Author Archives: MLC

Autism: Identification and Intervention

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Written by Dr. Carrie Pfeifer

Chances are, if you work with children, you will work with a child with autism. The prevalence of autism has been on the rise—an increase of over 60% within the last decade. Today, the CDC states that 1 in 54 children will be impacted by autism, and boys are affected 4.3 times more than girls (Data and Statistics on Autism, 2020).

Research has shown that “early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is essential to ensure that children can access specialized evidence-based interventions that can help to optimize long-term outcomes” (Zwaigenbaum et al., 2015, p. S10). Families within our congregations, schools, and communities need education, guidance, and support to find much needed early identification and intervention services. These needs can be provided, at least in part, by our church and school communities.      Continue reading →

The Crisis for Teens Today

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Written by Dr. Phil Huebner

What’s going on with teens today? It doesn’t take much effort to see that hiding behind all the photo-shopped pics and forced smiles in the hallway are teens who are suffering immensely. So what’s the tea on teens? (Tea is teen speak for info, gossip, or the lowdown.)

As the campus pastor at a Lutheran high school, this is something I think about and get asked about often. There are certainly many pressing issues today. The breakdown of the family, the absence of fathers, social media influence, the non-stop onslaught of temptation and easy access to evil, the overwhelming schedules, the pressure to perform in classes and tests in order to build the perfect college resume—all these things and more are major teen problems today.

But I will suggest to you that these present realities contribute to one greater, fundamental problem for teens today. Teens are suffering from an identity crisis. More specifically, Christian teens today are losing focus on who they are in Jesus. Continue reading →

Developing a Growth Mindset in Churches and Schools

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Written by Aaron Markgraf

It’s no secret. Many Lutheran churches and schools around the country are struggling to find ways to grow. They see many of the long-time members of their congregation go home to heaven. They’re trying to find ways to replace large graduating classes with equal or greater incoming classes. They’re competing with other churches that offer more “modern” worship styles. They’re battling other private or even public schools with updated facilities and numerous extracurricular offerings. So what do we do?

It starts with leaders.
I’ve had the chance to be a part of many different ministry teams in my life, and one thing about successful, growing ministries always holds true: solid leadership. It’s people who focus on relationship building and working to make sure that students and their families are connected to Jesus through the work of the church and school. It’s people who understand education and what students need to be successful. One person alone cannot carry a ministry on their back with these things alone. Rather, it takes an entire faculty, staff, and ministry team that buy into this mindset. Continue reading →

Serving Families in Crisis:

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Understanding What Is Needed in Light of the ‘One Thing Needful’

By Dr. Joshua Mears, Christian Family Solutions

A child suddenly loses a parent. A teen begins acting out after years of abuse. Chronic illness. Suicide. Divorce. Addiction. All of these situations shake individuals to the core and threaten to destroy the foundational units of society—our families.

Called workers often have the distinct opportunity to minister to families in their times of greatest need. I want to encourage and embolden you, “and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

While assessing needs and intervening with appropriate treatment is the work of a clinical counselor, called workers can be an important support. Clinically trained Christians in the counseling vocation see called workers as important partners to serve families in crisis. Continue reading →

Hitting Reset on Classroom Management

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Written by Professor Benjamin Clemons

The past year and a half has brought countless changes to education. We have had to reformulate and reexamine all aspects of teaching, including classroom management. As we, Lord willing, begin to transition back to “normal” face-to-face instruction, we have a golden opportunity to restart better by evaluating the routines and procedures that constitute much of the school day.

We will essentially be reteaching how to go to school. Do we want to return to what we were doing before, or is this an opportunity to rethink how we manage our classrooms? Continue reading →

Moments of Learning in Mathematics

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Written by Dr. James Carlovsky

Important moments of learning do occur in a classroom. For many classroom teachers, these moments can be difficult to describe. “Skilled teachers often recognize when important mathematical moments occur during a lesson” (Leatham et al., 2015, p. 88). This article intends to shed light on these important moments of learning on behalf of the classroom students and their teachers.

