Integrated Bachelor's/Master's (IB/M)
Teacher Education Program

IB/M Prompts for Fall 2024 Admission for Elementary Education

If you are a Secondary Education, Music Education, or Comprehensive Special Education applicant, please follow these instructions instead.

Relevant Experiences


Please list any of your experiences that you think are relevant to your future life as a teacher. These can include, but are not limited to, experiences you have had as a student, community member, worker, or family member. Think about what experiences developed your ability to listen to others and be responsible. Include at least one experience where you interacted with children, either inside or outside of an educational setting.

Your list doesn’t have to be long, and you can convey your experiences in a way that fits your personality. For instance, you could present an experience and then list bullet points beneath it to help readers understand what you did and how the experience might prepare you for teaching. Or you could simply list experiences and write a short explanatory paragraph beneath each one or perhaps explain one or a few of them in depth.

[Most people will use only part of one page to do this; use no more than two pages.]

Formatting

Please format your Relevant Experiences in the following manner:

  • 8.5" x 11" paper size with 1" margins
  • double-spaced using 12 pt Times or 12 pt Times New Roman
  • save your file in Word or PDF format
  • use the following for the file name: LastName-FirstName-Experiences where the LastName and FirstName are your last and first name, respectively

    Essay for Elementary Education Applicants


    Teachers today live in complex worlds full of diverse people and situations. When you think about your own classroom in the future:

    • What are some of the issues of equity and/or justice that you are excited to approach in your role as a teacher?
    • What understandings and/or skills do you want to develop in order to address this issue?
    • Tell your story of how you came to these particular understandings and skills as important to your own growth and your future students’ learning.

    Formatting

    Please format your essay in the following manner:

    • 8.5" x 11" paper size with 1" margins
    • double-spaced using 12 pt Times or 12 pt Times New Roman
    • two page maximum
    • save your file in Word or PDF format
    • use the following for the file name: LastName-FirstName-Essay where the LastName and FirstName are your last and first name, respectively

    Scoring

    Your essay will be evaluated using these criteria:

    • Content of essay
      • Relevance to the questions asked: a narrative that shows awareness of audience and teaches the reader about your specific concerns, goals, and the connections between them.
      • Clarity
      • Degree of self-reflection and critical thinking expressed in the essay
    • Effectiveness of written communication skills
      • Voice or individuality in expression
      • Organization that is clear, logical, and flowing
      • Effective use of sentences, phrases, and vocabulary to convey ideas
      • Accurate conventions, grammar, and mechanics