The Association of Teachers of English in Rwanda (ATER) recently held their first conference for teachers titled “Empower the Teacher, Empower the Classroom.” Seven English Language Fellows from the Africa Region attended and presented at the conference: John P. Simpson (Cote d’Ivoire), April Smith (Niger), Bryce Smedley (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Jessica FitzPatrick (Uganda), Renee Lynch (Burundi), Hannah Murphy (Ethiopia), and Leanne Cameron (Rwanda).
The conference brought together 145 English teachers from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi with other English professionals from the region to discuss the role of teacher associations, share experiences and ideas, and present on current topics relevant to teaching English in East Africa.
Throughout the course of two days, Fellows and teachers attended presentations, plenary sessions, discussions, and round-tables. Fellow presentations covered topics including pronunciation, Activate board games, English Clubs, grammar, and technology in the classroom.