Christine Sobek is fascinated by the mechanisms of the mind. What makes us individuals? What shapes our personalities? What motivates us? What drives the way we learn? Questions like these led her to major in psychology at Purdue University, where she involved
Read moreM.S.Ed. assignment leads 2004 alumna to find her future waiting far in the past
Determining where – or, more specifically, when – a story begins is a difficult task when attempting to examine a real or fictional life. Authors or writers of any kind ponder so many possible entry points if they want to truly hook
Read moreCollege of Ed counts four alumni, one student among Golden Apple finalists
Five of the finalists for the prestigious 2021 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Excellence in Leadership claim the NIU College of Education in their pedigrees. NIU alumni Maddi Bodine, Anne McNamara and Virginia Valdez are among the 32
Read moreCAHE graduate students find validation of paths via Phyllis Cunningham honors
Valronica Scales felt the call to work toward social justice while working in Chicago with low-income students and families. Some were undocumented. Some spoke no English. Most were people of color. “Because I spoke fluent Spanish, and had lived abroad for a
Read moreEnseño en Español: DeKalb, Elgin enrolls teachers in new NIU course on biliteracy
During her years as a Cuban living in rural Galesburg, Ill., Mayra Daniel impressed on her family the need for fluency in her native tongue of Spanish. But that language was rare in this community of 35,000 in Knox County. “Few spoke
Read moreCollege of Education, RPS 205 launch Rockford Principal Residency Program
The Northern Illinois University College of Education and Rockford Public Schools will launch this fall an innovative partnership to develop school leaders to serve the needs of Rockford-area schools. This cohort-based program is designed to improve academic and social-emotional learning outcomes from
Read moreSport Management alum Jamaal Hines scores job leading after-school programs
Jamaal Hines grew up hooked on police procedurals on TV, imagining that he someday would solve crimes like the detectives on “CSI” and “NCIS” on behalf of innocent victims. Enrolling at Old Dominion University in his native Virginia, he earned a bachelor’s
Read moreNew M.S.Ed. student ready to continue inspiring young daughter, fellow parents
Can I testify real quick? So begins Janet King’s Facebook hosanna in December upon her graduation from NIU, a journey longer than most, complete with a plot twist halfway through its tale of determination. Her story, a preface to her newly begun
Read moreWebsite honors M.S.Ed. in Special Ed among nation’s best for new teachers
NIU’s M.S.Ed. in Special Education has earned high kudos from Teacher.org, a national website “for teachers by teachers.” Following a review of “every single accredited ITP master’s program available,” the site’s editors “hand-selected the ones we could confidently recommend as the very
Read moreHigher ed leader John M. Dunn named college’s Fall 2019 Educator in Residence
A university president. A provost. A dean. A department chair. A vice chancellor – and two terms as an interim chancellor. An internationally respected researcher. John M. Dunn, recently retired from a decade of successful leadership of Western Michigan University and now
Read moreGraham, Gabel halls remain busy places as learning flourishes throughout summer
Summer is never slow in buildings that house the NIU College of Education. June saw more than 125 educators, mostly from DeKalb Community Unit School District 428 and Elgin’s U-46, absorbing the Social Justice Summer Camp’s immersive and intensive challenge to their
Read moreLiteracy Education grad students tutor, learn inside Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic
Danelle Davis spends most of her weekdays from August through May teaching in front of a classroom of nearly 30 first-graders. Summer 2019, however, has afforded the DeKalb School District 428 teacher the opportunity to work individually with a child who needs
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