Category Archives: Teaching Online

Digital Strategies for the Multi-Grade Classroom

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Written by Alan Uher

Stressing over distance learning? Is the imminence of a pivot to distance learning getting you down? Struggling with meeting the needs of students who are not present while others are? A team of MLC educators presented ideas for online learning in June 2020 to encourage WELS teachers to embrace distance learning, unmask its blessings, and utilize existing technology resources to serve students who cannot be in our classrooms.

Having had the privilege of visiting nearly 100 MLC teacher candidates in over five dozen WELS elementary classrooms, I have gleaned ideas and current web resources, teaching tools, and assessment strategies that may assist you in delivering quality instruction in less-than-quality circumstances. Continue reading →

Quarantine Kids

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Written by Jason Schmidt

Coronavirus is here to stay, and we now need to move past crisis education and into utilizing our available resources to meet our students’ needs. Utilizing technology appropriately in a classroom is no longer optional since it has become an essential tool for connecting students with their classrooms—especially when students are in quarantine or isolation for days at a time.

Video conferencing tools like Google Meet and Zoom have been used to help give students an opportunity to participate in class even though they may be in isolation or quarantine. The following tips will help teachers make this experience beneficial for students both in school and out of school. Continue reading →

What We’ll Keep

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Reflections from the MLC Faculty & Staff

Gathered by Laurie Gauger-Hested

We’ve all learned a lot during this strange time: new ways of teaching and connecting and being. These lessons learned are certainly not worth the pain and loss of life this virus has wrought. Still, we don’t want them to go to waste.

I asked the MLC faculty and staff what new corona-inspired habits they’d like to keep when (or if) things get back to normal. Here are some of their thoughts on teaching. Yes, they’re college profs, but many of these ideas apply at every level of education. Continue reading →

Social-Emotional Learning in the Distance Learning Classroom

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Written by Professor Kelli Green

Dear Educators,

Remember the beginning of the school year? When we spent extra time each day creating a warm and structured learning environment for our students, a safe place for them to express themselves and take risks required to grow and belong as part of a community of learners? In the past month, our world has completely changed due to the coronavirus, moving our classrooms into our homes, where we interact over a distance through technology. Our once-normal teaching and learning environments, full of the expected school day routines and the safety we had so carefully created, have moved into an online audio and video environment with which we have little experience. Continue reading →

Tips to Avoid Zoom Bombing

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Written by Jason Schmidt

Zoom video conferencing is an amazing free tool teachers can use to connect with their students. Just like anything, though, we’re finding out that something that should be really positive is making negative headlines.

It’s all over the news. Random people are dropping in on classroom meetings over Zoom and causing all sorts of disruption. They hijack the presenter’s screen to share inappropriate or disturbing content. They fill the chat room with all kinds of garbage and disrupt class audibly. “Zoom bombing,” as it’s known, is becoming a favorite pastime of many internet trolls and bored teenagers. Whole communities have popped up, sharing information on how to continue this practice.

While this new pastime is annoying, disruptive, and potentially harmful, you can take some actions to secure your classrooms. Continue reading →

Advancing Your Students Through Online Learning

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Written by Angela Hanson

How are you, your students, and their families doing now that COVID-19 has completely up-ended your lives, taken you out of the classroom, and suddenly thrown you into the world of distance learning?

While this educational arrangement may not be your normal, it has been my normal for the past seven years. I teach middle school and, previously, high school Spanish online for the Association of Lutheran High Schools Online. I also homeschool my children, ages 3, 6, 8, and 10.

Given that experience, I want to encourage you as you transition into teaching online to students who are learning from home. It is possible to advance your students in their learning! I also want you to mentally prepare (if you haven’t already) for the possibility that distance learning will be your new normal for the rest of the school year. Continue reading →

School Closures and Distance Learning for Lutheran Schools

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Written by Rachel Pierson

My body has been beyond the confines of my yard twice in the last two weeks. My attention has been many places around the world. This current global pandemic is unknown and unfamiliar, yet we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God.

Our schools, businesses, and churches are closed. We see hashtags like #StayAtHome, #SocialDistancing, and #ShelterInPlace, and many government and health officials proclaim that we are not allowed to meet in groups. For me, that means that having dinner with the family members that live in the same town—once a weekly occurrence—now are not advised due to the number of people. It means that weekly worship with the family of believers now happens from my living room while many others do the same.

Yet we find new ways to share God’s love as well as continue to help students grow in their knowledge. Some states have proclaimed that schools will not reopen this school year. In others, teachers work overtime to prepare content and deliver lessons virtually, because no one knows yet how long this will last. What are things educators should remember as we embark on this remote learning experience? Continue reading →

Things I’ve Learned About Teaching Online

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The perspective of a current online grade 7-8 Algebra 1 teacher and former high school math teacher

Written by Emily Grunwald

The coronavirus has created new challenges for teachers and students. With little time and training, teachers are moving lessons online. I’ve been teaching math online for the Association of Lutheran High Schools Online (ALHSO) program for several years. Here are some things I’ve learned. Continue reading →