Monthly Volunteer Notables – NOVEMBER

December 15, 2014

Dear HEART Tutors,

This monthly email includes (1) Important Logistics, (2) Tutoring Tips, (3) More Resources (OPTIONAL), and (4) Just for Fun (OPTIONAL).  Thank you for taking a minute to read this.

(1) Important Logistics

• Winter Break Package – In December, we will be giving students a Winter Break package that includes Math Games and a Holiday Card!  Students will receive a prize if they play the math games at home during Winter Break.
  • Please spend two minutes writing a quick note on a holiday card when you arrive for tutoring the week of 12/1.  (All materials provided.)
  • You will see directions for Holiday Math Games at tutoring the week of 12/8 and 12/15.  Please spend 5-10 minutes during your tutoring session making sure your students know the card games well enough to play them at home with siblings and friends.
  • Upcoming School Holidays – no school, no tutoring (download here  )
    • Wednesday, Nov 26 to Friday, Nov 28 – Thanksgiving Break
    • Monday, Dec 22 to Friday, Jan 2 – Winter Break
    • Monday, Jan 19 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
    • Friday, Jan 23 – Teacher Workday
  • Please bring back the take-home notebooks you no longer need.

(2) Tutoring Tips

• This video shows a quick tip from Billingsville Math Facilitator Nikia Graham.  She says to make sure the students (not tutors) are the ones doing the work with the math manipulatives. They need the hands-on experience with the numbers, even if it takes extra time and patience.
• Goals – Does your student know what he/she is practicing?  Ask and find out.  If your student believes he/she is practicing “connecting cubes” or “hiding game,” he/she needs a review of the concept goals.  The notebook title is a good place to start.
• Continue to encourage hard work and perseverance.  Learning requires willingness to work hard as concepts get difficult, so praise students when they stay focused and continue trying in the face of a challenge, not just when they get the right answers.
• Please feel free to flag me down for help at any time during tutoring.  There is no need to wait until the end of a session to discuss issues or ask questions.  I want to provide real-time support so that you and your students can get the most out of your time together!
• Keep having fun!  Your students are so happy to see you each week.

(3) More Resources (OPTIONAL)

• This One Page Curriculum Overview includes one-sentence goals that explain the big idea of each of the six notebooks.
• What is the point of “Strategies to 20” notebook?  This video shows how students should be able to add above ten by breaking apart numbers using the combinations they internalized in the prior notebook level, Combinations to 10.
• For those in the “Combinations to 10” notebook – To clarify, a student needs to spend multiple lessons working with the same assigned focus number to sufficiently internalize the combinations. Most students need to complete Lessons 1 – 5 with one focus number to know the number’s parts.  Afterwards, the student will begin again with Lesson 1 using the next focus number.  Though it may seem counterintuitive, you will save time in the long run by working on only one new number a time.

(4)  Just for Fun (OPTIONAL)

• HEART Holiday Parent Breakfast – Save the date and plan to join at your school’s event to meet your students’ parents and teach them card games they can play at home to reinforce the number sense students are building in HEART!  We will play Holiday Math Games, eat food, and celebrate students’ work in the program.
  • Winterfield – Friday 12/12, 7:45 – 8:15
  • Highland Renaissance – Wednesday 12/17, 12:15 – 12:45
  • Montclaire – Thursday 12/18, 7:45 – 8:15
  • Billingsville – Friday 12/19, 8:00 – 8:45
  • Also, please email your coordinator if you would be willing to help in any of these roles: set up, clean up, making the Winter Break packages, taking photos.
• Please email your coordinator if you would like to be on your school’s substitute tutor list, which means you would occasionally recieve an email asking you to fill in for an absent tutor, when volunteers are out of town or sick.
• Check out pictures and articles on HEART Tutoring’s Facebook page!  You can also follow HEART on Instagram and twitter (@HEARTTutoring).

It is exciting to see the way many of you are gaining traction with both the relationships and the math.  Thank you for your consistency and enthusiasm.  Please let me know of any questions, feedback, or concerns.

Many thanks,

The HEART Team