Nov. 2009 Conference Workshops |
Agenda - Thursday and Friday November 19th and 20th, 2009 at Norris University Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, ILBelow is the schedule of workshops for the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference which will be part of the next conference, to be held on November 19 and 20 at the Northwestern University campus in Evanston. If you'd like to present a workshop at a future conference, or be part of one of the tutor/mentor program panels, such as described below, email
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to discuss your involvement. Thursday November 19th, 2009Keynote and welcome: 9:00 am to 9:30 am The State of Funding for Tutoring and Mentoring Programs and Non-Profits - Jill Zimmerman, Vice-President, The Alford Group, www.alford.com View presentation: State of Funding of Tutor/Mentor Programs and Non-Profits Strengthening NonProfits White Paper, a May 2008 White Paper Commissioned by the Wallace Foundation First workshops: 9:40 am to 10:50 am - Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Strategies Facilitated by Nicole White, Tutor/Mentor Connection
You are the Best! Strategies to Keep Mentors Happy - Presented by Xavier Salvado, Gads Hill Center Why are mentors volunteering in your program? What makes them choose to stay with you? What makes them leave? This workshop will explore different strategies that you can use in your program to ensure that your mentors feel that they are making a difference and are willing to stay longer with you! This workshop will explore the reasons that make people volunteer, and how one must make sure that your volunteer position is considering all those reasons when planning the volunteer job description. The session is intended for any level of program staff (we will discuss mentoring programs, but it can be applied to tutoring programs as well).
Literacy Roundtable Quarterly Meeting - Led by Jenne Myers, Working in the Schools (WITS), http://www.witsinchicago.org Summary of Literacy Roundtable meeting, PDF Like a collection of books, The Chicago Collection is a committed group of local literacy non-profits whose missions all revolve around promoting literacy in and around Chicago for adults, children and families that need it most.
Building a Job Training and Career Development Program for Youth - Presented by Alex Cornwell, Associate Director and Stacy Jackson, Director of Chicago Lights Tutoring and Summer Day Program at Fourth Presbyterian Church http://www.chicagolights.org
How to Help Your Students Finance College. Yes, our students can go to college! This interactive session will introduce you to ways to pay for college, trusted sources of information, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, and frequently asked questions. At this can't miss session you will receive samples of ready-to-use printed materials and become aware of interactive tools on the Web to help families manage the cost of college.
Second workshops: 11:00 am to 12:15 pm Impact Evaluation: From Basics to Best Practices, Presented by Susie Quern Pratt and Jenny Ellis Richards, Pratt Richards Group, Evanston, IL. www.prattrichardsgroup.com View the PDF presentation of this workshop from May 09 conference. Building Communications Skills in the Classroom and After-School LASER (Leap's After School Enrichment Curriculum) teaches educators working in the after-school setting key language and literacy building strategies so that they can help students with poor academic achievement in grades one through seven to improve their reading skills. Language for Scholars teaches students effective communication skills so that they are understood and responded to positively by their teachers, employers and peers. This presentation is intended to serve leaders, volunteers and anyone who works with youth in a classroom or after-school setting. Maximize Youth Potential Through Academic Mentoring, presented by David Neils, Executive Director, International Telementor Program, http://www.telementor.org Online Fundraising 101 for Small Non-Profits - Desiree Vargas, President and Co-Founder and Ethan Austin, Co-Founder and Second Banana, GiveForward, http://www.giveforward.org GiveForward is a Chicago-based social venture started by two people who had the idea that they could change the world by making it super-duper easy for people to raise money online for the things they care about
Tutoring can be fun! Participants of this session will explore several hands-on activities that they can adapt and bring back to their tutoring programs. Easy-to-produce math games, manipulatives for teaching reading, and general tutoring activities will be covered. Come discuss innovative ideas that can transform tutoring sessions from school-like bookwork to creative learning experiences, and engage a few of the experiences yourselves!
12:50pm to 1:15 pm - Keynote Speaker How Businesses and Non-Profits can Work Together by Providing Volunteers and their Skills - Tim Hogan, Partner/Creative Director, The Royal Order Experience of Design In this session, Tim Hogan describes experience with T/MC first as volunteer art teacher, then as digital agency partner. As an introductory project, Tim's company has taken on the task of redesigning the tutormentorconnection.org website. Small business owners with a staff of motivated volunteers and interns can dedicate skills and resources on a regular basis, when the non-profit organization is serviced as an actual client.
