6th CESTL Evaluations by EDI 600

I was very inspired by everything. I was impressed with my peers, but mostly I was impressed by the production. I had a hard time adjusting to being away from my family and friends for the first time this semester, but I feel acclimated now and I really hope to be involved in future CESTL conferences. I stayed for the entire conference and I did not get bored. That is amazing to me. I have been to several conferences in the past and have always felt myself drifting a little.. not able to focus 100%, especially towards the end. However, CESTL was not like that. Perhaps it was because I was in a room of my peers and I felt a connection to them. I am so happy that there is a student focused professional conference. It makes me feel worthy and that in turn motivates me. So thank you for being the mastermind and putting it on!

I learned a lot from this class and I will absolutely sign up for another class with you if I get the chance.

Thank you,
Amanda Graves

“I did it, and I am still alive! That’s all how I feel in the CESTL. CESTL is a professional conference of elementary school and secondary education. I met many experienced professors today, I heard their experience of teaching and thoughts of education. The day before CESTL, I cannot sleep well even I already lie on my bed so early because I was too anxious of the upcoming presentation. The most difficult thing for this presentation is not the contents that I am going to speech, instead, the main point is on the fluency of my English speaking. I am an international student, and I have Chinese accent in my English speaking, I was afraid nobody understand what I am talking about.

One of the interesting thing for me is I will made-up some new English words when I got nervous, and then I start to speak non-English style English. That will be a terrible problem for me, and I try to overcome this problem but it’s too difficult. During the CESTL presentation, I found many classmates have the same and similar topic as mine, and at that time I was afraid my speech contents would be repeated. However, I didn’t delete those same information, I condensed those similar sources. Finally, I think CESTL is a worth experience in my life.
(Chieh Yue Ma)

This was my first time to give such a professional presentation since I came to Unites States, and I just came here for three months. I was thinking about should I need to drink something before the presentation? It sounds crazy but I really need some energy drinks when the CESTL was going on. Undoubtedly, I was so nervous to this presentation. I was afraid of making some silly mistakes and not well-prepared even if I know lots of information about my presentation topic, I still so anxious of that. I learned how to organize the CESTL slides of Power Point, and the contents. I also practiced the speech in front of the friends, and in front of the mirror! As professor said in the class, my IQ will decrease almost 25% when I in the conference. I think I prepare almost 90% but I only have 60% when I was in the presentation. It told me my prepared work is not enough, I still need to improve myself. I was happy I spoke much better English on the stage than practiced at home. I had never thought I can do well and speak in a foreign language in the public. CESTL was my first experience that speech in the public. Yes, I will recommend the CESTL to other LIU student because it can learn a lot of education knowledge that you never know before. In CESTL, everyone is a good speaker and also a good listener. Students will completely understand how to be a good lecturer and a good audience.
(Chieh Yue Ma)

I felt very nervous the day before the CESTL conference but the day of I felt confident and satisfied with the work I have done. I was excited to see other people’s presentations and seeing them made me more confident with my own. One thing I learned at the CESTL conference was that pregnant teens are segregated and often sent to another school. I never had any experience seeing a pregnant student when I was in high school, but hearing that they are taken out of normal school was a bit disheartening. I feel like they can make the girl feel worse about herself and further damage occurs due the student being taken away from their friends and support. I was prepared for the conference because I didn’t feel nervous when I was there.

I have never participated in something like the CESTL before so I tried my best to work out everything I was going to say and how I would say it. I have worked very hard for the conference because I wanted to make myself and my professor proud. I felt that if I did well, presented in the allotted amount of time and kept the viewers interested that I would help myself overcome my fears and fight my anxiety. I was very satisfied with how my presentation went because I knew my topic well, practiced to keep it within ten minutes, and learned enough of my subject to answer any questions any students might ask me. The one girl who asked me two questions; I was able to answer with ease and without having to stall for time to think or look at my notes.

