RPED Teacher Pathway
Teacher Pathway Simulations
Each simulation goes with one unit of an RPED Teacher Pathway course. You play a first-year 6th grade teacher at Sandpiper School, a fictional rural K-12 school in West River South Dakota, and make the kinds of choices real teachers make.
- Optional and ungraded. Try any of them, in any order.
- About 15 to 20 minutes each. You can stop and pick up where you left off.
- Private. Progress saves only in the browser you use, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- Works offline. Choose Download, then open the saved file in any web browser.
EDFN 102: Introduction to Education
10 simulations, one per unit.
Unit 1: Purpose of Schools
The Hanson Gift
Find out what people in Sandpiper think school is for, and why they think it.
Open The Hanson Gift (opens in a new tab)Download The Hanson Gift
Unit 2: Teaching Throughout History
The Centennial Box
Build a display that tells the truth about how teaching and school have changed here, including the parts that are hard to look at.
Open The Centennial Box (opens in a new tab)Download The Centennial Box
Unit 3: Personal Teaching Philosophy
The First Six Weeks
Build a class where students can learn and treat each other well, and where you can last the whole year.
Open The First Six Weeks (opens in a new tab)Download The First Six Weeks
Unit 4: Trends and Future Directions
The Vendor Pitch
Figure out what this tool would really mean for your students, separate the evidence from the sales pitch, and make a recommendation you can defend to families, colleagues, and the board.
Open The Vendor Pitch (opens in a new tab)Download The Vendor Pitch
Unit 5: Daily Duties
A Tuesday in October
Get through the day in a way you could repeat tomorrow.
Open A Tuesday in October (opens in a new tab)Download A Tuesday in October
Unit 6: Career Pathways
The Hiring Committee
Figure out what each applicant needs to be certified to teach in South Dakota, recommend someone who can really do the job, and be fair to all four.
Open The Hiring Committee (opens in a new tab)Download The Hiring Committee
Unit 7: Rural Communities
Many Hats
Get ready for your students, decide which extra roles to take on, and find what this place can teach that a textbook can't.
Unit 8: Educational Systems
Three Offers
Figure out how these schools really differ, decide what matters most to you, and choose.
Unit 9: Common Misconceptions
Summers Off, Right?
Notice the misconceptions, figure out what's really true, and answer them in a way that changes minds instead of starting fights.
Open Summers Off, Right? (opens in a new tab)Download Summers Off, Right?
Unit 10: Professional Growth
The Growth Plan
Look honestly at your first year, decide where to grow, spend your small budget well, and build a network that will still be there when Linda retires.
Open The Growth Plan (opens in a new tab)Download The Growth Plan
SPED 100: Introduction to Persons with Exceptionalities
14 simulations, one per unit.
Unit 1: The Importance of Understanding Exceptionalities
Ruby's Room Too
Make Room 14 work for Ruby, and make it a place where she can do what she came to do: learn to teach.
Open Ruby's Room Too (opens in a new tab)Download Ruby's Room Too
Unit 2: Historical Development of Special Education
The Old Annex
Find out what the annex was, how special education got from there to here, and what that history means for what the board is proposing now.
Open The Old Annex (opens in a new tab)Download The Old Annex
Unit 3: Legislation and Policies
The Musical and the Field Trip
Figure out which law applies to each situation, who to talk to, and what the school actually has to do.
Open The Musical and the Field Trip (opens in a new tab)Download The Musical and the Field Trip
Unit 4: Referral and Placement
Owen's Year
Help Owen get the right support at the right time.
Unit 5: Ethical Considerations
Need to Know
Protect your students' private information without shutting people out, and make sure the decisions made about your students are fair.
Unit 6: Data and Categories
The Team Meeting
Read the numbers honestly, without drawing conclusions they can't support or exposing students in a school this small.
Open The Team Meeting (opens in a new tab)Download The Team Meeting
Unit 7: ADHD
Lily's Week
Help Lily do the project she's capable of, without making her feel singled out.
Unit 8: Autism
The Schedule Change
Prepare Theo for the trip the way his IEP and his own words say, support him well when the plan falls apart, and help the people around him understand autism a little better by the end of the day.
Open The Schedule Change (opens in a new tab)Download The Schedule Change
Unit 9: Dyslexia
The Textbook Chapter
Give Owen full access to the history, protect the progress he's made, and do it without making him the kid who gets the special version in front of everyone.
