Organization: Community Alliance for Learning
Mission: The organization connects trained, caring community volunteers with middle- and high-school students for individualized coaching to engage, encourage and inspire students to think more critically and write more skillfully.
Activities: During our 19th year of service, WriterCoach Connection coached 1344 students in critical thinking and skillful writing, using trained community volunteers. WriterCoach Connection provided equity-based, individualized coaching to students in under-resourced schools by meeting each student where they were, academically and emotionally. We continued to coach every student in the class, eliminating any stigma to having a writing coach. In March, 2020, during the first three weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, we took our proven 7-step methodology from in-person, in-classroom coaching to online coaching during class instruction time. We supported students who were isolated and teachers who were challenged by the demands of online learning. We added a technical expert on every Zoom call to minimize student and coach struggles with computer issues when they arose. Coaches received introduction to Zoom and Google Docs in training sessions, smoothing their transition to distance coaching. This past year, in one English class, attendance on Zoom sessions increased from 25% the first week to 75% three weeks later, due in large part to word of mouth from students.Our site coordinators noticed an increase in formulaic assignments during distance learning, probably due to the increased demands made on teachers in this unprecedented time. They found that our coaching methods, which encourage coaches to engage with their students in authentic and respectful conversations, enabled students to move beyond the confines of the stilted five-paragraph essay. Zoom proved not to be a roadblock to eliciting student voice.WriterCoach Connection provided extensive training for coaches to help them understand the various pressures confronting many of the students we encounter. So that our coaches can connect with students in a respectful and empathetic way, we provided them training in antiracism and follow-up discussions. Coaches and staff were then encouraged to engage in other activities and resources accessed by our ongoing antiracism task force. Additionally, to help our coaches better meet the needs of all students, we provided workshops on trauma-informed coaching. Coaches also received training in techniques for coaching English language learners and for engaging students who appear resistant. Another training session addressed adolescent brain development and learning. WCC workshops have been widely attended and well received.
NTEE category: Education
Secondary category: Youth Development