Top Moments at TESOL 2012

I was fortunate enough to be able to bite the bullet and pay out of pocket to present at and participate in TESOL for the 11th year in a row!  The best moments for me at any convention are reconnecting with far-flung friends, colleagues, teachers, and students.  You know who you are, and I'm so, so glad I was able to see all of you!

Below are a few of my other favorite moments in no particular order:

Overhearing Randall Davis at his poster session talking blenders: "I don't need to know the difference between puree and liquify.  I just need to turn it on and off."  Wise tech tool advice.

Listening to the dynamic Nigel Caplan use the word "corpus" more times than I could count when I wandered into his session:  Making Grammar Choices in Advanced Academic Writing.

Keith Folse letting me know that I am an idiot for teaching the adjective order chart.  His advice about grammar that matters: teach students to use one adjective, and to put it in front of the noun.  You know, because no one speaking says things like "I ran down the long, narrow, dark, decrepit street."  (CATESOLers take note - Keith is speaking next week.  Don't miss him!)

Eating crépes in the Reading Terminal Market, and seeing an Amish girl playing games on her smartphone.

Learning some exciting ways teachers are using Google Voice (already signed up and got my free account set up!), and got my interest piqued about how to use BigBlueButton too.

Planning to try out Poll Everywhere tomorrow.

Eating (twice) at Hawthornes Cafe in the lovely Bella Vista neighborhood.

Seeing how cool Moodle 2.1 is during an EV fair - and feeling dismay that we don't have that version yet.

Learning about some fun apps: Songify, Photoannotate, and Flashcards.

Speaking of apps, was thrilled I got to use my QR Reader at many presentations to instantly get the slides, handouts, and links.

Being impressed that PearsonELT was the first publisher to go entirely digital (no books in sight) in the exhibit hall.

Oh and yes, I did contribute by co-presenting on Digital Photostories


I got my Texas star pin and my TESOL 2013 luggage tag (thank you hospitality table!), so here's my TESOL wish list for TESOL 2013 in Dallas (just in case anyone in power reads this):

How about a mobile app or site for the TESOL schedule where we can favorite or star the workshops we plan to attend. (I'd love to put that heavy program book away!)

Better signage for the Electronic Village would be helpful - I ran into it quite by accident.

A networking session or general reception would be nice (Anyone else feel like you mostly just meet and greet the same people?).

Revamped Poster Sessions - a larger area and/or leave those things up!  Better yet, can we update them with technology options as well?