September 1, 2016

The Journal is now in archive mode

Greetings to all our readers.

Beginning on 9/1/16, active article production will cease for the Journal. It has been a fascinating and satisfying 10 year journey during our production of this publication. Because of the wealth of historical information it contains, we will continue to make it available for public access and professional research.

We wish all our readers continued professional excellence in their tutoring, coaching and trainer activities.

Yours truly,

Bob Lasiewicz, Managing Director, Crossroads of Learning.

Filed under: Blog

August 14, 2016

Cañon Literacy Center has provided more than 3,150 hours of free tutoring

By Sara Knuth
The Daily Record

Eileen Lakey loves the buzz that fills up the room when young readers go over words with their tutors.

“I love just sitting here listening. I just close my eyes,” she said. “It’s just this wonderful hum going on, and it’s learning, and I love it.”

As the director of the Cañon Literacy Center, a nonprofit that provides free tutoring in reading and writing, she hears that buzz a few days out of every week.

In a fellowship hall located next to the First United Methodist Church in Cañon City, local students who struggle with reading and writing come to the center and pair up with a tutor, one-on-one.

On Tuesday afternoon, in the first of two sessions, students periodically came up to Lakey to read her a poem, a teaching method that’s just a small, but crucial, part of the program.

“We do as much mentoring as we do tutoring, we really do,” Lakey said, later adding the center teaches phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency and writing through a program called the Peak Reader Program.

Owen Lyon, a local student, said in his time at the center, he’s learned to like reading poems.

Sam Savage, a community member who tutors Samantha Taylor, another student, said he struggled with reading as a young student, but got better after spending one week out of every summer with his grandmother, a librarian.

“To me, it’s just so important to like to read,” he said, adding that working with children allows him to help them enjoy reading.

The center was started in 2008, when the First United Methodist Church sent out a survey to parishioners, asking them what they could be doing for the community as a centrally located church.

“The votes came back, almost unanimous: something for kids,” Lakey said.

for the full article, click here.

Filed under: Community

July 30, 2016

Extra tutoring helps low performing Dallas Independent School District school

Dade Middle School is one of seven campuses in the Dallas Independent School District offering extra tutoring and the results are impressive, drawing large numbers of students participating.  In this local news spotlight, we see students who welcome the extra help, the extra attention.  Nearly 200 students out of the 800 total are taking advantage of the extra help and the program is up and running at seven campuses, where school has become a more positive place to learn.

Click here to watch to FOX 4 television report.

The extra funding and emphasis on tutoring at these campuses are part of the Dallas Independent Imagine 2020 program, setting new goals for in-school tutoring, before-or-after-school extended optional tutoring for students, and mentors for high needs students.  Other support professionals include social workers, college and career readiness coordinators, student advocate coordinators, urban specialists and school psychologists.

For a brochure on the Imagine 2020 initiative, click here.

Imagine2020cover

Filed under: Academic Learning Centers

June 30, 2016

Plans to close NJCU writing center anger students, staff

New Jersey City University is shutting down its Writing Center today after a ten-year run.  Back in 2014, administration was considering moving the English Department’s Writing Center and it’s roster of adjunct professors to the central campus Hub.  These professional tutors have been providing advanced level writing tutoring to graduate students and others.  At that time, space issues were an obstacle and no move was taken.

Fast forward to 2016, campus leaders switched gears altogether in order to cut costs and have decided to close down the Writing Center and provide campus-wide tutoring at the central Hub facility.  While the school newspaper reported that no full time staff would lost their jobs, that was not to be the case.  Crossroads of Learning spoke to the office manager and can report that she has been laid off.  All tutoring will now be provided by peer tutors, who are paid $12.00 per hour.  The NJCU adjunct professors were earning $26-$30 an hour for their writing tutoring services.

Click here for more.

Filed under: College,Peer-Tutoring

March 27, 2016

Why Finland has the best schools

What makes Finland schools to great? Let’s just say, it’s very VERY different from U.S. public schools!  A guest lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland enrolled his 7-year old son during their five month visit to Finland and what they found was very surprising.

According to his essay for the Los Angeles Times this week, William Doyle says there are no formal academics until age 7.  Children receive a mandatory 15-minute free-play break every hour of every day.  There is very little homework.  Teachers are highly educated, compensated and respected.  Most children get to walk or bike to school.  And here’s our favorite, “”Finland doesn’t waste time or money on low-quality mass standardized testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality “personalized learning device” ever created — flesh-and-blood teachers.”

To read more, click here.

Finnish school lunch.

Finnish school lunch.

Filed under: Pedagogy

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