Hello to everyone!

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting some of you at the TESOL convention in March. Portland was an outstanding venue for our conference. If you were there and attended the IEP Open Meeting, you know that what we lacked in attendance, we greatly made up for in our discussions. It was fun to share issues and ideas we all have in our IEPs. In Portland, IEPIS sponsored two presentations of interest to our community. The academic session, entitled “Exploring the Potential of a Flipped Classroom in ESL Contexts,” was standing room only for much of the time. Each of the presenters focused on a different aspect of “flipping.” The presentation left enough time at the end for all interested participants to come up and speak personally with the presenters. Likewise, the IEPIS InterSection presentation, entitled “Helping IEP Students Develop Their Academic Writing Skills,” was equally well received.

Once the convention was over, it was time to start planning for the next year! Next year, TESOL will hold its convention in Toronto, Canada and have we ever been busy! We finished the process of reviewing proposals for TESOL 2015 and are currently in the process of selecting those proposals which will make it into the program. For next year’s program, IEPIS has been given 77 regular presentation slots, 13 poster sessions, and 2 roundtables. Therefore, if you submitted a proposal by the 2 June deadline, I want to personally thank you, and I hope that your proposal is one of those selected for presentation in 2015. The knowledge that each of you wants to contribute to the success of our interest section warms my heart. As an officer, I applaud your willingness, passion, and expertise. TESOL wouldn’t be the great organization it is without your assistance. Nonetheless, if you didn’t find the time to submit this year, please try again next year. And don’t forget that TESOL needs reviewers, whose input is critical for the success of TESOL and IEPIS!

Peace to you all.