell success for programs.

Fund Development
The Basics of Grant Writing
Leslie Gelders, Literacy Coordinator, Oklahoma Department of Libraries,
Edmund, OK
Robb Gentry, Administrative Program Officer, Literacy Resource Office of
Oklahoma Libraries, Edmund, OK
This workshop explored where to find grants, the basic elements of proposals, what makes a good proposal, and how proposals are selected for funding.

General Interest
Online Information Tools Just for You!
Linda Church, Director of Research and Development, Laubach Literacy Action,
Syracuse, NY
Michele Diecuch, Information Center Coordinator, Laubach Literacy Action,
Syracuse, NY
Margery Oppenheimer, Consultant, Literacy Volunteers of America,
Old Bridge, NJ
With support from Verizon Communications, Laubach Literacy and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. are creating online literacy tools to help practitioners be more effective in their work. Participants learned how to get questions answered through Ask Verizon Reads. Verizon Literacy University, an online training site for volunteers and staff, was unveiled. Participants found out how to get and give ideas on the Verizon/LVA Promising Practices Exchange and heard about the Program Manager’s Orientation, an online resource for individuals new to literacy program administration.

Learning Disabilities
Learning Difficulties and Volunteer Training – A Module for Use in Volunteer
Organizations
Mary Dunn Siedow, NC Literacy Resource Center, Raleigh, NC
Participants examined a module designed for inclusion in volunteer literacy training on awareness of LD. They received a copy of the module, including training scripts, handouts, and overhead masters.

Management
If You Build It, They Will Come: Developing and Retaining Student
Involvement
Kerri Miles, Student Leadership Coordinator, Western Oklahoma Center,
Elk City, OK
Successful student involvement efforts start with staff and students working together. Participants learned the keys to building student involvement while exploring a variety of successful activities – student groups and events, student writing projects, and more!

Student Interest
“Open Mike” Forum for Students
Annette Sessions, LVA, Inc. Board of Directors, West Haven, CT
Annabelle Palacios, Commerce Public Library, Adult Literacy Program, Commerce, CA
Arma Adderley, New Learners of Palm Beach County, LLA National Student Committee, Boynton Beach, FL
This forum was an opportunity for adult learners to share experiences, ideas, and concerns with other learners.

Technology
How Online Lessons and Resources Have Improved Our Programs
Martha Lane, Director of Literacy Services, United Methodist Cooperative,
St. Petersburg, FL
This presentation detailed experiences of a literacy program's use of online lessons, online training, tutor and student support, and work with board committees – all via the Internet.

Training
Trainer Roundtable
Todd Evans, Training Coordinator, Laubach Literacy Action, Syracuse, NY
Nancy Putnam, Training Certification Coordinator, Laubach Literacy Action,
Syracuse, NY
Roundtable discussion: trainers had an opportunity to meet with Laubach staff and board members to discuss training issues in the new literacy organization. Topics included workshop design, training skills, and trainer certification.

Women in Literacy
Women in Literacy/Women in Action, U.S. and International Panel
Jane Hugo, Director of Field Services, Laubach Literacy Action, Syracuse, NY
Joanie Cohen-Mitchell, Brick House Community, Resource Center,
Turners Falls, MA
Indira Koithara, Managing Trustee, Yuvaparivartan, A Laubach Partner,
Delhi, India
Mulegwa Zihindula, Director, REDECO, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Leaders from women's literacy organizations in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the U.S. participated in a panel discussion focused on issues that cut across borders in women's education. The discussion explored women-focused solutions to shared challenges in areas such as student motivation and retention, curriculum design, advocacy, staff development, and collaboration. Panelists shared programmatic perspectives on how to address the global matters of women's education in locally significant ways.