Pathways to Teaching (P-TEACH)

• Open to 10th – 12th graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Fall semester every year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 college credits)

Does the idea of working with “the littles” excite and inspire you? Learn all about the world of Early Childhood Education, birth-3rd grade. This course provides an overview of the early childhood profession and the philosophical and historical foundations of services to young children and their families. State and national trends, resources and standards for early childhood care and education, professionalism, and code of ethical conduct are examined. Key areas of ECE professional knowledge are introduced: developmental domains and milestones, developmentally appropriate practice, evidence–based practice and intentional teaching, curriculum models, guidance strategies, family and community relationships, diversity and inclusion, and the leadership skills and organizational climate to support quality early care and education work settings.

This is a required class for Early Childhood Education degrees, Director Certificates, and ECT Certificates

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

“This should be a required class for all high schoolers!”-former Child Ecology student. This course focuses on the study of human growth, development and ecology from conception to adolescence. The emphasis is on the major theories of child growth and development and the implications of current research findings to better understand child development and how children learn.

This is a required class for Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education degrees

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Would you like to learn how to address children’s social emotional needs and how to create a connected community in your classroom? This course explores and applies classroom strategies to promote social competence, build classroom community and facilitate emotional regulation. An emphasis is on understanding development within group contexts, observing children’s behavior and engaging with families to make decisions about learning. A strong emphasis in Social Emotional Learning will boost your skills working with students. 

This is a required class for Early Childhood Education degrees, Director Certificates, and ECT Certificates 

• Open to 10 – 12th graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Fall, spring, and summer semesters every year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Want to see what the profession of teaching looks and feels like while earning college credit?  Work in a classroom, helping a teacher, and gain invaluable experience with students. This field experience and seminar is designed to support your first foray into educator preparation. You will be introduced to the wide array of skills and practices that support working effectively with youth in the context of their local community. Working within the community to support children’s academic and social development requires a disposition of being grounded in the community—the experiences of this seminar, paired with your work at a local school or community organization will help you to develop this grounding. This course requires 60 hours of meeting time with student and instructor per semester for 0.5 credits and completion of a meeting log with specific meeting times and dates.

This is a required class for all education degrees.

• Open to 10th – 12th graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Want to learn how to become one of those teachers who creates a strong sense of belonging in their classroom? This course explores the relationship between language, identity, and power in various international contexts. The course considers how legacies of inequality for particular communities are reflected in societal attitudes about languages and language users and subsequent language planning. 

This is a required class for all CU Denver education degrees and will likely transfer as an elective elsewhere.

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule:  Offered fall semester every school year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Would you like to learn more about the world of Special Education and the strengths and needs of students with special needs?  This course is designed to provide a basic introduction to special education and the needs of students who have disabilities. It includes introductory material regarding legal and historical foundations of special education, human growth and development, the nature of disabilities, and an introduction to the basic human needs that must be addressed. 

This is a required class for most education degrees.

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Would you like to use the design thinking process to create lesson plans that engage students with technology? The STEM Methods course is a framework-based class where students will develop a strong understanding of the STEM for All framework, focusing on integration, innovation, essential skills, personalization, adaptation and connection. This framework will support the development of a STEM mindset, and by learning these processes, students will create STEM-aligned lesson plans for any content or grade.  Students will use these skills to plan and carry out their own STEM-aligned lessons. 

This will transfer as an elective class.

• Open to 10th – 12th graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Are you interested in evaluating the trustworthiness of different forms of media and creating digital content of your own? In this course, you will learn to effectively use a variety of digital tools and media for your own learning, designing lessons for your students, and sharing content with a professional learning network. If you are interested in any STEM-related field, this class will bolster your teaching skills in this area. This is a survey of technology for: (1) your own learning, informally and in classes; (2) your students’ learning when you become a teacher; and (3) sharing with peers and colleagues. Use tools to address problems of equity, access, and learning needs.

This is a required class for all CU Denver education degrees and will likely transfer as an elective elsewhere.

