CATESOL

My first CATESOL Conference was one that has left a sense of inspiration and curiosity. Inspiration, by the many attendees and speakers that are passionate about their profession. I became a member of CATESOL and I hope to benefit from networking and future collaborations with other professionals in the field of TESOL. Curiosity comes in the fact that I am more interested in reading and researching on SLA and teaching strategies that are geared toward life-long learning.

There was a mixed group of people in different stages in life. Many were students, that showcased and shared discussion forums with participants to ask questions. There were also many professionals with years of experience in the TESOL field.

Key Points of the Conference

Teaching Strategies

Professionals shared their experience and strategies on how to teach more effectively in synchronous and asynchronous classrooms.

Opportunities to Teach Abroad

The English Language Fellow Program shared how there are government lead opportunities for TESOL graduates.

Opportunities out of the Classroom

Speakers shared other ways we can work out of the classroom. Opportunities in self-publishing, curriculum development and research.

Technology and Teaching

Remote teaching has made educators more involved in learning how to integrate technology to their classrooms. Wakelet, Audacity and Apps were some of the topics discussed.

Key Speakers

These were probably my favorite times during the conference. They made me feel inspired and compelled to pursue excellence and gain understanding in fields of linguistics and ethnography.

Language for Connecting and Belonging Prof. Mandy Manning

Prof. Manning was the first speaker in the Conference and reflected on her teaching experiences as an ESL teacher. How building on connections with students helps them in their life-long learning journey.

Comprehensible Input and Club Membership Dr. Stephen Krashen

Dr. Krashen discussed his hypothesis on optimal input and the importance of self-selected reading for SLA. He touched on how maximum optimal input can affect and diminish variations of output in students.

His two-part speech ended in also recognizing the value of friendships and groups or 'clubs' where people become a member and elicit positive SLA. I enjoyed how funny, down to earth and relaxed Dr. Krashen was during the discussions.

Reading for Language AcquisitionDr. Willy Renandya

Dr. Renandya spoke on the importance of reading in SLA as well. His main point was on reading as much as possible for acquisition of better speaking, listening and writing skills.

Inspiration and Suggestions

Assessments

I joined a session that introduced a pilot APP called Learning Upgrade geared towards better data collection and assessments for students. This APP is geared toward remote learning and Adult students who may not have specific times to meet but that can work on their English skills at their own pace. Teachers can see progress and support students when they need it. Teachers can also use CASAS and TABE to assess.

Audacity

Audacity is an audio program that is primarily used to create music and edit audio soundtracks. However, we were shown how Audacity can also be used to help students with pronunciation by recording teachers and comparing them to students recordings. These comparisons can help students see where they should stress certain grammatical parts on a sentence or a phrase.

Gail Weinstein

My first session was a tribute to Professor Gail Weinstein. A prominent teacher in the field of TESOL. She wrote multiple books and was a avid advocate for the importance of story-telling in the classroom as a way for students to have their voice and their prior knowledge be part of the learning experience. Very inspirational and a great example. I was inspired to follow on her footsteps and incorporate story-telling into my pedagogy.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a great experience and I am grateful that our program lets' us participate. I only hope I can go next year to the CATESOL Conference in-person and meet people on a more intimate setting and network with others. There were some technology problems along the way. Sometimes speakers would lose their connection, or freeze. There was a session that never even got started because of technical difficulties. So I am hoping next year it can be an event where I can participate in-person.

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