When Lisa Borgo started taking babysitter jobs at age 11 or 12, she already was looking forward to Dundee Crown High School’s classes in cooking, sewing and, best of all, child care. Bonus: District 300’s deLacey Family Education Center “was right next
Read morePicture this: New ETRA course advances learning design via ‘data visualization’
Explaining the concept of “data visualization” is easier shown than said – which, ironically, is the point of data visualization. Cansu Tatar makes this clear when she navigates her browser to an interactive table that allows her to compare math and reading
Read moreSummer Camp 7.0 poses tough questions, encourages humanity
Exactly 12 hours later, the challenge to follow her example – and the fortitude, reflection, work and commitment that requires – was made plain. Michael Manderino, one of the four camp counselors with James Cohen, Joseph Flynn and Dana Isawi, delivered a
Read moreSummer campers attain purpose, motivation, ideas, camaraderie
After two years as a Social and Emotional Learning coach in Indian Prairie School District 204, Geraldine Troczynski is returning to the classroom this fall to teach eighth-grade English language arts and social studies. Going with her is a fresh immersion in
Read moreSummer Camp counselors savor opportunities to reflect, rejuvenate
James Cohen remembers well the closing moments of the first Social Justice Summer Camp for Educators in 2017. The plan for the future, as announced by Cohen and his fellow camp counselors from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, was to host
Read moreCongratulations!
Congratulations to these members of the NIU College of Education family! Injung Lee, a faculty member in the Counseling program, received a 2024 Professional Research Grant from Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Lee’s project aims to understand international doctoral students’ experiences
Read moreElementary Education alumna receives Fulbright award to teach in Luxembourg
“Hi Dr. Cohen,” the email begins. “I am SO EXCITED to tell you that I have been selected as a Fulbright Luxembourg English Teaching Assistant for the 2024-2025 school year!! I’M TEACHING IN EUROPE!!!” The message came to James Cohen from Kristal
Read moreNIU, RPS, Grow Your Own Illinois ‘RISE’ together to equip RPS 205 employees as licensed elementary education teachers
More than two dozen future teachers who already work for the Rockford Public Schools in support roles are now on their way to employer-paid bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University. Among their champions is Grow Your Own Illinois, the
Read moreMessage from the Acting Dean
As another year of teaching, learning, scholarship and service comes to a close, please know that it has been a true privilege to serve as your acting dean – and that I am honored and humbled to continue doing so for another
Read morePLEDGE-ECC cheers fourth ElEd cohort, celebrates Early Childhood trailblazers
Ask Ania Tyrka why she wants to become a teacher, and she immediately smiles and points right at 10-year-old Anthony. “This little guy – my son,” said Tyrka, a “mom, homemaker and wife” who also credits 12-year-old daughter, Zosia, for the decision
Read moreWelcome to the Blindness Experience: New course launches with 80 students
Eighty NIU students have gained a vivid understanding of the lives of people who are blind or visually disabled, thanks to a new course in the Department of Special and Early Education. SEVI 205/505: The Blindness Experience, an eight-week, 3-credit and asynchronous
Read moreAlumna Dominique Yackley inspires graduates at New Teacher Send-off
As a new group of NIU College of Education licensure majors prepared to graduate and become professionals in the classroom, a seasoned veteran advised them to pack well for the journey ahead. Their luggage, said Dominique Yackley, must include “exuberance.” “If you
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