Open The Textbook Chapter (opens in a new tab)Download The Textbook Chapter
Unit 10: Accommodations and Modifications
Nine Weeks
Choose supports that match each student's real needs, watch the data as it comes in, and change what isn't working.
Unit 11: Collaborative Practices
Co-Teaching Week
Make co-teaching a real partnership instead of one teacher and a helper, and get the most out of specialists who are rarely in the building.
Open Co-Teaching Week (opens in a new tab)Download Co-Teaching Week
Unit 12: Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners
One Lesson, Sixteen Learners
Design the lesson so every student can get in, keep it challenging for students who are ahead, and handle the moments when it doesn't go to plan.
Open One Lesson, Sixteen Learners (opens in a new tab)Download One Lesson, Sixteen Learners
Unit 13: Family and Community Partnerships
The Brekkes
Keep both of Owen's parents informed and on the team, help them find support beyond the school, and get everyone to the March meeting ready to work together.
Unit 14: Technology and Resources
The AT Trial
Find tools that actually fit each student's needs and life, including spotty home internet.
INED 211: South Dakota Indian Studies
13 simulations, one per unit.
In review. These simulations are still in cultural review. They are available to try now, and some content may change after review.
Unit 1: Personal Background
Where You're Coming From
Send a first letter and first assignment that every family in your class can actually use, and start a relationship that runs both ways.
Open Where You're Coming From (opens in a new tab)Download Where You're Coming From
Unit 2: Family Traditions
Conference Night
Use conferences to learn what your students know and who taught it to them, and let that change what you see in class.
Open Conference Night (opens in a new tab)Download Conference Night
Unit 3: South Dakota Educational Data
The Data Packet
Write a summary that's accurate about what the data shows, honest about what it leaves out, and fair to students, families, and the school.
Open The Data Packet (opens in a new tab)Download The Data Packet
Unit 4: Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Values
Rows and Circles
Change your classroom so more students learn and take part, in ways that respect what you've been learning instead of turning it into decoration.
Open Rows and Circles (opens in a new tab)Download Rows and Circles
Unit 5: Family and Community Structures
Who Signs the Form?
Work with Delores and Renee as the family they are, and notice where the school's paperwork, and your own project, assume a different kind of family.
Open Who Signs the Form? (opens in a new tab)Download Who Signs the Form?
Unit 6: Oral Traditions
The Story Unit
Plan a story unit that teaches how oral tradition works, uses Lakota stories only in ways that respect who they belong to, and builds on stories your students' own families tell.
Open The Story Unit (opens in a new tab)Download The Story Unit
Unit 7: Historical Relationships
The Textbook Gap
Teach an accurate, age-appropriate lesson about the treaties, the Black Hills, and the boarding school era, using strong sources and handling hard history with care.
Open The Textbook Gap (opens in a new tab)Download The Textbook Gap
Unit 8: Treaties and Federal Policies
Following the Funding
Explain accurately where Sandpiper's federal Indian education money comes from and what it can be used for, and connect it to the treaty obligations the course describes.
Open Following the Funding (opens in a new tab)Download Following the Funding
Unit 9: Contemporary Issues
The Language Club
Help a language club happen in a way that's led by the community, open to the students and families it's meant for, and good for every student's sense of who they are.
Open The Language Club (opens in a new tab)Download The Language Club
Unit 10: OSEUs and Lesson Design
The Unit Rewrite
Rewrite the unit so the OSEU connections are real: specific, accurate, measurable, and something you can actually teach well.
Open The Unit Rewrite (opens in a new tab)Download The Unit Rewrite
Unit 11: Sustainable Partnerships
The Last-Minute Speaker
Help Linda without making the same mistakes, and turn a last-minute request into the start of a partnership that gives back and lasts.
Open The Last-Minute Speaker (opens in a new tab)Download The Last-Minute Speaker
Unit 12: Indigenous Teaching Methods
The Creek Walk
Plan a creek study where students learn by watching, doing, and being mentored, in a real place, with the right people, and where everyone can take part.
Open The Creek Walk (opens in a new tab)Download The Creek Walk
Unit 13: Assessments
Show What You Know
Build an observational tool and an oral assessment that measure real learning, give every student a fair way to show it, and hold up when someone asks, "How do you know?"
Open Show What You Know (opens in a new tab)Download Show What You Know
All people and places in these simulations are fictional, and Sandpiper School District is not a real district. Real laws, data, and organizations named in a simulation were checked when it was written. Check current sources before relying on them.
Questions about the simulations or the program? Visit the RPED Teacher Pathway page.
The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.