Call for Presenters – MAEOE Annual Conference 2013

Educate, Engage and Energize! 

Understanding the Natural World

The annual MAEOE conference is the setting for environmental and outdoor education professional development.  Participants have all levels of understanding.  Presenters can gear sessions to the educator wanting to pick up ideas for teaching or for those wanting to increase understanding on advanced methods.  Everyone attending the conference will network and build resources.

How to Submit
MAEOE is paperless!  Complete the online form to submit your Application to Present after you have read this page.

Deadline for submissions is September 7, 2012

Conference Session Information
MAEOE invites you to submit an Application to Present for consideration for Friday workshops which run 3 or 6 hours in length,  Saturday sessions that run 50-minutes, or Field Experiences (Thursday or Sunday). MAEOE welcomes applications from professionals representing all levels of education, all content areas, specialists, and business and industry experts.

February 7 – 10, 2013

Princess Royale, Ocean City, Maryland

Tentative Schedule

• Thursday, February 7, 2013
• Pre-Conference Wilderness First Aid Training (Thursday - Friday)

o    Professional Development Institute – Sponsored by UMD College of Extension

o    Field Experiences

• Friday, February 8,  2013
• Workshops and Field Experiences
• Welcome/Key Note
• Exhibit Hall Grand Opening
• Saturday, February 9, 2013
• Concurrent Sessions
• Plenary Session
• Exhibit Hall Closes
• Closing Session
• Social
• Sunday, February 10, 2013
• Field Experiences

Strands
While a presentation may address more than one strand, only the primary focus area is needed.

Strand One:  Natural History and Natural Sciences

These sessions should increase participant’s understanding of  the composition and function of the natural world.    Topics could include, but  are not limited to, a focus on conservation, preservation, human history, life sciences – botany, entomology, ecology, etc., and geosciences – geology, meteorology, etc.  Past conference evaluations indicate

that many attendees are looking for advanced topics to build their skill sets in working with people in an outdoor setting. Traditionally, this is one of the most popular strands with conference attendees.

Strand Two:  Hot Button Topics

These sessions will encourage critical thinking and issue awareness by providing opposing viewpoints on contentious “hot button” topics, challenging participants to look at current environmental issues  from all angles and perspectives.  Topics could include environmental health, environmental justice, alternative energy, climate change, diversity, and appropriate educational methods designed to develop critical thinking skills in students. 

Strand Three:  Technology and Environmental Education

These sessions should teach participants innovative ways to infuse technology into environmental education and/or field experiences – including ways to use popular software, web applications, geographic information systems, hand-held GPS units, traditional microscopy, and micro computer based labs, (PASCO, Vernier, etc.) Of high interest are

activities that engage students in relevant and critical real world issues.

Strand Four:  Leave No Child Inside

Break down those walls! These sessions encourage learning in an  outdoor setting. The focus may be on specific topics taught outdoors, professional development in getting teachers more comfortable with teaching outdoors, or curriculum materials that incorporate learning outside of doors.    

Strand Five:   Capacity Building & Outreach

Capacity building is a way to strengthen an organization so that it can perform the specific mission it has set out to do and thus survive  as an organization. It is also an ongoing process that incites organizations to continually reflect on their work, organization, and leadership and ensure that they are fulfilling the mission and goals they originally set out to

do. For organizations, capacity building may relate to almost any aspect of its work: improved governance, leadership, mission and strategy, administration (including human resources, financial management, and legal matters), program development and implementation, fundraising and income  generation, diversity, partnerships and collaboration, evaluation, advocacy and policy change, marketing, positioning, planning. 

Strand Six: Greening Maryland’s Schools 

Nearly 18% of all Maryland schools have been  certified as a Maryland Green School.  While interest in the program continues to increase, formal educators often lack the knowledge, skills, resources, and/or confidence needed to effectively utilize the environment as an integrating context across the curriculum, engage in hands-on inquiry based education, utilize the schoolyard as an extension to or instead  of a classroom, or facilitate student-driven environmental action projects.   Sessions in this strand will work to fill this deficiency by raising the capacity of classroom teachers and administrators necessary to achieve Maryland Green School Certification.   

