Maria Murphy writes a monthly Tutor/Mentor Coaching Tip for this site and has been a presenter at the Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference. She is a speaker, consultant and writer.  Each month as Maria submits and article she'll post a link to it in this discussion forum, and she'll post it on her blog at http://www.simplyputtogether.com .  You're invited to comment and/or ask questions, here, or on her blog.

Visit the Categories Section to see articles submitted by Maria and others.

Maria's February Tip of the Month can be found at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/TMLearningNetwork/Articles/tabid/645/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/316/Default.aspx

The focus is on Listening Skills.  I have to admit, this is a weak area for me. I have so much information to share, that I find  myself overtalking other people. My enthusiasm gets the better of me.  The reason I'm so enthusiastic about the internet, is that we can all talk at the same time.

I've been in groups of 3 or more, and in phone confernces, and I find that there are always people in the groups even more vocal than I am. It's hard to get a word in. Seems like a battle. Again, this is why I favor the internet. We're all equal when we write what we say. We don't even need to be in the same room at the same time.

I wonder how much we might attract the attention of youth and volunteers if we could get them involved in on-line forums like this where what they say has equal weight to what I or someone else says. The logic of our ideas, and the thinking and research behind those ideas, are what gives power to our writing.

I hope you'll read Maria's article then add your own ideas here.