Faculty from the Department of Special and Early Education (SEED) knew that their technological pivot of early clinical teaching requirements during COVID-19 was making lemonade from lemons. Among the things they learned from the abrupt shift from actual K-12 classrooms to Blackboard
Read moreAlumna Yuni Lopez experiences strike, COVID-19 in wild first year of teaching
Had life gone as planned, Yuni Lopez would be a nurse by now. And, given the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, that career choice would have generated quite the extraordinary first year out of college. But that doesn’t mean the last 12 months have
Read moreMay 2019 alumna Hanna Fewell receives NIU Career Services intern scholarship
Special Education major Hanna Fewell received an unexpected welcome at Kingston Elementary School, where she began her student-teaching in the spring of 2019. “My teacher was kind of overwhelmed, and on the first day I walked in, she was like, ‘Surprise! You’re
Read moreCOE Student Spotlight: Raven Stepter
Hometown: Peoria, Ill. Major: Early Childhood Education Year in school: Senior What inspired you to pursue this degree/career? As a young child, I had a very unique learning experience. At one point, I had a really supportive and caring teacher who believed
Read moreKeep learning, keep teaching – Part 3: Educators detail COVID-19 adjustments
Like every student-teacher across the United States, Chloe Burns is working through a situation she never could have anticipated. But that doesn’t mean she’s not making the most of a difficult road. “eLearning is definitely not something I expected to encounter during
Read moreCOE recognizes administrative professionals
Wednesday is Administrative Professionals Day. Our amazing administrative professionals in the College of Education are the can’t-live-without glue that hold our offices and departments together. And while we’re all away, unable to thank or five-high them in person, they continue to serve
Read moreKeep learning, keep teaching – Part 2: Educators detail COVID-19 adjustments
Jeremy Rehmus works full time as the manager of a restaurant in Oswego, where he lives with his wife and their 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. With many restaurants remaining “essential” and open during the stay-at-home order, his is one experiencing great
Read moreKeep learning, keep teaching: Students, alums detail their COVID-19 adjustment
We want to know what our teacher-licensure students and educator-alums and are doing to “keep teaching.” Please complete our Educators in Action online form to tell us how you’re promoting eLearning with your students during the COVID-19 situation! Teaching in the time
Read moreHouston, we have liftoff! Two COE alums reach stars with Texas teaching awards
Jessica Dyra and Aimee Zepeda are proof of the power of positive role models. “I’ve always liked school, and as I grew up, I saw how much of an impact my teachers had on me,” says Dyra, who is from Crystal Lake.
Read moreEducators in Action: Share your stories!
We want to know what our educator-alums are doing to “keep teaching.” Please complete our online form to tell us how you’re promoting eLearning with your students during the COVID-19 situation! Teaching in the time of COVID-19 is uncharted territory for almost
Read moreLaura Hedin named SEED chair
Laura Hedin is the new chair of the Department of Special and Early Education. Hedin, who begins that role July 1, 2020, aspires to make NIU “the first choice for special education and early childhood teacher-candidates throughout Illinois” through teamwork that advances
Read moreRochelle school leaders partner with NIU to identify, prepare, hire bilingual teachers
Jason Harper, superintendent of schools in nearby Rochelle, knows that the diversity of his community is evolving. Forty percent of the Hub City’s current population is Hispanic, a number that only will continue to rise in coming years. Harper also understands that
Read more