On the 5th of October 2015 the English Language Teachers’ Association of Montenegro ELTAM and American Corner organized a celebration of Teachers’ Day for all interested educators from Montenegro.
About 25 educators, mostly English language teachers from different parts of Montenegro, took part in this workshop. Participants were welcomed by Mr Mark Weinberg, Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy.
Two English language teachers, Dragana Radoman and Milena Danilovic, held a workshop named “Be your students’ champion” in the premises of the American Corner in Podgorica.
During the first part of the workshop teachers saw a TED talk video “Every kid needs a champion” by American teacher Rita Pierson. The main idea of this TED talk is the fact that we all tend to learn from our idols, our champions, and, in the same way, teachers should actually make as much effort as possible to be their students’ champions. Rita Pierson’s opinion is that a teacher must build a strong relationship with his/her students, based on understanding, support and confidence. As she says in the video “Students don’t learn from the ones they don’t like.”
After several teachers had taken part in the discussion about Rita Pierson’s idea, they were presented the second video which was a short description of the idea of a TED talk in general, followed by the instructions that could help teachers, or students, create their own TED talks and use them as a helpful tool for teaching/learning.
The second part of the workshop included a set of activities for celebrating teaching. We all enjoyed the time spent together in writing, drawing, exchanging ideas and discussing.