• Convention Schedule
• Registration
• Hotel & Travel
• Convention Highlights
• PCI’s
• Preconvention Activities
• What’s New
• Convention FAQs
• Exhibit Hall
• TESOL’s Electronic Village
• Annual Job MarketPlace
• Volunteer!

Preconvention Activities

TESOL 2010 Educational Site Visits
Educational site visits offer convention registrants the opportunity to visit schools and centers that have large numbers of English language learners enrolled. Sites include Pre-K–12 schools, community colleges, universities, and adult learning centers. Find out how different programs face the challenges of teaching linguistically diverse learners; each site is as individual and varied as its students.

Tickets to educational site visits cost $70 each, and include transportation to the event. You may order tickets by indicating the site visit number on the convention registration form. Tickets to educational site visits that are not sold can be purchased on-site at the TESOL registration desk. There are only 20 tickets available for each site visit (unless otherwise noted); these tickets sell out quickly, so register early. Tickets must be purchased by March 1.

All site visits depart on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center at 8 am and return at 12 pm. For a full list of Educational Site Visits, click here.

TESOL 2010 K–12 Dream Day
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Re-Imagining Student Engagement Through Best Practices & Programs
This one-day event invites all of us to re-imagine how we meet the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in public school settings. By design, mainstream teachers—with or without ESL credentials—carry the lion’s share of accountability for appropriately and equitably educating ELLs. ESL specialists, while fierce advocates, are few in number and are often as marginalized as their students.

TESOL’s Dream Day promises to provide interactive, practice-oriented sessions that focus on concrete ways to increase student engagement and achievement from preschool to high school.  Student engagement is explored through differentiation, academic language and literacy development, best practices, leadership and advocacy, and hot topics highlighting challenges and successes. For abstracts and more details, download the brochure.

Attendees can choose from sessions in one of five strands. Attendees may mix and match their sessions from multiple strands, and all attendees will receive a certificate of attendance. For full information click here

Pre- and Postconvention Institutes: Practical Workshops for English Language Teaching Professionals

Pre- and Postconvention Institutes (PCIs) offer in-depth, hands-on professional development at the TESOL convention. Selected by the Professional Development Committee, these workshops are designed and led by experts in the field. The topics address the professional development needs that convention planners and past PCI participants have identified. Topics this year include content-based instruction, computer-assisted language learning, personal development, pronunciation, writing, materials development, and much more.

PCIs take place Tuesday, March 23; Wednesday, March 24; and Saturday, March 27. Space is limited, so register early, and take advantage of early registration discounts. For half-day PCIs, fees are $125 for TESOL members and $155 for nonmembers; for full-day PCIs, the fees are $175 for TESOL members and $205 for nonmembers. You do not have to register for the convention to participate, but you must register for each PCI you plan to attend. All PCIs include handouts. For full details, click here.

Graduate Student Forum
Wednesday, March 24, 8:30 am–5 pm

Hosted by Brigham Young University, the Graduate Student Forum (GSF) is a one-day miniconference that invites graduate students in TESOL teacher preparation programs to

• Share the results of their research, their teaching ideas and experiences, and the materials they have developed.
• Meet and network with graduate students (and faculty) at other universities.
• Formally participate in the TESOL convention without having to meet the early deadlines for submitting proposals or to compete with experienced professionals for time on the convention program.
• Experience the process of organizing a conference and adjudicating proposals.

The organizer for the Forum is Dr. Norm Evans of Brigham Young University, along with a team of graduate students. Eastern Michigan University will be hosting the event at the TESOL 2011 convention and will be helping support the 2010 GSF in preparation for 2011. For more information, including proposal forms, please www.tesol.org/gsf or send an e-mail to Norman_Evans@byu.edu.

Doctoral Forum
Wednesday, March 24, 9 am–5 pm
The 2010 Doctoral Forum is a one-day miniconference. It is a collaboration between doctoral students and faculty. Students attending the forum can

• Meet and network with doctoral students and faculty from other universities
• Share experiences and expertise in:
  • Research methods
  • Dissertation processes
  • Teaching and learning experiences
  • Helpful resources
• Participate in formal presentations on dissertation work

The organizers of the Forum are Dr. Joellen E. Coryell from the University of Texas at San Antonio and Dr. Julie Alemany from Nova Southeastern University. For more information, including proposal forms, please go to www.tesol.org/DF or send an e-mail to Joellen.Coryell@utsa.edu or Alemany@nova.edu.