Teaching Students with Challenges: The Importance of Parents’ Perspectives

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Written by Jane Mose

Ten years before I became a parent, I was a teacher. With my master’s degree in special education and considerable experience working with children and adults with disabilities, I saw myself primarily as the person to whom parents of children with special needs could turn for information. I would share my knowledge and expertise with parents and guide them.

Then my husband and I became the parents of six children.

Three of our children were born into the family, and three entered through adoption. Suddenly I was a mom to children with a variety of trauma backgrounds, physical disabilities, and learning differences. And I learned just how much I had not understood about the lives of my students and their parents! Continue reading →

How to Serve Racially, Ethnically, Culturally Diverse Students-Part 1 Lunch Box

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This blog begins 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.

  1. What’s in Your Student’s Lunch Box? Focusing on intercultural competence for educators.
  2. What Language Do the Parents of Your Student Speak? Discussing anti-bias education for young children.
  3. What Books Are on Your Classroom Bookshelf? Underscoring the importance of the Racial/Cultural Identity Development (R/CID) model for racially, ethnically, culturally (REC) diverse students.

What’s in Your Student’s Lunch Box?

Written by Professor Tingting Schwartz

What Do We See?
One cold, late night in early January, I led my last online workshop, Raising Bilingual Kids at Home. The topic was Biracial and Bicultural Identity Development for Bilingual Kids. Almost all attendees were first-generation Chinese American immigrants who believe raising Chinese and English bilingual children is their family priority.

During the Q & A session, parents had a heated discussion on what they should pack for their children’s lunch boxes when their children go to school. Some parents argued that it was more important to help their children fit in at school; hence, typical American food such as peanut butter sandwiches, string cheese, and Lunchables should be in their children’s lunch boxes. Another group of parents insisted that rice, stir-fries, and jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) are better choices because, as one mother said, “I want my child to be proud of their Chinese heritage.” Continue reading →

Rethinking Leadership:

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What’s Missing, and How Does it Impact Our Leadership and Our Students?

Written by Dr. Donald R. Kudek

It is estimated that $166 billion is spent annually on leadership development in the U.S. (Westfall, 2019). That is nearly $1,000 for every person between the ages of 18 and 65 (60% of 332 million people). Books, seminars, coaching sessions, and even degrees are offered as ways to enhance one’s ability to lead. Has anyone spent that amount on you? Did you or they get their money’s worth? What impact has all of this training had on those we are entrusted to teach? In some cases, it is having a negative impact.

What Makes a Good Leader?
Like all areas of study, the study of leaders and leadership has evolved over time. In the late 1800s, it was believed that certain individuals were born leaders, and either you had it or you didn’t. Continue reading →

Creating Powerful, Memorable Lessons in Your Classroom

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Warning: This post contains description of a violent scene.

Written by Andy Van Weele

According to Socrates, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” My hope is that every educator finds that fire within them—to find the passion to create powerful and memorable lessons that will, in turn, light the fire inside their students—engage them and inspire them to want more. Continue reading →

Fostering Godly Families

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Written by Michelle Dobberstein

Modeling a godly family is an important aspect of every called worker’s ministry, whether they have been blessed with a spouse and children or not. Knowingly or not, called workers are examples to the families they serve. Just as sports figures and celebrities use their fame to promote their agenda, called workers can and should leverage their positions to support parents and caregivers. In this way, they fulfill their installation directive “to be an example to others in godliness and Christian living.”

God’s Directives
God directs parents to make use of every opportunity to talk with their children about him. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Continue reading →

Income Planning for Sustainable Schools

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Written by Dr. Jeff Lemke,
VP of Admissions and Marketing, Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato MN

How many budget meetings have you been to? Now, how many income planning meetings have you been to? You’ve likely been to lots of budget meetings, but few, if any, income planning meetings.

The business plans for ministries are heavily weighted toward conversations about spending priorities with a goal of reducing expenditures to balance the budget or to afford a new budgetary item (Pue, 2013).

Often, the assumption is that income will remain the same, unchanged, or increase at the rate of inflation. School costs typically rise at a higher rate, about 5%, than general inflation, about 2% (Pue, 2016). With rapidly increasing inflation upon our ministries, it is time to look at that side of the budget that gets little attention, the income side. Continue reading →

Trauma: What You Need to Know as an Educator

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Written by Alysa Balfour

My personal understanding of trauma and how it manifests itself dramatically changed in 2016 when my husband and I became foster parents. While I knew the extensive trauma my sons had endured, their teachers, our family and friends, and other acquaintances did not. It was heartbreaking to see my son reduced to a label of troublemaker when he was in fact a little boy who had experienced devastating trauma. Unless you have training or a personal experience with trauma, it may be tempting to label students rather than seeking to understand their actions.

We must redefine our understanding of trauma.
Many misunderstand trauma. We picture car accidents, explosive acts of violence, war-torn areas, or other disasters on a personal or large scale. While these are all traumatic experiences, trauma more likely will be experienced in a way that is almost imperceptible to someone viewing the situation from the outside. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuses, extreme poverty, neglect, food scarcity, and toxic household situations are all ways that students in our schools may be experiencing trauma. Continue reading →

Supporting Communication Development for Children with Autism

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Written by Dr. Carrie Pfeifer

God has created us to interact with each other using the gift of receptive and expressive language. The communication areas of the brain are seen in the Broca’s and Wernicke centers. The Broca center in infants activates when language is spoken to them (Imuda et al. 2006). When a child begins to use language, the Wernicke center of the brain is activated, even in children who are communicating with a non-oral language such as American Sign Language (Campbell et al., p. 3, 2008).

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), one of the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts (Autism Diagnosis Criteria). These deficits are seen in non-verbal and verbal communication. Students with deficits in communication may encounter barriers across school, home, community and work that can lead to problem behaviors (Perner and Delano, p. 45. 2013). Therefore, it is vital to understand the early signs of language deficits in children with ASD so that interventions can be implemented for these children as early as possible. Continue reading →

Church and School Working Together in Unity

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Written by Dr. Phil Huebner

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

Partnering in Ministry
What a joy it is when God’s people live and work together in his kingdom. How good and pleasant when teachers, principals, early childhood directors, pastors, and all other gospel servants live and work together in unity! When church and school are on the same ministry page, it is a joy for all involved, and many blessings follow. (For the sake of simplicity, the word school in this blog post will be representative of a Lutheran elementary school, early childhood center, or both.)

But where there are blessings, Satan seeks to rip them away. When there is joy, Satan seeks to bring heartache and heartbreak. And where there is unity, Satan surely seeks to provoke division.

Sadly, too many have experienced this in ministry. It can happen so fast that it’s hard to see it coming. But once division enters the scene, it’s easy to see some of the signs and symptoms that church and school are not on the same ministry page. Some examples: Continue reading →

Grading Is Broken, and It Needs Fixing

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Written by Dr. Ryan Rathje

Why do the vast majority of classrooms use traditional point/percentage/letter grading systems?

Do these systems effectively communicate the progress of student learning?
No.

Do these systems give the student feedback on how to improve?
No.

Do these systems output data that are valid or reliable?
No.

Do these systems support a growth mindset in students?
No.

Do these systems align with what we believe about student growth and development?
No.

Do these systems help students who need the most help?
No.

Are letter grades, points, and percentages necessary for someone to learn?
No.

Do these systems align with common sense?
No.

Are parents aware of how faulty the traditional system is?
Absolutely not.

Is there any justifiable rationale for these systems to continue?
No. Continue reading →