TESOL Engages, Enriches, and Empowers More Than 6,000 in Seattle
Couldn’t make it to the 2017 TESOL convention, or any of the more than 1,000 sessions during the week? Here is what you may have missed.
On 21 March, the 2017 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo opened in Seattle, Washington, USA. Known for its deep ties to technology and innovation, Seattle served as the perfect backdrop for a convention that centered on preparing current and future educators for engaging English learners in an ever-evolving and interconnected world. The convention attracted more than 6,100 professionals from more than 100 countries, hosted 120 exhibitors, and featured cutting-edge classroom tools and brand new publications. The Job MarketPlace saw 16 recruiting companies facilitate more than 180 interviews throughout the course of the convention.
The lush Northwestern setting and thousands of enthusiastic participants were only two of many highlights at the 2017 convention. The programs and sessions did not just reflect the diversity of Seattle, but provided a variety of valuable opportunities for attendees to engage in new and exciting research, advocacy efforts, and technological advances in the English language teaching and learning field. To kick off this year’s convention, celebrated author, poet, and screenwriter Sherman Alexie gave the opening keynote to a standing-room-only crowd of thousands. During his address, Alexie shared his personal experiences growing up on an Indian reservation and his perspective on English language identity. Overall, approximately 1,000 sessions were offered, ranging from language assessment to technology, immigration, bilingual education, and public policy.
Most important, the 2017 convention proved that that regardless of the world’s current political landscape, where each attendee came from, or their role in the TESOL field, the unifying themes of recognizing quality English language education and a commitment to improve the educational experiences for all English learners are as strong as ever. As the association looks ahead to its next annual convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA, this commitment to quality English language education will surely continue to strengthen and evolve.
PreK–12 Day
The annual PreK–12 Day provided teachers and administrators with the opportunity to participate in more than 20 workshops that concentrated on topics such as coteaching strategies; state ESSA plans; mobile technology tools; and teaching ELL math, writing, and reading. During her keynote address at PreK–12 Day, Kate Kinsella presented attendees with research-based instructional practices to help educators develop various competency-based vocabulary lessons for mixed-ability English learners.
Convention Highlights and Online Resources
Continuing the trend of past conventions, web access expanded to even more sessions and speakers, with videos of several keynote addresses, including Dudley Reynolds’s presidential keynote, “PROFESSIONAL English Teachers in a 2.0 World”; Guadalupe Valdés’s “Rumination of an Old Language Teacher”; and Yong Zhao’s “Perils or Promises: Education in the Age of Smart Machines.” In case you missed any of the keynotes, webcasts can be accessed here.
With advocacy on the minds of many attendees this year, TESOL offered an expanded selection of advocacy sessions in Seattle. Dudley Reynolds convened and moderated a special session, “Actions and Advocacy in a 2.0 World,” in which several panelists spoke about the challenges of living in a world that is increasingly hostile to immigrants and refugees. The session consisted of stories and lessons of advocacy efforts, as well as strategies for how TESOL educators could become strong advocates for issues affecting the field. Additional sessions were offered that focused on issues such as immigration, citizenship, the Every Student Succeeds Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and early childhood education, as well as several sessions that focused on local education policies affecting TESOL educators in Washington State.
To close the convention, TESOL held its Annual Business Meeting, where hundreds of TESOL members filed into the Grand Ballroom of the Seattle Sheraton to get an update on the association’s progress over the past year. Along with financial updates and the passing of the gavel to its new president, Ester de Jong, the last meeting of the convention provided a bittersweet moment for Rosa Aronson, the association’s recently retired executive director.
After a number of heartfelt stories and slideshows were shared reflecting on Aronson’s 7 years as executive director of the association, a new TESOL annual award was unveiled to honor her service and deep commitment to the professional learning of teachers in underserved countries. The Rosa Aronson TESOL Global Professional Learning Scholarship Program was established to provide seven annual scholarships for a maximum of US$500 each and can cover the cost of the global professional membership along with any professional learning opportunity offered by TESOL International Association.
Once the official business of the convention concluded, it was time to celebrate! Throngs of attendees shuffled into the Seattle Sheraton one last time to partake of drinks, food, and fun to cap-off a very eventful week in Seattle.
“Sustaining Dialogues Across the TESOL Community” in Chicago, Illinois, USA in 2018
It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s convention, which will head to Chicago, Illinois, USA on 27–30 March 2018. The deadline for all proposal submissions is 1 June 2017. Information for proposals is now available here.
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When I was a K–6 ESL teacher, I often felt frustrated because I couldn’t find high quality books that reflected my students’ lives. Many of the books available to my students were about the folklore or fables from their home countries, but I wanted my English learners to read books where they could see themselves and that reflect the lives they are currently living. I felt that it was important for my students to make connections between the books they were reading and their lives so that they would become lifelong readers. In 2014, I read an opinion piece in the New York Times by Walter Dean Myers titled “Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books?” This article led me to research the number of books published each year that could be considered multicultural. 
More Than A Native Speaker: An Introduction to Teaching English Abroad, Third Edition
