Call for 2017 Annual Conference Presenters – All In

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Submission Deadline: March 31

What better place than Cooperstown, the town baseball calls home, to celebrate teamwork and collaboration?  How do we get everyone on the team and working together in new ways to ensure wins  for ALL of our students?

Today we are challenged more than ever to reinvent and broaden our repertoire to meet the needs and tap into the strengths of students from a tremendous diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. Schools are seeking strategies that acknowledge differences while insuring equity for all students. The collaboration, teamwork, and willingness to open our own minds to the real actions that this balance requires is central to meeting this challenge.

This year’s conference theme, ALL IN, focuses on what we need to do differently and together to meet the challenges of this tumultuous time in our society. We are seeking practitioner workshops that focus on the many aspects of this all important goal of ensuring that our schools truly function as communities whose primary goal is the safety, well-being, and achievement of all students.

Some Quotes to Get You Thinking

“The fact is that given the challenges we face, education needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” – Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

“As a collaborative learning culture becomes embedded, it becomes less and less dependent upon the actions of the principal and more a function of how staff carry on their day-to-day work, and how everyone learns from each other. The end result is that the principal and the teachers and the students are in this together.” – Michael Fullan, The Principal

“If what you are doing is important, then all students deserve it. We found success by saying, “We all do it this way.” – Sue Szachowicz, Transforming Brockton High School

Some Workshop Ideas

Leading schools that serve ALL students | Meeting needs of diverse learners | Impact of poverty | Bringing ELL students, students with disabilities, and families into school cultures as full participants | Reaching out to marginalized students and families | Building non-cognitive skills/cultures that make ALL students (and adults) feel safe and included | Parents as partners not adversaries | New approaches to student discipline | Derailing the “school to prison” pipeline | LGBTQ | Beyond “tolerance” | Why DASA is about more than the paperwork | How do we assess, monitor, and define progress? | Student voice | Performance based assessment with choice | Differentiation strategies that work | Focusing on the adults: moving through resistance to buy in | Building capacity and getting people on board | Building a culture of collaboration and innovation | Moving ALL staff forward with differentiated professional learning opportunities | Co-teaching that lives up to its name | Professional circles for professional growth | Tapping into the strengths inherent in generational differences on staff – millennials … mid careers … seniors | A realistic way to move all staff members forward with technology | Bringing staff together as PLCs and teams, (looking for topics particularly suited to organizational leaders as well as instructional) | Feedback for growth not grumbles | Dismantling the silos | SEL and ESSA | Give us YOUR ideas!!

Important Information Items Prior to Your Submission:

  • Your workshop may be scheduled for either Sunday, October 22 or Monday, October 23. You must be available both days.
  • Workshops are 75 minutes in length.
  • You may present alone or with a partner or team. Teams may include teachers.
  • Presenters must be paid, registered, attendees for at least one conference day.
  • Workshops should be built around activities that promote active participation and interaction with attendees.
  • Workshops need to identify 2-3 ‘takeaways’ that are practical applications that attendees can readily implement in their schools.
  • Powerpoint slides and workshop materials will be posted on the SAANYS website following the conference.
  • Hardcopy handouts are optional.
  • SAANYS will provide the following equipment: LCD projector with connection cables for PC laptops, projection screen, internet access and sound, flip chart, and markers.
  • SAANYS will NOT provide: laptops (plan to bring your own), connection cables for Mac computers (VGA and audio), any other A/V equipment including VHS/DVD projectors, overhead projectors, or copying services.
  • If you plan to show video clips, they must be loaded onto your laptop and tested ahead of time.

Proposals Must Include:

  • Presentation title.
  • 50 word summary to be used in the conference program.
  • A brief overview of the content of your presentation.
  • Goals of the presentation.
  • Identify 2-4 tools, ideas, or strategies participants will take away from the workshop.
  • Opportunities for interaction and reflection that are part of the presentation.
  • Your qualifications, experiences, and accomplishments related to the presentation topic.

Evaluation Process

A conference committee consisting of SAANYS members, leadership, and directors will convene in April to review proposals and determine which proposals will be included in the program. In addition to the inherent quality of the proposals, usefulness to attendees and creation of a balanced program will be considerations. Everyone who has submitted a proposal will be notified via email by the end of April. We recognize and appreciate the time and effort required in preparing a submission and thank you in advance for your proposal. We regret that only a limited number of proposals can be accepted. If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact Karen Bronson, SAANYS director of professional development, at kbronson@saanys.org.

PLEASE NOTE THAT PREFERENCE IS GIVEN TO PROPOSALS FROM MEMBER PRACTITIONERS. Presenters associated with a commercial enterprise must agree to have their company or organization participate as corporate sponsor and must present with a SAANYS member.

PRESENTERS ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER FOR AT LEAST ONE DAY OF THE TWO DAY CONFERENCE. Presenters will be responsible for the cost of registration, meals, housing, and travel.

Selection Criteria for Proposals:

  • How well does the proposal relate to the theme of All In?
  • Is the proposal creative in its approach and does it exhibit innovative ideas?
  • Are the presentation delivery techniques varied to meet the needs of the participants?
  • Does the proposal allow for a high level of interaction and engagement?
  • Does the proposal provide participants with practical information they can actually use?

Access the online submission form here.
Download the pdf submission form here.