Pedagogical Moves
So, what does a teacher do? These classroom student moments of learning often can lead to a classroom teacher action, also known as a pedagogical move (Jacobs et al., 2010). These moments of learning may lead a classroom teacher to ask a specific question, to revise a portion of a lesson, to refine what a classroom student has expressed, or even to test a classroom student in a formal or informal way (Lesh et al., 2003) So, what do teachers do in the process of student learning? Sherin suggested that “emphasis on understanding the ideas that students offer is one of the hallmarks of mathematics education”(2001, p. 84). A teacher should keep a focus on the student and their thought process. Continue reading →

Building Relationships Through Active Technology

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Written by Professor Rachel Feld

Picture a child using technology. What do you see? Is it a grade-schooler in a restaurant, glued to a screen instead of talking to their family? Or maybe a baby in their bouncy seat complete with a tablet holder? (Really, this was an actual product—although it doesn’t seem to be available anymore.) These pictures all come to mind for me too. The negative effects of technology on our children seem to be everywhere.

But I like to focus on a picture from my own childhood. I’m with my dad in his office, playing a game on his lap or learning about the new gadget or program he brought home from work. These are some of my favorite childhood memories, and they’re a big reason why I’m involved in technology to this day.

What’s the difference between these pictures? Why does the first picture make me cringe while the other gives me warm fuzzy feelings? While there are many factors that separate these different technology uses, one of the biggest factors is how the technology is being used and, more specifically, whether that use is active or passive. Continue reading →

Cultural Responsiveness in Christian Education – Part 2

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Part 2 – Cultural Responsiveness in Schools

Written by Benjamin Clemons

This article is part 2 of a 2-part series. As WELS schools experience growing diversity in their enrollments through either active outreach or demographic shifts, they will need to examine the ways in which culture influences teaching and policy. In part 2 we will consider the impact of culture in schools.

Recognizing the Influence of Culture
A school’s operation consists of more than the policy written in the handbook, and classroom instruction involves much more than the lessons printed in the textbooks. We design school policy and instructional practice based on multiple factors. In WELS schools, we begin with the purpose of Christian education, often explicating foundational principles and explaining how the school serves the mission of the congregation and the work of the kingdom. We also consider pedagogically sound practices, the faculty’s composition and gifts, and the resources available.

We produce school handbooks and curriculum guides to spell out much of our rationale, but there are often unwritten rules based on common assumptions or beliefs. For example, traditionally, schools held parent/teacher conferences in the afternoon and evening based on the often reasonable and accurate assumption that most of their parents work one job during the day. In a school serving primarily middle-class two-parent families, this model probably causes little conflict. However, as more parents work multiple jobs or work in the afternoon and evening hours, and as our schools encounter more single-parent families, this assumption no longer holds. Continue reading →

Cultural Responsiveness in Christian Education – Part 1

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Part 1 – Examining Culture

Written by Benjamin Clemons

This article is part 1 of a 2-part series exploring cultural responsiveness in Christian education. As WELS schools experience growing diversity in their enrollments through either active outreach or demographic shifts, they will need to examine the ways in which culture influences teaching and policy. In part 1 we will begin by looking at culture and its impact.

There is a growing call for culturally responsive teaching practice in public schools (Linton-Howard, 2017; Saphier, 2016). What does this entail, and is it appropriate for WELS schools? I believe that it is beneficial for Lutheran schools to consider the cultures of students and their families in determining teaching practice and school policy. Doing this well requires a careful balance between the necessity for common points of understanding and the biblical encouragement to be all things to all people (1 Cor. 9:10-23). Continue reading →

Sustaining Compassion in Education, Part 2

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Written by Kelli L. Green

In part 1 of this series, we discussed the stress that teachers are under during these difficult times and how important it is to show compassion to those they serve.

Masks. Quarantine. Isolation. Distance learning. Discrimination. Riots. Political divides. We live in a challenging time. Education and everything we have known about it has changed over the past year. Reaching our students through a mask, a computer screen, or even through alarmed brain states have been our new reality. When faced with adversity, we need to step back and understand our own behavior. When we understand ourselves, it makes us more capable of understanding our students’ behavior. Continue reading →