Home 2024 Tutor/Mentor Newsletters March 2024 T/MI eNews
March 2024 T/MI eNews

March 2024 - Issue 231

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As this school-year ends, use these resources to plan for the start of 2024-25 year.

Do you remember the "Circle of Life" song in the "Lion King" movies? Its message reminds us of the annual repetition of events as we and our students grow older.

 

In the school-year cycle we still have three full months before Summer break. In a volunteer-based tutor/mentor program, many are in the "can't wait" mode of thinking.

 

Yet this is the time for leaders to be collecting feedback, looking at what other programs do, and recruiting volunteers to help them start the school year again in the fall.

This planning should lead to a constant improvement in what programs do to help kids and volunteers connect and build relationships.

 

The ideas and resources shared in this monthly newsletter point to a library of resources that can be used by anyone, in Chicago, or around the world, to help mentor-rich youth programs thrive in all of the neighborhoods where they are most needed.

 

Encourage others in your city to find and use these resources!

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Where are volunteer-based tutor, mentor programs most needed?

The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) has published two dashboards that enable learners to identify areas of persistent poverty and areas with different levels of economic prosperity in America. I pointed to these in this, and this, blog articles. Thanks to Kenan Fikri for sharing this on Twitter (X).

 

Volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs can expand the network of youth living in areas of persistent poverty and help open doors to more opportunity. Create your own map to show where these areas are in your part of the country. Build your own list of tutor/mentor programs to learn what programs exist, where they are, and where more are needed. Look at how I've embedded maps in Tutor/Mentor and Mapping for Justice blogs for more than 15 years. Someone in your community should be doing the same, and for the same purpose of helping youth serving organizations grow where more are needed, and helping those programs constantly improve what they do to help kids through school and into adult lives. If you're writing stories like this please share them on social media and in your own newsletter and website.

Changes to Constant Contact email address. Due to a new policy, all email coming from services like Constant Contact will have a different format. This may cause email to go into your spam box. That means the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it will now be different.

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The President supports tutoring. He needs to dig deeper.

President Biden called for more tutors during his March 2024 State of the Union address. In the early 2000s President Bush also issued a call for tutors, as part of his "No Child Left Behind" plan. I created a presentation titled "Defining Terms" to call for a more sophisticated strategy that matched the type of tutoring and/or mentoring support provided to the person who was being served, and the social/economic environment where he/she lives. View the PDF in this article. Share it with policy-makers, donors and business leaders.

Learn from Bloggers. Write your own!

Art Tips from Sheri Edwards

 

One person I follow on Twitter is Sheri Edwards, who I met in 2013 via the #CLMOOC network of educators.. She posts weekly articles like this one, with tips for creating art.

 

In another set of articles she posts photos showing her part of Washington State, such as on this article.

 

She uses links liberally in her articles so each is a journey to deeper learning. I encourage you to take the trip.

Personal Knowledge Mastery

 

One of the bloggers I've followed since mid 2000s is Harold Jarche, who writes about a process of learning that helps each of us make sense of the world. Open this link to read articles on his blog.

 

This is one of dozens of blogs about learning that I share own two lists in the Tutor/Mentor library. Click here, and here.

 

These links include other blogs by #CLMOOC members like Sheri Edwards.

Life is better today than ever before. See examples in the charts on the World in Data website.

 

This graphic is from an article on the OurWorldInData website. Look at each graphic and see how much better off people are in 2024 than 100 or 200 years earlier. Makes you feel better, but there is still much that needs to be done. I point to this an similar articles about innovation, data and knowledge management in this section of the Tutor/Mentor library.

 

Apply the ideas in Harold Jarche's blog about learning and spend time reading and discussing the articles in this and other sections of my library.

 

One other set of blogs in the library focuses on fund raising. You can find those here.

 

 

iMentor Chicago blog - take a look

 

Between 2006 and 2011, I encouraged staff, students and volunteers at the Cabrini Connections program that I led, to write blog articles showing what they were doing in the program. At the same time, I wrote the Tutor/Mentor blog, showing why such programs were needed, and where.

 

For many years, I've been aggregating links to blogs written by Chicago tutor, mentor and learning programs on this list. There aren't many.

 

If you're reading this please encourage programs to blog, and perhaps offer to be a writer for them. If you have a blog to add to the list, send me the link.