This experience has helped me with my public speaking very much so. I have never spoken in from of complete strangers with such confidence and drive. I wanted to teach people something they may not already know. I wanted to help my fellow classmates and guests to see what I have been doing all semester and how I have grown in knowledge of my topic. I have become better with time management and I learned valuable information about emotions and learning and how to deal with students in the classroom environment which will help me tremendously as a teacher in the future. I think the CESTL conference was a great idea. I feel like it was helpful and interesting and I was entertained the entire duration of time I was there. More students should participate in this conference in my opinion. I will totally recommend this conference to any LIU students who ask because I took so much from it. The CESTL was a great way to gain experience in public speaking and help prepare future teachers for speaking in front of strangers and have confidence in doing so. I do not have any suggestions for the CESTL. None. I believe the day went by smoothly and everything was set up nicely. I was impressed at how professional the conference actually was. My advice for future students is: Research your topics well and have the confidence in yourselves that you will do well and that it’s a great experience to have and you will learn a lot while you are there.
(Daniel Price)

Attending the CESTL conference was definitely a great experience in my eyes.
The conference was great for many reasons: For one, it showed the unity of my fellow classmates and fellow professors. It was great to see how many people were able to take the time out on a weekend to attend. It was interesting to hear the keynote speaker, the dean and the students speak. I truly enjoyed hearing my fellow classmates present their power point presentations. I learned a lot by hearing them talk about their fieldwork experiences. I also was intrigued to hear the panel of high school students who I thought were great! They were very mature and I was impressed with their behavior and their answers to the many questions that were asked. I also enjoyed looking at the poster that I and my fellow classmates made.

The conference on a whole proved to me that with hard work and dedication anything is possible. I was also motivated by the keynote speaker’s speech. I found it to be extremely interesting. There isn’t much I can say in terms of making the event better. The only constructive criticism I have would be to shorten the event. I think from 9-8 is a long day for anyone. I also wished that more students would have participated. I think it should be a requirement. In order to get students to attend they need a little push to get there. Overall I think the conference was a huge success!
(Tania De Simone)

I was so nervous about my poster presentation at first but once I got my presentation up and saw familiar faces I started to somewhat relax. It was interesting to see so many presentations on topics that could possible help me in my future teaching! I also learned that there are so many passionate students in the same path as I am. Although I was over whelmed and felt at one point not having enough time to finish my presentation, once it was done I was eager to present my research findings. I worked extremely hard for my presentation. Although I had some time constraints next time I will spread my time more efficiently to have better preparation. I believe that I did pretty well considering it was my first research (on my own) and had very little time to put it all together! This course has made me think a bit differently on how I can motivate myself even if I doubt myself. With the many personal experiences and personal stories, I have learned that you really don't need anyone or anything to motivate you, other than yourself.

Overall, CESTL was a great experience! It is such a wonderful way to not only practice public speaking but the experience of meeting other presenters and spectators interested in these various research. It felt great to talk about my research to people whom had no idea but that were interested in my research topic. I would highly recommend the CESTL to other LIU students simply because it is an experience that helps you become familiar with how to speak with interesting people in a conference setting and it teaches you how to research a topic that will ultimately inform others but also teach you how to put all the valuable information together to have a good research. I would tell the future students to work on the project as soon as you can. It was very hard for me because of my busy schedule and because it was my first research project on my own, but now that I experienced the CESTL , my advice would be to get as much help as possible from any source that you can get!
(Idel Rivas)

As a presenter I of course feel very nervous and in the meantime I feel excited, too! I learnt to believe myself. I built confidence and I think this is the most important lesson I learnt this semester. I think I am very well prepared. Because I spent lots of time on it and improved my presentation several times. In CESTL, I not only built my confidence but also learnt a lot. I learnt both from the professors and my peers, as well. Yes I will. CESTL is not only a place for students of education major to learn and express themselves. For the students of other majors, they can also know how to do researches, how to express yourself to others. To attend for the whole day is a little bit too long and at the end of the CESTL, there are not many audiences. So if possible can it be separated into 2 days, so that more people can have chance to attend it.
(Jieyin Zhou)

I have to say, I found the CESTL conference to be surprisingly rewarding. The topic I had chosen is something I feel very strongly about. Creating a “balanced” classroom is extremely important. I know what it feels like to be a girl in a math class and to think I’m not good at math, even when I really am. That being said, I felt that my topic was something teachers don’t really consider very often.

Teachers don’t always realize that they way they conduct their classroom is biased, and yet before CESTL, I was worried that people weren’t going to find my topic nearly as interesting as I did. However, once my group began to speak, I realized that people do care. This group of new/preservice teachers really does care about having perfectly balanced classrooms. The longer I spent in front of the crowd, the more proud I was of my research, my project, my group, and myself. It also meant a lot to me that you stayed to watch my group present. I’m sure you were busy running the conference, but I really appreciate that you sat and watched my entire presentation.

