RBERNing Questions

BRAZ-TESOL: Leading, Inspiring & Innovating w/Isadora Pereira Costa

• Yasmeen Coaxum • Season 3 • Episode 19

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of RBERNing Questions, we sit down with Isadora Costa, Founder and Director of Stars English School and Finance Director for BRAZ-TESOL, to explore innovative approaches to teaching English in Brazil. She shares her insightful journey from starting as a young teacher to creating her own school with a unique immersion methodology. Learn more about BRAZ-TESOL’s efforts in providing professional development, fostering community, and advocating for teachers. Plus, Isadora shares her thoughts on the role of AI in modern teaching. If you’re an educator who wants to be inspired to chart your own path in supporting multilingual learners, tune in now! 

RBERNing Questions for this Episode:

1- BRAZ-TESOL has over 2000 members. What role do you think the efforts of the executive board have played in attracting so many members?

2- What seem to be the most pressing needs of the community of TESOL Professionals in Brazil, and how have you addressed those needs as an organization?

3- How do you see the organization developing in the coming years?

Guest BIO:

Isadora Pereira Costa wears many hats in the world of education and ELT. She holds B.A. degrees in both Mass Communication and Pedagogy, a Postgraduate Degree in Bilingual and Multilingual Education, and a TESOL certification from Anaheim University. Her professional development also includes certifications such as LPACTE, ACTE, and IH COLT from the British Council. In addition, she is Cambridge certified, having achieved both the CAE and CPE.

Isadora is the founder of Stars English School and the creator of the Stars Methodology. With a wealth of international experience in English-speaking countries, her journey in education began early—she started teaching at just 13 years old in England. Today, she is recognized as a young learners expert, teacher trainer, speaker, and ELT materials writer.

Beyond the classroom, Isadora serves as the Finance Director for BRAZ-TESOL, leads the Santa Catarina Chapter, and is a former Event Coordinator for the Young Learners and Teens Special Interest Group (SIG).

Resources:

Websites/Social Media:

www.starsenglish.com.br

www.braztesol.org.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/isadorapereiracosta/ 

@sixstrarsedu

@starenglishschool

Other Published Media:

https://www.youtube.com/@starsfunlearning https://www.youtube.com/@starsenglishschool/videos https://editoraboc.commercesuite.com.br/livros-de-ingles/livro-colecao-knock-knock-10-livros https://www.amazon.com.br/Pr%C3%A1ticas-Ingl%C3%AAs-Inf%C3%A2ncia-teachers-ebook/dp/B0B671MD1C

To find out more about Mid-State RBERN at OCM BOCES' services, listen to season 1 of the show with host Collette Farone-Goodwin, or to receive CTLE credit for listening to episodes, click here: https://midstaterbern.org/


squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Teaching was very much for show and not content. We were giving no training at all, whatsoever. I was 18, I was handed a book and I'd said, you start on Monday. I had no experience. I had perfect English, but you know, that's not really a teacher.

Yasmeen:

Welcome to RBERNing Questions, a professional learning podcast where we answer your most compelling questions about teaching, serving, and supporting multilingual learners. I'm your host, Yasmeen Coaxum, and through our talks, I look forward to bringing the methods, philosophies, and stories behind teaching multilingual learners to light. Let's get into the show.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the RBERNing Questions podcast. Today we have a representative from Brazil TESOL BRAZ-TESOL. Isadora Costa, and I am very excited to have her talk about the various ways that Brazil TESOL is supporting our teachers out there, and I always like to tell a little story about how I met my guest, and so Isadora, I met you at this really fun affiliate party. It was a, I'm sure it wasn't called party, but it was

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

It was the affiliate dinner, right? It's the

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Affiliate gathering, let's say. There was a little dinner, there was a little dancing, there was a little, other things, and this was during the TESOL convention a few weeks ago. So I'm really excited to hear more about what's happening in Brazil. So I'm gonna go ahead and let you get started, Isadora, with what your current role in education is.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I do have many roles currently. I've been very active in education for over 30 years now. Um, at the moment, I'm Founder and Director of Stars English School, a school that I created from Scratch, which will be 12 years old in July. We teach

