I had the most incredible time at PeruTESOL in Arequipa. I was in the area around the time so thought it was the perfect opportunity to connect with ELT Professionals from this part of the world.

The conference was absolutely brilliant. Loads of inspiring sessions, topics, speakers and humans. There was even karaoke, singing, dancing, drawing and delicious food!

As usual, I took some sketchnotes. It has been a while since I’ve had the joy of creating anything analogue for a while. In recent times, I’ve been creating more digital commissions. Before the event, I had to replenish my eraseable pen supply. I was delighted to find them in the very first shop I visited.

What I love about sketchnoting with pen and paper is that it forces me to REALLY think about the key takeaways, and how fit them all into an A5 notepad. It also makes be kinder to myself and embrace the imperfections. Digital tools allow editing, re-sizing, erasing and re-drawing.

With pen and paper, once it’s on the page, it pretty much has to stay on the page!

Throughout the event, many delegates were intrigued by what I was doing. They wanted to take photos of my finished piece and were inspired to try it out themselves. They also noted how useful a skill it is for creating engaging whiteboards and for supporting learners to take notes and pay attention.

And, of course, each speaker made gleeful noises when they saw my work. Nothing can beat putting a smile on someone’s face! Especially after they’ve been under pressure to perform a plenary or workshop they’ve been preparing for weeks.

You’ll notice that my sketchnotes use simple drawings. These are part of my ‘visual vocabulary’. Just like learning a language, I have developed this visual vocabulary over time. I started out creating a ‘visual dictionary’ of hand drawn icons. Feel free to start your sketchnoting journey today by copying these icons into their own special notebook. For more tips, download my free sketchnoting guide here.