TESOL in Denver

The TESOL convention in Denver is quickly approaching.  TexTESOL III will be represented by Linda Munoz (President), Harishini Ernest (Past President), Hayriye Kayi (Newsletter Editor), and myself, Katherine Fouche (Vice President).  We hope to see other TexTESOL III members there.   It would be great to get together and share ideas and impressions of the sessions.  Please let us know if you are planning to go.  

Cheers,

Katherine

ARE YOU A TEACHER WITH A QUESTION?

ARE YOU A TEACHER WITH A QUESTION?

If so, TexTESOL III would like to invite you to post your question on the blog, and we will respond with an answer as soon as possible!  

Example questions: 

* how to explain and/or teach a certain grammar point

* ideas for how to present a certain macro/micro skill

* information about where you can volunteer as an ESL professional in your area

* what the latest position is on a certain advocacy issue

Let's build a community of fresh ideas!  

Looking forward to hearing from all of you out there!

Cheers,

Katherine Fouche

TexTESOL Past President

Green Eggs & Ham

One of the sessions I attended at the TexTESOL convention in Richardson was John Schmidt's workshop on interpretive reading for enhancing fluency and linguistic skills. In this video John and audience volunteer Roxann Tull (Miller Jr. High, San Marcos) read Green Eggs & Ham. John plans to use this reading with his advanced students at TIEP in Austin to help them with pronunciation of American English vowel sounds.

Scary Story Contest

So, it's that time again...HALLOWEEN!!!  One of my favorite times of the year.  As we do every year, ESL Services at UT Austin had a Scary Story contest, and the students definitely delivered.  I was one of the judges for the contest, and I was thoroughly entertained by the stories that the students came up with - cultural ghost tales, spooky encounters, and levels of gore that Hollywood would be proud of.  It may be a tad late this year (although we do have until Friday!), but I strongly encourage you to take this or any other holiday to bring out the creative side of your students.  Here's one of the winning stories by Miwa M. (an intermediate story).  ENJOY!

"It was after two a.m. when a taxi driver on his way home saw a woman standing just in front of the tunnel on his way home.  She was raising her hand to catch a taxi. However, he didn't pick her up and went through into the tunnel, because he was tired and wanted to go home early.  Just a minute later after getting into the tunnel, as he looked outside of the window inadvertently, he found that the woman was running just beside him and knocking on the window.  He couldn't believe his eyes, because he was driving with a speed of 40 miles per hour, and no one could reach him in the dark, no-pedestrian way tunnel.  He was frightened and increased his speed to pass through the tunnel.  After he got through the tunnel, the woman disappeared, so he drove back the home.  However, reaching the home in relief and just when he got out of the car, he heard the coarse voice saying, 'This is NOT my house.'  He turned to the back and found the woman sitting in the back seat of the car."

why Excelsior!

Someone asked me recently why I end my letters with that phrase. Excelsior is Latin for "superior," "ever upward," "aim higher", and was a favorite phrase of a teacher who made an impact on me when I was studying in Nigeria. She pushed me to excel and forced me to question choices I made and not be satisfied with the mediocre.

So, Excelsior!
Harishini

welcome to the TexTESOL III blog

Hi Friends of TexTESOL III,

When our webmaster, Nancy Meredith, invited me to be the first person to post to our TexTESOL III blog, I was excited but a little nervous. As someone new to blogging, I am learning what to do and how to do it. Hopefully, this blog will serve as a forum to post ideas about what works in the ESL classroom, questions we want help with, and miscellaneous ESL issues. So let's go forth and blog.

Excelsior!
Harishini