by Zachary Smith
Tips for those who didn’t attend the TESOL Convention:
1. Check the online resources that are shared by the presenters at TESOL.
Each year for the conference, TESOL does a wonderful job of vetting and finding the best presenters who are experts in their research and teaching areas. Most of the presenters post their materials through TESOL as resources. Some of the sessions were recorded and are available for purchase at http://tesol.sclivelearningcenter.com/.
2. Download the digital program book.
Look through the digital program book to see what sessions you would have attended. Reach out to the presenter and let him or her know that you were not able to attend and see if he or she can extend access to the materials for you.
3. Begin planning for next year.
If your district did not fund or approve your attendance at TESOL this year, this doesn’t mean that they won’t next year. Show your administrator or supervisor what great content and learning you missed out on, and see if there is a way to earmark funds for TESOL attendance in next year’s budget. TESOL’s website has a “justification kit” to help convince administrators, and you can use this to assist, too.
4. Use those who attended as a resource.
Reach out to professional colleagues and connections you have who attended TESOL. Social media is a great way to do this! Ask what takeaways they had from the sessions they attended. Then, follow up with those presenter’s materials online (tip #1) or reach out to the presenter (tip #2).
Speaking of takeaway messages, as a first-time TESOL participant, I have many things that I learned during this experience. Here are a few thoughts.
1. There needs to be stronger collaboration between special education (SPED) and ELL school supports.
Too commonly, beginning teachers (this presenter defined beginning teachers as 5 years and fewer) and intermediate teachers (presenter-defined as six to 14 years of teaching) who are highly trained in ELL education are over-diagnosing SPED cognitive issues for ELLs. On the flip side, beginning and intermediate teachers who are highly trained in SPED are over-diagnosing language (ELL) issues within students. The common reason found is that these teachers are viewing SPED and ELL supports as working against each other instead of with each other. To help prevent this from continuing, we need teacher preparation programs and school district professional development opportunities to help address ways that SPED and ELL can work together and differentiate which behaviors of students are truly behaviors associated with learning disabilities and which are associated with acquiring a second language.
2. Students must have safe spaces and opportunities to explore language usage.
If students don’t feel that a space (classroom) is an area where they can explore language and make mistakes, then they won’t step out of their comfort zones. A fun project mentioned in a presentation was having students make English language infomercials. This was such a fun, non-threatening environment that was created for students to work on speaking and listening skills (and grammar, too).
3. Examples for assessing metacognitive skills
Traditional assessments measure mastery of content knowledge, but the downside is that they cannot measure critical thinking effectively. Furthermore, a history test entirely in English is not only a history test but also an English test. Therefore, we must create more authentic assessment measures; we owe our students this. These can include various forms of portfolios that align with each standard that the traditional assessment was to cover. This also helps to differentiate the language demands for each individual language learner.
4. Inclusion is so important in ELL classrooms
Inclusion for LGBTQI students is very important in ELL classrooms. We must familiarize ourselves with techniques and tools to combat issues of discrimination, sexism, heteronormativity, and bullying in order to create safe welcoming classrooms. This presentation was a nice reminder as ELL teachers that sometimes we do have to step back and remember that there are a lot of cultural aspects that are brought into an ELL classroom. It is important to bring all student communities together to create a safe, welcoming place for all within our classrooms.
Overall, my first experience at TESOL has made me very excited and reinvigorated to head back to my classroom and implement new ideas and practices. Also, I was able to gather many new ideas and resources to implement for professional development for our content teachers. It is my hope that other MIDTESOL members had just as positive of a learning experience at TESOL and that these tips will help all members take advantage of the great resources and information to come from the conference. I look forward to seeing everyone at MIDTESOL in September.
Zachary Smith is an ELL teacher at Cedar Rapids Washington High School, a part of Cedar Rapids Community School District in eastern Iowa. If you have any questions regarding TESOL and the resources learned and shared, you are invited to contact him at zasmith001@gmail.com or via Twitter @Zas85.
