School occupies a special place in Julie Chavez’s heart. “I had quite the unstable childhood, and school was really my safe place. I had a meal; I had teachers who cared about me; it was structured – I just really thrived in
Read moreBlack, Brown & Bilingüe: Alums launch podcast while leading suburban schools
For Lissette Jacobson and Maurice McDavid, the connection began Day One. Both began working in DeKalb in August of 2011, when they attended an orientation for new teachers – and Jacobson couldn’t help but notice McDavid’s commanding voice in the room: “You’re
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 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 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 moreTeachers from Uruguay visit NIU, observe U.S. counterparts in DeKalb, Elgin schools
Valentina González and Analia Piantanida rarely see cultural diversity in the homogenous society of Uruguay, where both are English teachers in middle schools and high schools. Coming to Illinois as part of the NIU College of Education’s Uruguay Fulbright Teachers Program, however,
Read more‘Keep talking’: Educators witness strength, advocacy at Social Justice Summer Camp
They were different women of different ages, sitting in different rooms, hearing different words on different subjects at different times. Yet their response – their natural, human reaction – was the same. The proverbial lumps in the throat, the moisture of not-quite-yet
Read moreSocial Justice Summer Camp 3.0 to foster growth via discomfort, ‘intellectual threat’
Jennie Hueber felt uncomfortable at NIU’s first Social Justice Summer Camp in 2017 – and that was a good thing. Hueber, the director of curriculum and instruction for DeKalb School District 428, already had begun her personal and professional journey to recognize,
Read moreFuture middle school teachers at NIU hear expert advice from 13-year-olds, parents
As a former middle school principal and assistant principal in the McHenry County towns of Woodstock and Cary, Joyce Laben knows well the value of listening to the “stakeholders” at those institutions. It’s something she stresses in the EPS 512: Principal, Family
Read moreSocial Justice Summer Camp 2.0 pushes educators to confront issues of diversity
Participants in last summer’s debut of NIU’s Social Justice Summer Camp gave James Cohen, Joseph Flynn and Michael Manderino a clear directive as they departed for home. Please, please do this again. And so they did, even if they had planned to
Read moreKNPE students lead fun, games at Brooks Elementary field day
Cold winds blew across the Brooks Elementary School playground Halloween morning, but those chills couldn’t stop the fun of bowling soccer balls and poofy balls toward a 10-pin pumpkin or running relays around hay bales. Within the warmth of the building, an
Read morePhysical Ed majors provide ‘structured recess’ programming for Brooks Elementary children
Recess is fun and games at most elementary school students, but it’s not always without problems. For one, it’s often lightly supervised. And, says Zach Wahl-Alexander, professor of Physical Education, it’s likely parent-volunteers and not teachers who are in charge. Meanwhile, Wahl-Alexander
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