SPECIAL PROJECTS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS' JOURNALISM WORKSHOP
ELT's Journalism Workshop was an instensive two-day training session for fifteen lecturers teaching English and journalism at institutions throughout Slovakia. This series of workshops co-led by Nathan William Meyer was developed in partnership with the US embassy as a way to provide instruction in the best practices of journalism and current teaching methodologies including how to flip classrooms, peer-to-peer teaching strategies, student-centered learning, and educational technology. These workshops were well received by and demonstrated a productive partnership between the US embassy in Slovakia, the Fulbright program, and the English Language Fellows program modeling current practices in tertiary pedagogy and journalism standards.
'SMALL TOWN STORIES’ CREATIVE WRITING COURSE FOR ELT
'Small Town Stories’ Creative Writing Course for ELT is a five week blended learning professional development course developed jointly by English language fellow Nathan William Meyer and ELTA president Olja Milosevic. Primarily taught online, participants engage in weekly exercises which provided instruction and practice in key creative writing skills (indirect characterization, flash fiction, dialogue, and world building), post their original works in the virtual classroom, and receive constructive feedback from the EL fellow course instructor and course participants. At the same time, course participants use what they learn from the guided creative writing exercises to construct lesson plans which can be implemented in their EFL classes. This course culminates in a face-to-face weekend session where course participants workshop their original short stories in roundtable sessions led by EL Fellow Nathan William Meyer and participate in pedagogical and curriculum building activities led by ELTA president Olja Milosevic.
BALKAN TEACH - IN-CLASS TRAINING FOR NEW & FUTURE TEACHERS
Balkan Teach was an EFL teacher training initiative of the Balkan Writers Project (directed by EL Fellow Nathan William Meyer) to give new and future teachers teaching experience by designing lesson plans, placing them in classrooms, giving constructive feedback, and networking with seasoned professionals. At this training session four future EFL teachers took over classes at a local high school and taught 83 students. They designed lessons incorporating speaking and writing tasks through a variety of activities including roleplay, group work, and realia. During breaks between lessons student teachers discussed their lessons and received constructive feedback on strengths and how to improve specific aspects of the lesson. The trainees received important classroom experience, established connections and received valuable feedback from local EFL teachers, and gained a deeper appreciation for their future profession.
6TH ANUAL TUZLA ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING SEMINAR
Between June 14 – 16 Nathan William Meyer led a series of workshops as one of the teacher trainers for the 6th annual Tuzla English Language Teaching Seminar at the Behram-Begova Medresa in Tuzla. This intensive ELT training session brought together more than 80 teachers of different ethnic and religious backgrounds from more than 30 cities from both Bosnia and Herzegovina and throughout the region. Workshop topics included student-centered learning strategies, incorporating educational technology in EFL classrooms, and teaching English through creative writing. This three-day training session was a collaboration between the U.S. Embassy, Ministry of Education, Faculty of Philosophy in Tuzla and RELO – Regional English Language Office in Budapest.
