2021-2022 Course List

This course is centered around three goals to help prepare teacher candidates to enact practices that develop learners¿ mathematical proficiency. The first goal is to explicitly teach skills for disrupting patterns of injustices and inequities that often get reproduced within the context of elementary mathematics classrooms. The second goal is to develop professional skills for the high-leverage practices of eliciting and interpreting students¿ thinking and leading a group discussion. The third goal is to gain the mathematical knowledge needed for engaging learners in inquiry-based instruction for number sense & operations, place value, computation, and rational number concepts in grades K-6.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

This course will provide elementary teacher candidates with the knowledge and skills necessary to: (a) Identify concepts to be explored through scientific investigations, and then design and conduct investigations of those concepts, using appropriate scientific apparatus and mathematical tools to improve their investigations; (b) know and apply basic concepts in the physical, biological and earth sciences; (c) know and apply appropriate pedagogies to foster inquiry the elementary classroom; (d) identify and mitigate their students¿ science misconceptions; and (e) understand and apply guidelines for proper procedures and safety practices while teaching science.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

Presents strategies for teaching reading and writing knowledge, attitudes and skills in the various teaching content areas.

This course will explore the incorporation and extension of physical education and the arts into the elementary curriculum to enhance children's initiative, creativity, and self-esteem while focusing on fine and gross motor development.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

This course will explore practical information, assessment tools, instructional ideas and activities for effective implementation of an inquiry-based approach in elementary curriculum. Teacher candidates will focus on developing inquiry-based methods and strategies on improving students learning outcomes while linking one or more elementary content areas in a progressive way.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

This course is intended to provide a co-teaching mentorship between the teacher candidate and mentor teacher. Teacher candidates will use this semester to focus on co-teaching, and establishing a relationship with the district, school, and classroom environment. Candidates are expected to develop and demonstrate, through performance assessment, integrated knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become committed professionals in education.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

This course provides hands-on experiences through which students learn the basics of engineering. Topics include the engineering design process, reverse engineering, and engineering fields/professions. The course focuses on the engineering strand of the K-6 Minnesota State Science Standards.

Student teaching is the capstone field experience for the teacher education programs at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The purpose of the experience is to provide an opportunity for Teacher Candidates to experience fully the role of the professional educator and demonstrate their ability to successfully enter the induction phase of teaching. The Teacher Candidate uses this opportunity to produce evidence of their teaching competency in four domains: planning and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities.

Prerequisites:

Admission into Professional Education and the Elementary Education program

Elementary education teacher candidates will study the technology skills needed in order to become effective STEM teachers.

The practicum consists of a minimum of four weeks during which candidates teach in the specific academic subject for the new licensure field. Those holding a license at the elementary level complete the experience with students in grades 7 or 8. Those who hold a license at the secondary level complete the experience with students in grades 5 or 6. The focus is on applying the standards of effective practice in teaching students, demonstrating both knowledge of the academic subject and students as well as the pedagogical skills required at the middle level.

This course provides students with familiarity in regard to emerging topics of importance in elementary STEM education.

In this pedagogy course, elementary teachers will learn to integrate the four disciplines of STEM; science, technology, engineering, and math.

Field experience focusing on the struggling reader and instruction in an integrated approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Student teaching in a second content area for a full-day, half-semester, in a middle school setting. For elementary students student teaching in middle school.

Provides clinical experiences for pre-service teachers; extends laboratory experiences for those who have completed pre-student teaching experiences.

By contract between student and faculty member.

To prepare pre-service and in-service teachers to use technology in the elementary classroom. Applications to each content area will be considered.

Foundation level knowledge concerning the reading process and how it pertains to the ESL student including strategy instruction.

Presents strategies for teaching and reading knowledge, attitudes and skills in the various teaching content areas.

Through hands-on experiences students learn the basics of engineering needed to teach this content at the elementary school level. Topics include the engineering design process, reverse engineering, engineering fields/professions, and experience with instructional strategies. The course focuses on the engineering strand of the K-6 Minnesota State Science Standards.

Students will develop competency using the specific technology skills needed to become effective Elementary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers.

Students will become familiar with important, emerging topics in the field of elementary STEM education.

Students will learn to integrate the four disciplines of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) into their instruction in the elementary classroom.

Students will understand current trends in mathematics instruction for elementary students and develop competencies in the following: promoting reasoning and problem-solving, using mathematical representations, facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse, posing purposeful questions, building procedural fluency from conceptual understanding, supporting productive struggle, eliciting evidence of student thinking, and creating equitable opportunities in teaching and learning mathematics. Emphasis is on National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles of effective mathematics teaching and Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Selected topics explored for elementary or secondary teaching. May be repeated.