TESOL 2011 Convention in New Orleans

Five years after the first TESOL Convention I attended in Tampa, I finally managed to attend another one!  They've been in inconvenient, boring, or expensive cities in the time between, but New Orleans was worth the wait.  I was curious to see if it reminded me of Barranquilla (it did).

As far as TESOL goes, I was able to see friends and presenters from all over the world, network more than I have anywhere offline in a long time, and get lots of new ideas, in particular about online education.  The only downside was that I didn't learn much that's applicable to my current teaching situation.  All but one of the K-12 workshops that I went to were basically a waste of time, even when the presenters were BNIFs. I was also disappointed that I never made it to the Electronic Village sessions, which I really enjoyed in Tampa.  I had wanted to meet all of the wonderful teachers I learned with in Second Life this winter, but it wasn't meant to be. 

The convention left me wanting to go back to school again and to be connected to a uni again somehow.  We'll see.  Once the husband finishes his classes, doctorate here I come!  For now, it's back to online teacher training and summer trips.

Adventures in Second Life

During January and February this year, like every year, I took a free online course from TESOL, VILLAGE 11.  This year I finally got around to learning how to use the Second Life avatar that I created years ago when I was working in Barranquilla.  I was able to see many different ways to use SL for language learning and teaching, as well as (somewhat) master how to move around SL, control camera and views, go shopping, and build basic objects.  I still have a lot to learn, but taking this course really opened my eyes to a whole new "world" of learning and exploring. 

In a classroom in Arachon

Dancing at the VILLAGE closing party.

Learning to use Builder's Buddy

Without a Head in MacBeth

A newer, better dressed incarnation of Chelita

At the Museum of Natural History

Touring Language Lab

The Globe Theatre in Language Lab

At the Great Wall of China

Learning how to pose and take pics