How are we measuring success
Our main method for measurement of success is through the tracking of our mentees progression through a total of 12 weeks. We have adopted a Reading Level Checklist so as to track their progression in aspect of reading. However, since the Reading Level Checklist only covers general traits, for example, if our mentee is able to understand different texts, we have also decided to track progression through our observations. During each session, we will 1. Ask our mentees to read out loud and 2. Ask our mentees to do silent reading. Through this, we are able to determine the reading problems they have and we will be able to compare each session's observations and determine if they are progressing. We have also incorporated flashcards into our reading session and during each session we will mark down the number of flashcards that our mentee can recognize and define. Similarly, we will compare each session's 'marks' and see if our mentee is progressing
How to decipher the the documents in our personal blogs
Personal Reflections:
Basically as the name suggests, we will reflect on ourselves after each session. Most of the times, we jot down our feelings and explain why. For example, we feel happy or accomplished after each session because our mentee has shown observable improvements. In other times, we might feel sad because we failed to interest our mentee in reading.
We will also put down our takeaways from the reading session, if applicable. Sometimes we learn some life lessons from our mentees. Something which most of us have learnt is to have a positive outlook in life. Even though our mentees are subjected to different circumstances than most, it does not deter them from achieving their goals and it definitely does not deter them from feeling happy.
Tracking of progression:
With the absence of a checklist that can encompass all the different aspects of development that we are hoping to achieve throughout the span of the 12 weeks, we are tracking progression manually from what we observe. We usually track progression by the book that our mentee reads and the number of words on the flashcard that s/he can recognize and define. It is harder to determine whether they are progressing in terms of the books they are reading, unless they suddenly read an informative book, as compared to a fiction read. However for the flashcards, we will usually see a slight improvement in the number of words that our mentees are able to recognize each week, which shows that their vocabulary bank is improving.
Reading Level Checklist:
The 'Reading Level Checklist' is probably the only checklist that we are using for the tracking of progress. We chose this checklist as this was probably the only checklist that we were able to use just based from our observation. We shortlisted this from a number of other checklists, most of which had to involve the person who was doing the reading - our mentees. We did not adopt those checklist in fear of turning our "Fun, Engaging and Beneficial" reading session into one that is similar to school - where mentees are assigned "homework" to complete and hand it in.
From Level 1 - 3, it can be basically observed, for example, if they are able to understand different texts on their own. However from Level 4 - 6, we have to ask certain questions in order to determine if our mentee has reached that level. For example, we would often ask our mentees to discuss about certain characters in the story, usually the protagonists, and observe if they are able to identify certain traits in the protagonist and provide supporting evidence. However the current reading checklist that we are using has it limits as the mentees whose command of English is stronger can only reach Level 5 as Level 6 must involve literary and summarizing skills, something that we do not expect our mentees to possess. As such, when the better kids have reached Level 5, we will be unable to determine if they are improving after that.
