Are you interested in presenting at the 2021 InterAct Now: CLASS Summit? The Summit depends on leaders like you to provide sessions that inspire and expand our thinking. This year’s theme is Building Back Through Interactions, and we are looking for sessions that include interactive content, powerful stories, and strategies that help attendees better support the learning and developmental outcomes for every child.
Lightning Talk (10–15 minutes)
An opportunity to give a short, focused talk on a topic—think TED Talk format.
1-hour Session
Presenter(s) share their expertise and insight on a topic in an interactive lecture format. Audience engagement can be in the form of polls, Q&A time, surveys, etc. These sessions will be presented in listen-only mode for the audience.
90-Minute Session
Presenter(s) have more time to engage the audience, have tangible outcomes, and create discussions. These sessions allows for the use of breakout rooms, and provide time for audience interaction, creation, and discussion. There are fewer two hour slots, so sessions must have a strong set of learning outcomes.
When are proposals due? All proposals must be submitted by end of day on January 18th.
When will I find out if my proposal has been accepted? We will inform you if your submission is accepted on January 29.
Who attends? Leaders from across the field of early childhood and K-12 educational systems attend the Summit, including educators at every level: statewide decision-makers, administrators, instructional coaches, and assessors. The majority of attendees are focused on early childhood (birth to eight years).
Does my session need to focus on CLASS only? No. We've had a number of popular sessions that are more loosely tied to CLASS, including using mindfulness practices, incorporating sign language, or focus solely on improving interactions without using CLASS terminology. We do find that participants want to be able to make connections to their work and their common tie is usually the CLASS tool, so being able to either implicitly or explicitly tie it back to CLASS is appreciated. See last year's schedule for examples.
What's the average session size? Sessions last year ranged from 80-800 participants. If you would like to keep your session intentionally small to allow for the use of breakout rooms or other audience participation features, please say so in your proposal.
What sessions have been popular at past conferences? From the feedback we received after previous InterAct CLASS Summits, we know people like to hear a story. They like to hear about the bumps in the road and how you got over them—the successes and failures. Attendees have let us know that they are particularly interested in attending more sessions around coaching, diversity and equity, countering bias, and supporting dual language learners. Last year's most visited sessions were about coaching and professional development, and they celebrated a community of continuous improvement.
How are proposals selected? A small group of reviewers will blindly review all proposals against a rubric. This means that reviewers will not see who submitted proposals until final selections have been made. They will be looking to see sessions that are interactive, relevant for the audience, and purposeful.
Do I need to submit my slides with my proposal? No, we work with presenters and collect slides in the weeks before the Summit. However, if you have slides because you'd presented this topic before, feel free to include them.
Will sessions be shared out during/after the Summit? Slides will be added to the event platform and shared along with the recording of the session afterward.
Do presenters get a registration discount? Yes! If your session is chosen, you'll receive a free registration to attend the Summit.
