Staff Programs


STAFF PROGRAMS

Literacy Works offers these services for literacy program coordinators and educators.

MEMBER NETWORK

Literacy Works brings together literacy program staff from across Chicago to share ideas and resources at its Member Network meetings. Literacy Works incorporates a special training into each meeting, targeting a topic relevant to the challenges of operating volunteer-driven literacy programs.

Topics have included recruiting and managing volunteer tutors, implementing a writing program, and helping tutors integrate employment literacy into their teaching.

FAMILY LITERACY OPPORTUNITIES (FLO)

Family literacy coordinators and educators attend Literacy Works' Family Literacy Opportunities workshops to learn innovative approaches to parent education and parent-child activities. At FLO workshops, coordinators and educators from family literacy and early childhood programs across Chicago also have the opportunity to network and learn from one another. 

Recent workshops have included:

  • The Dance of Learning: Help Parents Encourage Children's Learning Through Movement 
  • Managing Stress: Stress Management Strategies for Parents...And You!
  • 3-D Learning: Theater Games to Help Parents Promote Children's Learning

EMPLOY LIT

Literacy Works' Employ Lit initiative helps workforce programs meet the instructional needs of low-literate clients and deepen their impact on the communities they serve. Through six-hour trainings, workforce development professionals learn innovative approaches that build the skills and confidence of job-readiness clients who have low levels of formal education. Literacy Works also provides on-site Employ Lit services. 

ADVISING/CONSULTING/RESOURCES

Literacy Works provides expert assistance to new programs and new coordinators -- ranging from telephone and email communications to on-site consulting and staff training. 

Literacy Works' Resources pages include websites recommended to literacy practitioners. Literacy Works also sends out notices, job announcements, resumes, and alerts to new resources via its adult literacy and family literacy mailing lists.

REACHING BEYOND

Literacy Works regularly presents its innovative approach to teaching writing skills, employment literacy, and family literacy at regional, state, and national conferences.

Through all its services, Literacy Works fosters connections and collaborations among community-based literacy programs in Chicago and beyond.

COORDINATORS' WORDS

Program coordinators comment on their experience with Literacy Works:

  • I'm a new coordinator. You've been helpful to me as I learned how to do my job!
  • I consider Literacy Works as a resource for all types of literacy trainings. The trainers are aware of best practices as well as the challenges that individuals living at or below the poverty line (our target audience) may face. The philosophy that literacy is in the everyday moment that comes through Literacy Works' trainings is great. So is their awareness of how to reach learners with varying backgrounds and learning styles. So is their professionalism and reliability. 
  • I now know what to look for when working with employment clients with low literacy. I learned how to engage clients by getting their feedback and ideas. I learned how to prepare materials in a way that clients can learn effectively.



         

Professional Development


 
>