Reflections from a First Time Presenter at Philadelphia 2012

by Jane Eleanor Oates

After working in the hotel conference world for years, I was fascinated to be on the other side of things! In December, my independent study supervisor (Professor Christine Rosalia) and I submitted two proposals to the Electronic Village Fair (part of the TESOL Convention 2012 in Philly). It felt like a shot in the dark at the time, but both proposals were accepted! Both projects were very meaningful to me and were inspired from work in EDESL 772- First and Second Language and Technological Literacy with Professor Rosalia. Our proposals focused on how to use technology in the classroom: 1- Teacher Education Fieldwork through Moodle 2- Digital Storytelling as an Assessment Time Capsule. I enjoyed the intimacy of the EV fair; it was easy to cater our 'talks' to the needs and interests of the small triads of observers in each twenty-minute presentation. The presentations also gave us a way to connect to other educators that have ideas about the projects - the interactions we had were truly 'give and take'.

Outside the little EV pod, the Convention was an explosion of energy. I wished I had mapped out the space and presentation times for myself weeks prior to attending. I also wished I had been able to arrive on Tuesday, at the very beginning of the conference (I arrived when things were in full swing on Thursday night). The quantity of presentations combined with the physical enormity of space that the conference covered was a bit overwhelming. As a conference rookie, I realized that I could not make it to everything, get a hand out, and be able to sit close enough to see the PowerPoint on the overhead projectors. For this reason, I ended up enjoying the smaller, more interactive sessions the best.

Post conference, I've received emails from attendees hoping to receive a copy of my handout/PowerPoint. By going to the TESOL Convention, I felt very connected to the international TESOL community and enjoyed getting to know my own Hunter College TESOL community better while away form our regular long "to do" lists of everyday life. Even if I didn't get to go to everything, the TESOL Convention gives attendees the opportunity to get an overview of what is important in the field of TESOL today. It's clear that going to these conventions keeps educators abreast on what's important right now and what will be important tomorrow. See everyone in Dallas!