Adios Mexico! I'll miss you!

Sadly, it's time for me to say goodbye. It's been a wonderful and busy 2 years for me working as an English Language Fellow in Mexico. For example, I've attended 2 national MEXTESOL conventions, presented at 5 regional MEXTESOL conventions, taught 1550 teachers in 16 different states of Mexico.

In this time I feel I've learned so much: how to not sweat the small stuff, how to be confident when giving a plenary talk, how to be flexible when you don't know who you'll be teaching and above all, I've learned what kind, creative, fun-loving, hard-working people most Mexican teachers are. I haven't left yet and I can't wait to come back.

However, as is the case with fellowships, its time for me to give someone else the opportunity to work in fabulous Mexico. That someone is Deborah Farley, the new Senior English Language Fellow, a really nice teacher from Vermont. So if you want another workshop, contact Jose Manuel Villafuerte at the Office of English Language Progams at villafuertejm@state.gov .

As for me, I will be moving with my husband to Oman in the Middle East to teach at Sultan Qaboos University.
Finally, I'd like to thank JM and Kay for all their support and friendship over the past couple of years and all the teachers and coordinators who've made my stay in Mexico so memorable.
So, as I finish, I won't say "Adios" but just "Hasta luego!" Keep in touch!

Mexico DF 19th Regional MEXTESOL Conference Touches the Future

Plenary speaker Joep ven der Werff introducing the Queen of the Netherlands
The Mexico City MEXTESOL chapter hosted its 19th regional conference "Touching the Future" on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at the Escuela Bancaria y Comercial Reforma Campus. The opening plenary by Joep ven der Werff's "Planning Lesson Planning" got the audience sharing beliefs and practices of lesson planning.

I gave my last presentation in Mexico (sniff, sniff) "Use Your Brain: Applying Brain Research in the Language Classroom" with a really fun crowd of about 35 Mexico City teachers who were full of ideas, insight and applications. I also got to meet up with one of the really driven teachers I know from my work in the State of Mexico, which was a treat. - It was fun talking with you, Florencio!
Thank you Uli Schrader for your organizing prowess, good luck on future conferences!

• If you'd like to become a member of MEXTESOL click here.


• If you'd like to see upcoming MEXTESOL regional events click here.


• If you want information on the MAIN EVENT "New Ways for New Needs in ELT" in Leon, Guanajuato from October 16-19, 2008 click here.

Ambassador and US Secretary of Education Honor Mexican Teachers

On June 13th, 2008, U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza hosted a "Teachers Day" reception for teachers in Mexico at the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City in honor of U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visit. The event was a cheerful affair where teachers, diplomats and Fulbrighters from all over Mexico got to reconnect with each other and enjoy a beautiful view of the Anthropology museum's Aztec calendar while nibbling on "botanas" and sipping wine or soda. Personally, I enjoyed the opportunity to say good bye to many of the teachers I might not see again until the next time I'm in Mexico.

Ambassador Garza, thanks for supporting teachers and English programs in Mexico!

