Conferences
are great opportunities to keep in touch with the latest trends in ones working
field. As an EFL teacher, I had the opportunity to attend TESOL conferences in
three opportunities, first as an attendee and later as a presenter. In each of
them I had something to learn and share with my colleagues.
At the first
time I attended a TESOL conference, everything was new and I was overwhelmed
with so many sessions which dealt with the most diverse aspects of the teaching
life. The attendee experience really helped me and my coworker Erika Oya to
have the guts and apply as presenters on the following year.
Being a
presenter on an International Conference, such as TESOL, brings a new
perspective to the professional development path, since you really feel as
being part of the ESL/EFL teaching community. That is, from the moment we have
the experience of presenting internationally we are showing the world our work.
Thus, it is really flattering to receive, later on, an e-mail from someone who
lives in Saudi Arabia complementing you for the nice presentation and asking
for further information about the teaching aspect you presented. It is, also,
at that moment that you start to build a professional network that will help
you, back home, to keep in touch with the EFL community around the world.
Therefore, on
my third time attending TESOL I could see that our Institution is well
recognized among the TESOL community and people who see someone holding a
presentation under the bi-national center CASA THOMAS JEFFERSON are guaranteed
to experience great works and excellence in presentations. Once again, I could
feel the power of exchanging teaching experiences with the community and I also
confess that I felt more at ease this time.
Exchanging
teaching experiences and sharing knowledge among colleagues from all over the
world are, in my opinion, the greatest lessons learned by attending and
presenting on a TESOL Conference. After
such experience, we do not see things inside our small world anymore. There is
an entire world to explore and share and it is part of our job to keep updated so
our students can also profit from the experiences we had.
Carolina Piacenti
