826LA’s After-School Tutoring program does more than fill in learning gaps and provide homework help. Our tutoring spaces also nurture creativity and essential writing time.
In their research paper The Truth About Writing Education In America, 826 National concluded that “Writing should be at the center of instruction, reinforcing subjects like reading and STEM, but instead it has been pushed to the fringes.” Obstacles to adequate writing education include “unequal access to writing education” and “the lack of time and priority for writing instruction.”
826LA’s Tutoring programs are a facet of the solution to the writing education inadequacies our students experience. Our Tutoring programs provide homework help and further students’ writing education, in spite of the added hurdles of distance learning.
A Typical Day at (Virtual) After-School Tutoring
At 2:30pm, Tutoring Program Coordinator Maricruz Pool-Chan and Senior Programs & Operations Coordinator Pedro Estrada separate volunteers and students into two Zoom breakout rooms. Volunteers are briefed and prepared for the day, while students chat about topics like family and slime with Tutoring Intern Amy Côté.
Soon, everyone is gathered in the Main Room, where Amy poses an icebreaker question: “Would you rather make a new holiday or make your own language?” The eight students and eight volunteers share their ideas (which mostly involve establishing holidays with free candy and creating languages to communicate with animals). Just before assigning everyone into breakout rooms, Maricruz reminds participants of the community guidelines, including proper pronoun use, name use, and mic etiquette.
A trained volunteer, a supervising room leader, and two students are placed into each breakout room. While students and volunteers get to work, 826LA staff and interns check in on breakout rooms and also work behind the scenes to resolve tech issues and ensure safety standards are met.
Volunteer Brooke’s students dive headfirst into their homework. Lula immediately begins writing her draft for a class report, while Joaquin and Brooke start to brainstorm for his animal report. They wonder, should Joaquin pick a monkey or a crab?
Volunteer Madison (bottom left) tutors students Ana (top left) and Ava. Ava turns her camera and mic off to do homework. Ana does not have homework, and gushes about the book she is reading, a story about Titanic survivor Ruth Becker. She also shares a piece of artwork she is excited about, an anime-art-style family portrait by her cousin.
“Do you think you want to be an artist some day?” Madison asks.
“Yeah!” Ana replies. “And when I grow up I want to go to the Atlantic and see the Titanic, the real one at the bottom of the ocean!”
“Do you want to try this writing idea where you tell me the beginning of the [Ruth Becker] story and we’ll both write a new ending?”
Ana enthusiastically agrees.
Since volunteer Daniel’s students have no homework, he offers two options. Melody and Meggan can either choose to do a writing activity or read and report on a book. Both of the fifth graders choose to read.
In her oral report, Meggan shares that she is actually rereading her book, Wonder. “I finished the book but then I read it again because it was good.” The three share their favorite scenes, and debate the differences between the movie and book.
As the tutoring session draws to a close, the girls chat anxiously about the next school year. They worry about middle school being “hard” and “scary,” but Daniel reassures them that they will enjoy it. Also, he notes that they will still have 826LA Tutoring if they ever need academic support.
At 4pm, the Tutoring team invites participants back to the Main Room to do one last activity together. Tutoring Intern Amy asks everyone to draw three things: a delicious food, a fun mobile app, and an enjoyable activity. A few volunteers and students present their work, and people type their approval of the colorful drawings in the chat.
Just before the clock hits 4:30pm, the chat explodes with thank you’s and goodbyes. The 826LA tutoring staff dismiss the group, encouraging students to stay behind if they have any questions, and the day is over.
Reflecting Writing Education Solutions in Our Tutoring Spaces
As distance learning further strains under-resourced Los Angeles schools, the pressure is on to make sure the city’s youth are not left behind in STEM subjects and reading milestones. However, writing education still remains largely neglected.
According to 826 National’s research paper, “only 25% of middle schoolers and 31% of high schoolers write about 30 minutes a day,” or the minimum recommended amount for kindergarteners. 826LA Tutoring gives local students additional opportunities to write, observing our organization’s call for “safe and creative spaces…for students to write outside of the classroom.”
826LA’s Tutoring team trains volunteers, many of whom are involved in writing careers themselves, to incorporate writing time into sessions whenever possible. The program helps students keep up with homework, reinforcing critical educational milestones.
However, the program is also a creative space that encourages students to express themselves. In an educational landscape now characterized by distance learning, tutoring support is more important than ever, and so is writing. In today’s uncertainty, students deserve the chance to exercise their writing skills, and gain empowerment, self-expression, and an understanding of their world.
Read the 826 National Research Paper “The Truth About Writing Education: Let’s Write, Make Things Right” here.