BETA

Written by: Fatme Osmanova-Atanasova, FL Expert at the Regional Inspectorate of Education – Silistra

Fatme’s workshop

My name is Fatme Osmanova-Atanasova. I have worked in education for the past 13 years: 10 years as a teacher and 3 years as a FL Expert at the Regional Inspectorate of Education – Silistra.

I received a bursary from BETA to attend 20th Annual International Convention “ELT – The What and the How”, organized by TESOL Macedonia Thrace, Northern Greece. The event  was held on 9th & 10th March 2013, American College of Thessaloniki – Northern Greece.

In my talk I shared some good practice examples of my experience as a Foreign Language Expert in creating different opportunities for foreign language teachers to develop professionally and personally through open-class lessons, seminars and courses and my way to encourage communication and collaboration between teachers in and out of school, to help them establish contacts with representatives of accredited associations in the field of English language teaching, with a mission of supporting the teachers’ professional development (for example BETA Bulgaria), to ensure better preparation and results of their students in English tests and exams at the end of 7th, 8th and 12th grade (national external assessment), and in line with the Common European Language Framework.

Fatme’s workshop

I was honoured to meet brilliant speakers and presenters in Greece. Meet the plenary speakers:

  • Dr. Tom Godfrey – Director of International Training Institute which is a centre for teacher training and development and an ELT consultancy in Istanbul and his presentation “Whole Person Learning: The New Way”.
  • Gavin Dudeney – Chair of the Electronic Committee and his talk “Literacies: Teachers & Learners… ”. You can follow Gavin’s blog at: http://slife.dudeney.com
  •   Nicos Sifaki – an Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities of the Hellenic Open University and his talk “Differentiated instruction” which was a review of the essential underpinnings of differentiated instruction and a look into (a) practical aspects of going beyond the one-size-fits- all delivery system and (b) ways in which prospective teachers can reflect on and evaluate the impact of their own practice in the differentiated classroom context.
  • David A Hill – “Language Play & Creative Language Learning”.

The total number of the presentations were about 30 – plenary sessions, talks, workshops, a Pecha Kucha evening.
Many thanks to SEETA Board members and especially to Mr. House – Chair Person of the Board, Mr. Topalis, Theodora Pontica – Vice Chair, Natasha Jarnot and Nathan Prath not only as organizers but also as active participants in my talk Creating Opportunities for Foreign Language (FL) Teachers’ Professional Development.
Many thanks to BETA Board for choosing me as their official representative.

Thessaloniki, Greece

 
With Roger House, President of TESOL Macedonia Thrace, Northern Greece