OELP's Training of Trainers Workshop Makes a Big Impact

On June 12-13, 2008, 24 teacher trainers and SEP coordinators from nine states (Aguascalientes, Coahuila, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Mexico D.F) came together at the Benjamin Franklin Library in Mexico City for the OELP's Training of Trainers Workshop. The goal of the workshop was to share OELPs Teacher Training Anthology CD (a CD with teacher training workshop materials from English Language Fellows in the region), U.S. Dept. of State materials "Shaping the Way We Teach English" and "Teaching Jazz Chants to Young Learners with Carolyn Graham" with Mexican teacher trainers from all over the country in order to strengthen English teaching in Mexico. In addition to the electronic materials each participating institution received a set of reference materials including H.D. Brown's Teaching by Principles, Richard and Lockhart's Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms and Martin Parrot's Tasks for Language Teachers. In addition to demonstrating the materials to the participants, workshop facilitator and E.L. Fellow Brigitte Miller, led discussions on such topics as "trainers beliefs" and "working with peers: supervision and observation". Finally the participants put together tentative teacher training proposals based on the needs of their teachers and presented them to the group for feedback. The proposals of each institution varied alot in their size, topics and focus. The scope of this project was much bigger than expected. Ultimately, these materials should impact 5022 teachers and at least 407,500 students (that's only from 4 of the nine states).
The feedback from the materials and workshop evaluation was very favorable indicating that everyone will use these materials in some way to design their own teaching training programs and that as much was learned from the other participants as was learned about the materials themselves. Many participants were incredulous that teachers would share so much of their work with others. We're hoping that this will further encourage other teachers to share their materials for the greater good. Nice examples of this were also demonstrated by Coahuila's dynamic SEP team who shared their English in primary materials with the group and Hidalgo's SEPA Ingles team who also offered to share the software they developed.
Thanks everyone for your dedication! You were such a pleasure to work with. Most of all, good luck with all your training projects!

MEXTESOL 3rd Annual S.E. Regional Conference Explores the Art of ELT

The Chiapas MEXTESOL chapter held its third annual S.E. Regional Conference "Exploring the Art of ELT" at the Villa Mercedes Hotel in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas on June 6-7, 2008.

The conference was a great success with approximately 112 presenters and participants coming from Greece, Oregon, Texas, Tabasco and Chiapas. The conference was generously sponsored the UNICACH and, as usual, very well organized by the MEXTESOL Chiapas team of Edith Martinez (Chiapas MEXTESOL president), Diego Gamez (UNICACH language center director and Geraldine Montoya (Chiapas MEXTESOL vide-president). It included not only a fabulous location in charming San Cristobal de las Casas, various publishers, a book raffle, numerous opportunities to network with teachers from all over the South-East and enthusiastic participants but knowledgeable and engaging speakers such as Melinda Sayavedra (opening plenary) and Katherine Fouche (closing plenary) amongst others.

The E.L. Fellow, Brigitte Miller gave two new presentations: "Hot Lesson Openers: Icebreakers and Warm-ups" and "Use Your Brain: An Intro to Brain Research and the Language Classroom which were well-received despite issues with time.

Chiapas MEXTESOLers keep up the good work! I'd attend another of your fabulous conferences any chance I got!

Their next event is an Academic Saturday on August 23rd, 2008. To find out more about how to join MEXTESOL click here.

Oaxaca Road Trip: Office of English Language Programs visits UABJO

From May 26th-31st, 2008 the team from the Office of English Language Programs: Regional English Language Officer Dr. Kay Davis, Cultural Affairs Assistant Jose Manuel Villafuerte and Senior English Language Fellow Brigitte Miller went on a road trip to Oaxaca to get in contact with the teachers of the Universidad Autonoma "Benito Juarez" de Oaxaca. On May 27th they went to the UABJO's Centro de Idiomas Tehuantepec Campus where Brigitte gave a workshop to 35 local English teachers, professors and students. What a surprise to find that in this remote outpost at the isthmus in Oaxaca, the English teachers had such a high level of English and such enthusiasm for teaching! The credit for this must be given to veteran English teacher Mauricio Zarate Jarquin and the energetic Facultad de Idiomas director Rufino Vazquez Manuel. The workshop was followed up by a delicious seafood lunch under a palapa in the sweltering isthmus heat. Thanks to Rebecca, Abraham, Ricardo and Omar too for your hospitality!

From Tehuantepec, the OELP team went on to the city of Oaxaca where Kay and Jose Manuel met with the director again and other representatives from the university while Brigitte gave another workshop to the teachers and trainees from the Oaxaca campus. In Oaxaca too, the students and professors were active participants in the workshop. According to the workshop evaluations 100% of the participants found the workshop topics (cooperative and task-based learning) and activities either somewhat or very interesting. Most said they would try to apply these ideas to their teaching especially the strategies, the roles and authentic tasks. In future they would like to learn more classroom activities as well as how to deal with large classes. Some of their comments were:“Very valuable”, “it was amazing”, “I like your way to teach this class – you’re so happy and all could be too” and “I think it was all very useful”.

