Written by Dr. John Meyer
Five years ago, I asked the question, “Can Lutheran schools reimagine the principal position” (Meyer, 2017)? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”
At that time, the Wisconsin synod had just begun a system-wide effort to increase Lutheran principal time, training, and compensation. The goal was to increase principal effectiveness and retention so that Lutheran schools and students would thrive.
Five years later, new data reveals that those efforts are Continue reading
Written by Nicole Lehman
The following is a brief summary of Nicole’s Graduate Studies Capstone project, “Developing a Peer Tutoring Program for Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School.” There will be a link at the end of the article if you would like to read her entire paper.
The Problem
“I don’t get it.” “This is too hard.” “It doesn’t make sense.” “Can you help me with . . .?” How often do you hear these or some variety of these statements each week? How often do these questions come 30 seconds before class starts/ends or before you need to get to your extra-curricular? I think we can all agree that we love when our students ask for help and wish we had more time in our day to actually sit down and give them the help they need.
The Solution
Since we don’t have access to Hermione Granger’s Time-Turner necklace, which would give us more time to get stuff done, one solution to this problem is peer tutoring.
We all have students in our schools who excel in one or more subject areas and have the ability to explain/teach what they know to others. The problem is, we don’t always know who they are, and sometimes they themselves don’t realize that they have this gift. Continue reading
Written by Elizabeth Poncelet
This was the title of a session that I attended at the Minnesota Educators Association Conference (MEA) in October of 2019. As an elementary music specialist, I was hooked. I knew that music supported literacy and math; I simply needed the data to back it up. So this was the start of my research project, Music: The Link to Literacy.
Correlation Between Music and Literacy
Previous research has indicated that there is a correlation between music training and reading, specifically pre-reading abilities (Corrigall & Trainor, 2011). According to Hall and Robinson (2019), music and reading share three primary learning processes: auditory processing—which is the ability to hear and manage sound; symbolic representation processing—which is the use of symbols to communicate a message; and coding processing—which is the ability to use encoding and decoding processes to make meaning. With their individual studies, Moreno, Friesen, and Bialystok (2011) and Swierk (2018) supported this belief that music training for children improved rhyme awareness, the ability to understand that a symbol can be a representation of a concept, and memory processes. Continue reading
Written by Dr. Kristi Meyer
Can I eat popcorn and ice cream for dinner? Sure (and I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I’ve done so recently). Should I eat popcorn and ice cream for dinner? Clearly not. It’s not a balanced meal, and the nutritional value is terrible.
We have no problem separating “can I?” and “should I?” in meal planning. But what about when it comes to women fulfilling leadership roles in our churches and schools? What about women serving as Lutheran elementary school principals or ushers or church board members? Can a woman serve in each of these roles? Should she? Here, we’re often much more reticent to make a distinction between “can” and “should.”
Differentiating Between Principle and Application
In order to determine whether we’re in a “can” or a “should” situation, we need to clearly understand the difference between biblical principles and applications. Biblical principles are timeless, foundational teachings that transcend culture, time, and place.
Applications, on the other hand, are specific ways these principles play out in our lives. Unlike principles, applications can and sometimes do change, both from biblical times to now and from one contemporary situation to another.
When it comes to roles of men and women, the biblical principle in view is that of headship. God created men to fill the role of head, and he created women to fulfill the role of helper. In the apostle Paul’s writings about these roles, he often switches back and forth between principle and application. Differentiating between the two can be challenging, but doing so is crucial when examining and evaluating individual situations. Continue reading
This blog ends a three-article series on the importance of adopting a culturally responsive approach in Lutheran schools. As communities become more diverse, Lutheran schools will want to become more diverse as well. Crossing cultural lines with the gospel can be difficult, as the early church quickly learned (Acts 15). The series is written by Professor Tingting Schwartz, who has personally experienced and intellectually examined these challenges, providing valuable insights to anyone wishing to minister to new people groups.
What Books Are on Your Classroom Bookshelf?
Written by Professor Tingting Schwartz
My previous blogs discussed intercultural competence development for educators and anti-bias education for young children. For the third one, using the Racial/Cultural Identity Development (R/CID) model proposed by Derald Wing Sue and David Sue, I will shift the perspective to racially, ethnically, and culturally (REC) diverse students and focus on the nurturance of their racial and cultural identity.
What Do We See?
