Teacher Features

Showcasing Events of the Union College Education Program

The education department at Union College hosted the Phi Delta Kappa UNL Chapter 15 meeting on October 8, 2008. A sumptuous dinner was served in the Atrium.

After the meal a panel discussion was conducted by 20 teachers/administrators from seven countries in the Woods Auditorium. They shared information about the educational system in their countries.

Nearly 110 elementary and secondary education majors from Concordia University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Union College attended the event. Jessi Whitson, an elementary education major from Union, won the raffle for one year membership to PDK.

Erin Gruwell, co-author of The Freedom Writers, visited our campus on November 13, 2008. As the inspiration for the motion picture Freedom Writers, she presented “Becoming a Catalyst for Change” at the College View SDA Church that evening.

Earlier in the day, the Education Club members were privileged to be invited to a reception for her where they were able to talk with her personally and ask questions. They also were asked to be ushers at the evening presentation and were included in the VIP seating.

Read more about Erin Gruwell on the News and Publications section of the Union College website.

The secondary student teachers have been in their classrooms since the first of August, so are well engrained in the routine with their co-operating teachers and classes.

Those who are teaching in Music, Art and PE have moved from the high school level to middle and elementary classrooms since they are required to student teach in K-12 settings in whichever endorsement they are majoring in.

The elementary student teachers are on a schedule where they take methods courses in the first half of the semester and student teach in the second half. On October 22, thirteen of them began teaching in classrooms at George Stone Elementary School (4), Helen Hyatt Elementary School (5), Lincoln Public Schools (3) and one in North Dakota at the Hillside Elementary school in Jamestown, North Dakota. Each of them will have opportunity to get experience in Upper, Lower grades and in Multi-grade and single grade settings in both SDA church schools and public schools. The rich diversity of experience prepares them for any job they may obtain after graduating from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and North America Division of Seventh-day Adventists (NAD) approved education program.

Even though Thanksgiving break began on the previous Friday, four education majors stayed by to take their Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) this week. Passing the three tests in Reading, Math and Writing is required of all sophomore education majors at Union College before becoming a candidate for full acceptance into the education program and enrolling in upper division professional education courses.

The PPST will be given again in April at Union College for those who need to pass it before Fall 2008 registration. Another option for students who haven’t taken it or need to re-take a portion of it, is to contact the Sylvan Learning Center in any major city and arrange to take it at their facility. If scores do not meet the Nebraska State Department of Education requirements, students must re-take the test until scores meet the standards or drop education as their major.

Children’s literature students, under the tutelage of Kathy Bollinger, just completed written and illustrated books. Each student created a children’s book that was published and bound. The books, beautiful and imaginative, are part of the capstone experience of the class.

Other interesting activities from this class have included “Book Talks” in which the students dress as the book character from a favorite literature book. Several of the students presented their character book talks to ENRC, Eastern Nebraska Reading Council, as it met on Tuesday, November 6, in the evening at Union College.

Students in the class participated in the Plum Creek Literacy Festival in October at Seward, NE. The students helped hundreds of children in group sessions as accomplished authors and illustrators discussed writing and illustrating techniques. The UC students assisted children as they formed creations of their own.

The students in EDUC 357, besides reading and documenting a plethora of literature themselves, have told and read stories to children in elementary schools, and have also researched authors and designed illustrator posters.

Union College Division of Human Development announces a summer program to acquire the K-12 ESL Endorsement.

Please contact the Education Department at Union College at 486-2522 or humandev@ucollege.edu for more information.

English as a Second Language (ESL)
Supplemental Education Endorsement
(Requires a subject or field endorsement)

Major Requirements: 16 hours

The ESL endorsement enables elementary or secondary teachers to teach English as a Second Language to K-12 students. This endorsement is recognized by the Department of Education of the State of Nebraska.

To acquire this endorsement candidates must hold or earn concurrently a teaching certificate and present proof of competency in a foreign language equivalent to two (2) semesters of post secondary foreign language or two (2) years of high school foreign language.

EDUC 225 Seminar in Education Diversity: Multicultural/HRT* 1
EDUC 302 ESL Teaching Methodology & Materials 3
EDUC 457 Methods in Language Arts (K-8)* 3
or EDUC 476 Content Reading & Writing (3)*
ENGL 202 Language and Culture 1
ENGL 302 TESL Grammar and Linguistics 3
ENGL 303 Second Language Acquisition 3
ENGL 304 Second Language Assessment 2

*Not required if taken in the past

ENGL 302 TESL Grammar and Linguistics June 9-13 M-F 8:30-4:30 Wahlen 3
ENGL 202 Language and Culture June 16-20 M-F 1
ENGL 304 Second Language Assessment June 16-20 M-F 2

ENGL 303 Second Language Acquisition June M-F 8:30 – 4:30 DB213 Guaita 3 (Undergraduate)
EDUC 302 ESL Teaching & Curriculum June M-F 8:30 – 4:30 DB203 Wahlen 3 (Undergraduate)

We are excited to be one of the first blogs authorized by Union College on their new blog list. This blog is designed to keep you, the graduates of Union College Education Program, teachers in the field and students who are in the education program up-to-date on what is happening in the program.

We invite you to email us with stories and pictures of “where you are now” that we can include in the blog. We hope to make this a somewhat interactive site that will be interesting and current.

To teach the Bible is one of the most sacred duties of a teacher. In a Seventh-day Adventist classroom, teachers have the privilege to open the truths and stories without hindrance or any type of prohibition. It is an opportunity to lead young lives to the feet of Jesus each and every day. We run the longest evangelistic series which starts every fall and ends 180 days later – an entire school year. Before a teacher can help students recognize and deal with tht truths and lessons of the Bible, they themselves must be consecrated and committed to those concepts and have a relationship with the Truth Giver. The work of a Seventh-day Adventist educator is one with eternal rewards.

The Bible Methods course is designed for elementary or secondary teachers to strengthen their walk with Christ, gain insigts on the importance of Bible lessons, develop Bible lessons that inform and inspire, search the Web for resources to enhance Bible lessons, develop a Unit of Study, and challenge them to lead their students to Christ.

This course can be ordered by requesting an application form from the Education Department at Union College.

Today is the end of the first week of summer school for the education professors. This summer we are offering the following courses for practicing teachers.

There are also two ESL courses for graduates and undergraduates toward an endorsement in ESL Education.

Week of June 4-8

EDUC 342 – Human Relations
EDUC 360 – General Elementary Methods
(and 10 specific endorsements)
EDUC 477 – Secondary Reading Methods

Week of June 11-15

ENGL 303 – Second Language Acquisition (undergraduate)
MATH 487-01 – Mathematical Connections for Elementary and Secondary Teachers

Week of June 18-22

EDUC 301 – ESL Teaching & Curriculum (undergraduate)
EDUC 355 – Secondary Methods

For more information about summer courses offered by the Education Program at Union College, contact us at humandev@ucollege.edu