All in all, I found CESTL to be highly rewarding, but at the same time – having been through it once, I think that’s all the experience I need! The weeks leading up to the conference were extraordinarily stressful! Thanks again!
(Michelle Kim)

Initially I did not know what to expect because this was my first conference I attended but I was nervous for my fellow classmates. Because I knew they were anxious about presenting. Overall I thought it was a wonderful experience and I learned so much not only from my fellow classmates but from the other teachers. The most important tool I learned from the CESTL conference was that not only students feel anxiety or nervousness.

But teachers do as well. It was so courageous for the teachers to speak of their real feeling and how they would worry if they completed the day as plan or if the students learned from them that day. This course helped me to no longer be shy and understand there is no such thing as a stupid question but also most important becoming an effective listener and educator. The learning experience overall was a great experience not only for the students but I think for the teachers as well. There was so much information I learned from my fellow classmates. I will recommend the CESTL to other LIU students because it is an educational conference and very knowledgeable. I think the teachers should acknowledge the students in their class who attend the conference even if they do not present.
(Mincey Holness)

I enjoyed and learned alot at the CESTL conference. I have been to conferences in the past in my career as a financial analyst for JP Morgan Chase. Conferences can be boring and sometimes overwhelming because there are so many groups of people brought together for many reasons and for many presentations and topics. However, I really enjoyed this conference because it was relatively small, initmate and everyone was there for the same purpose which was to increase our knowledge and understanding of education. My favorite part about a conference is the wide variety of people that you get to meet. It's an experience for sharing, meeting, and learning from other people in your same field or with your same interests. It's an interesting day to spend if you approach it the right way.

I enjoyed myself very much and while I was there for 5 hours, it didn't feel that long and I would have stayed longer if I didn't have other obligations. It was a nice way to end the semester and see my classmates in a more informal setting where we could socialize more than in class. I learned a lot. Probably what will stick out to me the most is the speech by the Provost (I forgot his name) and some of the presentations were very good and thought provoking especially the ones on motivation since this was my topic as well. I look forward to the last class because it will be a bit of a celebration and a goodbye for now to many people I hope to continue seeing around campus until I finish my degree.
(Pilar Cueberio)

I felt very comfortable and excited to be there because I did a poster presentation and didn’t feel the same stress I would have felt if I were presenting a powerpoint presentation. I am nervous about public speaking so the poster presentation made me more comfortable. I learned so much at the conference. There was so much information to appreciate from all the different speakers. I especially loved the key note address by the provost. It was just an unrehearsed sincere recollection of some of his experiences which are so unique and interesting. I loved how he pulled out so many lessons on teaching from his experience with dolphins in Hawaii. It was brilliant and inspiring. I was very, very impressed by the student presenters and absolutely enjoyed the student panel. They showed so much poise and self-confidence for their age…I am sure that they will continue to be successful adults in whatever field they pursue.

I felt prepared because I was happy with the way my poster came out. When I saw the samples in class, I thought I could never make a poster like that but I was pleased with how mine turned out. I was eager to share my findings with people who came up to my poster. I felt comfortable with the knowledge I had accumulated on the topic of motivation. I worked very hard for the research paper. The poster presentation was not as hard as I thought it would be. If I had more artistic creativity and a good imagination, the poster could have come out even better but I’m pleased with the results from the work I put into it. I think I worked very hard for the research paper. The poster presentation was not as hard as I thought it would be. If I had more artistic creativity and a good imagination, the poster could have come out even better but I’m pleased with the results from the work I put into it.

when the conference began, I became to feel excited and nervous. I was satisfied with my own performances at the CESTL. Because I prepared for it very hard and I tried my best to do all my own things during the conference. I would recommend CESTL to all other LIU students because I would like to publicize the CESTL event, I hope it could become more and more successful in the future. As an international student, I wonder if CESTL could give some time to let the international students communicate with these local teachers and students, so they can share their own experience about the education with each other.
(Ben Zhao)

Both nervous and excited, because this was the first time to attend conference things and the poster presentation was also the first time to me. Furthermore, the research of my topic was excited to me because I really wanted to research my topic before. First, I could see the passion of teachers for their job: education from guest forums. They try to develop the educational achievement. Therefore, I learned the teachers’ passion for their students.

