My names Robin and this is my story as a 26TEN volunteer.
After teaching myself to use a computer back in 2001, I decided that I would press on and write/publish a kids/family oriented web-site. Following a review of the 1,500 page site in 2012, I realised that my writing needed to greatly improve, as it was technically poor and far too inconsistent.
Having noticed that the 26TEN program needed literacy and numeracy tutors, I signed up, in the belief that this was probably the best way for me to upgrade my skills.
As a high-school drop-out in the seventies, with little memory of how I actually learnt and fearing that there was a good chance that I would fail my first learner, I took a deep breath and jumped.
Failure was not an option, though, as the future growth of each learner that I was offered was dependent upon me sending them away from each session with greater knowledge, confidence and belief in themselves. As well as getting to really know each learner, so as to create a more personal learning program for them, I tend to spend many hours researching and thinking about each one-hour lesson.
So what's in it for me?
It gives me the greatest joy to watch each learner as they realise that they are not the losers that they have been told they were, to watch their confidence grow and their abilities begin to outpace the lessons being taught.
I get great pleasure watching the growth of a learner's reading comprehension after learning the basics of punctuation. I adore the flexibility that the one-on-one sessions give me in each session to modify the lesson in response to the learner.
Equally as important, though, is the fact that volunteering with 26TEN has helped improve my own literacy and numeracy.