Create future leaders who LEAD and SUPPORT

As you look at the maps and identify where volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs are most needed and what programs already exist you'll soon realize that a lot of programs are needed. Every program needs visionary, innovative, persistent leaders and staff, which means every one also needs a core of dedicated volunteers and donors.

 

Read this article from the Tutor/Mentor blog that points to the need for one, or many, universities to set up "pipeline" programs that draw students into college level courses that teach some of them habits and skills that enable them to lead constantly improving programs and teach the rest of them habits of consistent, on-going giving, that leads them to provide the support each program needs over many years. If you are in a position to make a billion dollar gift to a university (as someone recently did) why not endow a tutor/mentor connection type curriculum at your favorite university.

Planning Calendar and Steps to Start a Tutor/Mentor Program

On-going volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs work on a cycle that repeats from year-to-year, with recruitment of youth and volunteers at the start and celebrations and graduations at the end. In that cycle there needs to be constant data collection and learning that enables programs to improve what they do so they have a greater positive impact on youth and volunteers from year-to-year. In this section of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website you can find ideas that I learned from leading a tutor/mentor program for 35 years which you can borrow to help build your own program or start new programs where more are needed.

Below are resources to use. View latest links added to tutor/mentor library, click here

Recent Tutor/Mentor Blog articles:

 

NCAA Basketball tournament starts. Read "What's the Game Plan Look Like?" - click here

 

Be Like Terry. Share My Resources - click here

 

"Athletes Adopt-a-Neighborhood" vision - click here

 

Multiplying Good (done by athletes). Map the Network - click here

 

Role of Leaders in Mobilizing Corporate Support (for tutor/mentor programs) - click here

 

Tutor Program? Mentor Program? Tutor/Mentor Program? What's the Difference? - click here

 

Information-Based Problem Solving - click here

 

Helping Kids Through School. How Can We Do This Better? - click here

Focus on infrastructure needed at every tutor/mentor program - click here

 

Bookmark these Tutor/Mentor Resources

 

* Chicago Volunteer-Based tutor, mentor program list - click here

* Resource Library - click here

 

* Strategy PDFs by Tutor/Mentor - click here

 

* Concept Map library - click here

 

* Work done by interns - click here

 

* Digital Divide resources - click here

 

* Political Action resources - click here

 

* Featured collections on Wakeletclick here

 

* Tutor/Mentor Institute Videos - click here

 

* About T/MI articles on blog - click here

 

* History of T/MC - T/MI articles - click here * Create a New Tutor/Mentor Connection - click here

Resources & Announcements

 

* MyChiMyFuture - Chicago youth programs map and directory. click here; visit the website - click here

 

* To & Through Project website - click here: Follow on Twitter - @UChiToThrough

* Center for Effective Philanthropy - click here

 

* Forefront -Illinois' statewide association of nonprofits, foundations and advisors. click here

 

* AfterSchool Alliance resources - click here

 

* Brooklyn Public Library National Teen E-card. Makes books available to teens throughout USA - click here

 

* Chicago Mentoring Collaborative - click here

 

* Chicago Public Schools locator map - click here

 

* Chicago Health Atlas - click here

 

* Proven Tutoring clearinghouse - click here

 

* Chicago Learning Exchange - click here

 

* Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative - click here

 

* Chicago Digital Equity Coalition - click here

 

* Illinois Broadband Lab - click here

 

* Incarceration Reform Resource Center - click here

 

 

* ChiHackNight - remote civic technology meet-up; every Tuesday in Chicago - see weekly agenda

 



*
Chicago Youth Serving Organizations in Intermediary Roles - click here to view a concept map showing many organizations working to help improve the lives of Chicago area youth. Follow the links.

About this newsletter.

 

While I try to send this only once a month, I write blog articles weekly. Throughout the newsletter I post links to a few of the articles published in the past month or earlier. I encourage you to spend a little time each week reading these articles and following the links. Use the ideas and presentations in group discussions with other people who are concerned about the same issues.

view current and past newsletters at this link.

Encourage friends, family, co-workers to sign up to receive this newsletter. Click here.

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Thank you for reading. Please help fund the T/MI.

Tutor/Mentor Connection, Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC


Serving Chicago area since 1993

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