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.