MELEd 2020 Conference is Now Online

The MELEd conference will take place in a virtual format on Friday, November 20, and Saturday November 21, 2020. The health and safety of our attendees, volunteers, and presenters are our number one concern, and the best way to keep everyone safe and healthy is to move the conference online. 

We’re revamping all aspects of the conference to provide presenters, vendors, and attendees with the best possible experience. We’re excited about the flexibility and accessibility that this new format offers. 

There are many decisions to be made and much work to be done. Here’s a summary of what we know so far:

1. The EL Coordinators Meeting will also have virtual format. and is still scheduled for Thursday November 19.
2. The virtual MELEd conference will be fully online, and will include both pre-recorded and live/synchronous sessions.
3. We have 2 fabulous keynotes lined up. Look for an official announcement about them very soon!
4. CEUs for MELEd will still be available.

Information about schedule, registration costs, and much more will be shared ASAP. We appreciate your patience as we navigate this new landscape. We look forward to seeing you online at this year’s conference! 

For updates about this year’s conference, check the Conference web page. 

The Literacy Action Network ABE Summer Institute is Coming Soon

The popular ABE Summer Institute will be held online this year on August 19-20, 2020. Find out more about the Summer Institute here, and click here to register. 

MinneTESOL Journal Featured Article

Check out the article “How dispositions are(n’t) addressed in the English learner case study assignment” by Miranda Schornack, Michelle Benegas, & Amy O. Stolpestad

This article examines an assignment common in ESL methods courses—the English learner case study (or learner profile)—for dispositional development and explores how teacher educators can be more explicit and thorough in cultivating educator dispositions for working with English Learners.

This and all articles are available in the Spring 2020 Journal.

MinneTESOL Journal Call for Papers!

Now is your chance to publish an article in the upcoming MinneTESOL Journal, a

practitioner academic online journal. See Writing for the MinneTESOL Journal for more information. 

Submissions for the Fall issue are due August 15, 2020 but will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis.

Email the senior editors to learn more about submitting work: [email protected] 

Get to know the Executive Board

Each newsletter will profile a different Executive Board or MinneTESOL member.

Name: Jen Vanek

Position at MinneTESOL: MinneTESOL Journal Senior Co-Editor

Teaching context: Teacher education and research – adult ESOL

Why you got into ESL: My first volunteer work with Tibetan refugees in the early 1990’s set the stage for my entire career. Even then, without really knowing what I was doing, I could see that adult immigrants and refugees deserved quality educational opportunities to achieve linguistic integration, which can then help them deepen civic and economic integration. Basically, ever since, I’ve been trying to do it better!

Current project: I’m currently working on a series of free self-paced PD modules that will help adult literacy and adult ESOL instructors better deliver quality and equitable learning opportunities from a distance.

TESOL International News: The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Reading Club on myTESOL is launching

TESOL International announces the launch of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Reading Club. DEI is of great interest to English language learners and English language teaching professionals, especially in these times of heightened awareness of bias and discrimination. Issues related to DEI can be very sensitive. TESOL members are from different countries, cultures, and work settings and may have had different experiences with and understandings about diversity, equity, and inclusion in their contexts.

This reading group on myTESOL, available only to TESOL International members, is designed to have focused conversations around a different article each week. The initial articles are drawn from TESOL’s Race, Identity, and English Language Teaching collection, which is  freely available online. 

Did you know?

Past MinneTESOL newsletters can be found on our website, at http://minnetesol.org/minnetesol-newsletters

We want to hear from you

We are always looking for information to share from our members. Please send newsletter submissions to [email protected].