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Congratulations on that. Congratulations.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Thank you. Thank you. But we're very proud. Very proud. Certainly. Um, Stars currently, just finished the expansion process to become a franchiser. So we're also proud of that. So we're beginning to spread the word so that we can open other schools around Brazil and maybe the world. yeah, and we work with a very different approach to teaching, which we can talk a little bit about later maybe.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

I was just gonna ask, what part of Brazil are you located in?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

In Santa Catarina. It's the very south of Brazil.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. And so I did notice you are starting to open the first franchise school. It's called Six Six. What is the name of it, your, it's your first franchise school, right?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

My school is called Stars English School because of branding names and because we've had to rebrand. So that we could register the logo. We are changing it to Six Stars English School, and I have a company called Six Stars Education, which will be managing the franchises and which is also responsible for consultancy in education and bilingualism so that we can help teachers and schools around the world. On that topic.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay, great. Now you just mention that you have a different approach to teaching, so you could go ahead and dive into a little bit of that.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Okay. So, well, I need to contextualize a bit, I think before I start. I started teaching at age 13 while I was living in England. Yep. And, I was asked by one of my mother's friends, they were both taking their PhDs in Nottingham University, and I've always been very, let's say talkative and, proactive. I was always, trying to figure out ways of being a very young entrepreneur, let's say nicely. And my mother's friend asked me, she said, you have such a beautiful accent. Can you give me some lessons because my English is not very good. She was a Brazilian doing a PhD there. And I said, yeah, sure, let's do it. And I started teaching, my mom's friend and another friend asked, and I started doing that too. And I never stopped.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I never stopped teaching.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

So this answers my question I normally ask people also, which is how you got started in this profession to begin with. Wow. So that's 11, did you? 13 what?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

13,

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

13. Wow. Okay. Alright. that's great. Where did you learn your English? Because you do have a fantastic accent. It's definitely not an American accent. Um,

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Thank you.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

It sounds fantastic though.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Thank you. It's actually adaptable. If I talk to you long enough, it will become quite American.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I started, I started speaking well, learning English when I was one. We moved to Canada. My dad was doing his master's degree and we went to Waterloo and my mom also after that decided to do her master's also. They're both electrical engineers and my English, I don't really remember when I learned it. I was really young. We lived between Canada and the US for about eight years, I'd say. Six to eight years in the beginning we came and went from Brazil. I also lived in Portugal, which is not English related. And in England, I was there for four years and I think it's because it was from ages like 10 to 15 that my British accent took over. But it is really strange. I have an American sister. She lives in Michigan. She's American because now she's a US citizen. She's been there for 40 years. And, I do have an American accent when I go to visit her, which is quite strange. But usually when I'm giving lectures or when I'm in the classroom or when I'm doing my teacher training, it comes back to British.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Interesting.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. All right, so let's go back. Let's go back to what is special about the Stars School or Six Stars, in terms of your methodologies.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

So I'm not a regular school. I'm an English school. A language school. We teach English essentially, but we're not an ordinary school, first because we are not connected to the curriculum in Brazil because we are a language school, and we are privately owned. We don't need to abide to the country's curriculum or whatever they require schools to be doing in a normal context. I've worked in many different language schools in the past, and I could never find a methodology that I truly believed in or that I felt that respected teachers and students in their individual needs, because I work with kids and teens in their right of being kids and teens. I don't think I've ever found like a methodology that truly helped them be their best version while teaching them English. My school has an immersion program for kids and teens. They spend two full mornings or two full afternoons because in Brazil the regular school system works either in the morning or in the afternoon. We don't have that full day kind of of scheme. In the US, some schools they have more hours, right, in the afternoon, but I think it's very similar to Brazil. In England, for example, I used to go to school at eight in the morning and finish at four in the afternoon, and we'd have subjects all throughout the day. In Brazil, it's very similar to the US. We have school in the morning or school in the afternoon. Kids they can pick and then they come to my school for extracurricular English, and in this immersion program, they spend two mornings or two afternoons immersed in English speaking activities. So during the day they will have gardening, cooking, arts, drama. You call it, you name it, we do it. They climb trees, they work in the garden at this school. They're involved in projects. We have the themed projects, which is something that is part of the immersion program. It's actually not as simple to explain. It's not something fast. I think I could spend a whole day talking about how the immersion at Stars works and it's a project that's aimed at kids and teens. We now opened a version, a short version for adults at the school also, which is called the English Time. This is the more formal part of the immersion, which involves one hour of classroom time and 30 minutes of practical activities. This is twice a week. And, these practical activities are physical education and various activities where the child can learn by doing all these things that I've mentioned before, gardening, arts, cooking, singing, dancing, doing yoga.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

