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 moreSupervisors of teacher-candidates learn mentorship of trauma-informed practice
What is your current level of awareness about the impact of trauma on the lives of students? Can you think of times when any of your students were triggered into a fight, flight or freeze response? How can you help your students
Read moreJennifer Johnson to retire from 30 years of gladly serving where she was needed
Truth: A television ad changed Jennifer Johnson’s life. “When I was in fifth-grade, I saw a commercial for Illinois Bell, and it had Alexander Graham Bell on it. He had a thing that made someone with a hearing impairment able to hear,”
Read morePhotos: Project TEAMS
About 150 seventh-graders from Clinton Rosette Middle School came to an Anderson Hall gym in groups Oct. 19 and Oct. 26 to learn and practice concepts of teamwork. At the same time, 27 Middle Level Teaching and Learning majors in the MLTL
Read moreTeacher-licensure candidates volunteer at professional development conference
When the invitation came from the college’s Office for Student Success to attend the National Association for Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) February conference in Chicago, the undergraduate teacher-licensure candidates weren’t sure what to make of it. But they weren’t about to pass
Read moreU-46 paraprofessionals ‘leap’ to begin journey to Special Education degrees
Thirty-five paraprofessionals from School District U-46 have begun their employer-paid pursuit of NIU bachelor’s degrees in Special Education. Part of the College of Education’s PLEDGE-Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators initiative, the new Licensed Educator Accelerated Pathway (LEAP) program provides a
Read moreMiddle Level majors practice teaching, team-building with seventh-graders
Seventh-graders from Clinton Rosette Middle School stood in a circle, each clutching a several-feet-long string tied to the same marker. Their task: cooperate to insert that marker into the mouth of a 20-ounce plastic bottle. First, they remained still as they pulled
Read moreClinical supervisor Megan Gerken finds bright workarounds for COVID’s puzzles
Megan Gerken had Monday, March 16, circled on her calendar. That was the day the clinical supervisor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction expected to welcome representatives from Deans for Impact, who were coming to observe a pilot round of their
Read moreCoE’s Altus partnership blooms with El-Ed major Jamal Murphy
Jamal Murphy is not a typical NIU College of Education teacher-licensure candidate. Raised on the West Side of Chicago, Murphy encountered an eighth-grade teacher who told him he would drop out by his sophomore year. What? Not finish high school? “Once you
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