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Dear fellow ITA people,
Greetings from the Midwest, where spring is (finally) evident everywhere!
First, I would like to say that it is truly my honor to be the
chair of this amazing interest section! I have always been impressed
with the professionalism, the wisdom, and the genuine caring of all of
its members. I love our willingness to raise important issues and to
share our ideas―both on the e-list and at conferences.
The 2011 TESOL Convention in New Orleans was very successful
because of the work of many and the enthusiastic participation of our
interest section. Keith Otto, past chair, deserves many thanks for all
he did as he worked with TESOL throughout the year to make convention
arrangements and to keep us abreast of new issues. Thanks to Elin
Epperson, Liz Wittner, and Diane Cotsonas for arranging the social and
for picking absolutely the best restaurant in New Orleans. I will always
remember the duck gumbo! Thanks also to Barbara Wolfe Boockmeier for
putting the ITAIS booth together―even though we were given only 3 hours
total to share our information. And many, many thanks to all the
presenters, the proposal readers, and the 2010 steering committee.
As many of you were not able to make it to the Big Easy, I’m
hoping that the presenters can send Diane Cotsonas a copy of their
PowerPoint slides or handouts so we can all benefit from the information
gathered and presented. I know that I came away from the convention
with new ideas and new resources. I hope more of you can come to
Philadelphia next year.
Speaking of Philadelphia―proposals for 2012 are due on
June 1. The number of sessions that we get at the convention
is proportional to how many proposals we submit, so I encourage you to
send in a lot of proposals and to convince your colleagues to also
submit proposals. The rule is that only one person can be the primary
presenter on a presentation, but can assist with any number of other
presentations.
Finally, I want to thank all the volunteers who have offered to
read proposals, all the past chairs for their invaluable help, and also
Rebecca Oreto for her fine work on this newsletter.
Sincerely,
Kathi | 