Thanks Oaxacan teachers. I had a great time too! Hope to visit you again one day! Special thanks to the students for your help around the city!

Aguascalientes' CBTIS English Teachers Get Down to Basics

Twenty-five CBTIS English teachers participated in a 30-hour workshop entitled "The Basics of English Language Teaching" from May 19th-23rd, 2008. They learned how to: structure cooperative lessons, use a variety of tasks which appeal to multiple intelligences, motivate students with authentic tasks, materials, and internet activities and use rubrics for student-centered, formative assessment. According to the participants' evaluations, the favorite parts of the workshop were the "multiple intelligences" activities and the internet activities, particularly the blogs. The participants are most interested in learning more about Rubrics and they said that the parts they will apply to their own teaching are (in order of number of responses): 1 Everything, 2 Multiple Intelligences, 3 Fun web tasks, 4 Authentic Materials, 5 Cooperative tasks and 6 Rubrics. The workshop was very well organized by the ever hospitable and always cheerful Carmen Guardado and facilitated by fellow Brigitte Miller. The course was opened with a ceremony that included a student's speech about Aguascalientes and closed with fabulous performances by CBTIS 195 students and the soulful singing of Jorge and Carlos (two participating teachers). Also present were the gracious principal Mrs. Sara Veronica Serrano Macias , directors of the CETIS and CBTIS, Mr. Juan Antonio Glez Arechiga Ramirez Weilla and Mr. Jose Luis Ortega Juarez. The festivities were topped off by a long chatty lunch in town.

To see more pictures from the workshop, including student performances click here. To see the participants blogs click here. To see what the participants learned about Internet tasks, click here.

Thank you, all of you, for a wonderful experience in Aguascalientes. Keep in touch to let me know how your classes progress. Best of luck!

MEXTESOL Morelia Gets Together for Their 8th Regional Convention

On April 18th-19th, 2008 I attended MEXTESOL Morelia's 8th Regional Convention at the Universidad Latina in festive Morelia, Michoacan. The conference was a great opportunity to meet new colleagues in the field and catch up with others.
I attended an informative presentation by Francisco Lozano on Video Techniques for the ELT Classroom and the very dynamic closing plenary" What Makes a Good Teacher and What Makes the Best Teacher" by English teacher trainer/dance instructor Adan Alberto Hurtado Olivares
My own session "Fun and Games for Oral Fluency and Motivation" was packed with 45 enthusiastic students and teachers.
At my other session"Letting Them In On the Secret:Rubrics for Formative Assessment", 36 teachers and students learned how to create rubrics with their students. For those interested in more information about rubrics please check out this wonderful online resource "Rubistar" or get a copy of the final handout by leaving me a comment with your email address here on the blog. I look forward to hearing from you!
I had the opportunity to catch up with, founding president of MEXTESOL Morelia and teacher trainer, Luis Gerardo Ramirez Amor (pictured here with me passing out certificates of attendance and books generously donated by the publishers). I also got to meet the Universidad Latina's new English coordinator Yacine Kabbage and MEXTESOL Morelia's lovely president, Monica Alvarez (pictured here after all the event's activities were successfully finished).

Thanks MEXTESOL Morelia! I had a great time. Best of luck with your next event!

