About the Courses

Teaching as a Profession I Honors is designed to create opportunities for high school students with strong interpersonal and leadership skills to enroll in courses in their high schools that encourage teaching as a career pathway. Students are exposed to the many facets of education through class discussion, observation, and participation in public school classrooms. Students will examine their aptitudes for teaching, learner needs and development, including students with exceptionalities, and the history, trends, and governance of education. 

Teaching as a Profession II Honors is designed to encourage students to further pursue teaching as a career. Students learn about the importance of positive learning environments, curriculum development, and utilization of a variety of instructional strategies. Students are encouraged to complete both Teaching as a Profession II and Teaching as a Profession Field Experience in the same semester. 

Teaching as a Profession Field Experience Honors allows students to participate in guided and independent classroom leadership activities with mentoring from their cooperating teacher. The field experience provides students with the skills and tools that are an integral and complementary component of Teaching as a Profession I and II, which assist in developing pedagogical skills, knowledge, and characteristics necessary for effective teaching. 

Child Development Honors allows students to investigate the major influences on child development including culture, heredity, and environmental factors. Students explore the importance of early relationships and how they promote healthy brain development while identifying characteristics of children birth through age five.  Students identify the different theories of child development and their impact on the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive domains of development in children.  Students gain the knowledge and skills for careers in early childhood development and services. 

Early Childhood Education I prepares students for careers in early childhood education or related fields (birth through age 8) by understanding historical, theoretical, and philosophical foundations of the early childhood profession (1.00), applying appropriate learning activities and teaching strategies to developmental domains in building curriculum (2.00), applying techniques for communicating expectations, setting limits, and guiding behavior (3.00), applying techniques for inclusive classroom environments (4.00), understanding early childhood education foundational components (5.00), and understanding factors related to personal growth and the field of child development (6.00).  Early Childhood Education I has a required internship component. This internship is intended to provide students with authentic work experience in a variety of early childhood settings (birth through age 8). This experience allows them to have firsthand knowledge of what it means to teach and care for young children. Students should be placed in local child care centers in a variety of age groups to see development across the early years. The internship should equate to 50% of the course, approximately 135 hours. The internship consists of writing lesson plans, putting together a portfolio, and engaging with children at a local child care center.