And can you share with us, so what was the impetus for starting this school? I think you said something about not thinking that there was any methodology out there that was really tailoring to English learners, teachers in a way that you thought was appropriate. So can like in a nutshell, could you tell us what do you feel makes STAR School stand out in terms of a language school?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Well most schools, they're focused on the book and on the process that is written down on the book, and they're not focused on how the teacher's going to pass on the content, and they're not really, in my opinion, worried on how the student is going to receive that information necessarily. Not all schools, of course, I've got lots of references that I can share of amazing professionals that are making a difference all around the world. But the usual school is like very sterile and focused on the book. And that's it, you know, it's the content and the tests and It's not really focused on other values, let's say. Because I learned English as a second language, I dunno if it's a second language or a first language because I was one, but because I was exposed to many different school systems, so we had Canada, we had England, we had the US, I had Portugal, and because I love traveling and I just love interacting with people all over the world, I have this kind of, I think it's like a, a different way of looking at interactions and a different way of looking at education. I was exposed to many different school systems. Even within the same country, we moved. So I was exposed to different schools in different regions, in different areas. When I came back to Brazil, I was a team and I had to fit into the Brazilian system. It was really a tough time coming back because I was used to one thing abroad, and not just one thing. I was used to many things in different contexts abroad, and then I had to fit into the system that we have in Brazil. And I had a hard time finishing, school. In high school, it was a difficult period for me. It was a cultural shock because in Brazil things are done in a very different way from what I was used to. It was very, I felt that empathy lacked from my teachers. Empathy lacked from the school system. I didn't feel like they were ready to, to take me in and to take me by the hand and lead me where I should go. So it was a struggle.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

And which country were you in at this point?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I was in England coming back to Brazil.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. Yeah.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yeah, I was turning 15 at the time. I had really good English. Math was seen in one way in England. Math was seen in another way in Brazil, and just like the whole process of adapting was not easy. It was quite complicated. Because I had been already teaching for a couple of years, I came back, I continued teaching and I found, like I was able to teach formally at age 18. I was able to get a work permit in Brazil and start teaching in regular English schools. And I just, I really never, I was never able to connect to any of the systems that I was exposed to. Yeah. The teachers were very undervalued and seen as, just, I don't know, I don't wanna use bad words here, but the teachers were not, you were not well treated. Yeah.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Teaching was very much for show and not content. We were giving no training at all, whatsoever. I was 18, I was handed a book and I'd said, you start on Monday. I had no experience. I had perfect English, but you know, that's not really a teacher.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

