English Language Fellow Nathan William Meyer and local English Language Teachers Association President Olja Milosevic presented a discussion on their co-led professional development course at the 2016 ELTA conference in Belgrade, Serbia.
‘Small Town Stories’ was a 6 week online blended learning course developed by Nathan promoting English through creative writing at primary and secondary schools in geographically and culturally marginalized regions of Serbia. Concentrating on experiential learning and curriculum development, this course, co-taught with ELTA President Olja Milosevic, produced a volume of original creative writing and actionable lesson plans contributed by 20 English language teachers from around Serbia.
At the conference, Mr. Meyer and Ms. Milosevic led a discussion before a group of teachers on how to use creative writing to inspire and reinvigorate English as a Foreign Language classrooms by drawing on students’ innate creativity and drive for self-expression. The discussion concluded with members of the course reading their original works before an audience of fellow teachers.