The demographics of the United States are increasingly diversified. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2020), the non-Hispanic white population decreased to 57.8%. The second-largest racial or ethnic group is the Hispanic or Latino population, comprising 18.7%. The third-largest group is the Black or African American population at 12.1%. The percentage of non-Hispanic white children under 18 is 49.8%, less than half of the total children population. About two in three children are projected to be a race other than non-Hispanic White by 2060 (The U.S. Census Bureau, p.8). Continue reading
This blog is the second in a three-article series on the importance of adopting a culturally responsive approach in Lutheran schools. As communities become more diverse, Lutheran schools will want to become more diverse as well. Crossing cultural lines with the gospel can be difficult, as the early church quickly learned (Acts 15). The series is written by Professor Tingting Schwartz, who has personally experienced and intellectually examined these challenges, providing valuable insights to anyone wishing to minister to new people groups.
Written by Professor Tingting Schwartz
What Do We See?
It was a bright sunny afternoon when I picked up my son Elijah from his preschool room. I first talked with Elijah in Chinese and then a student teacher in English. A young girl from the other preschool room overheard our conversations, so she turned to her teacher and asked: “Why does she [referring to me] talk differently?” That young teacher was not prepared for such a question. She froze, and her face flushed. This curious young girl repeated her question: “Why does she talk differently?” Such a great question, yet the teacher seemed to be embarrassed by this question. What did this young girl mean by saying, “talk differently”? Was she curious what language I was using with Elijah? Did she detect my foreign accent when I spoke to the teacher? Why did the teacher not know how to answer this question? What social meaning did she attach to this word “different” when hearing it?
There was still no response as I was about to leave. I thought this was a great teachable moment, and I should not miss it. Hence, I went back and lowered myself to that young girl’s eye level: “You asked a great question! I bet you heard a difference between my English and yours! I grew up in China, so Chinese is my mother tongue. I learned English, your mother tongue, when I was an adult, so English isn’t my first language. This is why I only speak Chinese with Elijah. This is also why my English sounds a little different from yours.”
Did I know how to respond appropriately to this kind of situation years ago? No. I learned my lesson by encountering similar experiences in my daily life and reflecting on them.
Let me tell you another similar story. Continue reading
Written by Dr. Susan Decker
It’s the beginning of another school year, and as the students settle into their new routines, I find myself thinking about how much academic and emotional growth they will experience over the year. But what about their spiritual growth as children of God? A student’s walk of faith is the most important part of life’s journey, yet you won’t find a question about their spiritual growth in between the multiple choice and short-answer questions on an exam.
How can we foster a love for God’s Word in our school culture? How can we help our students develop an authentic, personal connection with their faith that goes beyond memorization of Bible verses and regurgitating the expected catechism answers? Continue reading
Written by Dr. Rachel Youngblom
It is likely that you know, have taught, or have interacted with a child who has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Furthermore, it is possible that you may not even have been aware of the child’s diagnosis, based on the severity of his or her symptoms, let alone the social and emotional challenges that a child with autism experiences daily. While teachers should not attempt to make a diagnosis, they will likely encounter students, whether diagnosed or not, who have difficulty making friends due to their social, emotional, and communicative challenges.
Teaching Children Social Skills
A child with Autism Spectrum Disorder demonstrates social difficulties in various ways, such as deficits in social and emotional reciprocity (e.g., conversational turn-taking, sharing of interests and emotions), and difficulties understanding and using nonverbal communicative behavior (e.g., eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, body language) and developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships (e.g., understanding of friendships, “stranger danger”) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Continue reading
Written by Jason Schmidt
The last two years have seen a dramatic increase in our familiarity and comfort with the tools of online learning. As schools return to face-to-face learning, educators would do well to use this as an opportunity to take the good things we learned during the pandemic and apply them to our current situations. We’re especially interested in ways we can empower students with voice, choice, pace, and place.
Station-Rotation Model: Perhaps one of the simplest ways to incorporate blended learning into a classroom is using the Station-Rotation Model. In this model, the instructor creates blocks of instructional time with a variety of tasks to complete. Continue reading
Strengthening the Foundations of Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical Health
Written by Greg Schmill
The Plane
I imagine most of us have been there. We are sitting on a plane waiting for take-off and half-listening to the flight attendant’s speech. Then we hear the familiar statement, “In case of an emergency, put on your own oxygen mask first before you try to help others.”
We understand that makes sense. It will be impossible to help others if we have blacked out due to oxygen starvation. But we’ve heard that speech before and it barely registers, and who knows how we would respond in a true emergency. In the midst of the turbulence, would we remember to put on our masks first, despite the clear reminder? Continue reading