Session Types

2nd call for proposals 27th August to 27th September 2020

About Sessions

The conference is designed to support contribution and learning by educators and researchers across the pre-kindergarten through post-secondary spectrum, and in out-of-school-time settings, in three major categories of sessions:

• Huddles–to problem solve, collaborate, and network; 
• Bursts–to share, innovate and activate
• Deep Dives–to investigate in depth a topic related to one of the conference themes

HUDDLES	BURSTS	DEEP DIVES
Problem solve, collaborate, network	Share, innovate, activate	Investigate WALS Conference Strands
(40 minutes)	(40 minutes)	(40 or 90 minutes)
– Lesson Study Sharecase – Meet-Ups	– Poster Presentations – WALS Talks	– Symposia – Paper roundtables

HUDDLES

Huddles are 40-minute sessions organized to share, seek feedback and ask questions, and collaborate around topics related to the WALS conference strands of equity, online learning, effective lesson study practices, and enriching lesson study through research.  Huddle session types include: Lesson Study Sharecases and Meet-Ups.

Lesson Study Sharecase

Submit a proposal to share your lesson study work:  What did your team do? What did you learn? How did this change your practice?   Your proposal will be combined other lesson study sharecase proposals. Each team will  have 10-minutes to present.

Meet-Ups

Propose a topic and network with colleagues around whatever is pressing for you! You can begin to build an informal collegial network based on

• similar interests – e.g., lesson study in language arts or physical education
• similar challenges – e.g., online video sharing
• similar roles – e.g., district lesson study lead or final commentator
• similar curiosities – e.g., how to measure changes in students or lesson study quality

BURSTS

BURSTS have multiple short presentations in a 40-minute session intended to “enlighten us and do it fast,” igniting future conversations about the WALS conference strands: issues of equity, effective lesson study practices, and the role of research in lesson study.  BURST session types include: WALS Talks and Poster Presentations.

Poster Presentations (Four, 8-minute poster presentations per 40 minute session).

Submit a proposal to present your poster that reflects in-progress or completed work. The committee will organize presentations by related content and if your poster is accepted, guidance will be provided on creating an 2-3 minute online presentation.

WALS Talks (Three, 12-minute talks per 40 minute session). 

Submit a proposal for a 12-minute presentation (with a maximum of 6 accompanying slides) related to the WALS conference strands to inform, inspire, surprise, challenge, or delight the audience.  WALS Talks will be grouped together by related topics for each 40-minute session. If your proposal is accepted, you will be contacted in October with further instructions depending on whether your is chosen to to be live or recorded.

DEEP DIVES

Deep Dives are 40 or 90-minute sessions to allow deeper investigation of a practice, idea, or set of findings. Deep Dives include: Symposia, Papers and Paper Roundtables.

Symposia (90 minutes).  

Symposium proposals include 3-4 presentations (with a maximum of 8 slides) and a discussant, all focused on building understanding of a shared question, challenge or set of findings. The proposal should include a chair (who may be one of the presenters) to facilitate smooth flow of presentations and discussion.

Paper Roundtables (40 minutes). 

Types of papers to submit include: research papers, work-in-progress reports, proposals for future research papers, and reports on issues related to teaching and learning.  The session will include three or four papers (10 minutes each). Authors may submit an individual paper (and have the committee group together three or four authors with related topics), or may submit a whole roundtable (3 or 4 papers and discussant). The majority of accepted proposals will be pre-recorded with some identified for live Q and A sessions during the course of the conference.