Okay, Day One (Wednesday, Mar 15)
First thing in the morning I left my hotel to go over to the convention center, thinking the opening plenary would be at 9:00 (I wasn't able to get the schedule off the web site, but when I saw the program, maybe I understood a little why: it is 3/4" thick). I had my laptop in its sturdy bag, with all cords and cables, and its spare battery; I had my ipod, with its little recording device; and I had my new cell phone, which does everything but wash the cat. There was one little handy piece of technology I lacked, though, that would have served me very well as I started to go through the program book to plan my day: a pen (or pencil). Marc had said he had decided on the first day of a recent conference he went to to go light--just paper and pen--but that he missed his electronic stuff at the first session, which he had wanted to record. I had the reverse experience, and, actually, I haven't been tempted to record anything yet, though I am carrying my ipod (and leaving my laptop in my room safe). But I have been making good use of pen and paper. And what an incredible relief it was when I went back to my hotel later that morning and left that heavy stuff there! I love my laptop, but mostly on my lap while I'm on my sofa.
So, the first session I went to was the opening plenary. There was an amazing speaker: the "Homeless to Harvard" girl, Liz Murray. At about 23 or so, she is a honed public speaker who told the story of her background as the child of drug-addicted parents on welfare, and how she eventually went from the disintegration of her family (which had only barely held on at any point), the death of her mother to AIDS, and her life living on the streets of New York with her also homeless "Goth" drop-out friends, to finding a place in an alternative school, thriving there under the mentorship of a caring teacher, and finally winning a full scholarship to Harvard. It was a very moving story that she has told on 20/20, Oprah, etc. and that has even been made into a "LifeTime" (cable television) movie. Her message to us, as she said explicitly at several points, was that a caring teacher can make all the difference to a kid (a struggling person). It was that "affective factor" that changed her life: in fact, gave her a life that she wouldn't have otherwise had. It was powerful.
After the plenary, I had 2 serendipitous encounters, one right after the other, with the 2 people I had been keeping my eyes peeled for all morning: first, Amal, my presentation partner (our order for a data projector wasn't on record, so Amal had to get the confirmation number and sort it out); and second, Phil Quirke, my old supervisor from Abu Dhabi Women's College--the guy who wrote all the wonderful reference letters for me that helped me set out on my new career path. I had left a message on the message board for Phil, and he had that with him. Anyway, we had lunch the next day. It was great catching up with him. He has just finished his doctorate, and is hoping to move up from his current position as Academic Head at Abu Dhabi Men's College.
The first regular session I attended that first day was very good: "Better ESL Living Through Television Viewing." (Who could resisit that title?) I got lots of good tips about incorporating video into my curricula, which I already do, but knew I could improve upon. I show a DVD every quarter and link it to reading, writing, and discussion. But he showed interesting activities in which students build discussions around programs they select. This tied in with another presentation I saw on Thursday about internationalizing the curriculum, which showed how these discussions can cross borders, since shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" are popular in many countries, and students are familiar with them and like to talk about them. The Wednesday presenter talked a lot about demonstrating connected speech and filler and showed how to get students to listen for that, understand how it functions, and start to use it to give their own speech a more native-like sound. Good stuff!
I went to Phil Quirke's presentation called "Teacher Education Responding to New Knowledge Theory." It outlined a teacher training program that he has developed and that will be launched through DELTA (a company that produces a standardized exam in England). It provided a models for professional development that might be something we can show at HCC. (Hey, perhaps a new sign for MIDS!) I sacrificed "Transitioning Adult ESOL Learners Into Community Colleges" for Phil's talk, but I will attempt to get the handouts. Unfortunately, that was how it has gone throughout this conference: there are often 2 or more very compelling presentations offered at the same time and one has to choose. (And, of course, usually the choice is based on which one is closer.) But, I have found this conference to be extremely rich, so I will probably go to it again next year when it's in Seattle. It has been tons better than the Syllabus conference I went to in L.A. last summer.
The last session I attended for the day was also very good: "How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills in Online Discussions." The presenters (from Arizona, like several others I attended) demonstrated a number of discussion board assignments, many of which I will try. More on this latter, perhaps in another blog on "new stuff I'm trying."