All you need. That's definitely not all you need.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Exactly.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Because of the whole process of I started teaching in one school, moved to another school, I was always trying to find my place. I was searching desperately for a place where I felt comfortable and appreciated and stimulated, and I just didn't find that. I worked in many big franchises in Brazil. I I first graduated in communications because I said, I'm not going to be a teacher. It's funny because I had been teaching since I was 13, but I said, no, I'm not gonna be a teacher. So I graduated in communications first and my second degree was in, pedagogy, so because then I said, yeah, I'm a teacher. I'm going to accept the fact, and I just love doing it. It's what I've been doing for the last, whatever, more than 15 years. And then I decided to study about it. Along the way I acquired many certifications, TESOL from Anaheim University, various Cambridge certifications, and also, in bilingual education and multilingualism.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Now I'm gonna. Yeah. I'm just gonna stop you for a moment because you mentioned the certifications and I noticed that you recently obtained a new certification called Assured Certificate in Teacher Education from the British Council. So what did those courses in order to obtain that certificate entail?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I actually recently finished three certifications for teachers by the British Council. They were, thankfully, and I'm really thankful to the connections through BRAZ-TESOL and the partnership with the British Council for those certifications because they were only offered to me because I am a member, so, be a member. These certifications are three months in average, courses, given to teachers to expand their knowledge on teacher development. So these are aimed at teacher trainers so that they become better so that they are more prepared to be teaching other teachers basically. Yeah.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. All right. Fantastic. So I'm glad that you mentioned BRAZ-TESOL. Okay, we can go ahead. Am I saying that correctly? BRAZ?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yes. BRAZ, BRAZ. You can say BRAZ-TESOL.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Bra BRAZ-TESOL.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Fine.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. because when you were describing your experiences in terms of teachers in Brazil, and how you founded this school in order to create a different atmosphere, I was wondering how much of those experiences did you then bring to the organization? First if you could just tell us a bit about the organization and then maybe tell us how you've brought some of what you've learned in terms of your thoughts on how teachers should be approaching education. into the fold.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yeah. I've been a BRAZ-TESOL member for, I dunno, over 15 years now. In the beginning I was just attending conferences and going to talks and workshops, and as time progressed, I met some amazing people and they inspired me to reach out and start proposals to become a presenter. And, this was in 2018, I think I did my first workshop at a BRAZ-TESOL conference, and I never stopped. It just became something that I really was passionate about. Just sharing what I had been doing or have been doing since I started with other teachers. It just, it's amazing. I think it's a privilege and an amazing opportunity. After about, I think it was in 2022, I became leader for the Santa Catarina chapter for BRAZ-TESOL, and so I've been a leader for almost three years now, and the chapter was completely dead. There was nothing going on, no events. and now we're having many events. We're going to do actually our fourth in-person event this year in November, and it's, it's looking really good. I'm very optimistic and positive about it. Last year's event was already amazing, and last year I was in Goiânia for the international conference that we hold every July in Brazil. This was an in-person event, and the president for BRAZ-TESOL, the current president who was the vice president last year, she said, Isadora, you should run for the board, for the executive board. I said, I'm not really sure because I'm really busy. I have a school, we're working on the franchising. I'm already leader for the Santa Catarina chapter, and running for the board is a big deal. It's a huge responsibility, and I won't have time. I thanked her for, you know, receiving such a nice invitation to take part in this election. And then I said, I called her a few weeks later. I said, look, I'm really not going to run. Thank you very much for considering me as a candidate. I think it's an honor. And she said,"Oh please, we need you. Could you at least, maybe run for Financial Director? Uh, it doesn't entail as much work as the rest. And then I thought, really? Doesn't it? I think it does, but um, it does, it's a lot of work, especially coming from someone that really dives into their work.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Yes.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I can't, I don't know how to do things lightly, you know,

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Right.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

how to just do whatever.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Right.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I need to do something right and do it well. And so, I said,"Okay, I'm gonna think about it. Give me another few weeks." And I think it was like the last few days that the election was open for candidates. And then I said, okay, I think I'm gonna do it. And then I ran. I ran against, I think it was one of the most competitive elections in their history. There were many candidates for all of the positions, something that is really nice because it means that people want to get involved, that people want to make a difference, that people are, looking in the same direction, and I put my name down and I said, okay, I'm not gonna win because there are other two really good candidates. And in the end I won. And here I am. I only took over, the new board only took over in January this year. So we are starting.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Oh.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yeah, January we're starting a new mandate, and I'm really positive about this board because everyone is so dedicated and everyone is working in the same direction, and we are really trying to make things different. I think all boards are trying always to make a difference, right? And to do good, and to do better work than previous years, but I'm happy about the people that I've been working with. I'm really thankful for the opportunity.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Now you mentioned events and I saw on the website that there's a couple of events coming up soon, isn't there one tomorrow? I see something for April 12th. Innovating, Adapting, Inspiring. Then something else coming up on the 27th Crossing Borders, Intercultural Conversations in ELT and then finally May 31st, Pronunciation and Bilingualism Adjusting the Code. So it seems like, you're quite active.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

