Dear Affiliate Leader Colleagues,

On behalf of the Affiliate Leadership Council, I would like to congratulate and welcome Ulrich Shrader, from MEXTESOL, who has been elected to serve as Member A on the council. Ulrich has been attending affiliate events for more than 10 years at TESOL conventions, and he has actively participated in all of them. In his role on the Affiliate Leadership Council, his experience and knowledge of the council’s mission will allow for contributions to all TESOL affiliates.

In this issue, I consider it important to mention that last year, in late April, TESOL requested affiliate leaders’ help in gathering comments about the TESOL Affiliate Task Force Final Report. The Affiliate Leadership Council analyzed the document and provided the council’s feedback. Then, based on the work of the Affiliate Task Force, a town hall discussion was held on Wednesday, 7 December 2016, the Affiliate Leaders Virtual Town Hall, with TESOL President Dudley Reynolds and members of the TESOL Board of Directors. Two documents, the Affiliate Relations Proposal and the Charter for the Affiliate Network Professional Council, prepared by the TESOL Board of Directors, were covered and clearly explained in the Town Hall Meeting. Both the recording of the meeting and the documents were made available to those affiliate leaders who were not able to attend.

The TESOL 2017 International Convention, “The World Comes Together at TESOL,” is approaching! The convention will be an excellent opportunity to meet with other affiliate colleagues and exchange experiences and ideas. The ALC has been preparing these past months to provide the key affiliate meetings for our affiliates at the TESOL convention in Seattle.

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Affiliate Leaders’ Workshop: 8:30 am–5 pm, Grand Ballroom A, Sheraton Seattle

Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Affiliate Newsletter Communications Workshop: 1 pm–3 pm, Ballard, Sheraton Seattle

Thursday, 23 March 2017

• Affiliate Assembly Meeting: 9 am–11 am, Grand Ballroom A, Sheraton Seattle
• Affiliate Colloquium: 11:15 am–12:45 pm, Grand Ballroom A, Sheraton Seattle
  
  

Apart from these four meetings, the ALC has also continued to review and select proposals for the Best of Affiliate Sessions. They are chosen from submissions from TESOL affiliates. 2017 Best of Affiliate Sessions were made up of presentations from eight affiliate representatives. These sessions will be hosted in the Washington State Convention Center.

Mindfulness Strategies for the ELT Classroom (TESOL Arabia)
March, 9:30 am–10:15 am; 612
Presenters: Christine Coombe, Susanna Bloss, Konrad Cedro

Breadth of Vocabulary Thresholds Supporting Postsecondary Reading and Writing (BC TEAL)
22 March, 10:30 am–11:15 am; 210
Presenter: Scott Douglas

Awareness, Recognition, and Production of Speech Acts (MITESOL)
22 March, 3 pm–3:45 pm; 210
Presenters: Sara Okello, Jolene Jaquays, Katie Allen

Teaching With Mobile Devices: Some Practical Ideas and Considerations (ARTESOL)
22 March, 4 pm–4:45 pm; 210
Presenter: Maria Camijo

Reconsidering Conceptual Paradigms in English Studies (BELTA)
23 March, 2 pm–2:45 pm; 210
Presenter: Arifa Rahman

Examining Cultural Assumptions Through Dialogue, A Human Library Inspired Project (Oregon TESOL)
23 March, 3 pm–3:45 pm; 210
Presenter: Becki Quick

Bilingualism Is a Gift (BiG) ESL/SPED Collaborative Campaign (MATSOL)
24 March, 10:30 am–11:15 am; 210
Presenters: Lauren Harrison, Jean Fitzgerald, Yvonne Endara, Maryann MacDougall

Motivating and Teaching Students to “Own” Their Writing (Intermountain TESOL)
24 March, 11:30 am–12:15 pm; 210
Presenter: Mornie Merrill

We would like to invite all affiliate representatives to attend and participate in these events at TESOL 2017 in Seattle!

Best wishes,

Ana Maria Rocca, MA

Affiliate Leadership Council, Chair