Tutor Development Training
Disability Justice Informed Tutoring: Designing the Education Spaceship
This workshop will examine both the theory and practice of disability justice informed tutoring. Elizabeth Catchmark, an instructor with the Petey Greene Program’s college bridge program, will facilitate this training that focuses on defining disability, carcerality and accommodations, Universal Design for Learning, and collaborative learning plans, among other topics. Participants will leave the training with an understanding of disability justice informed tutoring and be able to apply practices introduced in the training in their next tutoring session.
Elizabeth Catchmark is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland and an experienced writing program administrator in both professional and academic writing. She has participated in curricular design at various levels, including supporting the UMD Academic Writing Program's redesign of their flagship course to integrate diversity and power, designing and delivering the Petey Greene Program's tutor training program for DC Jail writing tutors, and collaboratively developing the DC Jail College Bridge Writing Course with Dr. Peter Mallios. She has received the James F. Harris Arts and Humanities Visionary Scholarship Award, the International Writing Centers Association Future Leader Award, and the James A. Robinson Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award for her work.
To prepare for this training: Please read the essay, “Design a Spaceship,” by Andi C. Buchanan, and consider the following questions:
What is your initial reaction to the reading?
How does this piece introduce disability justice?
If you don’t have time to read the entire essay, please focus on the first and third sections (pages 173-174 and pages 174-176).
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Strategies for Centering Students: Student Talking Time and Checking for Understanding
In this training from November 9, 2021, we will take a closer look at two of 10 Tutoring Tips discussed during the Pre-Service Training: Center students and check for understanding. Facilitator Emma Morrissey will work with PGP tutors to brainstorm approaches to centering students and practice strategies for increasing student talking time and checking for understanding that support student-centered tutoring sessions. Emma Morrissey (she/her) is the Petey Greene Program’s Director of Curriculum and Training.
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The Digital Divide, Digital Literacy, and Virtual Tutoring: Strategies and Tools
In this training from February 28, 2022, we’ll define “digital divide” and “digital literacy,” explore virtual tutoring challenges and strategies, and practice leveraging technology tools to support student engagement and progress during Petey Greene Program tutoring sessions. PGP staff members Chris Charriez, Marie DiLeonardo, and Emma Morrissey will co-facilitate this workshop and provide recommendations for tutors working across a variety of virtual tutoring platforms.
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Student Motivation and Engagement
This discussion will focus on what impacts student motivation during PGP tutoring sessions and approaches for supporting student engagement. We will review a few resources on the topic before diving into a discussion to explore what you’ve experienced during tutoring sessions, what challenges you may have encountered while supporting students, and what strategies you can use to support student motivation and engagement.
Before Watching the Training
Review these resources on student motivation and engagement. You do not need to read the resources in detail; focus on getting a sense of the main points.
Motivating Students, Chelsea Yarborough and Heather Fedesco (2020)
“Provide multiple means of engagement,” Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (2018)
During the Discussion Section of the Training
Please complete the discussion questions responses form. Please plan to spend 20-30 minutes responding to at least 3 questions.
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Strategies for Tutoring Youth in Carceral Settings: Building Rapport and Supporting Engagement
This panel discussion focuses on factors that may impact academic engagement among youth in carceral settings and explores tutoring strategies for building rapport and supporting engagement and reengagement during PGP tutoring sessions. Panelists Shannon Battle (Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop), Norma Dhanaraj (The Petey Greene Program), and Kaylah Holland (BreakFree Education) talk about their work and share best practices for supporting youth learning in carceral spaces.
After the panel, tutors had the opportunity to ask the panelists questions, reflect on what they learned from the panelists, and discuss how they can apply it during their next tutoring session.
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Gauging and Responding to Students’ Academic Needs
This training reviews strategies for approaching a variety of situations that often come up in PGP tutoring. We discuss how to tutor multiple students at once, tutoring students working at different levels on the same content, and tutoring content when you’re not confident on the topic. Tutors will hear from each other about what’s been working during tutoring sessions and discuss how to overcome challenges related to responding to students’ academic needs in these specific scenarios.
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The Tutor's Role and Tutoring Writing
Before Watching the Training
Please review the pre-reading.
In this training from February 25, 2021, we will focus on the role and skills of an effective tutor and, more specifically, how to apply these skills in writing tutoring. Petey Greene Program tutors will work with facilitator Eddie Horan to discuss tutoring practices, explore resources, and practice tutoring writing. Eddie Horan (he/him) is a Tutoring Center Specialist and Coordinator at Stockton University.
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Tutoring Math and Test-Taking Skills
In this training from March 22, 2021, we will review math topics that PGP tutors often see during tutoring sessions and discuss student-centered tutoring strategies that support learners as they study math and prepare for tests. With facilitator Glen Konstantin, PGP tutors will explore techniques that are specifically relevant to tutoring math, review approaches to preparing for and taking tests, and practice applying these in tutoring.
Glen Konstantin has over 20 years of experience teaching math, English, and history, and has worked one-on-one with over 600 students preparing for standardized tests and entrance examinations for high school, undergraduate, and graduate programs. Since the fall of 2019, he has been a volunteer tutor with the Petey Greene Program in New York City.
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Tutoring Reading Comprehension
In this training, facilitator Marcus Hall will provide insights into reading comprehension and recommendations for tutoring this subject. This training will define reading comprehension, recommend strategies for coaching this skill, and provide opportunities for practice.
Marcus Hall has worked in the education field since 2009. Starting as the youngest deputy director in the history of the NYC Department of Education, Marcus returned home to Philadelphia in 2012 to serve as a Teach for America Greater Philadelphia Corp member. Marcus entered the adult education space in 2014 and joined the staff of Community Learning Center in 2016. Marcus serves as Director of Workforce Development for Beyond Literacy. In this role, Marcus is responsible for collecting and analyzing employment history and experience of our adult learners, building the financial and personnel capacity of workforce development efforts and establishing pipelines to training and employment opportunities for students to access. He was also instrumental in forming the Keystone Energy Employment Pipeline program, which is a multi-layered entrance pipeline for adult learners attempting to enter the Energy and Utility industry.
Marcus also serves as Treasurer of the Philadelphia Adult Literacy Alliance, where he has successfully solidified the non-profit status of the organization. As Treasurer and Co-Chair of the Fundraising Committee, he successfully raised $65,000 to support the creation of the Pennsylvania Adult Teaching Hub.
Alongside his full time duties, Marcus currently serves as Chair of the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition’s Education Subcommittee and Secretary of the City of Philadelphia MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Community Advisory Committee. One major goal of the Challenge is to reduce the City of Philadelphia prison population by 50%. Marcus is also a published contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer and formerly Philadelphia Public School Notebook.
Marcus earned his B.A. from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, Elementary Education Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA in Data Analytics from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA.
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In this workshop, we’re joined by PGP tutor and ESL instructor Libby Amero to review the components of English language instruction, explore strategies for tutoring English as a new language, and practice applying these strategies in PGP tutoring sessions.
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