Prior Preparation
Fully engaged participants are essential to the success of GOTS!
Registered participants commit to the following:
Prepare and share a PDF copy of your own Seminar Handout (see instructions below). Your handout will help maximize benefits for you and other participants. Your entire handout could fit on one or two pages, depending on how much you choose to write.
Actively participate in ALL seminar activities. The other participants will be counting on YOU to be involved in every activity.
YOUR Seminar Handout (Items to Include)
At the top of the page: Your name, institution, your e-mail address, and any other contact information you wish to share with other seminar participants. If you want, you may also include a small photograph of your face to help other participants in getting to know you.
Teaching Success Story: A brief description (one paragraph may be sufficient) of a method, strategy, or technique, possibly an innovation of your own, that you have successfully used to enhance your teaching in online/hybrid/blended/flex settings.
Unresolved Teaching Problem: A brief description (one paragraph may be sufficient) of a persistent problem/challenge you have had teaching in online/hybrid/blended/flex settings that you have not yet resolved and would like to discuss with other teachers to explore possible solutions.
Quick Tip: A brief description of an object lesson, a device or app you use, a quick activity, or some simple "trick of the trade" that works with your online/hybrid/blended/flex students (different from your success story). It doesn't need to be astounding, just effective for you and your students.
OPTIONAL: Information about an influential book, journal article, or even just a quotation from a great thinker that has helped you in your work as a teacher; however, the topic does NOT have to be specifically about education. If you want to share a quotation, simply include it on your handout. If you are sharing a book/article, please include the following on your handout: (1) author, title, publication date, etc., and (2) a brief description of why you would recommend that book or article to other teachers.
Share your Seminar Handout
Prior to the seminar, you will receive instructions regarding where your handout and other seminar materials will be shared. Please post your Seminar Handout before the Orientation Meeting (preferably by Wednesday, October 18, 2023).
Seminar Schedule
The basic Seminar Schedule (click link to view) simply indicates meeting times. Any event based on the tried-and-true, highly effective seminar model of the National Great Teachers Movement has no preset agenda of topics to discuss. The agenda emerges and evolves from conversations about topics initiated by you and the other participants in the handouts you bring to share (see "Seminar Handout" information above) as well as about other teaching/learning issues of greatest interest, relevance, and current concern to you during the seminar.
What to Wear at the Seminar
Although GOTS is a professional conference, please feel free to dress in casual clothing.