Seventh annual PBS event to take place March 16-17

Miller Photography

UFT President Michael Mulgrew will once again be a speaker at this year’s event.

The Celebration of Teaching and Learning, a two-day professional development conference that brings together educational experts and advocates and more than 10,000 educators, will be returning to New York for its seventh year on March 16-17 at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan.

Classroom teachers are its biggest fans. In an evaluation of last year’s event, one teacher wrote: “The Celebration reminded me why I love being a teacher.”

Another noted, “A wonderful opportunity to see education from a larger perspective than the classroom.”

The Celebration — which is hosted by WNET, the parent organization of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW 21 — has broadened its educational perspective over the years from the local to regional to national level. This year’s focus will be global, honoring teachers as global professionals and elevating teaching to the world stage.

The second annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession, which will take place two days earlier, will host education ministers and national teacher union leaders from more than 20 of the world’s highest-performing countries to discuss school leadership and issues related to teacher preparation, among many topics. Their experience will be shared with Celebration participants at a plenary session.

The conference will provide more than 100 “In the Classroom” workshops and expand discussion on core issues including: the Arts, Financial Literacy, Global Awareness, Health and Wellness, Instructional Technology, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), Social Sciences and Special Education.

There will also be six plenary sessions and nearly 40 speaker sessions. The list of speakers includes: UFT President Michael Mulgrew; authors Peg Tyre, who will discuss “The Trouble with Boys,” and Wes Moore; Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard; Pedro Noguera of New York University; and Charlotte Danielson, whose evaluation rubric will be part of the new teacher evaluation system.

Miller PhotographyAt last year’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning, UFT Teacher Center staffer Charlie Lobello discusses a newsletter on Collaborative Team Teaching at the UFT exhibit booth with conference goers. Exhibitors will fill two halls with the latest in educational tools and will hand out information and materials covering all K-12 subjects and issues. Among the exhibitors will be technology companies, distributors of specialized education products, colleges and universities, publishers, representatives from school-trip destinations and professional organizations.

The UFT is a premier sponsor of the event, as are its affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers and New York State United Teachers.

To register and stay up to date on the latest announcements, visit www.thirteencelebration.org. You are also encouraged to engage on Twitter [@The_Celebration], Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.