To my great honor I was selected to be a speaker at the 9th ELTAM international conference. The conference took place in Struga beside the wonderful Ohrid lake as well as on the banks of the river Crni Drim. The conference theme was RE-IMAGINING TEACHING: Rejuvenating and transforming classroom practices. As the title indicates many of the sessions incorporated an element of creativity considered relevant for rejuvenating and transforming classroom practices.

I was very delighted to be given the opportunity to present in such an esteemed  and  international conference. The title of my workshop is "Inspire, engage and motivate learners with original teaching aids". The intention of my workshop is to inspire educators to refresh and try to implement new aids that will facilitate and transform the classroom into an interactive learning space. Participants  had the possibility to explore  realia, an ordinary objects such as sunglasses, hoops, aprons, balloons as an effective teaching tools.  Furthermore, original tools that facilitate the learning process were presented. Dices with words for correct word order, domino for grasping the vocabulary, bottle caps for absorbing grammar points and wooden pegs for improving spelling. Participants were allowed to play in pairs and were given time to reflect which tools are suitable to be incorporated into their classes. Finally, participants were introduced to QR codes and were given time to download, scan and  play with the app QR code reader.  I am grateful for all the participants for choosing my workshop, their time and active involvement. 

Withing the 9th ELTAM biannual conference there was a poetry competition on the topic "Bridges not walls".  At the conference closing ceremony the winners were announced. I was overjoyed to hear that my poem " It is time (Време е )" won the second prize. My poem urges human beings to wake up before it is too late and act wisely to change the reality and create a better world.  I would also like to express my gratitude to the anonymous donor for his/her generosity and the prizes. Congratulation to my colleagues not for just being dedicated educators but poets as well.

Conference participants could also participate in various competitions. For instance a nice opportunity for participants to show their creativity was  creating a lesson plan sponsored by Express Publishing. Furthermore, chinese whisper competition in the pub, and the rely from which many members got presents to remind them of the wonderful conference time.  

Overall, loads  of good memories, rich program and interesting sessions, exchanging experience, competitions for attendees,  social gathering contributed to my positive impressions from the conference.