First thing in the morning I left my hotel to go over to the convention center, thinking the opening plenary would be at 9:00 (I wasn't able to get the schedule off the web site, but when I saw the program, maybe I understood a little why: it is 3/4" thick). I had my laptop in its sturdy bag, with all cords and cables, and its spare battery; I had my ipod, with its little recording device; and I had my new cell phone, which does everything but wash the cat. There was one little handy piece of technology I lacked, though, that would have served me very well as I started to go through the program book to plan my day: a pen (or pencil). Marc had said he had decided on the first day of a recent conference he went to to go light--just paper and pen--but that he missed his electronic stuff at the first session, which he had wanted to record. I had the reverse experience, and, actually, I haven't been tempted to record anything yet, though I am carrying my ipod (and leaving my laptop in my room safe). But I have been making good use of pen and paper. And what an incredible relief it was when I went back to my hotel later that morning and left that heavy stuff there! I love my laptop, but mostly on my lap while I'm on my sofa.
So, the first session I went to was the opening plenary. There was an amazing speaker: the "Homeless to Harvard" girl, Liz Murray. At about 23 or so, she is a honed public speaker who told the story of her background as the child of drug-addicted parents on welfare, and how she eventually went from the disintegration of her family (which had only barely held on at any point), the death of her mother to AIDS, and her life living on the streets of New York with her also homeless "Goth" drop-out friends, to finding a place in an alternative school, thriving there under the mentorship of a caring teacher, and finally winning a full scholarship to Harvard. It was a very moving story that she has told on 20/20, Oprah, etc. and that has even been made into a "LifeTime" (cable television) movie. Her message to us, as she said explicitly at several points, was that a caring teacher can make all the difference to a kid (a struggling person). It was that "affective factor" that changed her life: in fact, gave her a life that she wouldn't have otherwise had. It was powerful.
After the plenary, I had 2 serendipitous encounters, one right after the other, with the 2 people I had been keeping my eyes peeled for all morning: first, Amal, my presentation partner (our order for a data projector wasn't on record, so Amal had to get the confirmation number and sort it out); and second, Phil Quirke, my old supervisor from Abu Dhabi Women's College--the guy who wrote all the wonderful reference letters for me that helped me set out on my new career path. I had left a message on the message board for Phil, and he had that with him. Anyway, we had lunch the next day. It was great catching up with him. He has just finished his doctorate, and is hoping to move up from his current position as Academic Head at Abu Dhabi Men's College.
The first regular session I attended that first day was very good: "Better ESL Living Through Television Viewing." (Who could resisit that title?) I got lots of good tips about incorporating video into my curricula, which I already do, but knew I could improve upon. I show a DVD every quarter and link it to reading, writing, and discussion. But he showed interesting activities in which students build discussions around programs they select. This tied in with another presentation I saw on Thursday about internationalizing the curriculum, which showed how these discussions can cross borders, since shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" are popular in many countries, and students are familiar with them and like to talk about them. The Wednesday presenter talked a lot about demonstrating connected speech and filler and showed how to get students to listen for that, understand how it functions, and start to use it to give their own speech a more native-like sound. Good stuff!
I went to Phil Quirke's presentation called "Teacher Education Responding to New Knowledge Theory." It outlined a teacher training program that he has developed and that will be launched through DELTA (a company that produces a standardized exam in England). It provided a models for professional development that might be something we can show at HCC. (Hey, perhaps a new sign for MIDS!) I sacrificed "Transitioning Adult ESOL Learners Into Community Colleges" for Phil's talk, but I will attempt to get the handouts. Unfortunately, that was how it has gone throughout this conference: there are often 2 or more very compelling presentations offered at the same time and one has to choose. (And, of course, usually the choice is based on which one is closer.) But, I have found this conference to be extremely rich, so I will probably go to it again next year when it's in Seattle. It has been tons better than the Syllabus conference I went to in L.A. last summer.
The last session I attended for the day was also very good: "How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills in Online Discussions." The presenters (from Arizona, like several others I attended) demonstrated a number of discussion board assignments, many of which I will try. More on this latter, perhaps in another blog on "new stuff I'm trying."
posted by Janiasea at 7:36 AM
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