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Do you believe learning should be fun and project-based? Do you like choice, applied learning and human-centered design?In this course, you will learn about maker culture and tools while collaborating with others to creatively solve real-world problems using design thinking. These challenges will prepare you to design engaging and innovative learning experiences. If you are interested in any STEM-related field, this class will bolster your teaching skills in this area. 

This will transfer as an elective class.

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Ever wonder how authors use children’s literature to teach, inspire, connect, include, and expand children’s worlds?  This course explores both classic and contemporary children’s and adolescent literature and media in traditional and digital texts, specifically focusing on developing literary understandings, exploring perspectives and personal responses to literature, and inquiring into trends and issues.

This is a required class for most Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education degrees.

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Want to know how to meet the needs of your individual students in ways that honor their strengths and uniqueness? This course will introduce Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an important, contemporary educational philosophy, a set of principles & techniques that focus on strategies and tools to help ALL students by accommodating their differences in inclusive classroom settings.

This will most likely be a required class for a Special Education degree and is typically an elective class elsewhere

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Interested in learning the process of human development from birth to adulthood? This course is designed to introduce students to human development in ecological settings in particular family, school and community contexts as it occurs across the lifespan, including emotional, physical, and cognitive development, and emphasizes personal adjustment and achievement. This is a necessary pathway course for those interested in pursuing secondary education and will extend into developmental stages past age 18. 

This is a required class for Secondary Education degrees and other K-12 specializations like Physical Education, Art, World  Language, etc. 

• Open to 10th – 12th Graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Offered on a rotating schedule every other year
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

 Behind each prepared teacher, is an understanding of how to take care of children’s needs. This course focuses on nutrition, health, and safety as a key factor for optimal growth and development of young children. Content includes nutrient knowledge, menu planning, food program participation, health practices, management and safety, appropriate classroom activities and communication with families. 

This is a required class for Early Childhood Education degrees and Director Certificates

• Open to 9th – 12th graders
• Credit: 0.5 Practical Arts
• Schedule: Fall, spring, and summer semesters every year

Want to explore what the profession of teaching looks and feels like? Work in a classroom, helping a teacher, and gain invaluable experiences with students. Students are eligible to participate in an education specific internship in the P-TEACH pathway of their choice. Internship opportunities are individualized to match the interests of the student. Current internship opportunities range from Community Schools, PreK, Elementary, or Secondary Education, Music, Art, SPED, Speech, Coaches, Project Launch during the summer, etc. This course requires 40 hours of classroom participation directly with students as well as online coursework and check-ins with the instructor. This class can be taken multiple times.

• Open to 12th grade P-Teach students
• Credit: 0.5 Language Arts
• Schedule: Fall semester after school
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Does the idea of reading, writing, and research about teaching-related issues sound interesting? Are you a P-TEACH student? This course provides opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences, with an emphasis on learning how to respond to various rhetorical situations; improving critical thinking, reading, and writing abilities; understanding various writing processes; and gaining a deeper knowledge of language conventions. Please note, this class is a combination of adults and high school students. 

English Comp 1 &2 will satisfy both college English requirements. 

• Open to 12th grade P-Teach students
• Credit: 0.5 Language Arts
• Prerequisite: PS3478 English Composition 1
• Schedule: Spring semester after school
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (3 College Credits)

Deepen your understanding of research and writing for different purposes in the context of teaching.  This class focuses on academic and other types of research-based writing and builds on the work completed in ENGL Comp 1. This class focuses on critical thinking, reading and writing as well as working with primary and secondary source material to produce a variety of research-based essays. There is emphasis on using both print-based and electronic-based information. Please note, this class is a combination of adults and high school students. 

English Comp 1 &2 will satisfy both college English requirements. Can be combined with AP English to satisfy college requirements

• Open to 12th grade P-Teach students
• Credit: 1.0 Mathematics
• Schedule: 1 year course; fall and spring semester after school
• Concurrent Enrollment CU – Denver (4 College Credits)

Would you like to learn how teachers use data in their practices while earning college credit and satisfying your college math requirement?  Take a supported and in depth look at the world of statistics in the context of education. Learn basic statistical concepts, summarizing data, probability concepts, distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing. This is an all year class. 
This class will satisfy college math requirements. May not be necessary for Secondary Math Education degrees