On November 1-2, 2013, the PRTESOL 40th Annual Convention was held in Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino. This year theme was “Meeting 21st Century Needs: Aligning Curriculum and Teacher Performance". I was able to attend Saturday’s convention and experienced an unforgettable and academic enriching experience. The conferences and presentations fulfilled and went beyond my expectations while acquiring knowledge to apply in the courses I teach. Saturday’s keynote speaker Dr. Rebecca Blum Martinez presented her conference on “Grappling with Language and Meaning in Complex Texts: The Common Core Standards and Bilingual Students”. It was an outstanding presentation where Dr. Blum Martinez not only provided relevant information for English educators of the island, but provided examples to show how we must change our view on the way we teach our English courses to ESL learners.
Thirty-one concurrent sessions were offered on Saturday which provided a range of fascinating topics making one wish to be able to attend simultaneously several of them. Topics ranged from videogames in the English classroom, Shakespeare in the 21st century to ecological education.
Presenters came from different institutions such as the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, UPR Mayaguez, UPR Aguadilla as well as from private universities of the island such as Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Inter American University (San Germán and Guayama), and Metropolitan University. There were also presenters from the Department of Education representing schools such as S.U. Rio Cañas Abajo Community School as well as private schools such as Colegio Puertorriqueño de Niñas. Not only presenters came from our island, but we also had others from institutions such as Middlesex County College (New Jersey), Wheelock College (Boston, MA), King Saud University (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Texas State University, and Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
But the highlight of attending this convention was having two colleagues from the English Department of UPRH give presentations to PR TESOL attendees. Dr. Anibal Muñoz with Dr. María Irrizarry of UPR Río Piedras and Dr. Elsie Candelaria and Dr. Rosemary Morales gave a presentation titled “Aligning the ESL Curriculum through Art and Technology”. Dr. Muñoz is currently collaborating in a project that is providing educators the opportunity to develop activities where technology is used as a medium to enhance the teaching of English while integrating the arts to the curriculum. Dr. Muñoz’s workshops deal with creating documentaries in the English classroom as well as using radio programs in the acquisition of the English language just to mention some of the ones he is offering to participants of public and private schools.
Dr. Artemio Peñalbert was also a presenter for this 40th Annual Convention and representing our faculty of UPRH. His conference was titled “Using Cooperative Strategies to Enhance Students’ Writing Skills in a Business English course”. His conference was based on his dissertation. His work deals with how writing skills brings a new perspective in the teaching of Business English at undergraduate level. These courses have been taught many times focused in lectures and individual performance when writing assignments were given. Through his study, Dr. Peñalbert demonstrated how cooperative learning becomes an ideal form for students to acquire the writing skills so vital in the success of their field of studies. His work demonstrates that Business Writing English courses must align to the needs of the 21st global society we live in; collaboration is the key to acquiring knowledge and for success in the professional world.
As part of the English Department faculty at UPRH, I left the convention full of pride of being part of such an outstanding group of colleagues. Both Dr. Muñoz and Dr. Peñalbert have contributed into the academia providing new insights to the teaching of English. I congratulate them both and look forward to their upcoming presentations and workshops because our English teaching community benefits from the knowledge and contributions of professionals like them.
I also want to thank the PRTESOL for organizing such an outstanding convention. I left the activity feeling academically refreshed and with new energies to continue working with my students in meeting their academic needs.
The Executive Board of Directors ensured that this PRTESOL 40th Annual convention is one to be remembered for years to come. President Estella Martinez, Vice President Edward Torres, Executive Secretary Maureen Orama, Membership Secretary Janytsie Mora and Treasurer Myriam Caballero provided the academic and professional opportunity that fulfilled the needs of educators of English in Puerto Rico.
