May 6, 2020
As the last weeks of the spring semester of 2020 unfold, students and faculty in 麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 teacher education program are winding down to what will be remembered as an eventful semester that afforded many opportunities.聽
Early this spring, and prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Cindy Gregg arranged a substitute teaching pilot project with May-Port CG鈥檚 Peter Boe, Jr. (PBJ) Elementary School principal Mr. Jeff Houdek. Dr. Gregg and teacher education candidates spent three Fridays at PBJ Elementary in the substitute teaching role, gaining instructional and classroom management skills while also supporting teachers鈥� time for team or professional development work.聽
Teacher candidates agreed this was a valuable experience. One student reported leaving the experience 鈥溾�ull of excitement and enthusiasm for my future as an educator.鈥� Another indicated it was 鈥溾�eneficial for me as an aspiring educator and for the educators at Peter Boe, Jr. Elementary.鈥�
In early April, the Division of Education completed a three-day virtual accreditation visit by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).聽The national and state site team reviewers met via Zoom web conferencing with multiple stakeholder groups, 麻豆传媒AV faculty, and administration.
At the time, 麻豆传媒AV was one of few educator preparation programs throughout the nation to have completed the accreditation visit virtually.聽A virtual visit is allowed by CAEP if the Educator Preparation Program has provided substantial evidence toward meeting CAEP Standards prior to the scheduled visit. Dr. Sarah Anderson, Division of Education accreditation coordinator, provided exceptional leadership and planning for this accreditation visit.聽The final report for 麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 seven-year accreditation is expected from the national CAEP headquarters early in the fall.
麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 Early Childhood Education students continued their internships in schools and other organizational facilities even with the changes the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the nation.聽While completing their internships, students supported their communities by providing an essential service, child care. This allowed family members to continue working while early childhood education centers remained open.
Continuing with her national leadership for the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Education (NAECTE), Dr. Kelli Odden is currently assisting with reconfiguring the national NAECTE conference from a face-to-face conference to a virtual conference this June.聽The virtual platform will allow global participation in sessions dedicated to the latest in early childhood education.
麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 student teachers added to school and community support this spring as they continued in their student teaching assignments as much as possible when schools transitioned to online/home instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 student teachers moved quickly into roles of support for their students and cooperating teachers as they prepared lessons, located online resources, and assisted in everything from instruction to handing out school lunches.
Seeing an opportunity to add to area school and teacher supports, several of 麻豆传媒AV鈥檚 Division of Education faculty adapted course assignments and 麻豆传媒AV students prepared and shared lessons that could be used for online/at home instruction with area teachers.
These are wonderful examples of mutually beneficial school partnerships!
Even though the annual North Dakota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Student Conference and Awards joined the list of the many events cancelled this spring, the 麻豆传媒AV Teacher Education program moved forward in naming their outstanding students in teacher education.聽These awards for 麻豆传媒AV education students were presented virtually to recipients via a recorded presentation link. This year鈥檚 recipients are McKenzie Groth for secondary math education (an elementary education and secondary math education double major); Elizabeth Klein for early childhood education; and Allison Taylor for elementary education. Congratulations to these exceptional education students!
The Annual Teacher Education Symposium along with the yearly STEM carnival hosted by the Education and Innovation Center were both cancelled this spring, but that has not kept Jeni Peterson, coordinator of the Education and Innovation Center, from moving forward with other outreach activities.
The Education and Innovation Center is partnering with ND EPSCoR聽to help create a science lesson portal for teachers across the state.聽Lessons will be developed by area educators and aligned to both state and Next Generation Science Standards.聽North Dakota teachers will have free access to lesson plans, activities, and resources, as well as email support from the lesson creators.聽The goal is to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for middle school and high school students.聽Teacher professional development will be available in mid-May, with lesson plan development throughout the month of June.
The Division of Education continues to plan for program changes and growth.聽Looking ahead, the Division of Education will have continued planning for a Master of Education degree and an undergraduate degree in applied behavior analysis.
On an annual basis, the 麻豆传媒AV Division of Education shares information about the impact of graduates from educator preparation programs with alumni and stakeholders. Every day teachers prepared at 麻豆传媒AV leverage rapidly changing learning environments and recognize the possibilities they, as effective educators, bring to maximize learning - they truly are making a difference. Annual reporting outcomes and consumer information is available at /academics/teacher-education/.