An easy way to help the learner get started assessing her own work is by having her choose what goes into her portfolio. Encourage her to think carefully about what she chooses to include, why it represents what she has learned and how it relates to her short-term goal. Help her to appreciate what she has accomplished.

Another way to help learners recognize their own learning is to ask them to think beyond the tutoring sessions. Encourage them to look at the changes that are happening in their lives and in what they do on a daily basis and how those changes relate to the skills they are learning.

They can do this by thinking about what they do differently now or by thinking about things that they can do now that they couldn’t before. These are signs of learning. Some examples include:

• Reading a magazine about something of personal interest

• Filling out forms at work

• Following a set of written instructions

• Getting a personal e-mail address and using e-mail

• Volunteering to help out in the community

• Helping children with their homework

• Going to the library

• Looking up an address or a phone number.

Other signs of progress include:

• Remembering something that was learned a few days ago (instead of forgetting it right away)

• Finding a task easier to do than before; making fewer mistakes