we are. And it's not just the Executive Board. We have our international event, which is the big event where we all come together either online or in-person. Last year, I think it was like 2000 people in Goiânia. This year it will be online. So we already have the call for papers open. It's open until the 18th of April. But all our chapters, which are spread out over Brazil to whom I work with the Santa Catarina chapter, but we have the São Paulo chapter, we have the Rio chapter, we have the Minas Gerais chapter. We have chapters spread out all over. They are always promoting events within their regions. So these events that you are looking at there are events promoted by the chapters also. You said one about crossing borders. That's Santa Catarina chapter with one of our special interest SIGs. We're doing a joint event.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Um, yeah, so speaking about the chapters, how often are you able to meet together and to compare notes as an organization?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

We have our monthly meeting every Sunday of the month. The first Sunday

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Really.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

of the month. Yep. We have the leaders meeting, so all the leaders for the SIGs and for the chapters they meet. We present the financial information for the institution. We present upcoming projects. We give time for all our leaders and our coordinators to speak and to share information. So every first Sunday of the month, we have a meeting.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Oh, fantastic. Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yep.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

And so you mentioned this number 2000. And I, when I was, looking at information about BRAZ-TESOL, I saw that you have over 2000 members. So, uh, that's, that's quite, quite a number I think. That's a good accomplishment, so what role do you think the efforts of the executive board have played in attracting so many members?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I think the role is essential and fundamental and without all of the very passionate volunteers that we have in the association, these numbers would never have been possible. Of course, we did have a drop after and during the pandemic, for obvious reasons. At the moment, I know the website says 2000. We did have a little drop, a significant drop, and we are working hard to make those numbers go to their original value. We are currently looking at 1,500 active members, more or less, give or take. Um. And we are working to make it more engaging, more accessible, more supportive and more perceptible to our members so that our members really see what they can get out of being a BRAZ-TESOL member, not just their monthly payments,'cause we do have, to support the organization, we do have to keep it active. We do have to keep it going. It's a very small fee that we ask our members, and in return, we want them to know what they get out of this. Not just of the community, of the networking and of the interactions that go on, during the conferences, but we have courses on our platform. Um, we are working to give them more benefits. For example, we're working on a possible health plan that we can offer all the members that are affiliated to BRAZ-TESOL. So we're working on discount at the gym that we can offer our members. We're working at sponsorships for important courses that our members might want to take or in order to improve their English, certifications in the English speaking and teaching area. So I think that the board is very much engaged in bringing more benefit in general.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

That sounds absolutely fantastic. I would like to join this organization.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

You are welcome. You are welcome to join.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

I think I'm in the wrong part of the world for that though.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

It is fine. we have members living in Canada. We have members living in Japan. We have members all over the world.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

So I'm gonna ask you what seems to be the most pressing in terms of the needs of the community of TESOL professionals in Brazil? And then, how have you particularly addressed those needs as an organization?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I think as in probably every country, you can correct me if I'm wrong, professional development is pressing, and Brazil in the last 20 years have been focusing on bilingual education and the growth and just the increase in numbers of schools which have been switching from just monolingual schools to bilingual schools is huge, but the workforce, yeah, the teachers, the amount of teachers that we have that are really qualified and not talking about teachers that graduate every year in the letters, courses. I'm talking about teachers who are specialized and who are able to teach in a bilingual or multilingual classroom. It's very small. Professional development is something that needs to be addressed. And it's just, I think it's been taken lightly, not seriously enough. the demands for numbers of schools and just making a market out of it is much more interesting than actually addressing the needs of workforce for these schools. Another thing that I think that is very important is supporting the communities around Brazil, the English teaching communities around Brazil, which is connected to professional development, but it's not only professional development because we do need to address basic needs also for our teachers. Teachers can't really think about professional development if they're not being paid enough to eat right. Um, so, that's another thing. And just advocacy for teachers in general, right? The board is addressing that, trying to bring a more perceptible and palpable number of advantages of joining, BRAZ-TESOL so that they can find a community so that they can find maybe their voice and that they can connect to other people.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. First of all, you said professional development is a strong need, but you also mentioned beforehand that you have courses, right? That you're offering courses, right now, so that's excellent. So you've mentioned a lot of different things that you have going. What would you say is maybe one or two things that you're super excited about in terms of the way that the organization is moving forward in the coming years?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I'm very excited because we want to give more back to the community, and I'm excited on the new projects that the board are preparing in order to give this back because we do have some investments that we've been making along the years along these 40 years of BRAZ-TESOL, and now we are looking at how are we going to get this money and give it back to the community in ways of English courses, teacher development courses, teacher certifications in the area to get our teachers more prepared and better for their teaching needs.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay, so I assume those are the projects or is there like another specific project that you can share with us?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

