Fellow ITA Professionals:

I’m pleased to introduce our June 2015 ITAIS Newsletter. I know it’s been a few months since the TESOL International Convention and English Language Expo, but it’s been very present in my mind as I’ve put together this newsletter. One thing I keep thinking about is how to continue the momentum of sharing ideas and learning about the different programs and approaches other ITA trainers are using. The articles for this newsletter all contribute to continuing conversations that were started in Toronto.

We start off with a great introduction from our new chair, Liz Tummons, who has written up a letter with the responses to the survey handed out at our annual business meeting. If you were unable to attend (or if you’ve forgotten), she asked everyone to answer the following questions: What is valuable about being in the ITAIS? What would you like to see change/happen in the ITAIS? If you didn’t get a chance to respond to those questions in Toronto, feel free to add your comments on our Listserv or in the comments section.

We also have three interesting articles meant to help generate ideas for future collaborations and successful classroom practices. Christopher Garth has written up a modified activity that he uses for helping ITAs define terms, which he presented at a workshop for the University of Michigan. Some of us will be familiar with this approach, but for people new to the ITA field, it’s a chance to learn about a very practical activity to use with your students. Elise Geither, one of our new members-at-large, has started a project where she is undertaking a literature review of publications on ITAs and assessment. As she’s just started this project, she’s written up a brief summary of some of the most apparent themes in current research but also where she hopes the research can go in the future. Last, Patricia Pashby has written up an interesting activity that she uses to help ITAs develop stronger skills in classroom management while injecting humor into her class. By using scenes from films, she gives students chances to assess teaching and student participation as they go over some of the more challenging situations they may encounter in the classroom.

I want to wrap up this letter with a call for submissions for our October newsletter. The deadline for this newsletter will be September 15, but I want to strongly encourage summer submissions (I will be on leave for much of the fall). This is a firm deadline! You know you’ll be too busy in September anyway, so sending me articles in July or August is most likely easier. Here are some suggestions for submissions:

• Reviews or summaries of ITA-related presentations or workshops you’ve attended, given, or plan to give

• Articles about classroom activities, innovative approaches, and creative lessons

• Reviews of resources useful to ITA trainers (books, software, films)

• Summaries of research (either completed or in progress) on issues related to ITA training, assessment, or teaching
  
  

This is not an exhaustive list. If you have an idea for an article, send me an email with your idea and we can see if it will work for our next issue.

My best to all!

Sarah Emory

ITA-IS Newsletter Editor