Recharge 2024 - Proposal Information

The 2024 Recharge Committee invites you to submit a session or mini-expo poster/session proposal for the Recharge 2024 Annual Conference & Expo, which will be held February 19, 2024. We welcome proposals that engage, inspire and support employees to thrive in their roles.

We encourage proposals that create a community of learning and reflect the values and beliefs of Belton ISD —particularly those that highlight the following strands:

Social Emotional/Self-Care Support: Sessions focus on either maximizing students’ or employee’s social, emotional and physical well-being.
World Class Employee: Each and every employee is engaged in meaningful learning experiences: to deepen their understanding of their craft. Sessions support developing World Class employee’s competencies and skills to thrive in the workplace.
Inspiring Instruction: Content designed for learners to empower students and ignite a passion for learning aligned to the instructional framework and Journey of Graduate competencies.

Due date is Friday, January 12th at midnight.

Click here for Proposal Submission Form

Have questions or need support with the proposal submission, please reach out? vickie.dean@bisd.net

Developing and Submitting a Proposal

The online proposal form includes fields requesting the following information:

Name, title, campus/department, and email address for each facilitator
Conference strand
Session title (75-character limit, including spaces)
Anticipated participant learning outcomes (100-word limit)
Content Level (select one) Based on participant experience or knowledge:

Target Audience: District and Campus Administrators, Counselors, Instructional Coaches, Teaching and Learning staff, Elementary School Teachers, Nurses, High School Teachers, District and Campus Support personnel, Middle School Teachers, Paraprofessionals.
Session type (see section below for descriptions)
Session Description (for the conference catalog): Brief description to be used in the conference program (2–3 sentences for a total of 75–125 words. Descriptions should highlight what is distinctive and transferable about the work to be presented)
Sample Agenda Planning Document

Proposal Review Criteria

Proposals will be selected based on the following criteria:

Quality of content
Clarity of proposal/writing
Alignment to the:
- BISD Instructional Framework
- Journey of Graduate
- World Class Employee Competencies
- Social Emotional/Self-Care Support
Relevance of content to the profession and engagement during presentation

Conference strands

Social Emotional/Self-Care Support: Sessions focus on either maximizing students’ or employee’s social, emotional and physical well-being.
World Class Employee: Each and every employee is engaged in meaningful learning experiences: to deepen their understanding of their craft. Sessions support developing World Class employee’s competencies and skills to thrive in the workplace.
Inspiring Instruction: Content designed for learners to empower students and ignite a passion for learning aligned to the instructional framework and Journey of Graduate competencies.

Session Types

60 minutes

60 minute sessions: sessions that offer a deep dive into a targeted topic area and feature different perspectives and opinions. These sessions engage the audience through small-group discussions and work, and can include short workshops with hands-on learning and specific takeaways.

60 minutes extended

Want to offer a deeper, follow up session after the initial 60 minute session? This will allow participants to continue their learning.

10-15 minutes Expo

Expo: presenters will be set up with a booth in a common area to share a poster visual presentations and/or video of model practices and programs. During the expos, attendees have the unique opportunity to have one-on-one and/or small group discussions about the topics presented.

Additional Information

Submission Deadlines and Timeline:

Call for session proposals opens Friday, October 13th
All proposals due by Friday, January 5th end of day
Notification of session status by Friday, January 12th
Notification of session schedule Friday, February 9th
Optional critical friends feedback week of February 5th
Optional set up Sunday, February 18th 1-5 pm
Recharge Monday, February 19th

Tips for leading adult learning

Overall, our attendees want:

Sessions with a greater depth of content
Best practices and tools they can use right away and share with colleagues
Sessions designed to engage and educate
Differentiated content for veterans
Sessions showcasing tools, resources and strategies
Time for discussion with peers

Attendees do not want:

Sessions with basic content, unless they are specifically designed for beginner-level attendees
Presentations that do not match the session description
Sessions without engagement
Sessions that are unorganized and presenters who are underprepared
To be lectured; instead, they want to be engaged and trained

General Tips for Creating a Strong Proposal and Session

Be clear, concise and complete with your responses. This will help reviewers gain a clear picture of what you plan to share and do in your session.
Write a title and description that are accurate and would draw an audience. If participants read your title and description, would they be interested in attending the session? Would they have enough information to make a decision on whether to attend or not?
Incorporate interactive components into your session. Participants want to work with and learn from presenters and each other. Consider ways to break up your session with activities, think-pair-shares, group discussions and hands-on learning experiences. Remember to also leave time for audience Q&A and reflection.
Identify the right content level for your audience. Participants should feel like they are learning something new and working toward advancing to the next level.
We are seeking thoughtful and engaging proposals for sessions on topics most critical to our members and leaders that have clear learning outcomes, present intermediate to advanced content, engage the expertise in the audience and address a significant topic/issue.

Things to consider when planning your session: SAMPLE AGENDA PLANNING DOCUMENT

Title: Make it interesting, marketable and accurate.
Description: Make sure it’s aligned to your content, focuses on learning outcomes and provides information that would help participants decide if they want to attend your session and if it’s a good fit for their grade level and/or content area. (175-word limit)
Learner Outcome: What is the purpose and learning outcome of the session? What will participants walk away knowing?
Session Agenda: How will content be delivered?
Time: How much time is needed for each part of your session?
Content: What content will be addressed?
Process: How will participants experience the content?
Practical Application:
- After attending your session, what actions would the participants realistically be able to implement immediately upon returning to their job, school or community?
- Why is this topic/content important?
- How would you connect this topic/content to the work of the district?
- Why is “Recharge” the right place to present your content?
- What interactive and adult learning elements will be part of your session?
- How much knowledge and experience do you have on this topic/content?

Session Format Ideas

Session Format Ideas:

Applying the Multiplier strategy: Opportunity for attendees to bring a specific topic to collaborate with one another.
World class employee skill building: learning a new skill or advancing a skill.
TED-Style Talk Series: A series of short lectures that present the speakers’ perspectives around a topic or question. The lead organizer organizes the topic and speakers, while also ensuring opportunities for audience engagement at the end.
Duo/Panel: Traditional format with up to four presenters to share their perspectives around a topic or question or opposing views, providing the audience with lessons learned and points to consider, and using interactive tools and audience engagement. The moderator ensures opportunities for audience engagement and shares resources.
Workshop: Hands-on experience highlighting best practices for implementation in your work environment.
Expo: Share an idea within 10 minutes with a poster and/or video as attendees rotate through other expo mini-sessions.

Information Sessions

Optional Recharge Information/Brainstorming Meetings.

Need more information or would like to brainstorm your ideas for Recharge. Jump onto a Virtual session. The sessions are come and go.

October 13 7:30-8:00

October 18 3:30-4:00

October 19 4:30-5:00

October 24 7:30-8:00

October 30 7:30-8:00

October 30 3:45-4:15

October 31 8:00-8:30

Google Meet: meet.google.com/jir-ifcz-zdf

Draft Schedule

Draft Schedule for the day