Self-Access Learning CenterThis is a featured page

Volunteer Name:
Angela Wyche
ContactiInformation:

Project Name:
Self-Access Learning Center
Project Description:

This project creates a room or space at school or in the community for motivated students, teachers and community members to use for more English practice outside the classroom. We put together a budget that asked for equipment to make the room an appealing place to visit and content-rich materials that learners can use without the assistance of a teacher.
The materials we selected included emerging English readers series books, games like Guess Who, Scrabble Jr., and Boggle Jr., sets of phonics activity games that we put together ourselves using the PC Resource Book Early Childhood Literacy Centers, a C.D. player, headphones and English language learning CDs.
Timeframe:
2-3 months
Goals/Objectives:

  • To provide free learning materials and a free public space for the teachers and students of Trieum Udom School to pursue their English language learning goals independently.
    • For this project to be successful we needed to meet these objectives:
      • Transform one room at our school into a suitable and appealing space for a SALC by September 15, 2009. The volunteer, her co-teacher and the school director worked together to select a classroom, paint it, and decide which materials needed outside funding and which the school could provide.
      • The volunteer and her co-teacher will hold a half-day training with the English teachers, a short 3 hour training with the other teachers and and visits to all the English classes so that at least 30% of teachers and 30% of students will know what materials will be available and will understand their intended use.
      • By the September 15, 2009 deadline all teachers and students at Trieum Udom School will have access to English books, CDs, worksheets, games and activities with answer keys.
Successes:

  • The Self-Access Learning Center at Treium Udom Suksapattanakarn Pranburi School is a success! One student approached me to say with heartfelt conviction that she would be visiting the center each day.
  • We were able to get ample funding to meet our goal of providing high quality materials as well as cooperation from our school for the use of the room and in-kind contributions such as painters and a teacher desk for our reception area.
Challenges:

  • We used an HCC-SPA grant to fund this project and it was a challenge getting the project completed before the September 15, 2009 deadline.
  • The forms to be submitted for this funding must be in Thai and English and the time constraints we faced made it difficult to get the translation done.
  • I think that without the presence of a volunteer my co-teacher would have had a difficult time getting the school's attention or support for such a project.
Lessons Learned:

  • We would have begun the project earlier had we realized how quickly the deadline was approaching.
  • Communication with your counterpart about all aspects of the project is extremely important. A good indicator that you have communicated clearly is if your counterpart knows as much about the project and the process of applying for funding as you do.
  • Choose materials and equipment that will entice students and community members to come inside. Include instructions for games and materials in Thai and train students and teachers to use the materials class by class before you open the doors to the center.
  • The SALC is most effective if it is low tech. Books, games, worksheets and listening materials are easy to use and effective. Potential funding sources will appreciate the effectiveness of these materials over computers and software that are expensive and not necessarily intuitive.
Funding Sources:
We recieved about 21,00 baht from HCC-SPA funding for this project.
Attachments:
  • Sample SALC Budget
  • Sample Project Narrative
Please refer to the SharePoint attachments page for instructions on how to make your documents available online.



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destarte 		Latest page update: made by destarte , Sep 4 2009, 8:30 AM EDT (about this update About This Update destarte Moved from: Best Practices Project Database - destarte

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Keyword tags: education English Projects Independent Learning Self Access Learning Center TCCO
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