California State University Long Beach’s (CSULB) College of Education, a program that prepares students for professional careers in the field of public and private education, will be hosting the “Better Together: California Teachers Summit,” an event designed to help teachers build a network of peers, share best practices and access effective resources, on Friday, July 31 from 9am to 3:30pm in Liberal Arts Buildings 2, 3 and 4 on campus.
The event is also co-hosted by the New Teacher Center, a program that seeks to reduce the achievement gap in schools through comprehensive mentoring, and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, an organization that aims to improve lives through higher education, and its member institutions.
CSULB is one of 33 hosts to present the summit, alongside all CSU campuses and 10 private universities in California.
The event on campus is projected to draw 20,000 participants, including 1,000 teachers. Statewide, more than 14,500 teachers will participate in an event that is “first-of-its-kind,” according to Nat Hansuvadha, faculty coordinator at CSULB.
“We saw a vision to bring teachers together and develop a day that will honor, motivate, inspire and empower teachers to connect with each other in order to share the most effective instructional practices in alignment with the new state standards,” Hansuvadha said.
The events are supported by $3.5 million in grants from organizations, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports initiatives in education, world health and population.
The summit will feature keynote speakers, such as Yvette Nicole Brown, an actress and teacher advocate, and Leland Melvin, a NASA astronaut and STEM educator. It will also include Ed Talks, a perspective from teachers about their successes, and breakout sessions, which provide learning strategies in the classroom.
All activities will take place inside smart classrooms, which provide technological equipment that can be used to aid and enhance the instruction of a course, many of which include programs such as Advanced Smart Technology that features a smart podium with a touch-panel control system, PC and laptop connection, document camera, DVD and VCR player, projector and a screen.
Setting up the event wasn’t easy, said Hansuvadha, as she and her leadership team had two months to build infrastructure to host 1,000 teachers on the CSULB campus and
get all the resources needed to get the summit running. She had her uncertainties about things pulling through.
“Because this event is unprecedented, I initially had some doubt that we could have 1,000 teachers attending the summit on our campus,” she said. “However, as the word spread about the event, and the registration numbers blew up week-to-week, my excitement grew, along with the shared vision to honor teachers on our campus and give them an amazing and memorable experience. This is an empowering concept and hopefully will drive these sessions to build on teachers’ shared expertise.”