Second, I learned my main educational consideration. It was the same with my research topic: effective teaching and learning method. I had a good time to find out from many teachers and students. I chose the Poster presentation because I wanted to challenge a new experience. I have never done before the poster presentation was new challenge for me. I already did the Power Point Presentation in other class, so I think that the poster presentation could be my new presentation challenge. The new challenge is the reason why I came to America to study. The study in America is also big challenge to me. I really want to challenge the new experience in America. My topic was comparing effective teaching and learning methods from teachers’ needs and students’ needs. I have always wanted to research my topic since I was an elementary student. Finally, I could catch the main point of effective teaching methods and learning methods by using my research. I am sure that the catching the main point can be helpful to my future. Educator and teacher should develop themselves and their research continuously.

Education is kind of science like how to deal the students well and reasonably. The science should be researched by professional researchers continuously. Also, the result of education research should be shared to every teacher. Therefore, every teacher must investigate their educational specialties continuously for the better educational environment. I want to recommend other students. However, just some students who have interest in education will be likely to attend to the CESTL. I already wrote down upper question. The more attractive marketing and advertisement are needed to the CESTL. Other things were perfect: setting of the conference, progress of schedule, the contents of presentations, and quality of guests. Everything was great except marketing promotion. Even the educational major students, they did not know the CESTL. The future students, they should have their own interest part in education and then they should research the part by using the specific way. Even if the CESTL will be hard to prepare, they have to think about that it will be useful research to them especially being teacher in the future.

Anyone who doesn’t get nervous before speaking in any sort of unfamiliar public setting is lying. That being said, I constantly claimed that I wasn’t nervous at all because if I say it enough, I will eventually believe it. It is a defense mechanism. One girl, Nubia Renderos according to the program, did the presentation on teen pregnancy. I had no idea that schools ever took an active role in moving a pregnant girl out of the school and into a less visible spot, like BOCES. That is really horrible.

Also, she had her entire family there, they must be super-supportive. My mother wasn’t even awake by 9 and my father preferred to do yard work over see me speak. YARD WORK! I have always considered them extremely supportive parents in whatever I do (And I did 4 years in art school, have to have supportive parents for that). I had to wake up really early and iron a shirt, for an artist this is an incredible amount of work! Seriously though, I went over my presentation a couple times in private. I reworked my power point a handful of times as well. This is all the same process I do for any presentation though. Which is why I felt like I was under prepared at first, because this was a shorter presentation than the others. The keynote speaker (the provost) shook my hand during the break after the block of presenters that I was in. I didn’t think much of this at first but after the break I noticed that he had not returned. He is probably a busy guy and it was a beautiful Saturday so he probably had other things to do today, but he stayed for the first block of presenters and watched mine and then congratulated me. That definitely made it feel more successful. It has given me more experience with speaking to an unfamiliar crowd. Any teacher I have spoken too has said that there is no replacement for experience in speaking and teaching students. So this counts towards experience and I am sure it will come in handy in the future.

CESTL was worth it to participate. I ended up staying much longer than I expected I would (I am generally a “leave when your done” kind of guy) but I ended up staying for around 5 hours. I am glad I participated though. I would definitely tell future students who are in a class that gives them the opportunity to present at CESTL to consider it. I think the atmosphere during the conference is better than the classroom presentations.
(Travis Wingate)

I was looking forward to the experience of being involved in CESTL but was a little anxious as I did not know what to expect. The special invited panel was so inspiring. It was fascinating to hear stories of their “journey” and the trials and tribulations along the way. I learned that I will make plenty of mistakes along my journey, experience frustration and at times get little feedback from the students that you try to reach. But teaching is an ongoing learning experience and I will learn from my mistakes. I just need to have confidence in myself and push forward.

I felt I was very prepared for the conference because I had remembered your instructions to get rest, dress professionally and be proud of your work. I felt I worked hard for this conference as it consumed my evenings. As this was the first time that I was involved in this, I wanted to make certain my poster was correctly laid out and that it was easy to read and with a font that would look acceptable. I wanted my information to be understandable and I wanted to “pass the test”! I was satisfied with my poster performance. The students around me were wonderful and we each spoke to one another describing our research. The other people who visited were friendly and pleased to hear about my project. I loved meeting new people! The more practice I get, the more comfortable I become.

