Elementary Education Field Experiences

The Elementary Education program prepares you to teach children in kindergarten through sixth grade in a self-contained classroom. Elementary education is a career in which you can find the satisfaction of helping children learn, work closely with other caring adults, and contribute to the future of the world by educating tomorrow's leaders.

See the Elementary Education Program page for more information about program requirements.

Teaching as a Career and Early Field Experience are designed to give students a broad perspective of the teaching profession. Students engage in 40 hours of supervised field experiences examining selected aspects of teaching and the learning environment, including students and learning, content and pedagogy, planning, instruction, and professionalism.

Block 1/A offers students the opportunity to explore the teaching profession through engaging in service learning opportunities. Students examine instructional planning, differentiating instruction, direct and indirect instructional strategies, strategies to promote student understanding, managing lesson delivery, classroom management, assessing student performance, and working with colleagues and parents.

During Block B, students engage in emergent literacy theory to foster language development, create optimal learning environments, assess and evaluate literacy learning, and provide differentiation and interventions for all learners. Students are also introduced to the principles and methods of teaching science, including the nature of science, student learning, curriculum, instructional methods and activities, equity issues, and student assessment.

During Block C, students are introduced to methods and resources for teaching social studies in with the goal of helping students develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an independent world. They also engage with the teaching of mathematics, including the nature of mathematical processes, curriculum, methods of instruction, instructional materials, and the evaluation of outcomes. Includes using technologies to enhance instruction and facilitate professional productivity.

As the capstone semester of the elementary education program, student teaching candidates are immersed in the teaching profession during a 16-week, full-time field experience.

Student Teaching Handbook and Portfolio Requirements are available on the Student Internship site in K-State Canvas.