07/22/2020

Christie Sosa

CATESOL 2020 State Conference: Join the Conversation by Margi Wald and Amy Pascucci

Resiliency.  This is the theme of the CATESOL 2020 State Conference.  If you’re new to CATESOL, our state conference is an annual event where educators from up and down the state and beyond come together in one place for four days to learn, collaborate, and enjoy the company of passionate colleagues.  Knowing this, you can imagine why we decided to center this year’s conference around resiliency.  We, the conference organizers, hope that this year more than any other year in CATESOL’s recent past, conference attendees walk away from the four days with renewed passion and resolve, and sharpen their skills so that they may continue to show up for their students and colleagues amidst the many obstacles that we currently face.

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To do this, we have planned a number of sessions and speakers that will be delivered via an online conferencing platform.  For example, we have a half-day pre-convention institute (PCI) devoted to advocacy.  Our keynote speakers will range from online learning experts to translanguaging leaders and industry icons.  We have invited a number of speakers to speak on trending topics like social justice in language education, culturally sustaining pedagogy and teaching online just to name a few. 
 
With that said, we are currently accepting proposal submissions for concurrent sessions, including presentations, workshops, panels, teaching tips, poster sessions and the TESL student forum.  This is a great opportunity to have your voice heard and help guide the industry in positive directions.
 
There is a lot happening at different levels based on government and school policy changes, as well as a lot happening in pedagogy with new research on the brain and social emotional learning (SEL).  However, there is a lot that hasn’t changed.  We are still keeping our students at the center of everything we do; we continue to solve everyday problems within our institution, program, and classroom. 
 
We’ve heard some hesitancy in presenting at a time when there may be uncertainty surrounding job security or because there is an overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done on a daily basis.  We urge you to take this moment to build resiliency in this great community of educators by sharing and demonstrating your own ideas, skills, examples and plans for resiliency in your craft and classroom.
 
CATESOL wants to provide agency for researchers and practitioners alike. Don’t shy away from this invitation.  If you are passionate about something, share it with us by submitting a proposal.
 
For more information on the conference and how to be involved, please visit the CATESOL website.
 
For more information on how to draft your proposal, check out our proposal guidelines.

To submit your proposal, go to the CATESOL State Conference Form. 
 
For questions on the program and proposals, please contact the conference program chair, Rob Jenkins, at robjenkins.esl@gmail.com.
 
For any other questions or to join the conference team, please reach out to Margi Wald and Amy Pascucci at catesol2020conf@gmail.com.