professional development

ILS Summer Book Recommendations

Happy Summer! We are already missing the joyful sounds of students filling the classrooms and hallways, but we do hope that students and families are able to enjoy a fun and restful summer break.

As it is throughout our school year together, we hope that reading continues to be a regular part of the summer routine and summer schole for both students and their families. Parents are welcome to join us in reading our Summer Book Club selection: Life Under Compulsion: ten ways to destroy the humanity of your child, by Anthony Esolen, and join us at one or more of our book club discussions.

Looking for some additions to your child’s summer reading (or your own)? We invited faculty and staff to pass along their suggestions for books for students and parents this summer.

Additionally, our ILS teachers have compiled a list of suggested readings for both Upper and Lower School students as a resource for families to help select books that students may enjoy, both reading books from their own grade level, or listening as parents read aloud from more challenging texts. Looking for even more recommendations? Check out a couple of our past summer reading blog posts filled with ideas and favorites from ILS faculty past and present!

What is on your own summer reading list? Are you checking out something new, or re-visiting an old favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Reflection on Classroom Participation

Mrs. Grace Egger (Kindergarten Teacher)

At our last team meeting, the Lower-School staff discussed the topic of participation in the classroom and how we as teachers best evaluate and assess a student’s participation. I chose to introduce this topic by discussing what a good participant looks like and why participation is an essential component to consider during the grading process, as well as the importance of participation as it pertains to vocation and the culture of the classroom.

The portrait of a good participant is a student who pays attention, listens well, answers questions and asks questions, contributes to discussion, reviews and retains content, sits quietly and raises her hand, and produces ideas based off of the knowledge she has gained.

Festina Lente: Make Haste Slowly

Educators at Immanuel Lutheran School (ILS) are noted for the ways they have been cultivated by the liberal arts Lutheran catechesis.  These two cultivating forces have shaped their souls, mind and character so that they are fully-developed educators characterized by a Christian humanitas that is captivating and contagious.  They continually pursue truth, goodness, and beauty, and recognize these as gifts from God.  Students love them and naturally want to emulate them.

Faculty seek wisdom, eloquence, and virtue, and to cultivate these in their students. Teachers at ILS recognize that they are sinful and are hopeless without Christ crucified. They hold students accountable for this shared human state, direct them to repentance, and forgive them.

ILS educators display training in the liberal arts and are always learning. This year, ILS teachers are holding 8 all-faculty meetings to discuss and reflect upon the 8 Essential Principles. The topic for the first session was Festina Lente: make haste slowly.

Teachers as Students: Reflections from Summer Conferences

Excellent teachers should themselves embody a love for learning and be constantly seeking opportunities to grow and deepen their knowledge of the subjects they teach, pedagogy, how children learn and grow, theology, and the world around us. Immanuel teachers and staff are engaged formally and informally in continued professional development and learning opportunities, and for many, this includes participation in summer conferences. 

This summer, six ILS team members traveled to Plano, Texas, to participate in the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education's 18th annual summer conference. In addition to presenting three different sessions, faculty and staff were able to attend a variety of excellent sessions on a wide range of topics. Following the conference, teachers shared their reflections on these sessions and how they may be beneficial in their classrooms in the coming school year. 

Miss Marie Landskroener, ILS Music Teacher, shares with us one of her CCLE reflections. We hope you enjoy this insight into some of the learning that our teachers undertook this summer, and how this study translates into action within our classrooms. 

ILS Summer Reading Lists & Recommendations

Summer! How do you plan to spend your summer months? We know that for many students and their families, summer includes vacations, trips to the pool, spending time with family, summer camps, hitting the beach, playing outdoors, and a variety of other activities.

We also hope that reading will be a regular part of the summer routine and summer schole for both students and their families. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and biographies, read individually or out loud together should inspire and fuel a sense of wonder and curiosity for both students and adults.

We asked our faculty if they would mind sharing what books are on their own personal summer reading lists and any recommendations they have for students or families to perhaps give you some ideas to consider as you think about what you may enjoy reading this summer.

Additionally, our ILS teachers have compiled a list of suggested readings for both Upper and Lower School students as a resource for families to help select books that students may enjoy, both reading books from their own grade level, or listening as parents read aloud from more challenging texts. Check out our blog post from last summer where teachers shared some of their own favorites from this list!

What is on your own summer reading list? Are you checking out something new, or re-visiting an old favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Teacher Swap Day!

There is no such thing as a strong school without a strong faculty. Together, we are always learning, reflecting, and challenging each other; this collegiality is a gift for which we thank God. Through such collegiality, our faculty engage in many conversations and learning opportunities together. Throughout the year, faculty sometimes discuss the idea of "going rogue" or pedagogical experimentation, which is not only fun but also a mark that we are always learning and refining our work. 

In light of this, we decided to experiment as a faculty and enact a teacher swap day, in which Lower School teachers literally swapped placed with Upper School teachers. While it's fun for the students, doing this will work towards a few goals for our faculty: 

ILS Faculty Study of Western Pedagogy

On Friday, Immanuel Lutheran School faculty and staff will enjoy the second of three dedicated professional development days scheduled during the school year. These valuable days allow teachers and administrators time for discussion, planning, and camaraderie. 

This Friday, staff will continue their eight-party study of Western pedagogy. Led by Christy Ting, Adjunct Professor of Pedagogy at Patrick Henry College, these sessions provide an opportunity to study significant educational theories while continuing to discuss, develop, and refine what classical Christian education looks like at ILS.