Second Language Teachers' Symposium

Today I went to the College of Humanities Second Language Teachers' Symposium. Attending fulfilled one of the requirements for my Methods of TESOL class. We were supposed to go to a professional development event, this one or AZTESOL. This one was free, the other cost $75. So, that settled it. It was convenient, because the symposium was in the Modern Languages building, and Mark needed to be on campus today, too, so we just went together. There was a keynote address, then 3 concurrent sessions. Overall, it was pretty good, but the material was definitely geared to Foreign Language teachers, like Spanish and German teachers in the public schools at the university level. Of course, there are many similarities between teaching one of those languages and teaching English, but more so when you teach English in another country (EFL vs. ESL). Anyway, the 3rd breakout session I went to was great, particularly because it will really help me with the third unit I'm teaching in English 101. It was a presentation about incorporating films into second language classes. The presenters both teach Spanish at the university, but designed the presentation to show how films can be used in accordance with the 5 standards used in Tucson public schools. It was interesting to see how they lined up the film and activities with those standards (and to know what foreign language teaching standards look like in public school), but the best part was that the film they used as an example is one I was considering showing my 101 class later this semester--Under the Same Moon. They showed some clips and provided us with a thorough lesson plan based on that particular movie. So, I've decided to go ahead and show the movie in my class, and I've got a whole bunch of discussion questions and topics for further research to use! The theme for my third unit in 101 is the border, and the movie is an engaging story that explores how the family is affected when parents come to the US to work and leave kids behind in Mexico. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in exploring border issues, or just looking for a good tear-jerker. So, overall, I was glad I went today. Now I'm supposed to write a 1-page summary report for my Methods class, but I'm not sure how to include everything about the day in one page--I'm sure I've gone over that already here, and I haven't even touched on the other sessions. I guess I'll have to make it work, though. Plans for the rest of the weekend are pretty low key--some reading for school, some housework, maybe a movie...