Florida’s Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center

Training and Technical Assistance
FLC offers face-to-face and web based professional development opportunities which provide literacy practitioners and volunteers with tools and resources to effectively teach adult learners and enhance program quality.

Sessions topics offered in FY2016-17 included:

• Adult Literacy Online Training Course for New Volunteers
• The ESOL Writing Process
• Teaching Reading in the Adult ESOL Classroom
• Building or Revamping Your Financial Literacy Program
• Human Trafficking 101
• Soft Skills: Critical Skills Necessary for Success in Postsecondary Education and Careers
• Staying Healthy for Beginners
• Teacher/Tutor Regional Literacy Symposiums  
• Tutor training workshops
• Motivating and Retaining Adult Learners
• English Forward

Florida Literacy Conference
One of Florida’s premier literacy events, this three day annual conference offers over 70 different sessions providing a wide range of training and networking opportunities to literacy practitioners and volunteers. The Conference culminates with the Florida Literacy Awards Banquet, recognizing outstanding organizations and individuals who have contributed to literacy.

Annual Leadership Institute
This free professional development opportunity is designed for directors, program coordinators, and board members of nonprofit and library-based adult and family literacy programs. Past workshop topics include digital literacy, nonprofit marketing, motivating and retaining adult learners, and research-based instruction methods.

Training Material Grants
The Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center provides grants for trainers and workshop materials to community adult basic education and literacy organizations.

Virtual Tutoring Portal 
A web-based system for tutors and students to meet and conduct live online lessons from anywhere they have internet access. Convenient for “snowbird” volunteers or others who would like an alternative way to offer lessons, this program allows for instructors and learners to meet face to face, even when they are not located in the same place.

Volunteer Tutor/Teacher Training Symposium 
Offered regionally, the tutor/teacher training symposiums are one day workshops that focus on effective teaching approaches, strategies and resources. Each year a new set of topics are chosen. See Literacy News for workshop announcements.

Tutor/Teacher In-Service Webinars
View a variety of webinars provided by FLC. Past topics have included Multiple Intelligences and the ESOL Learner, Meeting the Challenge: An LD Primer, Using Authentic materials in Adult Literacy Instruction, a Guide to Financial Literacy and many more. See Literacy News for future session announcements.

 

Toll-Free Literacy Hotline and Online Directory
FLC promotes reading and raises awareness about literacy issues in Florida. A trained referral specialist provides on-call information about education programs and volunteer opportunities throughout the state. Online, potential adult learners can browse literacy programs by county in our directory. Those seeking volunteer opportunities can do so with our Volunteer Opportunity directory.

Adult Learner Essay Book
Each year, FLC publishes a book of essays by adult learners. Students from throughout Florida are invited to submit original short stories, poems, or autobiographical narratives to be included in a published book.

Adult Learner Day
Adult Learners from throughout Florida gather for a special day of workshops and activities. This event occurs on the first day of the Florida Literacy Conference and is free for adult learner attendees.

 

 

Website and Clearinghouse
Florida’s Adult and Family Literacy Resource Center provides a wide range of free reference, curricula and outreach materials, serving as a clearinghouse for the distribution of quality resource materials for literacy instructors and administrators.

Tutor Help Center
We scoured the web searching for the best instructional resources for adult literacy tutors and teachers and then gathered them together in one easy to navigate location. Also check out our Teacher/Tutor Resource Page where resources are sorted by topic area.

Program Manager’s Toolkit
This unique resource offers a variety of sample documents, forms, policies and procedures for literacy organizations.

Information Sharing
Providing the latest news, resources, and promising practices, FLC regularly shares information via our e-Literacy News newsletter, literacy discussion lists, website and through social media. 

• Find us on Facebook
• Read our Newsletter
• Follow us on Twitter
• Watch us on YouTube
• Participate in our Discussion Lists
  Discussion List Topics include:
  • discussion of family literacy issues, new resources, and news in Florida. 
    
  • discussion of issues, news and new resources for all of Florida's literacy providers and stakeholders

Community-Based Literacy Organization Survey
Needs Assessment Survey: Each year, FLC conducts a program and professional development needs assessment of community-based literacy program. 

 

Florida Health Literacy Initiative
The Florida Health Literacy Initiative, funded by the Florida Blue Foundation and operated by FLC, works to improve the health literacy level of Florida residents by supporting literacy programs with grants, professional development and technical support. This award winning program combines ESOL instruction and health education in a multi-disciplinary approach that teaches English to adults and families while helping these individuals acquire skills and knowledge to make informed choices regarding their health and nutrition.

With the support of the Florida Department of Education, FLC has produced the Staying Healthy instructional book series. This award winning health literacy curriculum for beginning and intermediate level students, is used throughout the U.S. and has been freely downloaded more than 1 million times.

Florida Health Literacy Summit
This one-day event provides a forum for health professionals, educators, and other interested stake holders to engage in a dialog and share information and resources on how to effectively serve adults and families with low health literacy.

Online Health Literacy Training Course
This free, self-paced course is designed to provide instructors with the tools, resources, and knowledge to effectively incorporate health education into their instruction. The two-hour course introduces the award-winning Staying Healthy curriculum and includes modules on understanding health literacy, designing an effective learning experience, and enhancing students' basic skills through the use of health activities and projects.

Florida Financial Literacy Initiative
FLC is proud to partner with Wells Fargo in establishing a statewide financial literacy program for students in adult literacy, ESOL and family literacy programs. By providing grants, technical support and professional development, this initiative supports the integration of literacy and math instruction and financial education, promoting a contextualized approach to learning.