Make Time for the Convention: A Helpful Checklist

Posted on 12 December 2019 by TESOL Ambassador
TESOL Ambassador
TESOL Ambassador

So if you’re anything like me, you’re busy—really busy—juggling lesson plans and staff meetings and research projects and grading. Meanwhile, journal articles stack up in the unread pile and emails flood in by the hundreds. Don’t even get me started on managing the rest of life! It can be overwhelming to add one more thing to the mix. But I’m here to make a case for attending the yearly TESOL International Convention. Continue reading →

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7 Game Design Tools for the Classroom

Posted on 10 December 2019 by Jeff Kuhn
Jeff Kuhn
Jeff Kuhn

Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest TESOL games and education blog! Using video games in the classroom can be highly engaging for students, but perhaps a more engaging activity is making games. Educators interested in task-based learning can leverage the game development process as a way to engage students in the four skills during an authentic task—creating a game that can be shared with and enjoyed by classmates.

This month’s blog highlights game development tools appropriate for all ages and skill levels of students. Each of these has their own strengths and weaknesses, and I encourage everyone to check out, and play with, a few to determine which tools best fit your students and classroom context. All of these tools are free for students.  Continue reading →

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Professional Written Communication: Positioning Yourself for Maximum Effect

Posted on 5 December 2019 by Betsy Gilliland
Betsy Gilliland
Betsy Gilliland

This blog post is a guest post by Gerriet Janssen, associate professor at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

Last year, when I was a Fulbright Scholar in Chile, I visited Colombia and facilitated several workshops on academic writing for graduate students and instructors in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. Like academics almost everywhere, participants were under pressure to publish their research in peer-reviewed, indexed academic journals, so some of my workshops addressed these issues. In this month’s post, Associate Professor Gerriet Janssen, my connection at los Andes, writes about second language (L2) writers in Colombia and beyond. Continue reading →

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Avoiding Civil Rights Violations: Planning for Participation

Posted on 3 December 2019 by Ayanna Cooper
Ayanna Cooper
Ayanna Cooper

What’s the plan for participation? This time of year, we begin to make plans for all kinds of things. Holiday events and end of the year celebrations are just a few things we are planning for. We are also planning for the New Year and all that comes with it. This blog is dedicated to the intentional planning for English learners (ELs) to be fully included in school-wide programs, including extracurricular activities. Schools  may be culturally and linguistically diverse, but that does not mean they are inclusive by design.

“Why would they not be included?”, one might ask. The answer is not why, but how: easily and unintentionally. Continue reading →

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TESOL 2020: Three Reasons You Need to Go

Posted on 26 November 2019 by TESOL Ambassador
TESOL Ambassador
TESOL Ambassador

It was in 2018 that I first experienced participating in a TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo; it was in Chicago, Illinois, USA. I was very thankful to have been selected by TESOL International Association as one of the recipients of the Betty Azar Travel Grant for Practicing ESL/EFL Teachers, which helped me a lot in the expenses for the conference. My TESOL Convention experience was one of the best in my entire life as an English language teacher for 15 years. And from them on, I promised myself to save up every year in order to participate in the annual TESOL Conventions.

Wherever you are in the world, if you are an ELT professional and contemplating attending the TESOL 2020 Convention in Denver, Colorado, I would say you need not think twice—just go for it! Here’s why: Continue reading →

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TESOL Research and the Scholar-Practitioner

Posted on 21 November 2019 by Scott Douglas
Scott Douglas
Scott Douglas

Welcome to the second in a series of blog posts from the TESOL Research Professional Council (RPC) highlighting aspects of the TESOL Research Agenda. This post outlines how the agenda defines and offers research directions, explores teacher research and professional development, examines the concept of the scholar-practitioner, and points to examples of possible research questions. Continue reading →

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Do ELs Lack Access to Education in STEM?

Posted on 19 November 2019 by Judie Haynes
Judie Haynes
Judie Haynes

I recently came across a report published in 2018 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that concluded that English learners (ELs) do not have adequate access STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in U.S. schools. The report, entitled English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools and Lives, is the result of a consensus study from educators from universities across the United States. Continue reading →

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Avoiding Civil Rights Violations: Staffing and Supporting EL Programs. What’s This Year’s Professional Learning Plan?

Posted on 18 November 2019 by Ayanna Cooper
Ayanna Cooper
Ayanna Cooper

We are several months into the school year, and this blog is dedicated to one of my favorite topics, professional learning for the education of English learners (ELs). How many or how few of you have had at least one professional  learning session, thus far, focused on supporting ELs?  Regardless of your answer, it’s not too late to start or continue those conversations. All staff members, from the bus drivers to the school leadership team, must engage in learning opportunities about the ELs they are responsible for. Continue reading →

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