First Afternoon workshops: 1:45pm to 3:00 pm Social Media Game - Twitter - How It Can Benefit Tutoring and Mentoring Programs, presented by Lovette Ajayi of Community Media Workshop. http://www.newstips.org This workshop will is intended to serve those charged with advancing the missions of their organizations. Marketing and public relations staff, or anyone who does communications for their organization. Student Recruitment Panel Discussion. Where do programs recruit students? How do they build regular participation, parent and school involvement? Facilitated by Kathy Anderson, Wicker Park Learning Center http://www.wickerparklearningcenter.com/, Abby Kritzler, Dreams for Kids, Allison McKenna, Lifelink Foster Care and Latino Family Services
This is a workshop for coordinators/directors to take back to their programs and train their tutors with. It is a training used to train tutors at Erie Neighborhood House. The workshop gives tutors a skill set or an approach to use when tutoring their student. So often we teach kids how to do one particular problem instead of how to do ALL the problems of that type. This is a method that tutors can use so that when the student goes home, they can finish their homework, on their own.
Second Afternoon workshops: 3:15 pm to 4:30 pm
Creating Great Connections - The Basics of Brain Development - Presented by Deborah McNelis - Brain Insights This is designed for volunteers, leaders, and funders. It is meant to inspire everyone in an effort to support learning at any level.
Incorporating Writing Strategies into a Tutoring Program.
Issues of Non Profit Management - 10 Tips for Staying Ahead in this Economy Presented by Jennifer Paul and Liz Livingston Howard, Northwestern University Center for Non-Profit Management, www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/nonprofit/index.htm All nonprofit organizations are facing significant challenges in this economy. However this is not the time to suspend fundraising and marketing activity. This session will help leaders review critical elements of successful fundraising and marketing strategies. This session is geared for nonprofit leaders and will help them review critical elements of fundraising and marking, think about key ways to maintain your strengths, and discuss current strategies to engage and cultivate stronger relationships.
Talking To Youth About Dating Violence - Presented by Mary Adele Revoy, Adolescent Development Specialist, Revoy Presentations, www.whoisrevoy.com An educational seminar for mentors on the basics of adolescent brain development and the dynamics of teen dating violence. Topics include: basics of early and adolescent brain development; changes during puberty; thinking areas still developing; power of emotions; risky behaviors & passion; and the dynamics of dating violence. This educational seminar is for leaders, volunteers, mentors and parents on the basics of adolescent brain development and the dynamics of teen dating violence. Topics include: the basics of early and adolescent brain development; changes during puberty; thinking areas still developing; the power of emotions; adolescents' interest in risky behaviors & passion; and the dynamics of dating violence. Participants will receive information that will help them understand and relate to developing adolescents. For example, participants will discuss how puberty is related to brain development and how both can impact decisions and behavior. Moreover, participants will participate in a fun activity to understand the thinking areas that are still developing in the adolescent brain. In addition, participants will be given ideas on how to talk to youth about healthy dating practices and what kind of dater they want to be. These ideas will be supported by a packet of worksheets and handouts that the adults can share with the youth. If time allows, information will also be shared on the youth workshop that is offered in schools and community groups that address the changes in their own brains and considerations when they date.
Friday November 20th, 2009 Registration - 8:00 am to 9:00 am 9:00 am to 9:30 am: Keynote and welcome: Testimonial from a former student.
First workshops: 9:40 am to 10:50 am - Understanding Tutor/Mentor Program Distribution in Chicago. Examples of student learning as a practical application. Meet the students and read their Explore Chicago blog articles. Read more about this project.
The Breakthrough Network Model - no superstars needed, Presented by Bill Curry, Chief Operations Officer, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, http://www.breakthrough.org This workshop is intended to reach out to those starting up a program, as well as those who are in programmatic decision-making positions. The Breakthrough Network model works to surround each child/youth in the program with at least 7 caring adults who aren't paid to be in the life of the child. The approach runs programs that build needed skills in the student while increasing their access to long-term opportunities through the personal network they grow while in the program. The life transitions that take place for volunteers often leaves the student feeling abandoned, and the mentor feeling guilty when they leave a relationship. The Network Model works to decrease these feelings by not relying on a single mentor, rather builds that village that will partner with the parent to raise the child.
