Welcome, TESOL students!
Are you going to be in La Crosse this summer?
Are you interested in meeting international students?
Become a Conversation Partner with the ESL Institute!
The ESL Institute is looking for native English-speaking volunteers to meet with international students this summer.
Conversation groups are fun and informal. They are scheduled for May 21 through July 12, Mondays-Thursdays,
for two 45-minute sessions from 2:45 – 3:30pm & 3:30 – 4:15pm.
We are looking for volunteers that can attend at least two 45-minute sessions per week.
If you would like to apply, please complete the online application by May 15:
https://uwlacrosse.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_dmVx4q66mMnFpAM
If you have any questions about this rewarding
experience, please email Jacob Krueger at
eslinstitute@uwlax.edu.
Spring 2012 Feature Article: iPads & Digital Stories
by Arial Kann, UW-L TESOL intern
Last
Fall, my fellow TESOL interns and I embarked on an educational
exploration as TESOL Coordinator Janis Hanson had us do an iPad
project with ESL students from China, Japan, and Saudi
Arabia. Each ESL student and TESOL intern in the ESL 150 labs
created a children’s story based on Bananas
Sometimes by Elizabeth Strauss, using
StoryKit,
DrawCast, and the iPad camera. Everyone constructed their
pages using whatever materials they had on hand and helped each
other with setting up and taking pictures.
Over the course of a week, we made storyboards,
revised our stories, practiced reading them out loud, and used
the iPads to turn our story ideas into handheld reality. Many of
us had only had limited experience, if any,
with the iPad; and together we learned to navigate
the different applications involved in our story-making, as well
as post them online and share them with those who came to our
open house. As one intern said, “This [project] has challenged
me to become more adept with recording media as well as
facilitating creative thinking among students. I was also able
to collaborate with other interns on how best to explain the
processes that students needed to understand to properly finish
their work.” These valuable learning and teaching experiences
will
stay with us as we embark on future forays into teaching English
language learners.
A number of the ESL lab students embraced the project wholeheartedly and turned out some wonderfully charming stories like Sometimes a Pop-top Can , Sometimes Broccoli, and Scarves Sometimes. The interns also got in contact with their inner children and produced stories like Sometimes Candy and Sometimes a Fork. One intern produced a sweet love story called Necklaces Sometimes.
As with any exploration, we learned a lot about the applications we set out to conquer; but, even more so, we learned a lot about ourselves and about working together in a way that was much more fun than strictly work. On our return journey this spring semester 2012, we will apply what we’ve learned and push our boundaries further. We look forward to seeing you at our next open house on May 1, 2012, 8:55 - 9:35 a.m., at 3314 Centennial.
Our thanks for support from
the UW-L School of Education,
the Center for Advancing Teaching & Learning,
and Academic Technology Services
The UW-L TESOL program is part of the Department of Modern Languages.
Mission Statement: The ability to communicate across national and linguistic borders has become essential in our globalized world. The mission of the Department of Modern Languages is to help students develop the linguistic, literary and cross-cultural competence necessary to live, work and be lifelong learners in our diverse world.
Contact information: Janis Hanson, TESOL Coordinator, jhanson@uwlax.edu
We dedicate our website to the founding mother of the TESOL minor and the ESL Institute at UWL: Dr. Mary Gayle Pifer.