Tutor Tips

Many tutors who use computers all day at work may be less than eager to face another computer during their tutoring sessions. Likewise, learners may fear computers, thinking something like “as if learning to read isn’t hard enough, now I have to try this?!”

        Incorporating computers into tutoring sessions is a fine way to connect learners to the on-line community and an easy and efficient tool for learners to exercise their growing reading and writing skills.
 
• Internet classes instruct learners to navigate from one website to another. Learners come away with an appreciation for the resources that are available at their fingertips on the Internet.

• E-Mail classes prepare learners to write and send electronic mail, giving them a real and immediate purpose for writing, reading and getting information. Tutors and learners can communicate by e-mail between tutoring sessions.

• Word processing programs such as Microsoft Word allow learners to see their work instantly.

• Tools such as Spell Check and the Thesaurus  build confidence in writing by easily catching spelling errors and by facilitating access to alternative words.

• Work done in a word processor gives the session's work a polished, completed feel that can be another confidence builder!

 
Project Read’s Computer Learning Lab offers a wide array of software that can easily fit into the structure of a session:
 
• If your learner is having difficulty with context clues, Cloze Plus allows you to create cloze passages and tests. By deleting key words in passages and replacing them with a blank, learners begin to use surrounding text as context clues.

• If one of your learner’s goals to take and pass the state driving exam, try Driver’s Education. Learners receive practice in sign recognition and many other elements for the written exam.

• If your learner is working to pass the GED, several programs can assist. Government offers practice for the government GED test. Pre-GED gives practice in reading, reasoning, math and social studies.  Math for the Real World  provides real-life math instruction in logic, time, money, fractions, decimals, percents, charts, maps, volume, weight, measurement and patterns. (Whew!)

• Improving typing skills? Mavis Beacon is a tutorial, drill and practice program that lets learners move at their own pace while learning and improving typing and keyboarding skills.