Does your organization use social media? Are you afraid of twitter? Do you utilize YouTube? This workshop will help professionals and volunteers learn about and become more comfortable utilizing social media. Through actual demonstration, participations will learn how they can utilize social media to publicize what they are doing, connect with like minded individuals and work more effectively with children and youth. Even if you are VERY afraid of social media, you will come away with a comfort level and an understanding of what it is all about. Second workshops: 11:15 am to 12:25 pm - Quantifying the Need: A multi-organizational collaboration to develop a statistically valid methodology for the quantification of desired frequency tutoring and mentoring programs - Presented by Bart Phillips, President of the Board, Community-Building Tutors and Meredith Wroblewski, American Statistical Association See pdf of presentation. Participate in Group Discussion. This presentation is aimed at leaders of tutoring and mentoring programs as well as community leaders and leaders of educational institutions. The presentation will start with a detailed overview of the project plan which will highlight the roles of the invested parties: Tutor Mentor Connection; American Statistical Association; local elected officials at the Alderman, state representative, and state senate level; administrative leaders from the Chicago Public School system and the Noble Charter School Network; and business leaders. The presentation will conclude with the proposed methodological approach that will be implemented to quantify the need for tutoring and mentoring programs in various communities. Following the presentation, the attendees will be asked to contribute their perspective on the variables necessary to quantify the need for tutoring and mentoring programs in different communities, different quantitative and qualitative results of effective tutoring and mentoring programs, and standard metrics that should be put in place to evaluate the impact of tutoring and mentoring programs. Participants will have the opportunity to shape the statistical model that will be developed. Mentoring Program Strategies - Issues and Best Practices. Panel Discussion Panel includes Joel Newman, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley, Christy Beigh-Byrne, Director of Mentor and Volunteer Services, Chicago Youth Centers, Elliott Donnelly Youth Center, Rose Mabwa, Mercy Housing Services Mentoring programs have their own special needs and issues that differ greatly from tutoring program. Talk to a panel of mentoring program leaders on ways to make your mentoring program a success! Facilitated by Steve Miller, President of Legacy Mortgage Corporation El Da'Sheon Nix, Northwestern University and current Administrative Coordinator of Cabrini Connections Megan Godfrey, former University of Illinois golfer and tutor/mentor at Oxford Learning in Arizona
Lunch & Networking - 12: 30 pm - 1:20pm 1:20pm to 1:45 pm - Keynote Speaker -
Presented by Valdis Krebs, http://orgnet.com/ and Jean Russell, http://nurture.biz/ PDF OF Thrivable Networks Presentation Together, Valdis Krebs and Jean Russell explore, explain, and empower thrivable communities. Valdis specializes in social network mapping and analysis. Jean specializes in weaving and thrivability. Together, we work with both online and offline communities in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Valdis has worked with organizations such as IBM, CDC, Cleveland Foundation and Barr Foundation. Jean works with organizations including PeopleBrowsr, Community Media Workshop, and Inspired Legacies. Together, Valdis and Jean are working with several on-line social networks to weave thrivable communities.
Friday afternoon workshops: 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm - Nudge the Net -- how do you mobilize your network to accomplish your goals?, Presented by Building a useful thrivable network is more than "networking" or it's on-line equivalent: "facebooking." We build a thrivable network not just for ourselves but for those around us. When we each improve our individual networks, we all improve our community network -- as long as we are connected and have open flows amongst us. The old strategy in human affairs was: be between -- be the gatekeeper around what you know and what you have. Only allow select individuals or groups through the gate. Much of the world still works this way, especially hierarchies and bureaucracies -- you must pay to play. With the internet, and the transparency it allows, a new strategy is coming into play: be among -- be the connector of those around you. By developing the skill and reputation for connecting others, many will be drawn to you. Your network will grow for others will want to be connected to you -- to key individuals and groups you have access to. Valdis Krebs and Jean Russell will walk you through this new strategy of building a thrivable network. You will learn the process, and experience the practice through workshop exercises. Valdis and Jean will explain the three, interconnected aspects of building a productive and thrivable network. 