I thought that CESTL was a wonderful learning experience. I enjoyed the slide presenters and it was very interesting to learn about so many different topics. They panel of high school students was great but my favorite was the special invited professors’ panel. They were open, engaging and so helpful. I would definitely recommend the CESTL to other LIU students because it is a wonderful learning experience! My advice for improving the conference is: Bring back Dr. Paul Forestall!! He was wonderful. I can only aspire to be as comfortable and engaging speaker as Dr. Forestall! My advice for future students is: Give yourself plenty of time to prepare. There will be little glitches that occur that you have not planned on – my printer was not working properly for two days which sent me into a panic!!
(Vicky Vincenti-Gill)

Dear Dr. Dengting Boyanton:
CONGRATULATIONS.
The 6th CESTL was real successful, and I want to thank you for giving me such a great opportunity to. You let me know that I can succeed if I hold me dream in my heart, and I can do it. I'd like to be involved either as a presenter or a volunteer for the next CESTL!

My mind was full of CESTL memories the whole day after the CESTL. I can still remember how tired but how excited I was when I was in CESTL, and thank you Dr. Boyanton for allowing me to present.
CESTL is my first professional conference in my life, and I learnt a lot not only from the experts and the professors but also from my peers and even the high school students who attended to CESTL. I also noticed that motivation is a very popular research topic very much, and I also want to do some research on that in the future.

Dr. Boyanton, you inspired me so much, especially when I was in the CESTL conference, and when I saw so many people were there. I came to America to study how to be a great teacher, and I think I already found the answer.
CESTL is a milestone in my entire career. Thank you again.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Wendy Wu

CESTL was great. I’m so glad to benefit a lot from everyone’s performance, and I also could be a little nervous to do it. In addition, I really enjoy participating in this conference. This is my first time to so such a formal presentation in this kind of professional meeting, therefore I do a lot of research and spent a lot of time and energy to prepare, including making PPT, practicing the whole presentation, and polishing my work to be more engaging . The process is kind of tough and long-lasting; still I think it is a golden opportunity for me to learn and grow. From doing observation, interview and the related literature review, my final work was published after 4 times being revised. I am so grateful for Professor Dengting’s feedback and my friend’s help, which helped my presentation to go more smoothly.

I felt that I was so engrossed in the presentation that I almost forgot the time. Even though everyone provided very good feedback to my performance, still I thought I was a little nervous and speak a bit fast. Generally speaking, I am satisfied with my work because I have tried my best to do it. Being calm, organized, relaxed, and providing opportunities for the audience is just the basic requirement of a qualified teacher. Therefore, I become more manageable and confident to give my performance to people. CESTL is very impressive and beneficial for both teachers and students. It is just like a kind of dish which is appropriate for everyone, as long as the person is interested in education. Of course I will recommend the CESTL to other students or everyone who want to have an opportunity to share ideas with each other and develop the public speaking ability. All these are the basic requirement of a high self-efficacy person.
(Xiaoxiao Li)

I came a little late around 3. I felt being very comfortable than I thought. All presenters prepared their PPT very hard. They looked very passionate for their job! I prepared as much as I could! I interviewed, surveyed and contacted with Korean friends. Besides, owing to my language limitations, I went to writing center of LIU twice a week and worked with Stepanie for almost 3 weeks to finish my presentation PPT. I have worked very hard as I mentioned in #3. I did because I wanted to learn myself from working how to do and how to make. Actually, it will help a lot. During preparing this presentation, I researched for my topic much and I learned a lot and I had much time to consider the topic for my career. Yes, I will. Especially, students who belong to school of education need to come and listen this conference. There are many interesting topics which will helpful for them! My advice for future student: Work hard as much as you can. Then you will learn as much as you prepare for the CESTL!
(Young-Soon Kim)

I was really excited, but when I was presenting audience seems already tired. My motivation was decrease too. However, I really enjoy this conference. Especially, I enjoyed educational conversation with peers. Actually, it was very challenge because this was my first semester with graduate and I had part-time job from this semester so I was very busy. I couldn’t handle my life so I felt lazy too. However, the few days before conference, I finally wake up and I guess I prepared enough. I worked hard; especially I practice a lot to say my opinion without paper. Moreover, my presentation, “Should immigrant should segregated?” is very sensitive topic so I research very deeply. I also try to construct my own hypothesis and that was very challenging for me. But correct evidence and expect from human’s instinct, research was very fun and finally, I really enjoyed it. Psychological aspect of education of this course and that practice style class gave me a lot of inspiration. I really like this practical style of class and this class is my future ideal type of class. It means a lot. I would really love to recommend for education major people. For education major students, this conference means a lot.
(Yusuke Shindo)