Daniel Cordova Gonzalez - Carroll Community School District
This year I had the opportunity to attend the TESOL convention in Portland, Oregon. I have never been to a conference outside of the Midwest before. When I arrived at the convention center I was amazed at how many people were attending this conference. There were probably more than five thousand people I was worried that I was not going to find a session that had basic information on new methods and ways to teach English to beginners and focused on K-12. but to my surprise, there were a lot of good sessions that I attended that had good information that was very useful for me.
One of the sessions I attended and gathered the most information on was “The advantages and disadvantages of the use of Google Translate”. The presenter provided really good data and tools to help other teachers in my district find ways to utilize google translate in a way that helps to improve the vocabulary of the student instead of just providing translation and creating dependency on machine translation.
Another session I considered very helpful was the session about Learning strategies to help learn vocabulary focusing on retrieval and bringing words and definitions to mind from memory.
The final session I considered very interesting for me was the one about the use of semantics and learning vocabulary through movement, music, and images to make neurological connections.
Thank you Heartland AEA for the opportunity to attend TESOL 2023.
Lyndi Steger - Kuemper Catholic Schools
The Heartland AEA ESL Diversity Consultants had the honor of presenting at TESOL 2023! On the right is a photo from this memorable experience.
Janet Eichenberger Hiatt and Cindra Porter co-presented with Minnesota and Oregon colleagues on the Teacher Leadership for School-wide English Learning (SWEL) Model that Heartland AEA has been piloting from 2021-2023. The model allows schools to hone the expertise of building and district-level ESOL teachers as professional development providers and coaches. It is a model that works in both urban and rural districts.
Most importantly, we celebrated our 12 certified SWEL Coaches:
West Des Moines CSD: Natalie French, Brenda Daisy, Deb Buford, Elizabeth Riche, Kelsey Flattery, Joan Severe, and Kim Alowitz
Newton CSD: BreAnna Blankman
Johnston CSD: Melissa Grinstead
Ames CSD: Shaeley Santiago and Amanda Wright
Adair-Casey & Guthrie Center School District: Sara Findley
In addition to the professional learning offered at each year 's TESOL convention, attendees have the opportunity to learn about new resources and how to apply them in multiple language learning settings. Prolingua Learning has updated their resources and made many of their grammar supports available free online for teachers.
Many EL Specialists reach out looking for instructional supports that help build foundational knowledge of English language structures because regular curriculum materials often only include limited rsources in their textbooks for English Learners. Prolingua offers Free Online Grammar Resources that are appropriate for secondary EL students and also offer laminated tri-fold student work materials such as this sample pronunciation card and writing reference cards to support students while working independently or in groups.
I highly recommend attending the TESOL convention for ESL Specialists who need to recharge and renew. I forgot how much I needed the opportunity to interact with other people who have chosen careers devoted to the learning of multiple languages. This conference added to my learning and resources and also renewed my commitment to support all people learning a new language.