1) Know the Net -- how do you understand your network and what it is today? You will leave the workshop with actionable knowledge and simple rules you can use every day to improve your network and that of those around you. Inspiring others to Dream Big - Sandra Garest, Executive Coach and Senior Dream Manager, Floyd Consulting, http://www.floydconsulting.com This session provides an overview of The Dream Manager Program and ways to apply the concepts in relationships and organizations. It will engage participants in finding creative ways to lead others on their journey to finding and pursuing their passions and removing barriers keeping them from achieving their full potential. -Have identified 3 dreams or goals that they can work on in the next 90 IDES Career Resources Network - Presented by LaMarr Johnson, Illinois Department of Employment Security Live internet or power point demonstration of IDES One Source/Career Resources Network website. It will serve tutors, counselors, advisors, mentors and parents that advise others in the academic area. Lesson 1: How to select a career. Lesson 2: Create portfolio to save assessment results and create/save resumes, course plans & favorite files. Discussion of Findings from Tutor/Mentor Connection Survey: What are the issues most important to you? Panel Discussion led by Nicole White, Tutor/Mentor Connection Research and Networking Coordinator and Mike Trakan, GIS/Mapping Coordinator - Tutor/Mentor Connection, www.tutormentorconnection.org We asked programs to rate what were their most important priorities at the start of the 2009-2010 school year? There were eight needs for the programs to prioritize. Nicole White summarized survey comments on her blog. These are posted below.. 1. Finding operating dollars - This was the need that was given a high priority by programs and 53.9% said it was the highest priority. 18.8% said it was the 2nd highest priority, 6.3% said it was the 3rd highest priority, and 18.8% said it was the 4th highest priority. No one said it was the 5th 6th, 7th, or 8th highest priority. 2. Recruiting and retaining volunteers - This was the need that was also listed as the highest priority by 43.8% of the programs. 25% said it was the 2nd highest priority, 18.8% said it was the 3rd highest priority, 6.3% said it was the 4th highest priority and 6.3% said it was the 5th highest priority. No one said it was the 6th, 7th, or 8th highest priority. 3. Training volunteers - While I think is a very important need, because where is a program without properly-trained volunteers - it was judged by most to be the 5th highest priority with 40% responding that way. No one thought it was the highest priority, 13.3% felt it was the 2nd highest priority, 33.3% said it was the 3rd highest priority, 6.7% felt it was the 4th highest priority, no one felt it was the 5th highest priority, 6.7% said it was the 7th highest priority and no one thought it was the 8th highest priority. 4. Legal support - This was felt to be the least important need right now with 78.6% responding that it was the 8th highest priority. No one said it was the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th highest priority. 7.1% said it was the 6th highest priority, and 14.3% said it was the 7th highest priority. 5. Technology support- I was surprised that this was also not a very popular need with 42.9% saying it was the 7th highest priority. We always are looking for volunteers to help us with updating our websites and fixing our computers. Maybe programs don't realize how important their websites are for marketing and publicity and how important it is to have computers to help the kids learn. Anyway, no one said it was the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd highest priority, and 7.1% said it was the 4th highest priority. 21.4% said it was the 4th, and 21.4% said it was the 5th highest priority. 7.1% said it was the 8th highest priority. 6. Marketing and publicity - I feel like this coincides with funding because programs won't get funds if people don't know about them. This is why 35.7% said it was the 2nd highest priority even though no one said it was the highest priority. 21.4% said it was the 3rd highest priority, and 21.4% said it was the 4th highest. No one said it was the 5th highest, 14.3% said it was the 6th highest, 7.1% said it was the 7th highest priority, and no one felt it was the 8th highest priority. 7. Parental support - This was the only other need judged to be the highest priority other than finding funds and recruiting volunteers. 6.7% said it was the highest priority, but the majority of people judged it to be either the 4th or the 6th highest priority with 26.7% responding those ways. 6.7% also said it was the 2nd and 3rd most important need, 13.3% said it was the 5th highest priority, and 6.7% said it was the 7th and 8th highest priorities. 8. School Support - This was not the biggest priority either with the majority of the responses saying its the 6th most important priority at 26.7%. No one said it was the highest priority, 6.7% said it was the 2nd highest priority, 13.3% said it was the 3rd and 4th highest priority, 20% said it was the 5th highest priority, 13.3% said it was the 8th highest priority, and 6.7% said it was the least of the needs. This will be one of the final workshops/discussions of the two-day conference. However, it is one that we hope will propel people into further networking and collaboration with each other, and the Tutor/Mentor Connection, in the next few months, so we can innovate solutions to some of these challenge. Plan to attend and bring your own ideas.
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