Summer is here, now what??

HI.

Summer is here and as we prepare to dive into the pool or ocean, we need to think about the past year and what we could be doing to help those justice involved learners behind our prison walls and for those that have been blessed to come home. Engaging learners, both young an old, is challenging and has become even harder as we work our way out of this pandemic. Please join me this summer to reflect on the good, consider the not so good, and search for how we can do a better job in the next school year.

This will be a rolling discussion and we will be inviting guests to share and join us. Looking forward to learning and relaxing a bit.

Thanks

Jeff A

 

Comments

School might be out, but Google is not wasting the summer. Google recently launched the Career Readiness for Reentry - Helping previously incarcerated individuals gain practical digital skills. It's new, provides support for men and women traveling through our justice systems, and oh yeah----it's FREE.

A foundational digital skills curriculum

We’ve worked with nonprofit partners to create a Curriculum Guide for Partner Organizations. The guide was designed as an easy-to-use resource to help community organizations deliver digital skills training to people returning from incarceration. Its five learning paths are focused on developing the necessary skills for the evolving workforce, and are all available online for free.

Click below to explore the Curriculum Guide for Partner Organizations.

For jobseekers, we encourage you to reach out to the partners featured below, who will be delivering this content in their communities, or visit the Grow with Google Events page.

Worthy of checking out. 

https://grow.google/reentry/

Enjoy the warm weather and hope you can find a few minutes to share.

Jeff A

 

Greetings,

I was hoping to find this blog and hope to gain some knowledge from the experience of others.  I have been a teacher for 20 years, over 15 teaching GED.  I have just started a new job teaching people newly released from prison.  I have taught ex-convicts in the past as part of classes open to anybody, but this is my first time teaching this population exclusively.  I was hoping to get a few nuggets of wisdom from the group.  My biggest concern is the language barrier; I may have many people who speak little English.  

 

Thanks in advance for the input,

 

Dan

Hi Dan.

Thanks for reaching out and for the work you are doing with justice involved individuals. I will be relying on some on my colleagues to join in on this discussion, but I hope that you will consider that every student entering your classroom brings with them their own unique story. There are over 44,000 barriers facing the men and women returning from incarceration and often going back to school is just not at the top of their priority list, despite the reality that it could hold the key to success for many. Teachers in the reentry setting need to be aware of the challenges facing their students including the need for digital literacy support, wrap around services, and even transportation issues to get to and from class. Peer mentoring can be an invaluable tool in this setting to keep students engaged and contextualized lessons in work settings could be really effective. 

As for the language barrier, there are no easy answers for this one, but using bilingual aids and tutors can be an effective way to assist those students. (Peer tutoring support also could help). 

I am looking forward to hearing from those in the field and hope everyone will jump in this pool.

Jeff A

 

Hi Dan and all, Jeff suggests bilingual aids and tutors, which would clearly be a big help to individuals who are still learning English. Structuring the class to provide specific English language instruction for those who need and want it would seem important. I wonder if there is a way to include another instructor who is knowledgeable in teaching English. Clearly, any language instruction that is provided should be 100% relevant to address the learners' needs immediate needs.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP