Dr. Amanda Geidel
Professor of Education, Special Education Program Director, Department of Education Chair
402-643-7235 Amanda.Geidel@cune.eduThom Leadership Education Center 214C
2012 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award Recipient
Dr. Amanda Geidel has worked at Concordia, in a variety of roles, since 1998. She currently serves as the Education Department Chair and as the Director of Special Education. She develops courses, recruits students, leads faculty, and makes decisionsthat impact the education department. Geidel also teaches, advises special education majors, and supervises student teachers.
Dr. Geidel often presents at conferences and provides professional development for teachers and paraeducators. She spends her spare time walking, reading, and attending her children’s events. Geidel met her husband, Jeremy, at Concordia when they were both students here. The couple enjoy spending time with their four children and traveling when they get the opportunity.
“Preparing future special education teachers is both a thrill and a challenge. Our schools need great teachers! I am also passionate about preparing general education majors to have successful inclusive classrooms once they become teachers.”
Dr. Amanda Geidel
Dr. Amanda Geidel's Academic Programs
Undergraduate
Early Childhood Birth-3rd Grade Inclusive Education
The early childhood education program at Concordia University, Nebraska equips teacher candidates with a current and well-researched curriculum to help you teach children at a critical stage in their growth and development by creating an education program specific to their needs. In addition to adding the supplemental early childhood endorsement to an elementary teaching degree, Concordia Nebraska also offers a stand-alone, birth through third grade inclusive program.
Elementary Education
As an elementary educator, you are certified to teach children in kindergarten through sixth grade. You will typically spend the day with the same group of students, teaching them foundational skills in a wide variety of subjects. The liberal arts education you will receive at Concordia University, Nebraska, along with subject-specific methodology courses in the education department, will prepare you to be an outstanding elementary school teacher.
Middle Level Education
The middle level education program at Concordia Nebraska connects theory with practice to prepare graduates to teach grades 5 through 9 in both self-contained and departmentalized classrooms. As a middle level education major, you will choose from among math, science, social sciences and language arts and have the opportunity to add a second subject from those or Spanish, physical education and ELL/ESL, allowing your passion for teaching to connect with your subject-area passions, which you can share with your students.
Secondary Education
With a degree in secondary education from Concordia University, Nebraska, you will be equipped to teach grades 7-12, encouraging intellectual and emotional growth at a critical time in the lives of your students. You’ll engage in rich coursework, collaborate with faculty and gain invaluable experience first shadowing a professional teacher and then teaching in your own high school classroom.
Special Education
People who feel a calling toward working in special education will find a career that is emotionally fulfilling and personally meaningful. In addition, there is a shortage of qualified special education professionals in the United States, which means that if you decide to major in special education, you will find a wide array of career options to choose from. Most of Concordia Nebraska’s special education graduates go on to work as special education teachers. However, you can also build an exciting and meaningful career outside a typical school setting, if you would rather go that route.