There's lots of specific projects, but I mean, like I said, we've just started.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Uhhuh.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

We have just taken over the leadership. We're still, we have a plan our work for these two years. Unfortunately, two years goes back really fast and then a new board comes in and takes over the work. So we are still trying to find our ground, but I'd say that the benefits that we're looking to bring to our community are something that I'm very excited about. I'm also very excited about the conferences that are coming. Yeah. We're trying to make them bigger, trying to make them better and more accessible to everyone. And I think, yeah. I'm still trying to find my ground in the Executive Board. We're still in April.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Right, right. I can't believe'cause you said January. Yeah, for some reason I feel like you're so seasoned. But yeah, that, that's pretty fresh. That's pretty new. And then the organization is a member of the Southern Cone TESOL Group. I was trying to figure out what exactly that is. Can you tell me what that is? It's formed, I see like associations from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, but what exactly is the Southern Cone TESOL group?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Actually, the Southern Cone was a very strong group, different small regions from Brazil. So Brazil, yeah. South America. So we would have all the countries in South America joining together in order to, make events, collaborate together and just share. Southern Cone event was the, one of the, like the second biggest event that we had in Brazil for a long time. It used to take place usually in Curitiba in Brazil, and after the pandemic, it's not really happening, so

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. It died down a little bit.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yeah, I can't really talk specifically about it because it's off now. But I'm working with the Santa Catarina chapter to try and bring more to the southern part of Brazil. And, I think the aim with the new board is to connect with people all over the world and not just South America. South America was very present in the TESOL just a few weeks ago, and I was in contact with many of the representatives of South America, which was amazing. But I think that we're looking for connecting with the world in general, the representatives from different countries and not just the Southern Cone, which was I think, the initiative of a group of SIGs or chapter leaders from the south of Brazil, and so this happened in the south of Brazil also, this event.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. Okay, so you mentioned the SIGs, right? So what would you say is the strongest SIG in terms of events put on or really a thriving presence there in Brazil now, or in your organization now?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

We have the Young Learners and Teens SIG, which I was a part of until last year. I was events coordinator for them until last year. I had to give something up, unfortunately. They're very strong and very present. We have the materials writing SIG, which is also very active. I think they're all quite active.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Oh really? Okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

The Pronunciation SIG, they're doing promoting events. The Intercultural Language SIG is also really active and always trying to bring new events and new publications to the community.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. It's interesting that you didn't mention the Ed Tech, because, I,

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Ed Tech is very active also.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay. Yeah, because I saw one of your posts on LinkedIn where you were talking about AI, which is, of course one of the hottest topics right now.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yep.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

And so you said,"The reality is clear. AI literacy is becoming as essential as digital literacy. If you're not learning how to use it, you're missing out on opportunities to grow, innovate, and stay competitive." So does your Tech SIG have any upcoming events on AI or are they all AI-ed out at this time?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I'm not sure about the list of events. Keeping up with all the six is a challenge.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Yeah.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I'm not sure about their upcoming events. I can talk about what we did last year in my reality with the Santa Catarina chapter. We had an Artificial Intelligence webinar, which was really

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Hmm.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

interesting. We had the perspective first of an engineer who spoke about the technical part of what is AI. It's actually not intelligent at all. It's just numbers that are fed, yeah, into a program. And then we have the perspective of educators who apply AI in their teaching environments and communities, which was a really nice event. I did share that post. I think it's very true. I think lots of people are pushing away all of the tech and digital literacy of education and are saying, no, it's too difficult. Things should be like they were 10 years ago, 20 years ago. But yeah, people are essentially scared, I think, especially old school. Yeah. The more traditional professionals, but the reality is it's here. It's not going away. Just learn to use it. Try and put it into the context of your work because it's not going away, and if we don't stay tuned in and updated into these technologies, and if we don't become proficient in at least the basic ones, I don't foresee a very good future, let's say. It's the same thing of, when computers started coming in. People said, no, we don't need that. We have our notebooks and we have the board. Why do I have to learn this?