"Worlds of TESOL" meet in New York City for the 2008 TESOL convention

The theme of the 42nd annual TESOL convention in New York City was "Worlds of TESOL: Building Communities of Practice, Inquiry and Creativity". People from all over the planet gathered in this most global of cities to present, learn and connect. I, for one, met up with friends, colleagues and mentors from Monterrey, Cairo, Morocco, Russia and San Francisco as well as former fellows from everywhere! Personal favorites were: the session by AUC professor Phyllis Wachob and Salma Waly on their work with refugee communities called "Teaching English to Refugees in Transition", the session "Online TESOL Education: Creative Communities of Practice" with Liz England, David Hall, John Knox, Ralph Sabio and Datta Kaur Khalsa and finally, the English Language Fellow Program networking event. There were plenaries by Penny Ur and Lia Kamhi-Stein among others and the TESOL job market place was filled with recruiters from all over. If you didn't attend this year, but you'd like to attend next year, register for MEXTESOL membership to be eligible for a grant that could help you with expenses for the 43rd annual TESOL convention to be held March 25-28th, 2009 in Denver, Colorado.

Tabasco Teachers Try Out Tasks, Technology and TOEFL

Twelve English teachers from the Insituto Tecnologico Superior de Centla in Frontera, Tabasco participated in a 25-hour workshop (from February 25th-29th, 2008) on Motivating Teachers and Learners, TOEFL Preparation Strategies, Authentic Tasks and Materials, Integrating Skills, Cooperative Learning and Fun Web Tasks. Participants were very enthusiastic (100% of them liked the topics, activities and explanations). During the workshop they took TOEFL practice tests, developed picture stories, created blogs, perfomed role plays and cooperated in a reading jigsaw.
According to the workshop evaluations, the favorite parts of the workshop and the topics they will use most in their teaching are: Cooperative Learning and Authentic Tasks. A comment from an email since the workshop proves it's true too. “I have practiced with my students about cooperative learning. I prepare my classes with authentic material, it really works!!! It´s funny and amazing to work in this way!!!!! Thanks for your teaching.” To let me know how this workshop has affected your teaching please fill in my Workshop Follow Up Survey. Thanks.

Some of the other participants' comments were as follows: “Sincerely was the first time I talked to a native speaker. For me was so wonderful”. “It’s my first participation in a workshop like this. I gonna apply cooperative learning in my English class”. “It was fantastic, we had a great time”. If you'd like to see more photos and the participants' blogs please click on ELT Workshop ITSCE . The workshop was very well organized by Citlalli Garcia Albores.

Citlalli at the Centla swamps.

Teachers and Trainers at the UNAM's Facultad de Estudios Superiores in Acatlan Develop Communicative Competence

Thirteen English teachers and trainers from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) Acatlan campus gathered together from February 11th- 15th, 2008 to learn more about: Task-based Cooperative Learning, Developing Projects for Mixed Ability Classes, Developing Oral Fluency, Developing Writing Fluency and Motivation.

Although small, the group's enthusiasm, dedication to teaching and experience made for interesting discussions and productive collaborations. According to the online workshop evaluation 100 % of the participants liked the topics, activities and explanations in the workshop (Wow!!). The participants favorite parts were the activities( particularly the oral fluency ones) and the opportunity to share ideas with colleagues. They will use the cooperative and writing activities most in their own teaching and for future workshops they'd like to learn about reflective teaching and authentic materials. Thank you Erika for organizing the event. It was so much fun getting to know all of you. Keep in touch.

Moving Past Milestones at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo

From Jan. 30th - Feb. 1st, 2008, 35 English professors and trainers participated in the fellow's workshop on the following topics: Rubrics and Formative Assessment, Lesson Planning, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Specific Objectives, Task-based Collaborative Learning, Cooperative Learning Structures. The group's lively discussions and peer evaluations made the experience a fruitful one for both the facilitator and the participants. According to the workshop evaluations the parts of the workshop most of the participants will apply to their own teaching are "rubrics" and "lesson planning". The favorite parts of the workshop were: "lesson planning", "collaborative task-based learning" and the interaction with other teachers. Please let me know the effect of this workshop on your teaching by filling out my Workshop Follow Up Survey. Thanks so much.Teachers said they'd like to learn more about "rubrics and assessment" and "task-based collaborative learning". Thanks are due to Bertha Paredes and Hilda Hidalgo for organizing the event.

