Call For Presenters - 2012

The annual MAEOE conference is a venue where the best educators come to share their strategies, methods, and best practices with their colleagues.

How to Submit

MAEOE has gone paperless!  Complete the online form to submit your Application to Present. It is important that you read this page prior to filling out your application.

Deadline for submissions is September 9, 2011

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

Theme

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:   Capacity Building

Capacity building in NGOS 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 Five:  Research and Evaluation

These sessions seek to advance the frontiers of environmental education, education by providing the foundational knowledge necessary to improve EE teaching and learning at all educational levels and in all settings (1) to catalyze discovery and innovation at the frontiers of EE learning, education, and evaluation; (2) to stimulate the field to produce high quality and robust research results through the progress of theory, method, and human resources; and (3) to coordinate and transform advances in education, learning research, and evaluation. Presentations can include completed studies and ongoing research and/or focus on research and evaluation techniques.   

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: Current Developments

From the Governor’s Partnership for Children in Nature to No Child Left Behind, High School Graduation Requirements, Executive Orders, and curriculum standards, Environmental Education is in Congress, the White House, the State House in Annapolis, COMAR, county sustainability plans and more.  These sessions will provide information on local, regional and national EE initiatives.

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:

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.

Equipment

Because of compatibility issue, MAEOE asks that all presenters utilize PowerPoint and bring their presentations to the conference on a thumb-drive or CD.  MAEOE will equip each presentation room with a standard LCD projector. 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

Presenters must register to attend the conference.  MAEOE is pleased to provide a discounted conference registration to the main two presenters.

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:
September 9, 2011

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ONLINE SUBMISSION

NOTE: You must complete the form in one sitting. You cannot save your form midstream and come back to it.