Picture Yourself in the Spotlight

The Extra Yard for Teachers Summit is full of speakers and ideas from across the country: but we are always looking for cool and compelling stories from the local community. So, we open up auditions to give you, the Bay Area home team, a chance to share your story. Feel like you have something to add to the mix? We want you to submit a description and/or 90 second video telling us what you want to share. Your stories can be funny, sweet, heartwarming, learning moments, teachable moments…whatever story you have that you want to share with the audience from the Discovery Stage or lesson/activation you want to build out in the Summit space. 

What happens next?

The curatorial committee will review ALL the submissions and ideas and let you know if we can accommodate your idea. There are always more ideas than there is space in the day, which makes the committee's job tricky. But we definitely look at each and every submission and try to build a robust day with lots of different ideas. So send us yours! 

What are the different opportunities?

The Discovery Stage is where all of our talks will happen throughout the weekend. This intimate stage for up to around 200 audience members will be programmed with a mix of live talks and documentary footage. The talks are short (6-12 minute) TED-style talks. Want to learn more? Check out this page for the archive of past talks. Be sure to look at Lamar Mills, Lori Bradner, and Garret Maier as examples of past audition winners! 

The Lounge is an activation area that is open all day on January 6 for teachers. We'll have some fun pampering activities (think chair massages), give aways, relaxation areas, and a host of conversations and activations from local community partners and other educators as a means of giving the Atlanta educators community a chance to connect. Some examples of Lounge audition submissions in the past have been round table discussions about building self-esteem in students, and a giant floor map activity that one teachers uses to inspire creativity and delight in learning in her classroom. We're open to anything you want to suggest!