Also thank you Bertha and Norma for your hospitality!

Latin American Fellows Unite in Costa Rica

Beautiful Costa Rican flora

In January 2008, Latin American English Language Fellows, Regional English Language Officers (Kay Davis in Mexico City and Kitty Johnson in Lima Peru), their assistants Jose Manuel Villafuerte and Marcela Raffo and Fellow program administrators Catherine Williamson and Christa Hansen got together for the midyear conference at the Apartotel Cristina in San Jose, Costa Rica. The thirteen fellows each presented on some aspect of their fellowship for 45 minutes. According to the conference evaluation, fellows unanimously found this midyear conference very helpful. The responses to the question "What impact, if any, do you think this conference will have on the rest of your fellowship?" are as follows:
1. Nice to see everyone again and hear what they are up to.
2. Collecting project descriptions and resources for future ELFs.
3. I feel that I can use much of what I gained here in the next five months. I feel that I am doing and will do a good job for the remainder of my time.
4. I will network more with the Western hemisphere and communicate more with them to see if they have resources I need.
5. It makes me feel part of a community - and reminded me of what a great resource this community is for me. This conference has motivated me and given me access to resources for my projects. Definitely think they're an very important part of the fellowship that should be included every year!
6. I have a number of solutions to emotional/psychological problems that will really help!
7. Thanks to time spent with other fellows I have a better sense of where I'm at or rather how my personal expectations of my work fit into realistic expectations. Better balance.
8. Unsure, but I may be more assertive in relations with host.
9. Right now, I feel very motivated and far more prepared to be successful,. I also feel better about the problems I've faced. This has made all the difference in the world.
10. -Helps me with directions and focus. -Inspiration to create better balance
11. A greater sense of positive energy, more acceptance, of things I can't change.
12. A great influence. Showed me what I should be/could be doing! Gave me strength and renewed energy to reapproach my project!
The favorite of the fellow presentations was Wendy Senft's "What about your social life?" which addressed the personal side of the fellow experience, although, overall, people found hearing about each other's professional experiences interesting too.

The fellows agreed that the midyear conference should be part of the fellow experience every year.

In addition to the fellows conference, the Latin American fellows also presented at the local National Conference for Teachers of English "Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders" at the Centro Cultural Costarricense from Jan. 23-25th. To view the array of interesting presentations at the conference click here for the program . One of my favorite speakers was featured Beninese storyteller and educator Raouf Mama.

Fellows (from left to right):

Brigitte Miller, Michele Gordon, Erin Lowry, Tara Zahler and Allyson Kellum

It was a real pleasure catching up with you!

Chihuahua teachers share resources, knowledge and good cheer!

In December 2007, from the 10th-14th, twenty-six high school teachers participated in a 30-hour workshop, organized by Betty Ramirez and Ramiro Bojorquez from the SEC, at Maestros Mexicanos high school, Chihuahua. The workshop was intended as both a follow up to last year's workshop with some of the same teachers and an opportunity for other teachers to experience an in-service teacher training. The group consisted of diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds but none-the-less managed to work well together. There was a wide range of topics including: Classroom management, Lesson planning, Bloom's Taxonomy (we used it to help write objectives and then design tasks), Integrating Skills with Cooperative Learning, Authentic Tasks and Materials for Integrating Skills, Fun Web Tasks where participants created their own blogs (please see our blog to view pictures and participants' blog addresses) , Rubrics and Performance Assessment.

According to the workshop evaluation the group found the topics very interesting and most people also really liked the activities. The evaluation results also indicate that the topics which participants will use in their classes are mainly "Assessment" and "Lesson Planning".

The participants' favorite parts of the workshop were: "Internet and blogs", "interacting with other teachers" and "lesson planning". The participants would like to learn more about "Motivation" and "Internet links".

