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Written by Catherine Tran
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Tuesday, 20 September 2011 13:33 |
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Every Wednesday, I walk to one of the conference rooms in the University of Texas Student Services Building for my "priority hours." There always seems to be refreshments here for us tutors, and so before I even start, I've got a tortilla in my mouth and a nice cup of iced tea. I'm always excited to be at this snack-filled bonanza of tutoring with other dedicated UT Austin students. I briefly chat with another tutor, pick a comfy chair, and it's down to business. Together, our cohort picks up sessions as quickly as they appear.
Students from all over northeast Austin congregate during our priority service hours of 4-6 PM on Mondays and Wednesdays in the computer lab at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center (GGRC), one of Learn To Be’s site partners. Students who benefit from this partnership come from Hart Elementary School, Elementary School, McBee Elementary School, Barrington Elementary School, Harmony Science Academy, and Dobie Middle School. The GGRC empowers students who may not have easy access to computers or the internet to receive one-on-one guidance from some of the brightest college students in Texas. With the support of program coordinator Mr. Reuben Olivo, students are now provided with headsets that facilitate synchronous communication with our tutor base. UT Austin volunteer Kevin Ma, who has been instrumental in building this joint venture, is always personally on-site to assist the students.
Meanwhile, the Student Services Building is only a walk away for the tutors at the University of Texas at Austin. These priority hours allow the chapter tutors to keep each other accountable and build a sense of camaraderie around our cause. For the students, these priority hours allow for timely reinforcement of their day-to-day curriculum.
I am proud to be a part of such an innovative and constructive way to give back to the Austin community. I can't wait for the expansion of this program to include other schools and university chapters!
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Tuesday, 09 August 2011 13:02 |
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 Learn To Be at UT Dallas, one of our university chapters, has been recently working on an expansion project of what chapter president Derek Chui calls the “bridging the gap” project. Working with his executive board, Derek initiated an on-site tutoring service at Malvern Elementary. During the spring 2011 semester, seven members from Learn To Be at UT Dallas visited Malvern Elementary once a week to tutor math, language arts, and the basic sciences. Members of Learn To Be at UT Dallas range from freshmen to juniors, and the district and teachers at Malvern have been very open and willing to let these volunteers offer their help. Tutor comments after going to Malvern have been extremely positive, and tangible strides have already been seen in the students’ understanding of basic concepts. Tutors at Malvern currently work with the same student(s) each time they go, rotating in one hour shifts to cover areas that each student needs specific help with.
 Tutors currently work with Kindergarten through fourth grade, focusing mainly on connecting concepts of addition, subtraction, and number sense to more developed areas of study. One tutor helped her students with their reading. “The goal of starting on-site tutoring is to create an emphasis for Learn To Be in the community. We’re trying to show the surrounding community that we are here to bridge the educational disparities and help in any way we can. The objective for Learn To Be at UT Dallas is to have people hear the words ‘Learn To Be’ and not only know who we are, but know what we stand for, and how we’re trying to give back,” says Chui. The eventual goal is to continue working on “bridging the gap” by fundraising to introduce digital tablets in the elementary school computer lab. This project also exemplifies how our university chapters are improving tutoring efficiency, boosting tutor confidence, and generating greater commitment to the organization by investing in a local resource.
 “By introducing tablets into this school, we’ll be expanding the Learn To Be free online tutoring network. Our goal is to have these students know about Learn To Be, and talk to their parents and friends about it. Think about how awesome it would be if the support team behind Learn To Be was more than just the campus community. What if it was comprised of school administrators, school teachers, parents, and students alike? The possibilities would be endless.”
Learn To Be – UT Dallas has outlined five specific objectives for the upcoming year in regards to the “bridging the gap” project.
Objective 1: getting the Learn To Be name out there; “community name”
Objective 2: creating partnerships with local school districts, businesses, and administration
Objective 3: creating a baseline for future Learn To Be participants
Objective 4: creating community and buy-in for current and future members
Objective 5: make a difference in education disparity by tackling it on a local level
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Friday, 22 July 2011 20:54 |
Harvard University will be home to a new Learn To Be chapter this coming fall. The chapter grew out of the Harvard University Class of 2015 Facebook group, where a few enthusiastic incoming freshmen started chatting about Learn To Be. Before long, more than 20 excited pre-frosh started organizing themselves through their own Facebook group and frequent conference calls, fervently planning their fall semester Learn To Be roll-out despite having never met in person. The goal of our new Learn To Be chapter is to become a campus-wide and Cambridge community phenomenon.
