ALC Newsletter - 10/12/2018 (Plain Text Version)

ESOL Convention in Chicago, Illinois

NYS TESOL was well-represented at this year’s TESOL Convention by its members and officers on the Executive Board (EB). We are proud to announce that our president-elect, Juliet Luther, after serving her term as Chair-elect for 2017-18, rose to Chair of TESOL’s Bilingual-Multilingual Education Interest Section (B-MEIS) for 2018-19. Our NYS TESOL participation highlights include presentations at the affiliate workshops by our Business Manager and Past President, Cynthia Wiseman, and a reception at Kroll’s South Loop, hosted by President Ravneet Parmar and attended by members of the EB and by over 50 other NYS TESOL members. The intent of the reception was to thank our members and to promote NYS TESOL’s presence. Last but not least, a big thank you to our Executive Board members and volunteers who staffed the affiliate booth to share information about NYS TESOL.

TESOL International Association 2017-2018 President, Ester de Jong, top right, with members of the NYS TESOL Executive Board and Past Presidents at the 2017 NYS TESOL Annual Conference

Annual Conference in Albany, New York

From November 2nd-3rd 2018, NYS TESOL will hold its 48^th Annual Conference at the Albany Marriott, NY. This year’s theme is Experience: The Heart of Teaching and Learning. Keynote speakers include Rita MacDonald, TESOL’s current President Luciana C. de Oliveira and Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, who recently became the first Hispanic/Latino person to lead a  four year SUNY university. As always, TESOL students and educators will be honored at the conference for their dedication and hardwork. Each year, NYS TESOL holds a student digital project contest. The winners are invited to the conference along with their teachers and/or parents. Our very first Teachers Travel Grant and Materials Grant winners will also be present and participate by either presenting a workshop or volunteering during the conference. The Teacher Travel Grant provides support for travel and lodging to the NYS TESOL conference by providing $250 to 2 winners. The Materials Grant was designed to help teachers enrich their curriculum and instruction with the purchase of student classroom learning materials and/or teacher-related materials (e.g., ancillary materials that can be used in conjunction with textbooks or other instructional materials) to support ESL education programs in the United States. Three awards of $250 were granted in three categories of K-12, Adult Ed and Higher Ed.

Publications / Social Media

NYS TESOL’s quarterly newsletter, Idiom, is offered free to the public. It is our hope to increase the readership and, hence, membership by means of publicizing our newsletter. Also free to the public is our peer-reviewed Journal which is published biannually. NYS TESOL encourages members and non members to submit articles for both publications.

We have an active Facebook page and group, and we welcome people from around the world to “like” us. We are also on Instagram (#NYSTESOL) and Twitter (@NYSTESOL).

Student volunteers and attendees at NYS TESOL’s 2018 Applied Linguistics Winter Conference held at Teachers College, Columbia University

NYS TESOL’s Connection with Fellow Affiliate Leaders

One of the NYS TESOL goals is to strengthen our connection with fellow TESOL affiliates as we have so much to learn from one another. NYS TESOL is currently a sister organization with BC TESOL, TESL Canada, and Nile TESOL. The organization has also co-sponsored many events with organizations and institutions within New York state: Teachers College, Columbia University; Kaplan International; and Rennert, to name a few. If you are interested in collaborating with NYS TESOL or becoming a sister organization, please contact us at pres@nystesol.org.

NYS TESOL leaders with fellow TESOL affiliate leaders pictured from left to right: Amira Salama (NileTESOL), Zakia Sarwar (SPELT), and Jennifer Alicea (PR TESOL)

Bios

Ravneet Parmar is an ESL Instructor at Adelphi International, Adelphi University, New York. She received her M.A. in TESOL from New York University. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Ravneet has taught ESL (collective and various skills separately), and academic and business English in her over eight years of teaching.

Juliet M. Luther is the President-elect of NYS TESOL. Her work is focused on bilingual education and TESOL. She earned a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Learning at Fordham University, has worked for the New York City Board of Education for 22 years, and has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University and CUNY since 2004. She speaks Spanish and English fluently, plus some Italian. She has raised two children who are now adults, and she splits her time between New York, where she was born; and Puerto Rico, her husband's birthplace.