Last week, I was firmly in my data-loving mode. Our volunteers are staying with the program longer. This is great. (and I got to make graphs) But this week, the story side. I asked our volunteers why they keep coming back every week. The consensus was clear: "The students!"  (wrote two volunteers from completely different corner...

I'm spending much of this month observing our new-er tutors in action. (And I'm spending much of this spring meeting with other ABE staff to talk about observing and coaching)  So I've been thinking about what it is I hope I see, when I watch a volunteer in action.  Which leads me to google "the difference between simple and easy" &n...

​"13 months old!"  Or "One year and one month!"(Which sounds less like I forgot when to do the "hey it's been a year post" and more like "I ​meant​ to celebrate in January"?)Either way, this blog had a birthday (December 9th), and I'm celebrating it now. I asked text analyzer (with an assist from wordle) what I'd been writing ab...

​Every month, I email our volunteers about their hours. Last month I also asked about moments. Specifically, favorite moment from their time in adult education this fall.And they came back with some beautiful responses: I read these responses and thought... Yep. It's powerful to see students learning. I probably would have said 'ah ha mom...

Our teachers are busy. Really busy. There's a lot to do and never enough time and they're running in 17 directions doing it all anyways. And, here's the honest truth.... free volunteers aren't entirely free: the cost is the time and mental energy to figure out how to use them. It's worth it, though, because volunteers can also help with big sticky ...