Please let me know how this workshop has affected your teaching by filling out my Workshop Follow Up survey. Thanks so much!!
In addition to writing specific objectives participants devised some really creative christmas "picture stories". Other memorable moments were: Martin's wonderful "Jeopardy" demo, Paty's demonstration of the state of the art computer lab we were using and Toni singing at our end-of--workshop posada.

Martin setting up "Jeopardy". Watch out Alex Trebeck!


Paty showing us "Tell Me More" software.


Toni singing.

It was a nice opportunity to meet some enthusiastic new teachers and catch up with some friendly faces from last year.

Some familiar faces...

Who says teachers can't have a good time? Happy Holidays Y'All!

Best of luck in 2008!

Durango CBTIS "Gets Real" with Authentic Tasks

Thirty-four English teachers from the CBTIS 130 in Durango participated in a 30-hour workshop on: Multiple Intelligences, Differentiating Instruction, Authentic Tasks for Authentic Communication, Fun Web Tasks, Authentic Film for the EFL Classroom and Motivating Teachers and Learners. On the last day all the participants made their own blogs which, whose links you can view here. The workshop was coordinated by the amazingly energetic duo of Ricardo Hagen and Guille Gonzalez.

The diverse expertise of the participants, ranging from medical doctors and food scientists to psychologists and engineers, definitely enriched our discussions. According to the workshop evaluations the majority of the participants found "Authentic Materials" and "Multiple Intelligences" to be the most useful topics. However, "Internet Tasks", "Blogs", and "Authentic Film" were their favorites topics. The greatest challenge was "task-based learning". Topics they would like to learn more about are: "Authentic Tasks", "Motivation" and "Working with large groups".

Please let me know how the workshop has affected your teaching by filling out my Workshop Follow Up Survey by clicking here. Thanks for your hospitality and enthusiasm!

After an intense week of making role plays, watching authentic films, creating blogs and devising tasks, Anabella, Alicia and I went for a picnic in relaxing Nombre de Dios to eat Durango's delicious gorditas ... mmmm.

MEXTESOL 2007 in Boca del Rio

For those of you who didn't attend MEXTESOL 2007 in Boca del Rio, Veracruz from Nov. 8-11th, it was a blast! With characteristic festivities and informative presentations, this national conference of Mexican English teachers was a wonderful opportunity to learn new ideas and meet up with colleagues from all over Mexico. It also gave me a chance to catch up with people who work nearby like the TOEFL team from IIE, James and Jesus (pictured above in the exhibitor's hall). Click here to view Neil Anderson's plenary presentation "From Egg Crate to Omelet" or Click here to see Humberto Roman's blog (MEXTESOL Aguascalientes) on TOEFL tips (which I found very useful). I was especially amazed to see the Durango contingent led by Guille Gonzalez who travelled by bus to attend. That's dedication! For me, it was great to see all of you once again.

Teachers and Coordinators at Relaciones Culturales in Monterrey Get Motivated

Ten teacher coordinators and trainers at Relaciones Culturales in Monterrey worked together with the Fellow from Monday to Friday Oct. 22-26th, 2007 in a workshop entitled "Developing Oral Proficiency in the Communicative Classroom". They reviewed new techniques for developing oral fluency, accuracy and assessment in addition trying out some strategies for effectively using authentic film in the classroom. Results from the workshop evaluation indicate that they preferred the Collaborative Routines and Lesson Planning sessions and that they would like to learn more about Collaborative Learning and Rubrics. Please let me know if the workshop was useful to you by filling out my Workshop Follow-Up Survey here.

On Friday afternoon 73 of Relaciones Culturales' teachers attended the Fellow's presentation "Taking Over the Reins: Motivating Teachers and Learners" and participated heartily with their thought-provoking questions.

The Fellow's visit ended in a conga line around the school at the "Jurassic Party" with the quick-witted, fun loving staff of Relaciones Culturales.

Thanks to all of you for your hospitality and enthusiasm but especially to Tere who put it all together! See you soon!