Strand Seven: Healthy Foods, Healthy People 

This strand emphases the relationship between what we eat and our health. School gardens, buying locally grown food, and understanding nutrition are key to fighting the childhood obesity epidemic we face today. Are you connecting kids to agriculture? Are you teaching them math through cooking? If so, then this is the strand for you! Spread the good

word about how healthy foods make healthy people.

Audience
Even though a presentation may address more than one level and classification of audience, only the primary audience level and classification is needed. The targeted audience of your presentation should be designed for attendees who work in any of the following levels and classifications:

Type

• Early Education
• Elementary
• Secondary
• Higher Education
• Special Education
• Adult Education

Classification

·         Administrators

·         Formal Educators

·         Non-Formal Educators

·         Curriculum Specialists

·         Env./Outdoor Centers

Level

·         Beginner (new educators)

·         Intermediate (everyone else)

·         Advanced (seasoned vets)

Session Handouts and Follow-up Material
Part of effective professional development is providing meaningful handouts and/or follow-up material that allow the participants to further their learning. It is expected that accepted presenters provide handouts and/or follow-up materials to participants.  The preferred method for doing so is for presenters to submit a URL of their materials for posting on the Virtual Handouts section of the MAEOE website. If your presentation is selected, you will be provided with further details.

Internet Access
Wi Fi is available.

Equipment 
Because of compatibility issue, MAEOE asks that all presenters supply their own computers.

LCD Projectors

MAEOE will equip each presentation room with a standard LCD projector with a PC-compatible connector. Mac users must bring their own converter.

Presenters Per Session
A session may be presented by any number of people, but only two presenters will be identified in the session listing in the final program and on the conference website.

Conference Registration
MAEOE is pleased to provide a discounted conference registration to the main two presenters. Upon acceptance, you will receive additional information. Any additional presenters MUST register and pay for the conference through the regular registration process.

Vendor Presentations
A small percentage of presentations are conducted by companies, organizations and individuals representing products, services, or fee-based programming. These sessions should offer valuable facts and content to the audience and are not to be used as an “infomercial.” Sales pitches are highly discouraged. Vendor presentations will be noted in the Program. All vendor presenters must be exhibitors at the conference.

Application Deadline
The Application to Present deadline is September 7, 2012.

Evaluation Process Each application goes through a process of being reviewed and evaluated by topic area experts who use the following criteria:

• Interest and value to conference attendees;
• Content of presentation;
• Topic area/intended audience;
• Relevance to the conference; and
• Current and/or cutting edge topic.

Application Notification
Notification of the evaluation outcome will be emailed to the main presenter listed on the Call for Presentations in October.

How to Submit a Good Application
To help you increase your chance that your application will be selected, use the following tips to make your presentation stand out.

• Apply on time. Applications are not accepted after the deadline.
• Write an accurate statement of purpose. Attendees do not like it when the session is not what they thought it was going to be. What you are presenting should be truthfully stated in the 25-word description they read in the conference program.
• Make it clear what you are presenting, who will benefit, and how it fits the needs of today’s educators and students. This will be used to evaluate your session.
• Avoid duplication.  Make sure that what you are offering is not already a part of the scheduled pre-conference workshops.
• Be sure to double check your spelling and grammar. Reviewers look at these mistakes as a reflection of the applicant and the application generally receives a lower ranking.
• Please do not use names of presenters in the session description, or provide biographical information. This information will be removed prior to the review process to ensure that the process remains anonymous.
• Select the closest fitting strand description. If the session description does not fit the strand, it generally receives a lower ranking.
• Provide accurate contact information.
• If you are a vendor, sponsor an educator who uses your product. Our conference attendees do not expect to sit through a blatant sales pitch. Educators prefer to attend sessions led by colleagues who truly believe in a product because it works for them.

Roundtable discussions should meet the following criteria:

• Focus on a current topic related to environmental education in Maryland
• Be outcome focused. What are the next steps in addressing this issue?

Questions or comments: conference@maeoe.org