So I am back from TESOL 2009 and I have decided to make myself useful and write a series of posts on what I did during these fantastic 3 days I spent in Denver (not counting the blizzard outside the convention center, of course). But before I start talking about the different sessions I attended, I would like to say one thing: It’s all about the people. I was lucky enough to attend TESOL last year in New York, and I have to say although my first time at the conference was full of jaw-dropping moments, this time was even better. The conversations, the possibility of meeting people that you respect and admire; the feedback and information exchange; all of that is what makes it worth the time and effort put into making it to the conference.
People I
I had the chance to meet Vance Stevens and Rita Zeinstejer in person, after having read/interacted with them in the websphere through Webheads in Action. It was great!
People II
Another fantastic group of people I finally got to meet was my classmates from the Certificate in Online Teaching organized by TESOL. Something that really surprised me is that out of around 10 of us that made it to the conference, 5 were presenting. I had the chance to see Silvia, Sevtap, Wendy and Mary Jane’s sessions, and they were all excellent. I feel very lucky to know such professional teachers.
People III
Last but not least, I have a small anecdote to finish this post. The last session I was attending at 5.30 on Saturday about Second Life in Education ended up being a very interesting example of “Communities of Practice”. The presenter didn’t show up, but two of the people that were waiting had delivered another workshop about Second Life and they offered to answer questions about it. A third teacher had SL installed in her laptop, but we couldn’t access internet. Then I remembered I had screenshots from my Virtual Worlds session with Webheads, and so I offered to show them the pictures on the screen. It ended up being a great session; we all had something to say and contribute, and I think it was a great way to end the conference, unexpected but very telling.
