Sunday, October 21, 2012

PRTESOL invites you


PRTESOL invites you to 

TESOL Symposium on Facilitating Learning Through Student Empowerment



This 1-day symposium guides educators in empowering their university and adult learners. English language educators interact with leading experts in the field and learn about collaborating with colleagues, fostering learner autonomy, and guiding ELLs through the complicated steps to becoming professionals in their chosen fields. Participants learn systemic approaches and a wide variety of practical strategies and techniques to more effectively meet the needs of their students.

This TESOL Symposium precedes the 39th PRTESOL Convention and the 11th Cental American & Caribbean Basin Regional Conference, Journey Into English as a Global Language: Embracing Diversity, 16–17 November 2012. For more information on the 39th PRTESOL Convention and the 11th CA & CB Regional Conference, please visit the conference website or email Puerto Rico TESOL.

About the Featured Speakers


Kimberly A. Johnson is assistant professor in the School of Education at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Director of the ATLAS Center, a center that provides resources and professional development for teachers of adult learners throughout Minnesota (www.atlasABE.org).  As the ATLAS Director, Dr. Johnson coordinates research and training on topics in curriculum and instruction, language teaching and learning, teacher supervision, and academic readiness.  She has published in multiple journals, including Teaching and Teacher Education, TESOL Quarterly, and the Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal.  She holds a bachelors degree in English, a master's degree in TESOL, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Minnesota.

Leni Dam currently coordinates the IATEFL Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group while giving talks and running courses on the development of language learner autonomy around the world. Previously she served as an educational adviser at the Pedagogic University of Copenhagen, a language teacher at a comprehensivefolkeskole near Copenhagen, and joint coordinator (with Sara Cotterall) of the AILA Scientific Committee of Learner Autonomy. Working with Lienhard Legenhausen (Münster University, Germany),  she ran the LAALE project (Language Acquisition in an Autonomous Language Learning Environment), which observed the linguistic development of mixed-ability learners.  Dr. Leni Dam was awarded an honorary doctorate in pedagogy from Karlstad University, Sweden (2004), and has published widely on aspects of learner autonomy in language learning, including Learner Autonomy 3: From Theory to Classroom Practice.

Charles Hall is associate professor of applied linguistics, University of Memphis, and former chair of the TESOL ESP Interest Session. He has led training workshops sponsored by various organizations, such as the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations, in over 30 countries, including Iraq and Sudan. His publications include American Legal English. He has been awarded two senior Fulbrights for the Czech Republic. Since 1990 he has directed summer TEFL training courses at the University of West Bohemia, the Czech Republic, and since 2010 at the University of Alicante, Spain.

Symposium Host


María Antonia Irizarry is a professor and coordinator of the Graduate TESL Program at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). She holds a bachelors degree in TESL from UPR, a master's degree in TESL, a master's in education in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language, and a doctorate in education in languages and literature from Columbia University.  She taught in New York public schools, Essex County College in New Jersey, and was Associate Superintendent of Schools in Newark, New Jersey. Her commitment to TESOL has been unwavering. She is a past member of the PRTESOL Board of Directors and served the organization as President in 1988. She is a frequent presenter at regional and national activities and has offered her expertise to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Chile, Dominican Republic, and Panama, among others


Contact at TESOL International Association:  edprograms@tesol.org

For more information about TESOL’s education programs see www.tesol.org, under “Attend and Learn.”



Friday, October 19, 2012

TESOL Symposium on Facilitating Learning Through Student Empowerment


Dear Colleagues


Register today for the TESOL Symposium on Facilitating Learning Through Student Empowerment

Date: 15 November 2012

Location: Intercontinental Hotel, Isla Verde,  San Juan, Puerto Rico

Register online today, using TESOL International Association’s secure online payment system.  You may also register by e-mail and pay on site.  The registration deadline for  this event is  November 5.  For complete program and registration information, click on the link below:

 http://www.tesol.org/events-landing-page/2012/04/18/a-tesol-symposium-facilitating-learning-through-student-empowerment

Monday, October 15, 2012


I cordially invite you to attend our convention on November 16 - 17, 2012 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Isla Verde. Our theme isJourney into English as a Global Language: Embracing Diversity. It is our pleasure to have our 39th Annual convention as a joint event with the 11th Central American and Caribbean Basin Regional Conference. (http://puertoricotesol.org/convention/annual_convention.htm)
This year’s keynote speakers are Dr.Leni Dam and Dr. Sharroky Hallie. TESOL International Association is sponsoring our international speaker, Dr. Leni Dam from Demark. Since 1979, Dr. Dam has been an educational adviser and in-service teacher trainer at University College, Copenhagen. Leni is a producer of materials for language teaching. Her areas of interest are closely connected to the development of learner autonomy, differentiated teaching and learning, internal evaluation and the use of portfolios.
Pearson Education is sponsoring Dr.Sharroky Hollie. Dr. Hollie is an acclaimed author and professor at California State University in the Teacher Education Department. Dr. Hollie teaches reading for secondary teachers, classroom management, and methodology. Sharroky is also the executive director of the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing stellar professional development for educators desiring to become culturally responsive. With the Center, Sharroky serves as a national expert, traveling around the country training thousands of teachers.
We hope you can join us in this special event for ELT professionals in our region of the world. If you have any further questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us. I look forward to greeting and sharing with you at our convention.

Cordially, 
Evelyn Lugo Morales

President
Puerto Rico TESOL 2012