English Language Fellow Delia Dunlap recently led a two-hour workshop for 14 teachers from the Ministry of Youth in Algeria. The teachers represented 11 Youth Centers from across the Algiers region.
The workshop was part of a professional development program that began in December 2013. The focus of the workshop was using board games from the U.S. Department of State’s American English book Activate! as a fun way to learn English. “It was the first time that the Activate! resource has been shared with teachers in Algeria and the response was overwhelmingly positive,” Dunlap said.
Samia Talbi, one of the teachers in the workshop, said “Just in time! I really need this for class this week!”
The resource is well-suited to the teachers’ needs at Youth Centers, where the lack of centralized curriculum provides the teachers with the freedom to experiment with a wide range of teaching strategies. Dunlap’s workshop reinforced the strong level of collaboration and cooperation among the teachers in this group.