Session Planning Guidelines 
 

1. Develop an agenda that structures the three-and-a-half-hour block of time for Institutes and the one-and-a-half-hour block for Workshop sessions. This will clarify the overall design and organization of the session as well as the topics and presenters planned for the tim period.
2. Focus on practical, in-depth, hands-on, useful, "how to" information rather than on basic or general information. Participants want strategies, knowledge, and skills that they can apply in their home states and communities. Focus not only on successes but also on barriers and how these were overcome, and on problems encountered and solutions attempted.
3. Incorporate audience participation, discussion, questions and answers, and brief experiential exercises where appropriate to keep participants interested and involved, particularly in the three-and-a-half-hour Institutes. However, participatory aspects should not be allowed to dominate to the point that presentations are compromised. Sessions should attempt to reach an appropriate balance between presentations of much-needed information and opportunities for interaction.
4. Do not plan to include too many lengthy presentations and avoid having presenters rush through material or try to cover too muh information in too short a time period. This detracts from the learning potential of the session. All faculty members need not give extensive formal presentations; some may make brief remarks and serve as resource persons.
5. Incorporate the perspectives of family members and youth into sessions. Use family-friendly language, and avoid stigmatizing youth with emotional disorders and their families. Use "people-first language," e.g., "children with serious emotional disturbances" rather than "seriously emotionally disturbed children" or "SED children." Avoid the use of acronyms.  
6. Incorporate information and perspectives related to serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations and achieving culural and linguistic competence into sessions.
7. Maximize the use of audiovisual aids, such as Power Point presentations, videotapes, and others. Ensure that Power Point slides and overheads are prepared in large enough print so that they are readable, especially from the back of the rooms. A laptop computer, LCD projector, screen, and flip chart will be provided in each meeting room. Additional equipment may be requested.
8. Develop handouts to share with participants, particularly hard copies of overheads and slides. (Georgetown University will duplicate handouts for your session if they are submitted by the specified deadline.) Submit electronic copies of handouts and presentations. Power Point presentations will be pre-loaded onto the computers in your rooms. In addition, CDs with presentations and handouts from all sessions will be prepared and mailed to attendees following the Institutes. If you must bring your own handouts, you should bring 300 copies, as well as an electronic version.
9. Use the designated moderator for each session to monitor the agenda and progress of the session, keep speakers to time limits, and adjust plans in accordance with the needs of the group of participants at the session.
10. Incorporate one or two brief "stretch" breaks into the three-and-a-half hour Institute sessions in addition to the main break during which refreshments are provided.
    

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