Hello, everyone! I have been hearing from some of you about your experiences with tutoring and Conversation Corner sessions, and I have detected a few themes. So, I have decided to start this blog as a way of providing a vehicle where we can share our experiences, our knowledge, and our resources in order to keep tutoring sessions and Conversation Corners fresh and fun for all involved. If there is something you want to talk about, all you have to do is post a comment below any blog entry, and the conversation starts from there. sounds fun, doesn’t it?
I’m no stranger to our teaching formats: both small group, discussion group, and one-on-one. Like you I have experienced the same feelings of pride and fun from working with people who are trying to improve themselves, and I also know about the challenges that come with finding new things to do with your group, new approaches to old material, dealing with people who don’t really speak English, more advanced learners becoming bored, and more. And I am happy to share what I know about these issues and look forward to hearing from you as well.
I started working on a document that I thought I would dispense to Conversation Corner organizers, but I thought that a blog might be a better engine of engagement with you. In this way we can explore issues as they come and we can perhaps go more in-depth, yet have more digestible portions of information than one super-document would be. And of course, everything here will continue to exist in an easily searchable way as we move into the future.
So, with that said, welcome to the Shared Literacies Blog!
–Eric