Profr. Alejandro Williams Rivas

14
Thousands of English teachers and students gathered together
with faces of enthusiasm and eagerness to share in the 33rd
annual Mextesol International Convention in León, Guanajuato.
Mextesol, the Mexican Association of Teachers of English,
is a professional academic association which seeks to teach the
highest standards for teaching English so that our students can
communicate effectively in diverse situations. This year Miss
Sabrina Ortiz, Miss Mónica Minvielle and I were able to attend
the invaluable conference.
Professors, speakers, researchers and publishers from all over the
world came to share their vast knowledge. The first session that
we attended was one of our favorites. José Luis Morales, a teacher,
educator and author, discussed and demonstrated approaches for
classroom management and how to build constructive, synergetic
relationships with children. In one workshop about catering
to different learning styles, Miss Sabrina won a puppet
doesn’t­have
to­be­painful­!!!
By: Martha Bahena,
English Teacher PAI
Do you remember your kindergarten years? I bet it was the
happiest stage of your life. Being a kindergarten student did
not mean having free time or not having to learn anything. If
you go back, you will remember you learnt to read, to write,
to add, to subtract, to measure and color our world. All of
this through a variety of stimuli, which allowed the greatest
tool we have (OUR BRAIN) to memorize everything it had to.
Therefore you did learn using your senses and moving your
body. This is what Approaches to Learning has brought back
to our classes and we needless to say we are enjoying every
minute of it!
Super­Training
for
Super­Teachers
By: Windy Berrigan,
1st Grade English Teacher
for acting out the motions for a song about a teddy bear. Carolyn
Graham, a professor at Harvard University, taught us how to
write songs and chants to teach grammar and vocabulary. We
learned how to modify our assessing materials to allow students
to function as communicators as Mario Herrera, International
Educational Consultant, demonstrated holistic assessment and
testing strategies. We have already put these techniques to
practice and have noticed how our students are motivated to
learn English.
We arrived with the anticipation to get all that we could out
of each workshop and soak up all the insight from the keynote
speakers. What we didn’t imagine was that we would also be
refreshed and renewed as teachers. I’m very grateful that I had
the opportunity to take part in the convention and that here at
the Williams School they value the professional development of
its teachers and administrators.