TESL Ontario’s landmark 50th annual conference, Celebrating 50 Years of Community, Leadership and Innovation, will be here in no time! The conference, taking place October 26-28, will once again be held virtually to prioritize the safety of all of our attendees. Here are just a few key reasons why you should mark your calendar now and make plans to join us in October! Continue reading →
When we think of “networking” at a conference, we tend to think of coffee breaks and catching up with colleagues in hotel lobbies and banquet centre hallways. Perhaps we think of late-night chats in a hospitality suite or conversations over lunch at a table for ten. For many, the idea of networking may not immediately translate to a virtual conference environment … but this year’s TESL Ontario Annual Conference will be putting networking front and centre.
The conference’s Supplier Showcase will run from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm each day of the conference, allowing attendees ample opportunity to chat virtually with exhibitors from all areas of the language learning sector. We encourage you to take advantage of Supplier Spotlight panel sessions to learn from and connect with exhibitors and have scheduled these opportunities so they do not conflict with any conference sessions.
TESL Ontario’s 49th annual conference, Forging Ahead: Building New Normals Together, will be here in no time! The conference, taking place November 3-5, will once again be held virtually this year.
Why should you make time in your calendar to attend? We’re glad you asked!
On November 5, 2020, during TESL Ontario’s 2020 Annual Conference, four professors representing the organization’s Colleges and Universities Committee made a call for interested members to apply to join the committee. Mobayen, McInnis, Meyer Sterzik and Papple —each from different postsecondary institutions— shared the current objectives of the committee as well as its future goals, all meant to build a community of practice (CoP) amongst members who teach in the academic sector. As noted in their presentation, 30% of TESL Ontario members teach in the academic sector; yet I wonder, why aren’t there more members in TESL’s Colleges and Universities Committee?
You might ask: Why is it important for the college/university committee to have representation? For me, having representation could mean the addition of more PD content that informs and enriches the teaching of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and all other acronyms listed in this presentation, including “EBP” and “ESAP” (L. McInnis, personal communication [slide 21], November 27, 2020).
As a TESL Ontario guest blogger and ESL teacher, I was excited to attend the TESL Ontario 48th Annual Virtual Conference held November 5-7. Called Resilience: Re-envisioning Language Education Together, the conference was held online using PheedLoop.
The Marriott Downtown at CF Eaton Centre in Toronto was abuzz December 5 and 6 for the TESL Ontario Annual Conference 2019. Events included three keynote speakers, over 80 presentations, 28 interactive workshops, poster and publisher exhibits, and more.
Attendees viewing exhibits at the conference Photo source: Svjetlana Vrbanic
Two members of our blog team, Lana and Jessica, attended Day 2 of the conference and each experienced a small sample of what was available. Following are some highlights from their day.
The TESL Ontario Annual Conference is right around the corner! December 5th and 6th will be here before we know it. Are you attending? We’ve been looking at the schedule and highlighting all over the place! There are so many interesting topics being covered that it’s hard to pick just one at a time.
The 47th
Annual TESL Ontario Conference is quickly approaching, and I am gearing up for
a great time.
A Chance to Network and Learn
Image source: www.bigstockphoto.com
This will be my first conference as a newly certified teacher. I am looking forward to seeing my colleagues – some new faces, and, hopefully, some I have seen before – and learning something new.
For the last 20 years, TESL Ontario has held technology workshops at the annual conference to introduce and provide conference attendees with the opportunity to learn from the many individuals who utilize technology in the classroom. Over the years, the interest has grown along with the opportunities to use technology from computers to tablets to smart phones. Most of our students have one or several of these devices. The use of these devices Continue reading →
This year at the TESL ON conference, Asmaa Cober, Sanctuary Refugee Health Centre, will be one of our Keynote Speakers. The following blog post was written by Asmaa. Here she gives you a synopsis of her keynote address:
Learning never happens in a vacuum — people bring all of their experiences with them to the classroom. Newcomers (and refugees in particular) have a life history — experiences that greatly affect their ability to learn. We will explore some of the types of experiences that refugees bring with them to the classroom. Continue reading →
TESL Ontario’s landmark 50th annual conference, Celebrating 50 Years of Community, Leadership and Innovation, will be here in no time! The conference, taking place October 26-28, will once again be held virtually to prioritize the safety of all of our attendees. 