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Yeah, there's always some resistance always that. There's always that, so we definitely need people who are actively pushing these agendas of tech and how important tech is, and just making it seem more accessible to everyone, right? So that people aren't so scared of it.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

And if you know how to use them, they can change the way that you work in really positive ways.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Exactly. Exactly. So I know for a fact that Isadora is very, that you are, I don't know why I referred to you in, isadora, that you are very active on social media, I mean on LinkedIn. Okay, but where else can our listeners find information about your work? Do you have any upcoming projects or publications that you would like to make the audience aware of now?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

I've been, I'm just a starting ELT writer. Let's say. I've been a writer because I've been writing materials for my school and for my classes for many years, but for my school specifically, but I've just started delving into the world of books. I published a collection called"Knock, Who's There?" It's a collection of 10 bilingual books, Portuguese, English, it's based on, um, children who are characters one different character for each book, and they each have a neurodiversity aspect to them.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Interesting.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

And, but it's brought in a very light way so that the child can identify themself. I wrote about my child, my son, who has ADHD,and it's a really nice collection that can be used in the classroom. It can be used by parents, it can be used by caregivers. It can be used in a very ample kind of way. I also wrote a chapter, um, on the book Ikas Gene, it's Practices, for English during childhood. and it was written by teachers and for teachers. I also shared the link, I think in the description.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Yes. Yes. As well as the link to Knock, Knock. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Yeah. The Knock, Knock book collection. I coordinated with another friend, but I wrote also one of the books. On Instagram, I'm very active at my school Stars@Stars English School. I am also active on my personal, professional account, which is Six Stars edu, EDU. My website is stars english.com.br for the school. And because we're open for franchising opportunities, if you are interested in another different approach of teaching English, that's the place to go to. And of course, I have to say, our website for BRAZ-TESOL, which BRAZTESOL.org.br. If you want to find out more about what we do at the association, events that are upcoming they're open for everyone, so anyone all over the world can participate. I hope that some of you who are listening join us at our international conference, which is taking place on July 17th to 19th, and it will be in the metaverse in a fantastic metaverse advocating for technology. Here be able to create your avatar, interact with people, go to sessions, network in the expo area. It's going to be very much like the TESOL.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Wait, so this is online or this is okay, okay.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Online.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Fantastic.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

It's called the BTIC The Braz-TESOL International Conference, and this is the

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Ah,

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

21st edition. And so I, I hope that you can all join us.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Okay, great, and so it's time for our final question, which is what burning question should today's educators consider in order to improve their service to the ELL ML community?

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Okay. I'd say there are two. Are we really listening to our learners, really? And are we our teachers enough? I feel like teachers are expected to perform and do, but are we really listening to their needs?

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Alright, so ladies and gentlemen, Isadora Costa. It has been a pleasure to have you on the show today. I feel like, wow, you're a very busy, very intense professional. You're writing, you own a school, you are contributing to BRAZ-TESOL. So it's really been a pleasure having you share some of your expertise here today. Thank you so much.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Thank you very much for the invitation, and it's been wonderful being here on the show with you. I just wanna leave one last quote, can I?

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Sure.

squadcaster-5249_1_04-11-2025_100449:

Great students will make future great teachers and teacher trainers. This is the virtuous cycle I wish to contribute to. If we are better, the world around us must follow. It's the law. That's it. Thank you so much.

yasmeen--she-her-_1_04-11-2025_090733:

Fantastic. Thank you.

Yasmeen:

Thank you for tuning in to RBERNing Questions, produced by Mid-State RBERN at OCM BOCES. If you would like to learn more about today's guest or any of the resources we discussed, please visit Mid-State RBERN's webpage at ocmboces.org. That's O-C-M boces.org. Join us next time where we hope to answer more of your burning questions.