Learning Outcome 14 - Demonstrated ability to participate in the professional TESOL community, including the ability to give and receive collegial feedback, participate in professional conferences, and to apply insights gained to future or current teaching contexts.
DESCRIPTION:
The peer-review process was crucial in Dr. Tasha Bleistein's Language Program Design course (TESL560) in Fall I 2021. My peer review of Savannahs' Outcome 4 demonstrates my ability to effectively provide respectful and constructive feedback to a classmate. My Draft DRA and Position Statement demonstrate my ability to accept and utilize feedback provided to me by one of my peers. The Conference Report details how attending CATESOL's 2020 Spring Virtual Conference impacted me and refreshed my resolve to be involved in the TESOL community.
REFLECTION:
Attending conferences kept me updated and abreast of policy, programs, and procedural changes in my past profession. So as a new teacher, participating in this conference would be my first experience being around the greater professional TESOL community. During this conference, all the speakers and presenters were inspiring, particularly Dr. Willie Renandya's discussion points regarding connectedness of reading and writing for improving writing. Writing is hard for most people, and the Azusa MA TESOL program requires a great deal of writing. Moreover, this program has allowed us to practice and improve our writing. This was evident in the peer review process throughout this M.A. program. It has increased my own writing ability by challenging me to accurately identify areas that need improvement within my own work by the process of examining my peers' writing. Initially, when I read some of my peers' papers, I questioned my abilities compared to some of my peer's writings. But with time, I gave myself grace and began to appreciate the process. There is great relevance in this process: a group of my colleagues continued to conduct peer reviews in order to complete our portfolios. The CATESOL Conference was a great experience and relevant in sharing ideas and collaborating with other educators. What I found so significant were the presenters at the conference elicited peer feedback by inviting peer responses and questions. This further confirmed the value of continuous feedback in the TESOL field as a process that yields the benefits of continued growth in one's career.
APPLICATION:
As an educator, it is important to continually develop new skills through effectively reading and practicing writing, and by reviewing others' writing to become a stronger writer, as Dr. Renandya pointed out. To keep peer review relevant to my growth, I must be engaged in the TESOL community. I have been a member of CATESOL during my academic studies but not an active member. I have begun taking a more active role in participating in Lunch-N-Learn quarterly sessions, raising questions, and asking for clarification from presenters to keep myself updated on topics that teachers are discussing, even though I am not currently teaching. I am interested in a couple of topics I would like to see discussed more at CATESOL. I will encourage myself to submit a proposal, and if accepted, I will present it. More importantly, in my walk as a new teacher, what I believe is most important is staying connected with those who started this journey with me as new teachers and by making new connections with fellow teachers. This will help me to continue and maintain that needed feedback resource for my own professional growth. In addition, I hope to offer helpful feedback that continues that cycle with fellow teachers and that ultimately helps the students we teach.