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Laurence Girard, at the center of this campaign, grew passionate about Learn To Be after taking online classes at Harvard this past year. He is already a Learn To Be Certified Tutor and trained recruiter, taking up many online tutoring sessions and guiding his peers through the tutor certification process. While he is very committed to volunteering at a hospital all through summer, he still finds time to start securing funds for the chapter and reaching out to schools in underserved communities to discuss potential site partnerships.
Within a few days of joining the Facebook group, Adam Hotchkiss had already set up a Wordpress blog and started discussing ideas for how to run the new chapter on campus. Adam has a knack for math and is particularly anxious about becoming a Learn To Be math tutor.
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Dina Perez decided to get involved with the new chapter by dedicating several hours of her time each night to talk strategy with other incoming freshmen over Skype. She also decided to develop tutoring partnerships with schools in her Texas hometown to give back to her community.
In addition to all the Harvard College students who are getting involved, Learn To Be at Harvard will be open to alumni and students from the other schools at Harvard as well. Katherine Scott, who recently graduated from Harvard with a Masters of Liberal Arts, is working to expand the chapter through the entire Harvard campus and alumni community. Her dedication to the mission of Learn To Be truly shined through during our video conference calls.
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Please follow the developments at our Harvard chapter at learntobe.org/harvard. In the Boston area we also have student leaders initiating interest groups at Boston College, Boston University and Wellesley College, so stay tuned for more updates from our university chapters.
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News
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Friday, 11 February 2011 13:14 |
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Learn To Be is the featured organization on https://philanthroper.com today. We would like to thank Philanthroper.com for their support, so please check them out when you get a chance!
From Philanthroper.com -
"All education isn't created equal, and this fact is especially salient to families who can't shop around for the most lauded school districts.
The Learn to Be Foundation has a simple solution: connect any child with access to a computer to free one-on-one tutoring in the subject of their choice.
How does it work? After signing up for an account, a student can request a tutoring session via a school-sponsored computer lab or at home. A volunteer tutor - most likely a university student who's passed a background check - is sent a text message informing them of the upcoming session.
Tutoring commences through text and voice chat along with a virtual whiteboard, and afterward, the student can rate their tutoring experience.
Learn to Be has already offered 4000 hours of tutoring to 5000 students. That said, they're still a young organization that's only in a handful of schools. And they're yet to break $50,000 in funding. So consider your dollar as critical seed funding for a hot new non-profit startup - a startup with solid technology, a great idea and lots of youthful drive.
If you're a tutor, school or student interested in Learn to Be, find out more on their site." |
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At the start of a new year, we'd like to remind everyone of our mission here at Learn To Be. We strive to provide free online tutoring to students in underserved communities who otherwise does not have access to help. The backbone of our Foundation are the selfless tutors who dedicate their time to guide students in the learning process. We cannot be a valuable organization without each and every one of our incredible tutors. On a similar note, Learn To Be would like to distinguish Derek Chui as an exemplary tutor for the month of January. Derek currently serves as the president of The Learn To Be Club at University of Texas at Dallas Chapter in addition to being a tutor. He has shown great dedication throughout the process of establishing the new chapter at his university as well as great patience throughout tutoring sessions. Let's take a moment to get to know Derek Chui!
 Where are you from?
Carrollton, TX. How old are you?
19. What was your favorite subject in school?
Biology, but I dabble in the humanities and music whenever I get a chance.What was your favorite childhood book?
The Phantom Tollbooth.What is your favorite hobby?
I love learning new things, discovering new places, and meeting new people. I also love finding new music or bands whenever I get a chance.What is your favorite childhood memory?
I had a secret hideout near a lake that sits close to my house. A couple friends and I would meet there and play board games or just hang out.What is your occupation?
I am a student, studying to (hopefully) attend to medical school.Here are Derek's two cents on his work with Learn To Be:
Learn to Be is doing something really awesome. I cannot stress that enough, and in our campus recruiting efforts, I think the enthusiasm is catching on. When people see that they can do something from their own home, something that will make a literal difference, their initial reaction is surprise, then excitement. This is incredible, and I feel like this movement is something that people can really get behind. I look forward to being able to tutor, but also look forward to seeing other people find that same joy. Occasionally, I'll be reminded by a student of something that I may have had trouble with years ago, and it is so great to be able to help them work through it. In the end, the goals and resources that Learn to Be enables us to participate in are incredible, and there's so much room for growth. I'm psyched to work with Learn to Be, and look forward to recruitment and future communications!Keep up the great work, Derek! |
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