Tutoring at LearningWorks

Become a Literacy Volunteer

Literacy Volunteers – Greater Portland is seeking tutors to provide reading, writing, and communication skill instruction to adult learners – native Mainers and New Mainers alike. By investing just two hours a week, you can help students gain the literacy skills they need to complete everyday tasks and achieve personal self-sufficiency goals.

Do you love to read and desire to share the gift of literacy? Are you interested in helping new Mainers gain the English skills they need to integrate successfully? If so, this could be the perfect volunteer option for you. No prior teaching experience is necessary. We will train you to ensure you have the knowledge and skills to be effective. Trainings happen every other month in January, March, May, July, September, and November. What we need from you is:

-- Ability to tutor 2 hours a week

-- Commitment of one year

-- Open, flexible and learning attitude

Developing an individual relationship with an adult learner and designing targeted lessons to meet their needs is both challenging and rewarding. Meet a few of our current tutors and hear about their experiences.

Ryan had worked in operations for a company for several years and was looking to do something that held more personal meaning for him, so he came to volunteer as a tutor. His student is a man in his mid 30s from the Middle East who is intelligent and very motivated, but needed someone who would be patient and understanding because he experienced significant trauma in his home country. Ryan succeeded in making him feel comfortable and supported, which created a solid foundation for their educational work. “This is exactly what I want to be doing,” Ryan says. “I grew up in poverty so I totally get the challenges and want to make a difference for others.” Bolstered by this experience, Ryan is now planning to pursue a graduate degree in Social Work.

Anne had forty years of experience in curriculum development and delivery when she retired but was still nervous at first when starting to tutor her student, a middle aged man with dyslexia. That feeling didn’t last long, though. “Wednesday nights are special,” Anne says, “I really look forward to our sessions.” She finds their work together satisfying and rewarding because her student is making great strides. He has struggled with reading and writing his whole life, but working with Anne has been a new, positive experience. When asked about it, he says with a smile, “She has helped me to realize a lot of things I couldn’t do before. It is surprising. And I love surprises.”

Aileen has a professional background in history and archaeology but hasn’t worked in a number of years. Now that her children are older, she felt she’d have more time to volunteer. In the past year, Aileen has worked with three different immigrant students. She helped one student learn essential vocabulary he needed to be successful at his job; she prepared another to pass the driver’s permit test; and she’s assisting her current student gain college-readiness skills. When asked how she approaches tutoring and remains positive through the ups and downs, Aileen says, “They are dealing with so much. I can’t even imagine all the challenges. I figure I’m the one who can be flexible. I try to understand what they need and make the learning concrete.”

If these profiles inspire you, call 775-0105 x165 or email Emily Gilkinson at egilkinson@learningworks.me to inquire about becoming a tutor. There are dozens of adults currently waiting for tutors. Please take action to help them today. To learn more about the program model and the students we serve, check out our program page.

Tutor Training

The next series of Literacy Volunteers tutor training sessions will take place in March 2012.

Forms & Paperwork

»Volunteer Application