Time flew fast and I hardly noticed the period of time I had been exchanging messages with teaching colleagues.  Gosh it was a great experience, almost a new one for me as I hadn’t been involved much with writing online before this.  I would like to say that we have all learnt from each other, reading about the different teaching contexts where we teach English.  Though my stint as guest teacher has ended, nevertheless I would like to be continuously in contact with you through my blog.

Let me tell you that I have lately been busy in the English Office of the University where I work, but now as the Head of Office.  It was very overwhelming talking at different moments with the English teachers in the different academic areas of the university, listening to what they need or want to know or questions about what I plan to do from now on, (like responding to your questions here in the blog but about issues in ELT that concern us in our university), making decisions, writing letters, looking at new ELT materials, negotiating with others, etc.  This is very much like what I have written about here – the many facets of being an English teacher.   There’s hardly any special training for being the head of an English office, but the experience one has acquired over the years.  There’s a masters degree or a specialized field on education administration, but at the moment one is designated to a post like the one I am in now, I have to rely on what I know from heart about ELT issues I have been involved in within the immediate context where I am that is in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico.  But I strongly believe that being involved in ELT, wherever context you are helps one to express one’s understanding of an issue within his own context and then that understanding can be enriched by the point of view of others.  Then we discover that our individual contexts differ and that we have to adapt things but always with the end purpose of our students learning the language that our profession teaches.  But then we realise that many are out there like us struggling to make a difference in our field for our learners.

Last October 16 to 19, I went with 4 of my young staff of five B.A. in ELT graduates to the 35th Mextesol Convention in Leon, Guanajuato, a city known for leather jackets, bags and shoes.  I have also mentioned earlier that Mextesol is the Mexican chapter of TESOL, the largest association of English teachers in North America.  In Mexico, about 2,000 English teachers and ELT degree students attend this event.  Aside from the five of us from the English Office (plus three other teachers of the B.A. in ELT programme, a busload of ELT students from my university also attended.  What was in store for us this year?  Two well-known methodology authors gave plenary presentations:  Jeremy Harmer, author of The Practice of English Language Teaching and the Just Right series, and Adrian Doff who wrote Teach English aside from about 300 presenters during the 4-day event, talking about just everything teachers would be interested in.  Why did I mention at the start my young staff of recent B.A. in ELT graduates?  Because they are a new generation of English teachers who have been envisioned by their teachers to continue developing professionally, and attending congresses is one way of learning from the experiences of others.  There we met teachers, both young and old, from contexts as far as the frontiers of Mexico.  There was an array of new materials, even sample books and teaching aids given away, a chance to mingle with the experts directly at the stands of host publishers, social events and many other activities more.  It is an annual event where one becomes aware that the profession of teaching English has become bigger than one can ever imagine.  I have been to five Mextesol Conventions (I went as a speaker to two of them) and I will continue to encourage all generations of English teachers to go.